Be Bold for International Women’s Day 2017
My son asked me, “Why do we have International Women’s Day?” And frankly, I wasn’t sure I was bold enough to give him the honest answer.
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Tag: politics
‘Beauty and the Beast’ Is Less Progressive Than Promised
There’s a lot of buzz about the new live-action remake of the 1991 classic. How much of it is true, and how much of it is overblown?
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Bathroom Politics
Does the toilet paper roll go on forwards or backwards? What’s the big deal about the seat being up or down? These are the kinds of arguments we have fought over too long. It’s time for a third party to come in and show us new solutions that don’t rely on dichotomies!
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Book Review: ‘Invasion’ by Luke Rhinehart
‘Invasion’ by Luke Rhinehart is a political satire that promotes fun whilst examining the state of the nation.
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President Hermione – Secretary Buffy: Female Fantasy Cabinet
What would you do if you could pick a President and her entire Cabinet from all the female ficitional characters in sci-fi and comics? GeekMom Karen lists her fantasy team.
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14 Ways to Help Kids Survive (and Learn From) the Political Season
Help your kids tune out the noise and tune into age-appropriate resources for political news.
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Can Cleveland Keep Feeling the Love?
One of the things I like about sports is that it teaches us that race doesn’t matter.
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5 Things Bremainers Can Take from Geekdom Today
Here are five things Bremainers can take away from our favourite geeky passions to help process Brexit and what is to come.
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Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: 'SuperPACS' Now Live!
If you enjoy poking fun at the American political system whilst simultaneously becoming a master pundit, ‘SuperPACS’ is for you. Live now on Kickstarter.
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Gather ‘Round Padawans (Part Seven): Sam Wilson: Captain America
Sam, as an adult, black male, is feeling the full brunt of deeply ingrained social prejudices. The weight of history. And, horrifyingly, he is losing to it.
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Is Donald Trump Leading the U.S. Down the Path to the Dark Side?
This election season, are there political lessons we should learn from the Star Wars prequels?
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Kickstarter TableTop Alert: The Contender
What happens when the heated debate of political rhetoric meets the family fun of games like Apples to Apples? Magic party fun!
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‘The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters’ – A Call to Arms
Geekdom has never been more popular. Mark Henderson thinks now is the time to challenge unscientific thinking in the political arena. ‘The Geek Manifesto’ is a call to arms.
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Serious Comics, Part 4: Avoiding the Subject
There are few things that get people riled up more quickly than politics and religion—but as it turns out there are plenty of comics that deal with the two. They may not be the best topics for dinner conversation, but they have certainly inspired some great comics.
Continue ReadingGeekDad Puzzle of the Week Answer: Presidential Politics
Living in Colorado, my family has two things hanging on the front door — garlic to ward off vampires and an “I Voted” sticker to turn back the canvassers. Bath time hasn’t been this peaceful in a month. This week’s …
Continue ReadingGeekDad Puzzle of the Week: Presidential Politics
‘Tis the season. Yes, it’s the season of love and togetherness…punctuated by the odd political canvasser who arrives in the middle of the kids’ bath time and doesn’t think it’s funny when you jest that your ancient Labrador merely wants …
Continue ReadingPat Schroeder Interview and The House That Went On Strike
Exclusive interview with woman pioneer and former Rep. Patricia Schroeder, and a look at her latest project: The House That Went on Strike.
Continue ReadingVoting is for the Girls!
We raise our children to be the bosses of their own bodies. We teach them to dress and wash and feed themselves, and to keep their private parts private. But if our children happen to be daughters, there’s an oft-neglected aspect of self-care that we must impart: Voting. It may seem strange to count […]
Continue ReadingCongress Looking to Declare Pizza Is a Vegetable for School Lunches
The U.S. Congress is looking to vote on an appropriations bill that, among other things, will revise the guidelines set for federally-funded school lunch programs. In a move eerily similar to the “ketchup is a vegetable” rules in the ’80s, …
Continue ReadingPirates Seeking Power In 40 Countries
The most recent copy of New Scientist just made it to our house. I rarely get my hands on this weekly until my offspring have read it (which may be why dinner table discussions around here are too scientifically advanced for me). But I managed to sit down with the magazine over coffee this […]
Continue ReadingBanned Books Week: We Need More Tangos
One of the most fun books to talk about during Banned Books Week is the lovable, adorable And Tango Makes Three. Even extreme penguin cuteness cannot warm the frozen shell around a book banner’s heart. Why? Because the penguins are (gasp!) gay. If you don’t know And Tango Makes Three, it’s the true story of Silo […]
Continue ReadingReview: The Real State of America Atlas
I received a package of books for review several weeks ago, courtesy of Penguin Books. My eighteen-year-old, Brad, immediately picked up The Real State of America Atlas: Mapping the Truths of the United States by Cynthia Enloe and Joni Seager and thumbed through it. “This is going to be a good book,” he announced. Filled […]
Continue ReadingFront Yard Veggie Garden – Cleared of All Charges
Earlier this month, GeekMom Kris Bordessa wrote about the story of a Michigan woman, Julie Bass, who was being prosecuted for having a front yard garden. The Bass family put in the garden after their lawn had to be torn up due to a sewer line that needed to be repaired. I’ve been following Julie […]
Continue ReadingMichigan Woman Could Get 93 Days in Jail for Planting a Garden
Michelle Obama lives in arguably the most prestigious home in America. In 2009, she dug up a portion of the South Lawn and installed an organic vegetable garden to provide fresh produce for the White House kitchen. Short of the chemical companies who produce pesticides – definitely not allowed in an organic garden – who […]
Continue ReadingAttention, Canucks: Instead of Lining Up for iPads, Line Up to Vote (Please)
A quick shout out to our Canadian readers. This is May 2 and that means today is general election day. Yes, again (the third since 2006) and the 41st since Confederation. My kids have been talking about this for weeks …
Continue ReadingBack to Our Future: The 1980s and How They Affected and Were Affected By Everything Else
What lingering effect did the 1980s have on our society and culture today? David Sirota tries to answer that question in his new book, Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live in Now — Our …
Continue ReadingCelebrating the Year of the Rabbit
Happy Lunar New Year! 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, so I thought I’d share a few facts and scattered memories about some New Year traditions. Read on for some trivia about the Chinese zodiac, a quirky family story …
Continue ReadingRally to Restore Youthful Idealism
When my older son was little, he would come home from school and make a beeline straight through the house to the backyard swing set. We called it swing therapy: after a day of staying on task and holding in fidgets, he would desperately need to decompress. Rain, snow, sleet or hail, he’d be out […]
Continue ReadingGeek the Vote: Politics for Kids
The number of American political geeks under age eighteen is predictably low. I mean, why should kids geek out about something they can’t even participate in? The better question is: Why shouldn‘t they? Kids aren’t allowed to vote, but that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of understanding what’s going on around them. Besides, kids are natural […]
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