Is there anything more disgusting than a bunch of pathetic, envious nobodies dumping on a woman who dared to work and become famous as a result of that work?

Yes, there is! It’s the same bunch of nobodies declaring that the charitable work of others does not live up to their eminent standards in spite of providing no proof that they ever did anything for anybody.

Mother Teresa has never been of much interest to me, but you have got to be a piece of work to declare that you are dissatisfied with her charitable efforts because they don’t measure up to what you consider to be true charity.

People who are worried that the needy are not getting adequate help might consider actually doing something for those needy instead of dumping on those who do help.

A blogger writes:

I’ve started to really hate being asked “where are you from?” It’s a hard question to answer.

I live in New Zealand now, but I’ve spent two-thirds of my life in the US. I sound mostly American – although not as much as I used to. But my family has been in New Zealand for over a century, and in some cases since the 1840s. (OG pakehas, is what I’m saying.) At this point, I’m probably more comfortable being a Kiwi than an American – although I switch back and forth in search of that parallax view.

I never know how to answer this question either.

If I say “From Ukraine”, people ask me when I arrived, how I like it here, and when I am going “back home.” They also give me large, welcoming smiles, enunciate every word very clearly and loudly, and ask if America is what I imagined it to be. “Hamburgers! Fourth of July! Freedom! McDonald’s!” they yell at me, making me feel very uncomfortable.

If I say “From Canada”, I feel stupid because I have now lived in the US for a total of 9 years as opposed to the 6 years I lived in Canada.

If I say “From St. Louis”, people ask me about my accent and we immediately end up back in the “From Ukraine” scenario.

The way I would prefer to answer, of course, is “In 1998 I emigrated to Canada from Ukraine. Five years later, I went to Connecticut for my graduate studies, after which I moved back to Canada for a year. Then. . .” I notice, however, that people give me terrified looks when I do that.

The best answer I have found to the “So where are you from?” question is the vague “I’m from around. . .”

Among all the hysterically stupid arguments of the anti-choicers, this is my favorite:

Yesterday, during an appearance on Fox News, Republican Texas Governor and total garbage nightmare Rick Perry said that Wendy Davis should be grateful her mother did not abort her because “[y]ou never know who’s going to be considered to be an extraordinary individual.” It was a compliment, he explained.

This reminded me of a “Smile! Your mother chose life!” bumper sticker N. and I saw on the road recently. We both dissolved in laughter and almost caused an accident.

The stupidity of these people is such that they never stop to consider that they have no idea what choices any individual woman made in order to  make the pregnancy that resulted in birth possible. She could have had a dozen abortions which enabled her to make the choice to give birth to Davis, Perry, me, or you. We might all very easily owe our existence to any number of fetuses stepping out of the way for us.

This is why I propose a new bumper sticker: “Smile! Anti-choicers are so stupid that they have lost their cause already.”

There is no such thing as useless knowledge. I have endless examples proving that every opportunity to learn something new should be used.

Yesterday, for instance, I spent all day shopping, running errands, going from one place to another. It was extremely hot, my belly was flapping around, and I was exhausted.

When I finally got home, I discovered that a new book had arrived. I wasn’t sure I had energy or time to start a new book then and there.

I got over myself, though, and started the new book. My reward caught up with me on page 46 where I discovered a fact that allowed me to avoid a very embarrassing mistake in an article I was going to submit today. If I had postponed the book by a single day, I would have sent out an article with a mistake.

Given that I only have this career because 14,5 years ago I memorized some completely random words in Spanish in preparation for a placement test I had no chance of passing, I now know for sure that there is no useless knowledge.