Politics
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Average Joes Deserve to Retire, Too
I originally wrote this post in November 2011, around the time of Occupy Wall Street. On some level, I miss Occupy Wall Street, because I hate the idea that you are not supposed to talk about finances in “polite company”. I hate the fact that we are all so busy keeping up appearances, that we let those appearances drown us in debt, or make it next to impossible to retire. It was refreshing (to me) to have a time when the country was actually focusing on our collective financial health. This is also part of why I love Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – not because I agree with everything she says, but…
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Rape Culture is still Comedy Gold, and it Shouldn’t Be
I have often said I am amazed at how many good men of my generation (and earlier generations) there are. How many of them truly get it, or at least try to get it, when we talk about rape culture. Because I know the pop culture they were raised with, because I was raised in the same popular culture. The whole Han, Leia, Luke dynamic is truly cringeworthy and actually a little creepy when watching it now. Toxic masculinity dominates all of their personal relationships, right down to Leia kissing Luke at in the first part of Empire just to make a point to Han. And yet, as a geek,…
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He Only Does That Because He Likes You
In February of 2014, I hadn’t yet started this blog, so I didn’t really have a place to put long thoughts on things not specifically related to finance, pets, pop culture, or writing. So I made the following post on Facebook. Again, this post is 4.5 years old, and yet, it is still relevant. “He only does that because he likes you.” Pop Tart is 10. She just started a karate class that’s offered by a group working with the school district. On the first night (the only night parents are allowed to remain for the class), I noticed a boy kind of picking on her. I thought it might…
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Tell Me Where To Stand
I do not wear a safety pin. I never put a green dot on my hand. The best way I know to show you I am a “safe person” is to be a safe person. To say “good morning” on the bus. To smile as we pass on the sidewalk. To compliment that really awesome sweater you are wearing, even though we have never seen each other before and will not again. To say something if I see something. To my family and friends who do not have the same privileges as me. To the people I have never met but may need that friendship. Tell me where to stand.…
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Can We Take a Stand Against Murder?
I don’t have a whole lot of emotional energy to spare right now, so if this seems blunt, well, that’s because it is. A civilian killing a cop is not an inherently worse crime than a cop killing a civilian. A white man killing a black man is not inherently worse than a black man killing a white man. And those are not worse than a black person killing another black person, or a white person killing another white person, or a straight person killing an LGBTQ person, or an LGBTQ person killing a straight person, or a man killing a woman, or a woman killing a man, or…
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Instead of College, Can We Talk About Daycare?
Let me say that I appreciate that Sanders has pushed the conversation to the left. No matter who the eventual Democratic nominee for the President is, the conversation has been better because he has been part of it. At the same time, I realized the other day that I am mad at him. Not for being in the race, but for pushing the conversation toward universal college education, and forcing Clinton to respond specifically to that. As I have said before, I am not against universal college education. In fact, as a parent of a 6th grader, I am likely to benefit from it. But what if the conversation had…
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Ethics in Foster Parenting
Most of the time when we think about bad foster parents, we think of the worst case scenarios, those relatively few cases where the foster parents never should have been foster parents to begin with, and the children are abused or end up dead. And those are terrible tragedies. But they are also very rare. There are other kinds of bad foster parents, though, foster parents who actually look amazing and loving and wonderful from the outside. I call these the “unethical” foster parents. Nothing they do is against that law. They often love the children they care for very deeply. But the damage they do to children is just…
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We Have the Money, We Need a Plan
Both of the Democratic candidates for President have put forward the idea of free college for America’s youth. Next year, Oregon will have very low cost ($50/term) for all community college students. Tennessee and Kentucky are both working on free community college for their residents, too. As a parent (and particularly as a parent who will only have half the time most parents do to save for college), I am a fan for free college – community college or a four year program. And I have seen the studies that say the plans put forward to pay for the program work. The money is there. I do not doubt that.…
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Why the DNC Does Not Like Sanders
Sometimes I think I should keep my mouth shut about politics, but honestly, it is only a passing thought. My brother, father, grandfathers, and uncles all served in the military. They fought for our right to speak our minds, to participate fully and equally in the democratic process, and keeping my mouth shut would only serve to dishonor their sacrifices. I know that my father does not always agree with my point of view, but I also know he would be greatly disappointed in me if I did not express it. So here I am, talking politics again. I have said it before, and I will say it again –…
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Why I am Voting for Hillary Clinton
WARNING: This is long, and rambling, and unapologetically political. Do you remember the SyFy show Warehouse 13? I have heard it became a really good show, and hey, Felicia Day was even in it for a few seasons. But I could not bring myself to watch it. I wanted to watch it. I wanted to love it. It seemed made for me/us – and then I watched the pilot. The two main characters are introduced thusly – we have a female FBI agent who has worked all of her life to become an agent. She has focused her life on her job and become the best. And no one likes…
