Category Archives: Politics

7 Quick Takes: Crowdsourced Content

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7 Quick Takes

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What I’m doing and why I’m doing it. Daniel is off school for the next month and now that we’re back from my parents’ house, I’ve got him pretty much all day. My mother-in-law has stepped up and helped *A LOT* this week because I’m fighting stomach issues (which is meaning that I’m feeling more run down than usual and am napping a lot) but today, I had him pretty much all day so writing this post with insightful Quick Takes was just not going to happen.

So… I decided to take a page from Kelly of This Ain’t The Lyceum and crowdsource some content. I had three people give me questions that I’ll answer (and I’ll put one person’s two part question into two Quick Takes) and then I’ll give you two things I saw online that amused me. Sound like a plan?

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From Kelly of This Ain’t The Lyceum: Your feelings on Klondike bars? Absolutely neutral. I don’t think I’ve eaten one in years so I honestly can’t say what I would or wouldn’t do for one.

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From Beth Anne of Beth Anne’s Best: In honor of your 15 years of blogging, what site did you start blogging on? I started out hand-coding a web journal on Peacefulwaters.Org, my own domain, in July 2000 and used Microsoft Front Page to generate some of it. (I’ve been doing website stuff for 18 years so this wasn’t that weird.)

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From Beth Anne of Beth Anne’s Best: What sites have you used over the years? This is actually the second part of the question and I split it up because her question could honestly have been a post of its own. I did the hand-coding for a year and then did Livejournal for a bit, tried Grey Matter a few times, used Moveable Type for a few months, and then switched to WordPress’ predecessor b2. I fully switched over to WordPress in 2004.

::Meditatio:: itself has existed in pretty much unbroken form since 2003 when I switched to b2 and has been hosted on Grace-Filled.Net since 2005. I’ve imported all of the hand-coded stuff, the Livejournal entries, and one of the Grey Matter sections. I still need to import about 6 months or so of Grey Matter and Moveable Type which unfortunately has to be done by hand and it requires a working CD-ROM… which I currently do not have. (Laptops don’t like falling on hardwood floors. It’s under warranty but that would involve sending it to HP for weeks at a time.)

— 5 —

From Jen (@Jentoinfinity): How many people have you met IRL from blogging? You can name them if you want or just a number. This is kind of a weird question because I’ve known some of my blogging friends since before they had blogs, as in the case of my BFF Rebecca who was my maid-of honor, is Daniel’s godmother, and whom I have known for 20+ years. As far as fellow people I’ve met because of my blog, I’d say 3? I met Ellen of Stranger in a Strange Land in 2002, Dawn of ladydusk in 2003, and Chris of Father Christopher (and formerly of SomethingUnderstood.Org) in 2004.

Related to this, I think one of the stranger things that has happened was standing in the receiving line at a church in Ponoka, Alberta where Jon was interviewing for an associate pastor position in 2009 and having someone come up to me and tell me that they love my blog. It turns out that they were talking about my Blogathon site but it gave me a shock for a few days because I keep pretty quiet about my real name on here.

**UPDATE** I also met Kym back in 2011. Sorry for missing you in my count!

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Something for which I really respect Sen. Lindsey Graham. So some of you might have seen the news about this yesterday:

This was Senator Graham’s response:

Stay classy, Senator!

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Finally, some lovely music. Here’s one of my favorite videos from The Piano Guys:

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Taking on Some Controversy in the Media and Talking About A Couple Books

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7 Quick Takes

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The bakers fined $135K for refusing to bake the wedding cake. I actually had some sympathy for the couple who refused to bake the cake. They should be allowed to politely refuse to do so and face some bad publicity for their decision. My sympathy vanished, however, when I found out that they not only declined rudely to make the cake but they also doxxed the lesbian couple by giving out their names, address, email address, and phone number. Granted, this information *IS* public record because of the lawsuit, but the husband of the baker specifically shared it in anger and people used the information to send death threats to the lesbian couple.

(Libby Anne has a good blog post on this.)

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The Planned Parenthood debacle. So here’s the thing: it wouldn’t surprise me if Planned Parenthood has had some unscrupulous people selling fetal tissue and I’m good with Congressional panels looking into this. HOWEVER… the Center for Medical Progress acted pretty dishonestly inasmuch as they had actors portraying people from a tissue company and in the fact that the video was pretty edited. All of the sites like LifeSiteNews that have broken the story are acting really smug about it and in a really distasteful way. LifeSiteNews in particular is so liberal with the inaccuracies in the news that they report that I honestly wouldn’t believe them as far as I could throw them and this is making me really leery to believe what they’re saying. On the other hand, I don’t trust Planned Parenthood either.

Truthfully, the news makes me feel tired. This article from America Magazine probably comes the closest to how I’m feeling.

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A situation completely foreign to me as a West Coaster. Libby Anne’s blog post referred me to this one about a teacher in Mississippi who lost his job when a student outted him as an atheist. This horrifies me because I’m the daughter of a secular humanist and an agnostic/Buddhist and it scares me that one of my parents could be the person behind Godless in Dixie.

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Why California does better under Jerry Brown. My mother-in-law gets a happy expression on her face every time someone mentions Governor Jerry Brown because, according to her, the state just does *sooooo* much better under his leadership. I’m having to admit that I agree, especially as he just signed into law a bill ending religious and personal exemptions for vaccines. Only kiddos who have specific medical conditions and a note from their doctor are exempt from the requirements. The only two other states who have passed a similar law are West Virginia and Mississippi, which kind of surprises me because you’d think that those two states would allow religious exemptions given the religious nature of their populations.

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Owning one’s atheism. Neil Carter of Godless in Dixie appeared in a report on CBS This Morning on atheism. I’m watching it right now and it’s interesting. It saddens me however that his girlfriend’s father shunned him and his girlfriend because of it. The father just passed away and specifically asked that Neil not be allowed to be around the family while they mourned. That’s pretty serious hatred of someone right there.

Still, I’m glad for Neil and the others in the video that they are owning what they believe. Do I agree with them on their stances? No. Do I respect their dignity as people and would I have a drink with them? No question that I would!

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The book I just finished. I just finished The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows and while it wasn’t as good as her first book, it was pretty fabulous.

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You know your book is old when… Killer Pancake by Diane Mott Davidson has been interesting to listen to, partially because the book is pretty dated. They’re talking about things like payphones which I haven’t personally seen in probably 5 years!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: More on Water Restrictions, House Fires, and Hobbes’ Adventures in Tampa

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a7 Quick Takes

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Apparently, the rich are different. For those who came back this week after my snarky post on the drought and water restrictions, I have a somewhat funny story for you: after Gov. Jerry Brown (all hail!) called for serious water restrictions, usage in the rich enclave of Rancho Santa Fe actually went *UP*. The reason: residents are of the opinion that “we’re not all equal when it comes to water.” I find it funny in a “you can’t make this up” way, not in a humorous way. The joke is on them, however, because serious water restrictions will be enforced on them starting on July 1st. I think I’ll have to grab a cooler, some snacks from Trader Joe’s, an iced vanilla latté, and go watch peoples’ heads explode when they realize how much water they have to cut that day. And because I’m going to have to turn in my liberal ID card if I don’t post this [/sarcasm], here’s an opinion on this from the Daily Kos.

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Excuse me while I puke. Rick Santorum used the shooting in Charleston to try and score some political points. I’ve heard a few people excuse it saying that he was speaking broadly about assaults on religious liberty in this country but I’m not buying it unless he wants to add on shootings at a Sikh temple and a mosque onto it. Besides, the gunman very clearly made statements to the people in the church about how it was aimed toward them as African-Americans.

Seriously, co-opting this to score “religious liberty” points sickens me. It’s highly inappropriate and it devalues the deaths to the family members.

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Hot weather food. As I’m sitting here eating my sushi from Trader Joe’s because it’s too hot to cook, I’m wondering what y’all do for “hot weather food”. Mind sharing in the comments? Please and thank you. 🙂

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Hobbes tours Tampa’s airport without Calvin. A boy accidentally left his stuffed tiger at the Tampa airport and the airport staff took it on an adventure.

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I swear that I am not making this up. Last Monday, a house around the corner from my parents caught on fire and when I was googling the link to send to my in-laws, I found this story. The title (“No Joke: Doctors, Realtor, Pastor Go For a Run, Extinguish House Fire”) sounds like the opening to a joke but it’s legit.

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Because I am a COPS junkie! During that house fire in my parents’ neighborhood, various streets were blocked off (including the entrance to ours) due to the fire trucks present and this meant that people couldn’t get between two major streets. (The street with the fire goes between them and a lot of people take it at warp speed to shave off a few minutes. It’s why there are a ton of traffic cameras and speed traps on it, considering that it’s a pretty quiet residential street otherwise.) Anyway, a woman tried to shoot between two fire trucks and got pulled over. She then decided to argue with the cop. My mom was standing on the corner with some neighbors watching the fire and happened to catch this exchange and she told me that said cop took his sweet time running all of her information and getting back to her. I’m kind of bummed to have missed it because I would probably have been sitting there with some granola (it apparently took place around 8 a.m.) and watched the drama unfold. Then again, it’s probably better that I wasn’t there because Daniel would have been with me and both of our lungs would have been pretty irritated by the smoke. (We took a walk after the fire was out and I realized halfway through that I needed my inhaler pretty badly… because I have absolutely no common sense. Mr. Preemie Reactive Airway, thankfully, was fine)

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Prayer request. Could you please pray for a special intention? Please and thank you!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Clinical Study for Preeclampsia, #CharlieCharlieCharlie, and My New E-Reader

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7 Quick Takes

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Clinical study for preeclampsia underway at Yale. Yale School of Medicine and 29 other sites around the country are in trials for the FDA-approved drug ATryn. If it works, it would be amazing for moms like me for whom pregnancy is a deadly proposition. Details here. (Props to my friend Jen for bringing it to my attention.)

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On the #CharlieCharlieCharlie phenomenon. Simcha Fisher has a fabulous piece over at the National Catholic Register on the dangers of the #CharlieCharlieCharlie game. This is one of those times when it is absolutely a pain to have to explain why I as a science-minded person am opposed to what seems like a silly game for superstitious reasons. Thing is, we as Christians believe in powers and principalities which are not visible to humans and this falls into that category. While it is likely a very silly little game, it opens one up to the possibility of demonic forces; and as most clergy will tell you, that door is incredibly hard to close once it has been opened. Satan is not picky and will wait patiently until we are far enough in before making his move.

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If you love someone with autism, read this. Here are 10 myths everyone with autism is tired of hearing. I know that it makes me want to run far in the other direction when someone mentions any of these.

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Some possible books to read this summer. Here is a list of 25 of the hottest new releases coming this summer. I’m personally looking forward to The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows as I loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society six years ago.

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My new e-reader and its name. My in-laws upgraded my e-reader to a NOOK GlowLight for my birthday and I’m loving it though still getting the hang of it. I have a tradition of naming all my electronics after the titles for an Orthodox priest’s wife so this e-reader has been christened “Tasoni” after my favorite Coptic priest’s wife who blogs.

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Schadenfreude is a wench. A man in South Carolina made disparaging remarks about Obamacare and how he pays his own bills and would never sign up for it. Well… he had a bunch of mini-strokes and can no longer work because of his eyesight. If he was in a state with Medicaid expansion, he would qualify and his medical care would be covered… except that he lives in South Carolina which hasn’t passed Medicaid expansion. His change in employment means that he could have signed up for a plan under the Affordable Care Act… except he refused to and lost that option when he missed the deadline. He blames Obama. Here’s the Daily Kos article on it.

His answer: a GoFundMe site to raise the necessary funds. As I’m writing this, he needs a bit over $3300 to be fully funded. Guess who most of the donors have been? If you guessed liberal Democrats, you’d be right. Said donations do come with some snark (which, given the nature of the situation, is to be expected) but I think it was probably eye-opening for this man. (And yes, I made a donation as well. It’s what Jesus would want me to do.)

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Responding to Kathleen My friend Kathleen wrote an excellent post on how sex always has consequences. I fully agree with her that there is no such thing as sex without consequences. The consequences can be good (conceiving a child, intimacy with your partner, etc.) or bad (an unplanned pregnancy, side effects from birth control, phase 2 falling during Valentine’s Day/couple’s weekend, etc.) but they are always present. I really recommend going and reading and seeing what she has to say.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: April 19, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY April 19, 2015

Outside my window… dark. I didn’t get online until I was putting Daniel to bed and I opened my laptop to do my lectionary reading for today. (I missed church due to a fibro flare.)

I am thinking… about something that happened to me today and wondering if there will be any ripples because of it.

I am thankful… to have gotten through today and to have emptied 5 boxes from the storage of the many sitting in the living room.

In the kitchen… nothing at the moment. I’ll probably do some cooking ahead in the next few days.

I am wearing… green shirt and capri sweats.

I am praying for… a call for Jon, vocal skills for Daniel, and a bunch of special intentions.

I am going… to have lots of stops tomorrow morning for errands.

I am wondering… how people can claim to believe in scientific research and and then reject it based on the word of someone who knows nothing about the subject whatsoever. (Food Babe fans and anti-vaxers, I’m talking to you.)

One of my favorite Neil DeGrasse Tyson quotes.

I am reading… Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans. Y’all need to go get your hands on a copy of this book if you have anything to do with people in your church who were born after 1980.

I am hoping… for decent sleep tonight and that tomorrow goes well for me.

I am looking forward to… Bible study on Wednesday with my wonderful church ladies.

I am hearing… various YouTube videos.

Crocheting… the edging on a blanket for a wedding shower, still working on Daniel’s big boy blankie, and crochet a stuffie for a friend.

Around the house… silence.

A favorite quote for today… “I told them we’re tired of the culture wars, tired of Christianity getting entangled in party politics and power. Millenials want to be known by what we’re for, I said, not just what we’re against. We don’t want to choose between science and religion or between our intellectual integrity and our faith. Instead, we long for our churches to be safe places to doubt, to ask questions, and to tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. We want to talk about the tough stuff — biblical interpretation, religious pluralism, sexuality, racial reconciliation, and social justice — but without predetermined conclusions or simplistic answers. We want to bring our whole selves through the church doors, without leaving our hearts and minds behind, without wearing a mask.” — Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church

One of my favorite things… a quiet and solitary place at the end of the day. I’m an introvert, after all.

A few plans for the rest of the week: errands, Bible study/date night/choir on Wednesday, and a couple other things.

Post Script…

Lora Lee asked for the recipe for my orzo with pesto. Here it is:

1 block pesto (it’s about 1/2 cup to 1 cup for the size my mom uses)
1 16 oz. box of orzo
1 jar pitted kalamata olives (I used a 12 oz. jar from Trader Joe’s.)
1 4-8 oz. container crumbled feta cheese (I used Athenos brand.)
1 bag sundried tomatoes (I used a 3 oz. one from Trader Joe’s.)
1 cup toasted pine nuts (Again, I used an 8 oz. bag from my BFF Trader Joe’s.)

Prepare orzo according to directions on package (boil water, cook for 8-10 minutes, drain). If your pesto isn’t thawed yet (overnight in the refrigerator works the best), stick it in the microwave for 5 minutes on defrost. If you didn’t get pre-toasted pine nuts, you can stick them on a baking sheet and toast in a 300F oven for 3 minutes, watching to make sure they don’t start burning. Drain brine from jar of olives. Once every thing is prepared/toasted/chopped/pitted (if you didn’t get a jar of pitted olives), put everything in a large mixing bowl and mix together. You can use a wooden spoon but my favorite method is to mix it with my freshly-washed hands.

It works well at both room temperature and cold. Refrigerate leftovers… if there are any.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Musings on Maundy Thursday

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7 Quick Takes

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Tetelestai. Elizabeth Dehority of Keep on Spinning passed away early on Thursday morning. Please keep her family in prayer.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant, Elizabeth. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.

— 2 —

Palm Sunday. This is the anthem we sang on Palm Sunday. It is currently stuck in my head.

— 3 —

Fannie Flagg captures it. I was listening to her book, Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven, for part of the drive home on Wednesday and everyone is talking or musing in their heads about how one woman impacts them positively. It’s kind of made me think about my legacy and what I’ll be remembered for doing.

— 4 —

Books on CD. I picked up two at the library, hoping that they would make the drive less montonous. They definitely helped — I was sorry when we were going to our destinations on Saturday and Wednesday and we arrived because I wanted to listen to more of the book.

— 5 —

Geeking out on church music. We get at professional trumpeter for Easter and three opera singers coming in to lend their voices. The anthem we’re singing isn’t tricky but it will be nice to have a “full” choir, even if some of the volume is coming from 3 people.

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Sidney Lanier poetry. I sang a similar anthem to this when I was in high school and it seems like an appropriate one, given the season.

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Eyes crossing. I am ending here because it’s after 1 a.m. and I’m exhausted. Have a fabulous day.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: March 16, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY March 16, 2015

Outside my window… dark. I wasn’t outside today but Accuweather said there was a high of 86F today. It feels like June, not March. I miss rain.

I am thinking… about how I’m going to make it through various things tomorrow if I’m still stuck in bed with the flu.

I am thankful… for the opportunity to see an amazing concert on Sunday when I accompanied my father-in-law to the Claremont Symphony Orchestra concert. The BIG piece was Shostakovich’s Symphony #5 we also were blessed to hear Pärt’s “Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten” and Sibelius’ “Karelia Suite”. I love having a symphony that amazing nearby and getting to attend that quality of concert for free.

In the kitchen… nothing. I’ve been sick all day.

I am wearing… green shirt and running shorts.

I am praying for… a call for Jon, various people per my Lenten discipline, and a bunch of special intentions.

I am going… to sleep in my own bed tonight. (Daniel had my flu over the weekend so I was sleeping in his room to take care of him at night and to keep Jon from getting sick.)

I am wondering… how to deal with people who leave comments on one’s Facebook wall that are incredibly inflammatory and inappropriate for civil discussion. I’m fine with people disagreeing with me but seriously, attempt to be civil.

I am reading… We’ll Always Have Parrots by Donna Andrews. I finished Crouching Buzzard, Laughing Loon and also got through Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos by her as well.

I am hoping… for decent sleep tonight. I’m at the point where my sleep debt would take years to fix.

I am looking forward to… Wednesday when I get to go do projects and errands on my own.

I am hearing… Jon snoring and also whatever he is listening to.

Around the house… my mother-in-law deep-cleaned it today.

A favorite quote for today… “Get off my shoulders. There’s work to be done!” — 104-year-old Selma marcher Amelia Robinson, when told by younger people that they stand on her shoulders.

One of my favorite things… getting caught up in a good book.

A few plans for the rest of the week: no big plans other than getting out and about on Wednesday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.