The more we forget. I wrote this column in my head last week, eating lunch at the convention center (their food is pretty good, by the way) during the annual fundraiser for the Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women (COSW). Composed of volunteers, it is nonetheless an official county entity, with members appointed by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). Although I’ve served on a number of such entities, I’ve never been sure that any agency under the aegis of government should hold fundraisers, let alone at $75 a plate -- but I’ve had that debate with myself for decades, and we’ll let it go.  Read More 

That maxim has been attributed variously to Thomas Jefferson, Tom Paine, and other revolutionaries of the American Revolution, as well as to Henry David Thoreau. He lived later, but advocated civil disobedience as a response to the human slavery that was legal in many states. The version of the maxim that I like best, however, is from our Stephen Colbert: “The government that governs best governs least – and by that standard, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.”  Read More 

What is the rate of evolution? Is anyone attempting to measure this? Specifically, when I was a kid in Arkansas, it was routine for dogs to chase cars on our unpaved, rural road. Sis and I were talking about this when she was here recently, recalling how she accidentally killed a dog who ran out to capture her car – when she was heavily pregnant and was rushing me to the doctor to sew up a deep cut I got on a rusty fence. I still have the scar, but the car incident wasn’t as bad as it could have been: the homeowner came out and said it was her son-in-law’s dog, and she never liked him anyway.  Read More