The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

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What is Israel Doing?

By Orlando on Mon, 12/29/2008 - 5:43pm | World Affairs

I used to watch The West Wing. In one of the very first episodes, the fictional president gets a briefing from the fictional Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in which the term “proportional response” is explained. The president is angry because terrorists shot down a military transport plane carrying someone with whom he had a personal relationship and he is ready to unleash the power of the United States military in retribution. The Chairman patiently explains that when they shoot down one of our planes, we take out a target that would be considered equitable.

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World Affairs
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Threat Level ORANGE or Merry Christmas from NORAD: Your Tax Dollars at Work

By Orlando on Wed, 12/24/2008 - 11:28am | Humor & Satire

After 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security gave us a nicely color-coded Fear Chart, so that we, the American people, would know just exactly how afraid we are. You know how Deadman was saying the other day that he uses the Weather.com minute-by-minute forecast to know when to walk his dog? That’s kind of how I am with the Homeland Security Fear Chart. Because without it, I wouldn’t have any idea how scared I was.

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Humor & Satire
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Rick Warren: It's only a prayer, for the love of God

By Orlando on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 1:46pm | Politics

Dear fellow Liberals,

Listen up.

Obama's decision to ask Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration is not a slap in the face. It's not a betrayal. It's not an indication that Obama is a secret conservative who is going to force you to have babies with a non-same-sex partner.

It's a freaking prayer.

Topics: 
Politics
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Halcyon Days of Yore

By Orlando on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 10:02pm | Personal

I've been doing a lot of research into my family history lately, for this little project I'm working on. I'm following lines back into the past, trying to figure out who came over, when they came over, etc. It's interesting stuff. So interesting that I stayed up all night on Saturday, compulsively searching for more and more information. I finally fell asleep somewhere around 6 am, and when my dog woke me at 10 to go out, I got up and started searching some more. (Which is why I was so (apparently) mean to our new guest blogger Prophet on Sunday.

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Personal
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Stop the Presses: Feminists to Blame for the Economic Crisis!

By Orlando on Fri, 12/12/2008 - 9:52am | Social Justice

The other night, I was talking to a friend when she suggested that feminists were to blame for the current economic crisis. It was hyperbole, I’m certain. Although at the time I changed the subject because I was so shocked to learn that she felt that way.

Topics: 
Social Justice
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Stuff I Learned: John Adams

By Orlando on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 3:43pm | Humor & Satire

My reading of The American Presidency by Alan Brinkely continues. Chapter Two: John Adams. Here's what I learned...

Adams grew up in the country town of Braintree, Massachusetts. They later changed the name of the town to Quincy to disguise the fact that the uncommon intelligence of the townspeople was attributed to a tea made from the leaves of the magical tree.

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Humor & Satire
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Why do doctors suck so much?

By Orlando on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 7:09pm | Personal

I’ve known a lot of doctors in my life. And when I say known, I mean spent five minutes in a small room with, while I explained what was wrong with me after which they made their diagnosis and got irritated when I asked my inevitable questions.

What can I say? I like to learn stuff. I’m inquisitive that way.

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Personal
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What are you reading?

By Orlando on Mon, 12/01/2008 - 9:36pm | Arts & Entertainment

I love books. And I love talking about books--more than politics. Actually, WAY more than politics.

Right now, I'm reading Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. It's a fictionalized version of a love affair that Frank Lloyd Wright had with a woman he designed a house for. So far, I like it and I especially like that it happened in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago where Wright designed many houses. I'm not far enough into it yet to say much more than that.

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Arts & Entertainment
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Giving Thanks and Something More

By Orlando on Thu, 11/27/2008 - 9:40am | Social Justice

No matter where each of us finds ourselves on Thanksgiving Day, we all no doubt have reasons to be thankful. I am thankful for family and friends; for my sweet dog, who found me in March; for the opportunity to work hard to bring about something that hasn't happened in my lifetime--a Democrat winning my state's electoral college votes. I am thankful for summer, for music, for the fact that Chicago is only a couple hours away. I'm thankful for the people in my life that challenge me to be better.

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Social Justice
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Stuff I Learned: George Washington

By Orlando on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 5:50pm | Humor & Satire

I’ve been reading the book The American Presidency this year. It’s been taking me a long time to get through because, honestly, non-fiction kind of bores me. Still, I have been learning all sorts of fun facts about our nation’s leaders, so I thought I would share some. Eleven months after I started, I'm up to James Madison. I figure if I force myself to write about the presidents, I’ll eventually finish the book. So, here we go:

George Washington – Stuff I learned:

Topics: 
Humor & Satire

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Biography
Orlando is a teacher and aspiring novelist, living a mysterious and reclusive life somewhere in Asia. She used to live a reclusive and mysterious life somewhere in Indiana until Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence became national figures, making it far too humiliating to continue residing there. In her spare time, she travels the world--or her small part of it--snapping pictures and writing down random thoughts to share with the dagblog crowd.

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