Bookworm Room

Tweet Almost without fail, I seem to get lots of traffic on days when I’m away from my computer.  Today was one such day.  I got a lovely link from Glenn Reynolds, but I couldn’t capitalize upon it by adding some scintillating posts because I’ve been gone all day.  This inability to post, despite high [...]

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Tweet I’m back with more. Did you know that Afghanistan was declared a gun-free zone?  Well, if you didn’t, you’re right.  But this is a great satire anyway. Have you heard of a site called Patriotic Voices?  (I do seem to be full of questions, don’t I?)  It’s a forum for conservatives.  It’s got very [...]

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Tweet I have to be honest here:  Before I read After the Crack-Up, Lee Habeeb’s and Mike Leven’s article urging the Republican party to develop a strong and appealing narrative line, I’d heard of Lee Habeeb, because he’s published at NRO before, but I’d never heard of Michael Leven.  I got curious about him, though, [...]

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Tweet Today, a local reporter, in discussing proposed gun control laws, said that some people were concerned that such laws would “step on their Second Amendment rights.”  It occurred to me that she should have said the were concerned that gun control laws would impair their ability to protect themselves and their families from assaults and other [...]

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Tweet Adam Carolla has a new video for Prager University about the amazing human capacity for change based upon introspection and self-reflection.  Here’s the video, which I’ll follow with some comments, plus a post I wrote before the September 2010 midterm elections about my own changes: People who know me know that I read, and [...]

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Tweet My daughter and I visited my mother today.  While I helped my Mom with a few things, my daughter ferreted around in my Mom’s bookshelves, and discovered something I didn’t know existed — a book in which my grandmother’s friends at her finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland, wrote her farewell letters when she graduated [...]

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Tweet For those of you subscribing to the Bookworm Room newsletter — Thank you!! For those of you who haven’t subscribed yet, feel free to do so here. I try to send the newsletter out daily, although some days (especially over the weekends) life interferes, and I end up missing a day or two. Please [...]

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Tweet Communities in the Bay Area, especially Marin County, are known to have higher breast cancer rates than are found elsewhere in America.  We women keep getting studied.  And scientists keep having theories.  Here’s the latest article I’ve seen about Bay Area breast cancer rates.  If you read the article, you’ll find that, while it’s [...]

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Tweet I was going to write today, but I got a little confused during a workout and tried to catch a ball with my face instead of my hands. I’m happy to report that the ball is totally fine. I’m mostly fine, but feeling a little battered. No bruises, but my nose is usually smaller [...]

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Tweet To be honest, I have my doubts about how happy 2013 is going to be. (You can see my new year prediction, along with the more thoughtful ones from some of my fellow Watcher’s Council members, here.) Still, planning for the worst (even if only emotionally), doesn’t mean we can’t hope for the best. [...]

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Tweet To all my friends, I wish you a very Merry Christmas.  I extend this wish to Christians and non-Christians alike.  I feel so blessed to live in a country that shares this lovely holiday with everyone.

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Tweet Because my Mom elderly, and so are her friends, I hear lots of stories about the costs of elder care.  Here’s one that’s interesting.  I’ll stick to the hearsay facts I learned and let you draw the conclusions.  (And you’re free to tell me that those facts can’t possibly be right.  I have my [...]

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Tweet Few people have given more thought to evil than theologians.  Melissa Clouthier and Andrew Malcolm have posted an interview with Eugene Kennedy, former Catholic priest and current professor emeritus at Loyola University.  It’s well worth your time. (Broken link fixed.)

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Tweet Some days, I feel older than I do other days. It’s not the mirror that makes me feel this way, since I mostly avoid mirrors. Instead, it’s the signals my body is sending me. A combination of genetics, childbearing, and martial arts has left me with aches and pains all over. None of them [...]

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Tweet Some of you may have noticed that I now boast a Newsmax widget in my sidebar.  I’m actually pretty pleased, because you can’t just find and post that widget.  Instead, Newsmax invites people to host the widget.  The fact that Newsmax was willing to have me as one of their hosts means that I’ve [...]

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Tweet My number-one daughter just sent me a translation of the proposed new Egyptian Constitution. Comments? It certainly doesn’t seem to conform to press reports that I have read in regards thereto.  

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Tweet Perfumes are very personal.  What can smell wonderful on one person can smell vile on another.  Chanel No. 5 does not work well with me, nor do I like it much on other people.  There.  I’ve now admitted my bias. Acknowledging my prejudice is important, because it might explain my incomprehension at using a [...]

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Tweet I have to admit that, while I enjoyed the first Indiana Jones movie back in the day (making it the only Steven Spielberg movie I’ve ever liked), the sequels didn’t thrill me, and none of them are movies I watch now with any pleasure.  My kids, however, do enjoy the movies and I understand [...]

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Tweet I know that you’ll recognize these words immediately upon reading them.  I’ve only had to change them slightly to maintain their relevance to today’s issues: THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that [...]

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Tweet His public speeches are even better than his setpieces: [http://blip.tv/davidhorowitztv/bill-whittle-6444929]      

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Tweet (iPad wiped all my hyperlinks, so if you’re interested in the security programs I mention, you’ll have to search then yourself.) A friend’s email got hacked. This led to a discussion with a very knowledgeable person about the risks she now faces. Upon realizing she was hacked, she immediately changed her email password and [...]

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Tweet I don’t eat fish as often as I should.  I don’t particularly like fish’s taste and I hate handling fish.  I have a very sensitive nose and that smell on my fingers drives me bonkers.  My husband, however, does like fish and so, when he shops at Costco, he occasionally brings home frozen breaded [...]

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Tweet Not really death.  I exaggerate slightly.  How about — death of free time due to out-of-control in-boxes, both paper and electronic?  That pretty much sums up my morning.  I now hasten to read the day’s news stories. I have to admit that, since the election, I’ve been feeling a little flat when it comes [...]

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Tweet This evidence is pretty compelling.  Gallup found a larger gender gap in this election than in any other in history.  Romney won men by 8%.  Obama won women by 12%.  Comments?

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Tweet This internet ad caught my eye.  Please note that things are no longer “made in America.”  Instead, Americans just put the parts together. I hope they work more efficiently than I do when I open my Ikea box and try to put those parts together.  

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