Reading List

I can't entirely recommend it, because it has its tedious sections, but the dual voices of purdah-confined mother and slightly-more-worldly son provide a fascinating contrast, and many of the facts were new to me. For example, I had no idea that bin Laden had his whole family around him in his Kandahar training camp, nor did I know that several of his very young children disappeared with him after 9/11 and have never been seen since. As the study of a man growing away from his roots and toward Jihadist extremism, it's not entirely successful, since neither son nor wife really understood the guy--but it's worth a few hours of your time.

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Thanksgiving Breakfast

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Exporting the Culture Wars

The culture wars seem to have gone underground here, despite losses on gay marriage in ME and the advent of Sarah Palin's "memoirs." However, they are alive and well in Uganda, where members of our own Family are encouraging the former guerilla leader and current Christian crackpot president, Yoweri Museveni, in his attempts to wipe out homosexuality in his beloved Africa.

Homosexuality has been illegal in Uganda for a long time, but now there is an active attempt, supported by the president, to marginalize this criminalized group into oblivion. If a proposed bill passes, people will be jailed if they fail to report the existence of gay men and women in their families, villages, or workplaces. A gay person with HIV/AIDS or one who has sex with a teenager may be sentenced to death.

A conference that took place in Kampala earlier this year featured three truly homobigot Americans who make a living either promoting "reparative therapy" for gay men and women or, in the case of Scott Lively, blaming everything from the Holocaust to the Rwandan genocide on the misguided passions of homosexual men.

I am happy to report that there is an active presence on Facebook that aims to fight this bill, a bill that, along with its attempt to kill off gays in Africa, threatens to drive HIV/AIDS education underground, which may in itself prove fatal.

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R.I.P.

Has it really been 46 years since that day in Mr. Raszmann's fourth grade classroom?

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Local Biz

I received this notice from someone at TC3 about a Dryden business I'd never heard of:

Did you know that the warehouse of the sole U. S. distributor of Modigliani Italian dinnerware is located in Dryden? Another claim to fame (besides TC3) for Dryden! Most of their sales are done via the Internet and through high end retailers, but they've decided to open the warehouse for direct sales each weekend between now and Christmas. All prices are wholesale. I bought a serving platter for $17 that retails on their website for $86 and mugs for $9 that are usually $36 each. They have all kinds of dinnerware as well as glassware and eating utensils.

The warehouse is located at 39 Elm Street in Dryden and is open 10 - 4 Saturdays and Sundays until Christmas.

In the spirit of supporting local businesses, I'm passing it on.

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The Sisters in Philadelphia

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Final and Official

While you don't like to see your candidate winning by 5 votes for a town seat or 8 for a county seat, we'll take it.

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