” … the Founders told us that the Earth died because of greed. That was true, but they lied about whose greed was to blame. …”
“What the Leaving proved was that the Earth could sustain billions, if we simply shared resources and responsibilities in a sensible way. What it couldn’t sustain was a handful of hateful, self-important parasites, preying upon and paralyzing everyone else.
“… he’d said the main character in her play was unrelatable, because she made questionable choices. At the time, he was producing a revival of Sweeney Todd, about a barber with anger-management issues who murdered his patrons.” p163
“Grief was the tax of having something precious.” p324
“Humans are a time-binding species, existing, in the eternal now. The future flows through them and becomes the past, but it is always the present that counts.” from “Overdrawn on the Memory Bank”
I’ve been thinking that I am UNlike my dog in this respect, in that SHE lives only in the present b/c she can’t imagine the future or remember the past (consciously). So this comment is interesting to me …
*
“When a 20th [century person] gets to talking about his ‘rights’ and what he is ‘owed’, things can get out of hand.” from “Air Raid”
Yeah. I always want to ask, ‘On what basis are you OWED such-and-such?’ The phrase ‘I owe it to myself’ in particular annoys the hell out of me.
Their response, if they could think, would have to be something like the premise ‘I am entitled to everything’ or ‘You are obligated to give me everything’. An indefensible claim if there ever was one.
“Women have no rights, Don, except what men allow us. Men are more aggressive and powerful, and they run the world. …”
…
“Men and women aren’t different species, Ruth. Women do everything men do.”
“Do they?” .. She mutters something that could be “My Lai” and looks away. “All the endless wars …” Her voice is a whisper. “All the huge authoritarian organizations for doing unreal things. Men live to struggle against each other; we’re just part of the battlefields. It’ll never change unless you change the whole world. …”
…
“For Christ’s sake, Ruth, they’re aliens!” [when she asks to go with them]
“I’m used to it,” she says absently. …
from “The Women Men Don’t See,” James Tiptree, Jr.
*
“Intelligence simply hasn’t evolved there,” they reported. “Social structure is at the level of crude incubation ritual with some migratory clanning. Frankly, it looks unnestworthy. A pesky lot of mammals have clobbered up the place with broken shells. Of interest only to students of pseudo-evolution.”
“Many government webpages that have the word “climate” in them have been removed in recent days, particularly at EPA, where on Jan. 27, all information about climate change was removed from its homepage and other prominent areas of its website, burying it deep in sections that are harder to find.”
“Is there a moral or logical justification for a creator to weild capricious power of life and death over his creations?” from “Stones of Significance”
"We License Plumbers and Pilots - Why Not Parents?"At Issue: Is Parenthood a Right or a Privilege? ed. Stefan Kiesbye (Greenhaven, 2009); Current Controversies: Child Abuse, ed. Lucinda Almond (Thomson/Gale, 2006); Seattle Post-Intelligencer (October 2004)
"A Humanist View of Animal Rights"New Humanist September 99; The New Zealand Rationalist and Humanist Winter 98; Humanist in Canada Winter 97
have been previously published in Canadian Woman Studies, Herizons, Humanist in Canada, The Humanist, and The Philosopher's Magazine - contact Peg for acknowledgement details.
ImpactAn extended confrontation between a sexual assault victim and her assailants, as part of an imagined slightly revised court process, in order to understand why they did what they did and, on that basis, to make a recommendation to the court regarding sentence does not go … as expected.
What Happened to TomTom, like many men, assumes that since pregnancy is a natural part of being a woman, it’s no big deal: a woman finds herself pregnant, she does or does not go through with it, end of story. But then …
Aiding the EnemyWhen Private Ann Jones faces execution for “aiding the enemy,” she points to American weapons manufacturers who sell to whatever country is in the market.
Bang BangWhen a young boy playing “Cops and Robbers” jumps out at a man passing by, the man shoots him, thinking the boy’s toy gun is real. Who’s to blame?
ForeseeableAn awful choice in a time of war. Whose choice was it really?
Exile (full-length drama) Finalist, WriteMovies; Quarterfinalist, Fade-In.
LJ lives in a U . S. of A., with a new Three Strikes Law: first crime, rehab; second crime, prison; third crime, you’re simply kicked out – permanently exiled to a designated remote area, to fend for yourself without the benefits of society. At least he used to live in that new U. S. of A. He’s just committed his third crime.
What Happened to Tom (full-length drama) Semifinalist, Moondance.
This guy wakes up to find his body’s been hijacked and turned into a human kidney dialysis machine – for nine months.
Aiding the Enemy (full-length drama and short drama)
When Private Ann Jones faces execution for “aiding the enemy,” she points to American weapons manufacturers who sell to whatever country is in the market.
Bang Bang (short drama 30min) Finalist, Gimme Credit; Quarter-finalist, American Gem.
When a young boy playing “Cops and Robbers” jumps out at a man passing by, the man shoots him, thinking the boy’s toy gun is real. Who’s to blame?
Foreseeable (short drama 30min)
An awful choice in a time of war. Whose choice was it really?
What is Wrong with this Picture?
Nothing. There’s no reason women can’t be the superordinates and men the subordinates. But life’s not like that (yet).
Minding Our Own Business A collection of skits (including “The Price is Not Quite Right,” “Singin’ in the (Acid) Rain,” “Adverse Reactions,” “The Band-Aid Solution,” and “See Jane. See Dick.”) with a not-so-subtle environmental message
Rot in Hell A soapbox zealot and an atheist face off…