Survival

Some advice from an older generation

The protesters of my generation (we came of age in the 60s and early 70s) have two lessons for the powerful generation standing up for all of us these days: 1) by uniting around solid ideas, you can be effective, and 2) the forces against you are powerful, militant, and may overcome you. We marched,Continue reading “Some advice from an older generation”

Redefining compassion

we should rise above the adjectives “tolerant,” “polite,” and “courteous” to value the more nuanced and demanding virtue of compassion, and we must practice it with courage and consistency.

Traveling in Arizona: Prisons

Out in the middle of the desert – what was that? We drove closer and saw it was a prison. Wow. That’s a lot of prisoners. Building after long white building. This complex is run by the Corrections Corporation of America. It looks all spanky white and clean on the outside, like an outpost on Mars which contains its whole life inside its bubble.

Protective apps for college (and other) women

In yesterday’s post, I suggested that college women be provided with alarm systems which would easily and unobtrusively notify authorities or friends that she was in distress. My husband did some research and found that apps already exist which do this. I haven’t tried any of these, but they seem cleverly designed, and some are free of charge.

Protecting freshmen women from rape

The rape statistics for young women in college aren’t getting any better, no matter how much awareness we raise. So we have to think of ways to protect our young women, and not wait for the potential rapists to change. It is not “liberating” to push unprepared young women into places where they have no protection. Rape is devastating, whether it happens to a man or a woman, but the campus problem concerns mostly young women.

Remember me

A bad dream is one way to remember why I write, why not doing it would be torture.

How I Feel About the End of the World

I heard last night on Bill Maher’s show that Jacques Cousteau predicted that the oceans would be dead in the lifetimes of some people then alive. A UN committee tells us that we’d better get moving or we won’t survive. I’m beginning to take global warming seriously. The pathos of it grips me from timeContinue reading “How I Feel About the End of the World”