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Land of the Free?

It’s official. South Dakota passed a law, banning all abortions, except in the case where the mother’s life is in danger. The law makes no exceptions for rape or incest. The law was signed yesterday by Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, making it possible for doctors to receive up to five years in prison for performing […] Continue reading →

March 7, 2006

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Tonight: Jon Stewart and the Oscars

Normally, I’d watch the Oscars anyway, but Jon Stewart is the cherry on top! Generally, Stewart is good at serving bitter political dish with sprinkled sugar so that even Republicans can swallow it. I hope he doesn’t hold back from taking digs. As for the show’s content, People Magazine has a pretty good round-up of […] Continue reading →

March 5, 2006

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Fountain of Youth Not in Vermont

The New York Times ran a story about a problem in Vermont that I thought only existed in Italy and Japan: Vermont is now the second “oldest” state behind Maine in its retired population and exodus of young people. Vermont’s governor, Jim Douglas, is treating the situation like a crisis, allowing illegal immigrants to stay […] Continue reading →

March 4, 2006

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On 'The Lost Daughters of China'

I am sucked in by Karin Evans’s book, The Lost Daughters of China (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2000), which examines why so many Chinese baby girls are abandoned and then adopted by foreigners. I don’t plan on adopting a baby, but I found the book in a flea market bin and noticed the endorsement of my […] Continue reading →

March 3, 2006

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Why Are Americans So Uninformed?

Salon ran a dismal poll conducted by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum that showed only one in a thousand Americans can name all five freedoms in the First Amendment. But one in five Americans can name all five characters in The Simpsons. Meanwhile, BloggingBaby ran a post noting the crazy number of responses celebrity […] Continue reading →

March 2, 2006

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An Unimaginable Choice

Salon ran a review of a book titled Enrique’s Journey, the true story about a Honduran boy who makes multiple — and often unsuccessful — treacherous trips to the United States to find his mother. The book, based on a (must-read) Pulitzer-Prize winning series that ran in the Los Angeles Times three years ago, highlighted […] Continue reading →

February 27, 2006

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Open Thread

Say as you will. Continue reading →

February 26, 2006

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To the Busy Bodies: Mind Your Own Parenting

I was checking out of the Whole Foods in Berkeley yesterday when a middle-aged woman with a head of frizzy grey hair approached me, and said, “You know, I am a writer and I am an observant person. I noticed that your son was not close to you as you were shopping. Someone can take […] Continue reading →

February 25, 2006

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Why Don't Single Women Vote?

There is power in numbers, which is why I found this piece of information baffling: Even though unmarried individuals will make up a majority of U.S. households in 2008, unmarried women are less likely to vote than their wed counterparts, according to a survey released by the activist group Women’s Voices. Women Vote.. To their […] Continue reading →

February 22, 2006

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Stress Contributes to Miscarriage

No matter how often doctors and loved ones tell you it’s not your fault, the woman who miscarries is always looking for explanations for what went wrong in a pregnancy. I, myself, have had two miscarriages. And while doctors told me they were most likely caused by chromosomal defects in the fetus, the most common […] Continue reading →

February 21, 2006

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