By Barbara Falconer Newhall Ban Barbie? Seriously? Yes, says Jeff Eldridge, a second-term Democratic delegate to the West Virginia legislature. Eldridge asserts that the Barbie doll encourages little girls to develop their physical beauty over their intellectual and emotional development, so he’s introduced a bill banning the sale of Barbie dolls in the state of West Virginia. “I […]
Barbara’s Riffs on Life
A Case of the Human Condition: James Dean’s Last Day — Video with CHP Officers on the Scene
The highway patrol officers on the scene of the car crash that killed James Dean are interviewed in an excellent new video, along with the officer who cited Dean for speeding hours before his death.
A Case of the Human Condition: Even Barbie Has to Turn Fifty Sometime
Barbie doesn’t look it, of course, but this month the busty, slim-hipped fashion doll turns 50. Read all about it in Mary Jo Murphy’s article in today’s New York Times. Posting here tomorrow — “Dolls and Daughters,” what happened when my daughter, then seven, and I tried to play with her Barbie.
Geoff Machin — We Go Looking for God, When We Could Be Having a Beer
Humans are the only living things that know they exist & ask why. We’d have more fun if we didn’t ask so many questions, just go to the beach & have a beer. Read more.
A Case of the Human Condition: The Day James Dean Died — The Eyewitnesses to Speak on February 28
Fans of the legendary film star James Dean will meet face-to-face the CHP officer who was first on the scene of the car collision that took Dean’s life as well as the officer who ticketed Dean for speeding just before his death.
Sister Barbara Hazzard on How to Pray Without Words
What is prayer anyway? I haven’t a clue. These days, when I go to pray, I often find I haven’t a thing to say to God. Every tradition I’ve come in contact with in all my years as a religion reporter and writer recommends — no, insists upon — prayer. Yet right now I don’t know how to do it. I don’t even know why to do it.