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- Julie Pippert: Using My Words
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- Magpie Musing
- Make Lard History
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- merry mishaps
- Mouse-traps and the Moon
- Nonlinear Girl
- Ob-la-Deidre
- On The Curb
- Over Here
- Painted Maypole
- Pantry Permitting
- Quadelle
- raincoaster
- Riding in a handbasket
- Rimarama
- She Curmudgeon
- Slouching Past 40
- spark and echo
- The (new) Phoebe Blog
- The Absence of Alternatives
- The Art of Darkness
- The Eleventh
- The Gav Menagerie
- The Hathor Legacy
- The Journey
- The Mouse’s Nest
- The Ornamentalist
- The Road Goes Ever On
- The Show Must Go On
- The Sinister Butterfly
- The Skwib
- Them’s my sentiments
- Thirsty Linguist
- under the ponderosas
- Violet Serene
- Voix de Michèle
- Webs of Significance
- Where’s My Cape?
- Wherever Ewe Go, There Ewe Are
- Wrekehavoc.com
- zoom's knitnut
blogs that were
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- Art Harlot
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- callapipper tree
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- Nod and Smile
- NotSoSage
- On Dragonfly Wings
- one plus two
- riddlebiddle
- something bookish
- Tabba
- The Flying Mum
- the immensely fascinating world of pimpbot
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- Under the Mad Hat
- When I look deep in your eyes
- Where's My Manual?
- words for my enjoyment
- Work + Play ≠ Dull Boy
- [shrug...]
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Monthly Archives: March 2010
talking tomatoes
We’re in the kitchen eating breakfast. Phoebe gets up to use the bathroom.
Phoebe: Don’t eat all the pear while I’m gone!
Me: I won’t. What if I eat all the oatmeal?
Phoebe: Don’t eat all the oatmeal! I want some.
Me: What if I eat all the sassafrass?
Phoebe: I don’t think we have any sassafrass.
Me: What if I eat all the… tomatillos?
Phoebe: I don’t think he would like that.
Me: [?] Tomatillo is a kind of tomato.
Phoebe: …that they eat in Spain?
Me: Does it sound like a Spanish word to you?
Phoebe: Yes.
Me: You’re right. It is a Spanish word.
Phoebe: Then they must be in Spain!
Me: I’m not actually sure. You know, there are other places in the world where they speak Spanish.
Phoebe: Tomatoes don’t speak!

Phoebe enjoys her breakfast with pears, oatmeal and reference-resolution adventures.
Voting ends tonight!
[pssst...3/23 um..."update"...the polls are still up for a bit even though it's technically past midnight in known timezones. But when was I ever one to be strict about a deadline? As long as you can see the polls, you are welcome to vote. They'll probably be coming down later this evening...]
Don’t forget to vote for the Best of the 2009 Just Posts. Voting ends tonight: Monday, March 22nd. (We will be flexible about which time zone you choose to vote in–we want your votes, even if you want to pretend you’re in Hawaii!¹)
Please vote in as many categories as you can, but even if you only have time to read posts in one category, we still value your input.
If you have managed to vote in more than one category, please take a moment to consider which of all the posts you read stood out for you as the best of the best.
Thank you!²
—-
¹ Aloha!
² And mahalo to those of you voting in the Hawaiian time zone.
Posted in activism, just posts, social justice
Vote for the Best Just Posts of 2009
Holly and I pleased to announce the unveiling of the final finalist list for the best Just Posts of 2009. In this post, you can find both the list of finalists by category, and the polls to vote for your favorite posts within those categories. [March 23, 2010: voting is now closed! Thank you for your votes! You can still scroll down to see the list of finalists. ]
Please vote! And spread the word. Spread the word to others to vote, contribute, nominate, write, and read!
Thank you thank you thank you for your interest, support, and involvement in the Just Posts!
Voting and prizes:
To get right to the voting, scroll or jump down.
- Vote within as many categories as you like, but please vote only once in each category.
- There’s no need to vote in all categories at once–come back as often as you like before voting ends.
- We’ll have the polls up and open for one week.
At the end of the process, if you have voted in more than one category, we’d love to hear from you about which post you felt was the strongest of all you read. To vote on the “best of the best,” and to give additional feedback, you can go to this page.
At the end of Monday night, March 22nd, we will close the poll and start to tally the results. The top votes in each category will receive a hand-made tile from a New Orleans artisan with a few trinkets thrown in for good measure. Using your votes and any additional written input, we will recognize a post (or two, we’re not ruling out ties) as the Best of the Best Just Posts. We’ll do something extra special for this, we’re just not sure exactly what yet.
The process:
For those of you who are interested in the process, here’s a bit about our (imperfect) process of post and category selection.
Category selection:
Looking through our massive list of semifinalists, we (mostly Holly) created categories that reflected all of those 130+ posts. Then we went back to our readers’ comments and ratings and narrowed down the categories. We tried to represent a variety of voices, writers and experiences.
Here are the categories for the Best of the 2009 Just Posts. To see the posts for each category, and the polls for voting, scroll down, or click on a category name to jump right there:
- Posts related to FOOD AND NUTRITION
- Posts related to DISEASE AND ILLNESS
- Posts related to CHILD WELFARE
- Posts related to VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
- Posts related to EDUCATION
- Posts related to SOCIAL/SOCIETAL VALUES
SOCIAL JUSTICE as political/legal :
SOCIAL JUSTICE as health/wellness:
SOCIAL JUSTICE as socio-economic inequalities :
SOCIAL JUSTICE as advocacy/service :
SOCIAL JUSTICE…
- serious topics approached with HUMOR
(because a laugh is important, too!)
In no way is this list or these categories representative of the broad theme of “Social Justice.” It represents what we’ve been able to gather, write and have nominated. If you there are topics and categories you’d like to see better represented in the Just Posts moving forward, we welcome your input. You can let us know in the comments, or using the form on this page. We also encourage you to write and nominate posts on topics that have been under-represented!
Post selection:
As you might imagine, choosing the finalists was tough. There were many excellent posts that we had to leave out, especially in categories with many posts. We also limited the number of posts that could be included by any one author to 2. Our goal was to narrow down the number of posts in a category to 3, a manageable number to read. (As you can see, we ended up with 4 posts in several categories…)

Please vote for your favorite post in as many categories as you can!
SOCIAL JUSTICE as political/legal : Posts Related to GENDER EQUITY
- Antifeminist Spam by Meloukhia at This Ain’t Livin’
- forgiveness by Christine at by flutter
- Oh Oh, She’s Back on Her Soapbox Again by Chris at Formerly Fun
- Oprah and the secret lives of moms by Liz Dwyer at love is not enough
SOCIAL JUSTICE as political/legal : Posts related to RACE
- Attention White Folks by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
- Ma: Little Bigot On the Prairie by Mary at The Eleventh
- Stuff black folks don’t do: Creating our own oppression by Tami at What Tami Said
- the great american melting pot (?) by Hispanic Fanatic at Hispanic Fanatic
SOCIAL JUSTICE as political/legal : Posts related to SEXUALITY
- Frozen by Meagan at A Certain Lack of Focus
- Maine. by Erika at Be gay about it.
- Uncensored II by Megan at Missing in Iraq
- Why the Prop 8 Decision Inhibits Equality by Zack Ford at Zack Ford Blogs
SOCIAL JUSTICE as health/wellness: Posts related to FOOD AND NUTRITION
- Pensioneering by Thordora at Spin Me I Pulsate
- The cost of a winter tomato by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
- When is zero not really zero? When it describes your food. by Kimberly at The Gav Menagerie
SOCIAL JUSTICE as health/wellness : Posts related to DISEASE AND ILLNESS
- A Day with Fibromyalgia by Amy at Je Ne Regrette Rien
- A Voice from the Back of the Queue by Mary G. at Them’s My Sentiments
- In Health there is Freedom, Health is the First of all Liberties by thordora at Spin Me I Pulsate
SOCIAL JUSTICE as health/wellness : Posts related to CHILD WELFARE
- 250 Children Dead of Cold in Andes: Death Toll Keeps Climbing by Barbara Drake at An American in Lima
- Safety and Self Worth: $175 by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
- The Speech, Remix Edition by Kyla at The Journey
SOCIAL JUSTICE as socio-economic inequalities : Posts related to VULNERABLE POPULATIONS
- Faces of Poverty by Ashley at The Dhaka Diaries
- guilty pleasure monday: millworker (james taylor) by wreke at wrekehavoc
- The Holy Land by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
- War Ends, Schools Begin by Shahrazaad at Shahrazaad
SOCIAL JUSTICE as socio-economic inequalities : Posts related to EDUCATION
- Creative Freedoms and the Not Now Book by Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven
- On Social Justice and Education by Brigitte Knudson at A Liberal Education
- school daze by jen at one plus two
SOCIAL JUSTICE as socio-economic inequalities : Posts related to SOCIAL/SOCIETAL VALUES
- American Me by jen at one plus two
- Free speech, free range by almostidealist at One Year to Change the World
- peace train by wreke at wrekehavoc
- Quote of the Day by Adrianne at The Bodhi Tree
SOCIAL JUSTICE as advocacy/service : Posts related to SERVICE AND ACTION
- The Afghanis by Antropologa at Antropologa
- B is for Backpack by Laura at Our Feet are the Same
- A mini home makeover by Quadelle at Quadelle
- No More Hall Passes by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
SOCIAL JUSTICE as advocacy/service : Posts related to INFORMATION AND ADVOCACY
- Archbishop of Cusco to Evict More Local Restaurants by Barbara Drake at An American in Lima
- Charity vs. Democracy by Magpie at Magpie Musing
- Marriott is a Disgrace by Ilina at Dirt and Noise
- When Allies Fail, Part One by Tami at What Tami Said
SOCIAL JUSTICE… serious topics approached with HUMOR (because a laugh is important, too!)
- All Things on Cable TV Considered, I wish my Hotel had Porn… by submom at The Absence of Alternatives
- Can we talk? by Country Girl at Country Girl/City Girl
- My, what a gayngled web we weave. by Erika at Be gay about it.
If you have a post in the lists above, we invite you to display a button:
For more information on the Just Posts, please visit the Just Posts information page.
Posted in activism, just posts, social justice
The February 2010 Just Posts
Holly and I are roundly pleased to present the February Just Posts, the latest round of social justice posts that have been rounded up for our roundtable. Gather ’round!¹
We’re getting quite close to having the Best of 2009 JPs up and running for voting–I can say quite confidently that we will have this together by the end of 2010. And quite likely by the end of the week, even. In the meantime, please enjoy the February list.
Just Posts for a Just World, February 2010:
- Heather of finding atman with We can do better
- Emily at Wheels on the Bus with You Gotta Fight for the Right to Plie
- Tiffany Sellers of PR Musings of a Clemson Student with The Line Between Charity and Justice
- Eric at It’s the Question that Drives Us with Helping Haiti or Hurting Haiti
- girlgriot at If You Want Kin, You Must Plant Kin with Common Ground
- Country Girl at Country Girl/City Girl with That Slacker Blogger Thing
- Absence of Alternatives and Velva of Tomatoes on the Vine with The Price of Tomatoes
- Morganna of Lizbeth’s Garden with bombs
- Communication for Change with Todays’ Bad Word: Working Poor
- Oh the Joys with Enormity of Need
- Cecilieaux at Antipode with Piling on Muslims
- Barbara of An American in Lima with How to Prepare for an Earthquake in a Third World Country
- Flying Tomato Farm with Sounds Corny to Me and Stockholm Syndrome for Farmers
- Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven with Testing the Ice
- Ilina at Dirt and Noise with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Initiative
Nominators:
¹I’ve been running around in circles lately, so clearly I’m feeling a bit loopy.
Posted in activism, just posts, social justice
setting the machinery in motion
So, yeah. About that “deadline” we set for March 1st…didn’t quite make it.
Holly and I are still working out the kinks in the machinery of readying our 2009 Just Posts finalists for voting. The process is fairly laborious and complex. We’re sorting posts into categories, and fine-tuning our rankings based on reviewer scores and comments, plus our own scores and comments. We are then passing this data through a bayesian algorithm to map the data onto a multidimensional target, which we are modelling out of styrofoam, aluminum foil and chewing gum. Our elaborate system of gears, levers, pulleys and springs will then lob sporks and chopsticks at the target. We will analyze the configuration of utensils to determine the optimal set of posts. Unfortunately, we’ve run into a bit of a roadblock due to some disagreement over how best to use the trained gerbils.¹
So, it will be…a few more days.
While you wait, please study the following instructional video:
(It’s OKGO and their new video for This Too Shall Pass.)
¹ I’ll also be pretty busy with a few other things. My mother is arriving tonight for a week-long visit, for one thing.²
² I’m hoping that she can help carve some of the styrofoam and chew some of the gum. Or at least help us tally the sporks. (I’m afraid she won’t be much help as a gerbil handler.)
Posted in just posts, life, Music, silliness, utter nonsense























