Congress to DOJ: Enforce the laws we wrote, not the laws you wish we wrote
I was taught that all laws must be obeyed. If the law was a bad one, you worked to change it. Sometimes that work included an act of civil disobedience that often carried a penalty. And that was the...
View ArticleWhy dropping federal mandatory minimum sentences will not solve all of our...
Nice as it would be if Congress would pass legislation eliminating federal mandatory minimum sentencing, it would do little overall to reduce our incarceration rate, which continues to be the highest...
View ArticleMonday Murder Mystery
I know that I have been reading too many mysteries when next week's release of the latest Armand Gamache adventure by Louise Penny fails to generate much excitement in my reader's soul. Never much of a...
View ArticleWhat this woman wants. This week.
Click to elarge What Women Want was a pretty awful 2000 film starring Mel Gibson as a man who can read the minds of women. Because only by reading their minds can men possibly understand what women...
View ArticleBooks! Science fiction's bad dogs
What an auspicious week to begin a new series! After writing about mysteries for over three and a half years, I have decided to expand my horizons and broaden the parameters of the weekly series once...
View Article'My body, my choice' is not true for women in poverty, in federal employment,...
"My body, my choice" is a privilege for those whose insurance provides coverage for abortions (assuming that their employers don't object), or who can afford to pay the expense out of pocket. That...
View ArticleBooks! An immigrant, Martha's Vineyard and murder
The dabar (royal court) of Ranjit Singh Okay, so I can't quit mysteries cold turkey. Unlike much of science fiction or fantasy, mysteries can teach us about other cultures that actually exist on this...
View Article'Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices . . .'
"Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation's Largest Abortion Provider"No, that is not a headline from the latest edition of the National Enquirer. Incredibly,...
View ArticleBooks! Surprise, higher prices do not guarantee increased revenue!
Ever since I first wrote about the Department of Justice suit against Apple, and five of the, at that time, Big Six Publishers (Penguin, Harper Collins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and Hachett) for...
View ArticleHe's just a cat. Or how we wound up with four of 'em
Crystal and CC But he was the last cat. The last cat that tied me to Ed and all of the pleasure we derived from a house full of them. Both of us had been dog people, until I decided that our Golden...
View ArticleWhen a football player hits a woman, we notice
The Domestic Violence Awareness Mural: "A Survivor's Journey" (2010) by Joel Bergner While O.J. Simpson was standing trial for the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman 21 years ago, it was...
View ArticleHow much do Republicans hate poor women?
At the September 16 Republican presidential debate, Carly Fiorina proved that she has an imagination as disturbing as her method of improving Hewlett-Packard during her tenure, which consisted laying...
View ArticleBooks! Injustices, by Ian Millhiser
The members of the Warren Court, taken in 1953. Back row (left to right): Tom Clark, Robert H. Jackson,Harold Burton, and Sherman Minton. Front row (left to right): Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black,...
View ArticleHow could a man who loved me so much want to kill me?
He was so very good-looking, a bit like Chad Everett, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and impeccable taste in clothes. An employee in the marketing department, he was professional and charming. He...
View ArticleThe other victims of domestic violence
Last week I wrote about my own experience as a victim of domestic violence. In that essay I wrote that my experience was "so typical. So ordinary and so common." And it was. My abuser followed the...
View ArticleThe ultimate domestic violence: Men who murder their families
On October 12, 2011, Scott Dekraai walked into Salon Meritage in Seal Beach, California, armed with three handguns and wearing a bulletproof vest. Starting with the salon owner at the entrance to the...
View ArticleMonday Murder Mystery: Bouchercon 2015
I just can't stay away from mysteries. Even though I am deeply involved with the characters of Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings, when I do come up for air it is to regret that I missed last year's...
View ArticleThe Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772–1832
H.M.S. Shannon Leading Her Prize the American Frigate Chesapeake into Halifax Harbour in 1813 Quick—what do you know about the War of 1812, other than the fact it was fought in 1812? Test your...
View ArticleStuff you may not have known about Halloween
Of the differing schools of thought on the origins of Halloween, I prefer the one that roots it in ancient Celtic tradition. And since no one seems to know for sure, why not? According to the American...
View ArticleNo one is talking about taking your guns. And why, exactly, is that?
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the even further right-leaning Gun Owners of America continue to stoke fears of gun confiscation in America with able assistance from their political arm, the...
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