When I was a senior in high school, I was fortunate enough to attend a leadership camp that taught me that we all have prejudices, but those prejudices don’t make us racists. There’s a huge gap between those two things that I fear gets terribly lost when discussions of race come up. The Tech Is [...]
It drives me crazy to see news outlets with US maps showing the states estimated to be either going for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election based on the geographic size of those states, rather than the number of Electoral College votes they carry. There are better maps they could and should use. [...]
I’m concerned that I’ll be heading straight to jail soon, given that I’ve purposely destroyed an “Official Republican Party Document.” More seriously, I’m concerned that a major political party is sending out such misleading junk mail. For all I know, the Democratic National Committee does the same thing. I generally vote Democrat, but I’m not [...]
All I wanted to do was share a funny “Downton Abbey Meets Spike TV” skit that was on Saturday Night Live this week. Unfortunately, there’s no authorized version of the sketch online from NBCUniversal. That made me hesitate, but apparently it wasn’t a problem for iVillage, an NBCUniversal-owned site. Nor was it an issue for Time, [...]
It’s time for my annual “How To Watch The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade From Abroad” post. If you’re outside the US, trying to watch this traditional way to start Thanksgiving, here are my tips. Perhaps someday, Macy’s and/or NBC will realize there are millions of Americans outside the US who would love to view the [...]
Dear non-Californians upset that California re-elected a Democratic senator, elected a Democratic governor and is otherwise doing things you might not like. Tough shit. OK, that’s my initial reaction to some things I’ve read recently. My more thoughtful reaction is scapegoating one state isn’t the answer to America’s issues. Last week, the LA Times featured [...]
Even if it’s in somewhat mock seriousness, The Daily Show’s Rally To Restore Sanity has me fired up! But tapping into the official news about the event through social media, well, that’s been a bit disappointing. The Rally & Twitter When I hit the rally’s web site the day after it was announced, it pointed [...]
I don’t know if Sarah Palin rolled her eyes at the teacher in the video below or not. The pregnant pause was sure weird, though. But more important, her boots! When I watched this yesterday, I saw her wellies at the end and thought woah, those are pretty cool. OK, I don’t wear wellies (short [...]
Any American living abroad has their own horror story about trying to open a US bank account without having a US address. Banks often incorrectly use the Patriot Act or other excuses to refuse providing service. Now two members of Congress are urging for hearings on the matter. There’s a petition drive to make this [...]
Headed cross-country and worried about a new law that might get you stopped by the police in Arizona because you look like an illegal immigrant? Not to fear! Google has now added an “Avoid Arizona” option for those generating directions. Google’s other options have been super helpful. You can get directions suited for taking public [...]