Category Archive

I visited the Second Life virtual world a few years ago, and was unimpressed. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, Second Life is an online virtual world with its own virtual economy.  It’s not a game — you don’t go on quests and kills dragons.  It attempts to simulate life — you have a 3D … Read More

Janice Shaw Crouse, head of the conservative Concerned Women For America, on Mary Cheney’s pregnancy: Mary’s pregnancy is an “in-your-face” action countering the Bush Administration’s pro-family, pro-marriage and pro-life policies. She continues to repudiate the work to which her father has devoted his life. Wait a second, Janice. If Mary was raised by a pro-family, pro-marriage, and pro-life father, and … Read More

This will tell you everything you need to know about the the way some Christian conservatives think: Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, expressed empathy for the Cheney family but depicted the newly announced pregnancy as unwise. "Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn’t mean … Read More

Pam Spaulding points to this report (PDF format).  Not surprisingly, San Francisco has the largest gay population in the country (8.2% in the metro area). But what she (and I) found startling was the increase in same-sex couples from 2000 to 2005: Seems gays are coming out all over, and not just in New York and California.  North Carolina, for … Read More

This is the kind of news story that drives the conservative right crazy: 37 percent of U.S. births out of wedlock Out-of-wedlock births in the United States have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, government health officials said Tuesday. While out-of-wedlock births have long been associated with teen mothers, the teen … Read More

Wow.  There’s an entire website devoted to the subject of regifting.  According to the site, half of the adults surveyed approve of it. Is it proper etiquette?  I’ve never done it, and — as far as I know — never received a "regifted" gift.  I generally don’t like the practice.  I’ve always believed that gift-giving is not so much in … Read More

Isn’t everything?

Via Pandagon, an ooky promotional trailer for purity balls.  A "purity ball", for those who don’t know, is: a formal event attended by fathers and their daughters. Fathers in attendance pledge before God to protect their young daughters’ purity in mind, body and soul. Daughters are necessarily expected to remain chaste. [Source: Wikipedia] Amanda Marcotte describes the video: If you … Read More

So Pastor Haggard says he bought meth once — and only once "out of curiosity" — from the gay prostitute named Mike Jones. [Interestingly, the audio tapes have Haggard saying that he "we" wanted "more" crystal meth]. And he admits he got a massages from the gay prostitute named Mike Jones. But he claims he never used the meth that … Read More

Arguably — arguably — the federal government might have an interest in getting teenagers not to have sex. But why do they now have federal programs urging adult single 29 year olds to abstain from pre-marital sex?  Is this really a good use of tax dollars?