by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 17, 2012 | Blog
Well, this is very interesting. It seemed the Founding Fathers, and any number of the framers of the Constitution had no trouble with individual mandates. Check out this article. Personally I wish we’d fought for Medicare for all rather than this mess that is a gift to the frackin’ insurance companies, but I’ll take anything that doesn’t leave me without health care because of my pre-existing condition.
by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 17, 2012 | Blog
I’m trying again to figure out how to actually embed a video in Joomla. Actually, I’m contemplating a redesign of my website — it’s been a number of years with it looking exactly the same, and changing back to WordPress which I found easier than Joomla, but I need time to think about a new design. Actually, I would love to hear from any readers about what they think would be a cool design that honors the sense of adventure and science fiction and...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 11, 2012 | Blog
Now that Bioware has said they will “amplify” the unsatisfying ending to the Mass Effect saga some game critics are bemoaning the power of the “spoiled” fans, and saying that games are art and this crybaby attitude is threatening artistic integrity. They point out that people might not like the end of The Hunger Games or the Harry Potter series, but they don’t get to demand that the author write a new ending. Yeah, that’s because books are different...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 7, 2012 | Blog
Why do happy endings get such a bad rap? I’m not talking about sappy, unrealistic endings, but honest endings in which people get what they need even if they may not get what they want. I know it’s fashionable for critics to sneer at the happy ending as if only grief and suffering have value, but I think that devalues the things we celebrate as humans — friendship, love, laughter and triumph. As my friend Sage Walker said — life is about our struggle...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 3, 2012 | Blog
I think I’ve figured out why breakfast is my favorite meal. It’s because mostly I eat a small piece of ham or bacon and an egg. I rarely do toast. And that’s because carbs, particularly those with gluten in them are starting to really make me sick. It was cold and snowing, and I wanted comfort food, and to cook something easy for dinner last night so I thawed some of my home made spaghetti sauce, cooked up some pasta, and made a salad. I ate...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Apr 1, 2012 | Blog
I’m not a huge fan of Woody Allen movies. I’ve only liked a handful of them. Then I watched MIDNIGHT IN PARIS this morning. I loved this movie. First it’s a fantasy, and I wish I had seen it before I did my Hugo nominations, and it speaks to that all too human condition of dissatisfaction with our lives. Owen Wilson was enormously appealing and hapless, and he was a writer which made him all the more endearing to me. I loved the fact that...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 28, 2012 | Blog
We’ve been having a discussion of religious belief on a chat group that includes a lot of my writer buddies. Most of us are agnostic or atheist, but Steve Gould posted this lovely little quote. It sort of sums up my feelings on the subject. As I’ve said repeatedly, I don’t care what damn crazy thing people believe as long as they don’t push their beliefs on me, or make public policy or laws based on their beliefs. And no, atheism isn’t just...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 23, 2012 | Blog
And apparently the penalty is death. I know several African-American fathers who advise their sons — don’t ever run in public. Don’t drive your car in predominately white neighborhoods even if you went there to visit a friend. Now, according to Geraldo you shouldn’t wear a hoodie either. What a horrible burden we are placing on these kids. Make one mistake, be exuberant and you can get killed. This reminds me of women getting blamed for...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 23, 2012 | Blog
Going into this you have to understand that I adore A PRINCESS OF MARS. It was the first science fiction book that I ever read all by myself. When I was a miserable 7th grader I’d dream about being transported to Mars and riding across the dead sea bottoms and exploring the vast ruined cities, and maybe a handsome Martian prince would love me the way John Carter loved Dejah Thoris. And that is why, at the most basic level, the Disney movie failed. There were a...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 20, 2012 | Blog
I’ve been trying to post this link to a guest post on John Scalzi’s blog, but Facebook seems to be unwilling to allow the post to go up. So, I’m going to put it here, and hope I can at least reference it over on Facebook. I’m linking to an amazing guest blog post on John Scalzi’s blog. It is well worth reading, and before someone screams at me the VA removed the requirement from their law please recall it is still required in Texas and is poised to pass a...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 14, 2012 | Blog
Here is a teaser of a bill that has passed the house in Arizona and is on it’s way to the AZ Senate for a vote. Arizona legislators have advanced an unprecedented bill that would require women who wish to have their contraception covered by their health insurance plans to prove to their employers that they are taking it to treat medical conditions. The bill also makes it easier for Arizona employers to fire a woman for using birth control to prevent pregnancy despite the...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 14, 2012 | Blog
I try to keep faith in the innate good sense of the American people, and then I come across this recent poll of voters in Mississippi and Alabama and I know despair. 66% of people in Mississippi do not believe in evolution. The number 60% in Alabama. The press mostly nattered about the other finding in this poll that most people in those states thought President Obama was a Muslim. I found that less terrifying then the evolution question. The hate this president,...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 14, 2012 | Blog
Over on Facebook I linked to an article in Ohio that I thought would amuse people only to find it outraged a conservative/libertarian, I don’t know what he was. Here was the original article. It was all about a state senator proposing a bill that would force men to bring a signed affidavit from their partner that they were impotent before they could get Viagra, and placing other obstacles in the way of obtaining this medication. It was meant to be satirical, a way to...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 12, 2012 | Blog
Back from three days of horse showing in Albuquerque and I’m exhausted. Still, I accomplished my goal — to earn two scores above 60% at third level so I could apply for my Bronze Medal. To earn the bronze from the United States Dressage Federation you have to earn two scores above 60% at first level, second level and third level, and each score has to be at a different show and under a different judge. Despite incredibly challenging conditions on Friday and...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 1, 2012 | Blog
Look, I didn’t like Andrew Breitbart. I agreed with nothing he said. What he did to Shirley Sherrod was disgusting, unfair, and he was, rightly, called to account for it. But the man has died at the very young age of 43, and I don’t think liberals should be dancing on his grave. It’s shabby and small and unworthy of what we profess to believe. And the argument that people on the right celebrated when Ted Kennedy died so that makes it all right —...
