Essays
Two years later: Close call sparked 'reframing'
Published on Sep 11th, 2003
0 comments For most people, September 11 has come and gone, but the anniversary will always be important to me because I was a block away when the first building fell. The people I have met who were at the...
Mitch was right: Why ex-cons deserve the vote
Published on Sep 4th, 2003
0 comments In January, 2001, Delegate Mitchell Van Yahres announced that he was sponsoring a bill to amend Virginia's Constitution to allow non-violent felons to regain the right to vote. Currently, ex-felons...
Must they? Madison Avenue knows no bounds
Published on Aug 28th, 2003
0 comments How did certain topics go from utterly unmentionable to uttered incessantly? Impotence, constipation, poorly endowed men, and comfortable tampons are not only out of the closet, they're agitating for...
My crime: 'You fit the description'
Published on Aug 21st, 2003
0 comments When the police van pulled up alongside me and the two officers jumped out, I moved to step aside, curious who/what they were looking for. I didn't have to wait long. They were looking for me. It was...
Terror futures: Why Pentagon betting is good
Published on Aug 14th, 2003
0 comments "Appalling," " repugnant," and "incredibly stupid" were a few of the choice words used by two U.S. senators, Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Ron Wyden (D-WA) over a Pentagon proposal to create a futures...
So Long, Hookville: Breaking loose from the velvet rut
Published on Aug 7th, 2003
0 comments I like to claim that I was blackmailed into coming to Charlottesville. The real story, of course, is that when it came time to make that pesky decision about college, my...
I-64: Ode to a Highway
Published on Aug 7th, 2003
0 comments Tell me the greatest danger facing travelers along Virginia's stretch of Interstate 64, that venerable highway stretching from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to St. Louis....
Must be seen: Viewers are mad about makeovers
Published on Jul 31st, 2003
0 comments Donna's adult daughters loved their 47-year-old mom, but they were embarrassed to be seen with her. She dressed in what she called "vintage Marshall's" and they called just plain tacky: a Halloween...
Treason's poison: Coulter spews pure nastiness
Published on Jul 24th, 2003
0 comments Ann Coulter's popularity on the right is a phenomenon that has baffled me for a long time. As someone who shares many political views identified as conservative, I have always cringed in...
Profit-sharing: Alaska showing Iraq the way?
Published on Jul 17th, 2003
0 comments Where are we? The second or third plan for rebuilding Iraq? Remember Jay Garner? Need I say more? Of course, it's not like Democrats have much of a plan for Iraq. Even as the pre-war arguments for...
Shopping bags: We are what we schlep
Published on Jul 10th, 2003
0 comments We urban warrior women, celebrated for our composure, guard a dirty little secret: We pack for the end of the world every single day. We can take it with us. Our men and our chiropractors don't...
Northern neck: Gay marriage boosted... by Canada
Published on Jul 3rd, 2003
0 comments One of the most exciting and pivotal events to happen in years to the gay rights movement in the United States just occurred– in another country entirely. Canada, soon expected to legalize same...
Card-carrying: Why a conservative joined the ACLU
Published on Jun 26th, 2003
0 comments For years, the American Civil Liberties Union has sent me quantities of junk mail soliciting me to join. No doubt they picked my name from the mailing lists of a lot of left-leaning publications to...
Fight for it: The right to party
Published on Jun 19th, 2003
0 comments A few years ago, when I was a reporter in Chicago, I did a story on a phenomenon I called "The New Prohibition." The city, for various reasons, was shutting down neighborhood bars. In poor black...
Afterglow: where have all the fireflies gone?
Published on Jun 12th, 2003
0 comments It's a childhood memory that many of us possess: Sitting on a front stoop as day turns to dusk, watching and waiting for the flash, flash, flash of fireflies to fill the summer night. But now those...
France matters: Don't mess with Texas-sized state
Published on Jun 5th, 2003
0 comments During the recent summit of G-8 countries in the French city of Evian, American and French officials worked hard to get over the bad blood between the two countries since France launched a diplomatic...
Potent weapon: Make sanctions, not war (yet)
Published on May 29th, 2003
0 comments Military action dominates the media coverage, but recent developments underscore, once again, the effectiveness of economic sanctions in punishing rogue regimes and persuading them to rejoin the...
Doubts abound: You better believe it or not
Published on May 22nd, 2003
0 comments Suppose a miracle is reported– say, another Virgin Mary sighting by Catholics, or the 900-foot Jesus seen by evangelist Oral Roberts. Some people will embrace this news joyfully, as evidence of...
Cloning: You shouldn't live so long
Published on May 15th, 2003
0 comments Fresh off its proposed ban on all human cloning, President Bush's Council on Bioethics is now considering whether it is ethical to pursue biomedical research aimed at extending human life spans. Last...
SARS wars: Genomics may save China
Published on May 8th, 2003
0 comments Thank goodness that SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) arrived in the Genomics Age. The malady has already infected 5,000 people and killed 327 since it broke out in China last year. A decade...
Private parts: Keep Santorum out of your closet
Published on May 1st, 2003
0 comments Pennsylvania Senator and chairman of the Republican Senate Caucus Rick Santorum has hit the buzz saw of history with his recent comments on homosexuality. Santorum told the Associated Press: "I have...
What'll it be? Will we lead by example or force?
Published on Apr 24th, 2003
0 comments Now that America has settled its beef with Saddam Hussein, all eyes are turning to Syria. Top American officials have recently charged the Syrians with possessing chemical weapons, harboring leaders...
Clothes modification: How fashion defines us
Published on Apr 17th, 2003
0 comments A woman I used to work with had a bad clothes reputation. Her problem wasn't overt sexiness or mindless trendiness. Rather, it was that she dramatically changed her "look" every few months. One...
Fat chance: Dating pointers at Weight Watchers
Published on Apr 10th, 2003
0 comments I've been wondering where it is a middle-aged single guy can meet women. It's an age-old problem. You can't go to nightclubs without appearing to be a father waiting to take his daughter home, or at...
Murder by dog: Owners liable for violent pets
Published on Apr 3rd, 2003
0 comments What do a gun, a knife, and a vicious dog have in common? They can all get you charged with murder. Just ask Marjorie Knoller, the lawyer convicted of second-degree murder and other charges last year...
Dirty bomb: No reason to be afraid
Published on Mar 27th, 2003
0 comments Stockpile food, get a pocket radio, hoard batteries, and find an easily sealed place in your apartment. Make a plan to flee the metropolis. If there is an inland waterway, consider using a skiff or a...
Documented: Riding across America with Diego
Published on Mar 20th, 2003
0 comments I'd never planned to do much traveling by Greyhound, particularly not coast-to-coast. Then again, I hadn't exactly planned to have my car and all my worldly possessions stolen in Los Angeles, either...
Has-been highs: Losing the personal drug war
Published on Mar 13th, 2003
0 comments At what point does youthful experimentation become embarrassing and pathetic? If Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston aren't on hand to give you the answer, maybe we can help. Join decorum expert Allison...
Fred Rogers: Esteem-builder for hard-boiled kids
Published on Mar 6th, 2003
0 comments February 27– Mr. Rogers died this morning. In an interview, Mr. McFeely, the Neighborhood's postman, said that Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood had been running since 1966. That means I saw the first...
Where's the pot? Straining for an elusive bargain
Published on Feb 27th, 2003
0 comments The ad for Kohl's department store in my Saturday morning newspaper reported the astounding news that Kohl's had the pasta pot on sale. Not an ordinary pasta pot, but the pasta pot "as seen on TV,"...