Hubby always has been a space cadet. From the time that he was a boy he was into planetary exploration, both fiction and non-fiction. This was in Arkansas, where we each knew folks who still argued against the notion that the world was round. Such flatlanders pretty much have given up saying that aloud in public, but they continue to believe that much of what they see through the magic of television is a hoax -- so in their hearts, why not? Denial is a fundamental principle of fundamentalists, and they not only are anti-science, they also see themselves as the victims of consistent liars and sophisticated schemers. They vote for candidates who endorse creationism and other unscientific ideas – and yet such politicians also often endorse STEM.  Read More 

A young man who looked like a skinhead came to the door the other day, asking if we could give him enough gas to make it to the station down the road. Hubby sized him up and decided that our principles of good will outweighed the possible loss of a gas can. He led him to the garage, and as they talked, the young man said that someone had thrown a bottle at him. He was shocked and appalled – and even more so when Hubby suggested it may have had something to do with the Confederate flag baseball cap that he was wearing.  Read More 

I write this column on Mondays, and tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7, will be the 150th anniversary of the execution of Mary Surratt. That means nothing to most people, certainly not to most of those who loudly proclaim their Southern heritage -- and who almost always know almost nothing about that history. One of them, when interviewed in a newspaper report on the July 4 local rally of pick-up truck drivers and motorcycle riders who substitute noise for thought, inadvertently disclosed his true beliefs: he told a reporter that he used to wear the uniform of a Union solider, but switched to Confederate when Obama was elected.  Read More