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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Do Books Have Rights? This One Didn’t. I Threw It in the Trash.

September 14, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[caption id="attachment_9888" align="aligncenter" width="500"]children's book reviewer barbara falconer newhall has tossed a children's book in the trash. Photo by BF Newhall Into the trash with this adorable mousey book! Photo by BF. Newhall[/caption]

It was a book, a children’s book. But I dumped it in the garbage anyway. I threw it out the way I would toss out a dead flashlight battery or a slab of moldy cheddar. Read more.

John Shelby Spong: Christianity (Some of It) Is Bunk

September 11, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

John Shelby Spong book jacket, Eternal Life: A New Vision

Former Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong minces no words: It’s time to ditch the two principle beliefs of Western religion. First,
that God is other. And second, that we are alienated from God, guilty as hell, and in dire need of atonement. Read more.

GodsBigBlog: I’m Off to a Religion Newswriters Conference

September 7, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I’m off to a Religion Newswriters Association conference in Minneapolis. Religion and the Obama administration, religion and immigration, and The Case of the Disappearing Hymnal will be among the topics. See you when I get back!

Scrubbing the Floor With My Daughter Cinderella

September 4, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

cover of the vhs version of the disney movie, cinderella

There was no getting around it. Christina, who is 51/2, intended to wash our kitchen floor. She had been studying her “Cinderella” videotape for weeks, and now she wanted nothing more than to scrub. Read more

GodsBigBlog: Does a Teacher Have the Right to Wear a Muslim Headscarf? A Nun’s Habit? A Sikh’s Turban? Not in Every State

September 3, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Three states still have laws on the books prohibiting public school teachers from wearing religious garments in the classroom.

GodsBigBlog: Hunger in America — It’s Real

September 3, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

My writer colleague Laura Willis reports from Sewannee, Tennessee, that the economic crisis is hitting people pretty hard in the Southern Cumberland Plateau. Hundreds of people stood in line for hours to receive food . . . .

A Case of the Human Condition: Flowers Bursting From the Dirt — How Do They Do It?

August 31, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

pink camellia blossom california. photo by bf newhall

They emerge from mud, manure, leaf rot, earthworms, sow bugs. And they are beautiful. How do they do it? Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Widowed: Are Tears Recyclable?

widowed are tears recyclable  budapest-market

A tear-drenched tissue — do I put it in the trash? Or into the recycle bin? I wondered, I’m widowed: are my tears recyclable?  Read more.

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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

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fourth of july in pentwater michigan. people sit on curb awaiting the parade. photo by bf newhall

Photo Op: Pentwater, Michigan — A Small Town on a Big Lake

Donald Trump studies Barack Obama in a TV shot. The conversation was gracious. I'm following suit. I'm going to stop bad-mouthing Donald Trump. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I Decided to Stop Bad-Mouthing Donald Trump. But Will I?

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