Society: March 2010 Archives

While neither Puerto Rico nor Iranian, I can totally get the gist of this article.

I mean, I'm pretty light skinned, but you can obviously tell I'm not full Anglo. And it bugs me to fill out forms as "white" when I sure the hell aren't getting the full white boy treatment in this world. I've got a chip on my shoulder for sure, but I didn't put it there myself.

Or, as the article puts it:

"When I was applying for college, I actually looked for the box to mark Iranian," he muses, "and I went to my counselor and I said, 'There's no Iranian box' and they go, 'Well, you're white.' I go, 'What do you mean I'm white?' I took all the insults growing up -- camel jockey, towel head, all this other stuff -- and all I had to say was, 'Dude, I'm white!'"

One of the hardest things my mom ever did was to invest the time to study for - and pass - her citizenship test. For an immigrant to learn our system of government so completely, and to HAVE to do so to gain the citizenship we all take for granted, is a lot of work. History.com has this citizenship quiz online. I've said for years that you shouldn't be able to vote in this country until you can pass a citizenship test. Here's a small taste of what you would need to know to do so.

I would imagine we'd have a lot less teabaggers in this nation once they learned how this nation really ran and why.

Two thoughts on this article about tipping.

One, we should be paying people a proper wage instead of demanding patrons to cover the difference. That said, I don't really mind paying for good service. Feeling like I'm forced to pay up is really annoying though.

Two, not everyone deserves a tip jar. I mean, you just put some ice cream in a cone. Come on. And I'm sure the rest of you have all kinds of examples of people who don't need any damn tips.

This has been a very cool series on the changing face of work, and the resistance by industry at large to adapt to the needs of the two-working-parent family. There are highlights by those who are enduring scheduling problems and those employers who are trying to make things work for everyone.

If some Utah conservathugs have their way, women can be charged with murder for having a miscarriage.

Women, leave that conservative repressive state as fast as you can.

Apparently all those "family values" and "abstinence" aren't working out so well in the Rethug states.

I read this article and laughed so hard I almost peed myself.

You can add "teabagging" to this list as well.

"We came to America for the American dream -- to do good and to make good."

- K.R. Sridhar

We still have some ingenuity running around this country. And some of that we have thanks to immigrants. Here are two of the latter working hard to fix our energy problems.

Maybe if we listen to those who want to be Americans instead of damning them, we can make our nation great again.

Here's another damn good story representative of what I'd like to see NPR doing. It's the story of the WWII-era WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) who served our nation and are just now getting the recognition they deserve.

I remember reading some on them as a kid but not so much in recent years. Great article on some great ladies. Give it a listen.

I have been pretty down on NPR for being FAUXNewsLite of late (and oh, yes, they are still kissing the GOP's ass) but I found this slideshow reminds me of why I used to give these guys money.