My family always celebrated Thanksgiving, no matter if we were in Teheran, London or Salinas, California. And while we grew up knowing we were descendents of Osage and Lakota forebears, it wasn’t until college that I came to appreciate native traditions.
Native students and faculty hosted large gatherings on campus during Thanksgiving, with piles of food from myriad traditions. Continue reading
Just got an email from my credit card company asking me to pledge to “shop small” this holiday season. My first thought was that this is a clever way to endear people like me: you won’t catch me lining up outside WalMart at 5 a.m. to fill my cart.
On closer reading, however, the company wants to reward you for…spending money. That’s right: show your support of the anti-Black Friday crowd by buying something. Continue reading
The slew of mean-spirited responses to my recent editorial got me thinking about being silenced.
A book about being silenced changed the way I look at relationships. I’ve been tempted to give copies to all my girlfriends but it feels too presumptuous.
Dana Crowley Jack’s book, Silencing the Self, talks about how women often store their anger, their complaints and thus their voices in relationships. Point is, that activity leads to self-silencing and, for some women, depression. Continue reading
Journalism practices have changed dramatically since the days I worked as a reporter and today any poor sod with a keyboard can wax moronically just by pushing a button marked “send.”
Bile erupted in response to an editorial I wrote for our local paper about Judge Richard J. Leon’s ruling last week that the FDA cannot place bold warning labels and graphic images on cigarette packages. Continue reading
On Monday the Oregonian placed my opinion piece on the top of the guest editorial column, complete with photos of the proposed cigarette packs, and a link to opinions online.
I’m flattered the newspaper found salience in my views but dismayed that reader responses went postal. Continue reading
Anti-smoking image
Mulling over the federal judge’s decision early this week, I noted that the court ruled graphic images and bold warning labels would harm tobacco companies’ free speech rights. As a result, the judge halted the FDA plans to require new warnings and graphics on cigarette packs in 2012. Continue reading
Cigarette Ad
The FDA was incorporating the same logic as the cigarette companies’ advertisers, who try to link smoking with the lifestyles imagined by smokers: sexy, rebellious, cool. Continue reading
A few years ago, my husband (former) and I were having dinner with a couple—accomplished and sane—and I admired the woman’s ring. She said it was a 10-year anniversary present from her spouse: a diamond.
I didn’t get the memo. Continue reading
Proposed Cigarette Pack
Several companies joined in the lawsuit, arguing that the new images and words would harm their free speech. Continue reading
Today the buzz-word is sustainability. The word has caught fire in academic circles with the most recent converts a group of scientists that examines risk. The SRA folks—Society for Risk Analysis—sent an email announcing the 2012 conference will focus on, among other things, Risk and Sustainable Development. Continue reading
Cynthia (Ištá Tȟó Tȟó) Coleman Emery's Blog 