botany, shoes, books, and justice
The administration at my university likes to talk about how we’re a pedestrian campus and frequently touts all the wonderful things they’ve done to make it easier to walk than drive here. I submit the following images to the contrary:
parking lot
pedway
After Katrina, a white neighborhood militia murdered blacks who wandered into “their” neighborhood. Disgusting, and a stark reminder that racism is far from eliminated in this country.
An NYT editorial and Glenn Greenwald call for accountability after the Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody was released this week.
That leaves only two choices: (1) treat these crimes as the serious war crimes they are by having a Prosecutor investigate and, if warranted, prosecute them, or (2) openly acknowledge — to ourselves and the world — that we believe that our leaders are literally entitled to commit war crimes at will, and that we — but not the rest of the world — should be exempt from the consequences.
Lindsay Beyerstein comments on Obama’s choice of Rick Warren for the inaugural invocation. She points out that there really shouldn’t be a religious element to the inauguration, which I agree with, and goes on to criticize Obama’s contribution to Warren’s political standing and what this could mean for America’s image and AIDS prevention efforts.
I very much want to see Cléo From 5 to 7
Seeds Aside answers some of the questions that bring readers to his site. Wonderfully silly.
My birth control is abortion now.
Dorothy Surrenders posts some fantastic pictures of Rachel Maddow, Katie Couric, and Campbell Brown. I think I’m going to need to buy the January issue of Vogue.
The system is so complex that even experts – let alone ordinary people trying to find care for themselves and their loved ones – are unable to fully understand it. The system spends one-third of its cost on paperwork, waste and profit over and above the cost of actually providing health care. Yet, nearly one-third of Americans are without health insurance over the course of a year. In all other developed countries, more than 85 percent of citizens have health coverage under public programs. The American health care system is full of inequalities: People who work for one company may have high quality insurance, while those who work for a similar company have none.
Religious freedom in America – not for Muslims, but definitely for Christians who abuse their children.
Please, be out!
Still think we shouldn't raise taxes for the filthy rich?
Aren’t these shoes just fantastic? First of all, I love patent leather. I remember the first pair I ever got. I was 5 or 6 years old and my mother and I were shopping for new church shoes. She had me try on a pair of patent leather shoes and I was instantly in love. They were so SHINY! I also like that these come in gray. I’ve got plenty of black patent leather shoes already (Did I really just say that I think I have enough of something involving shoes?)
I may have gotten next to nothing done for work today, but at least my house is a bit cleaner! I’ve washed the kitchen shelves and organized all my spices and baking things, scrubbed the shelf and windowsill where my plants live, wiped the dust off all the “furniture” in my living room, dusted the keyboard (took forever), and cleaned the bathroom. I’m a third of the way through my giant Christmas cleaning list now!
