To Governor Markell…

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In an unprecedented 4-1 decision announced Sunday, the Delaware Board of Pardons is recommending that the death sentence for convicted killer Robert A. Gattis be commuted to life in prison. It will now be up to Gov. Jack Markell to decide if he will accept the board's recommendation to spare Gattis' life or if he will allow the execution of the 49-year-old by lethal injection to go forward as planned early Friday.
A life is literally in Governor Markell's hands. He might not want this responsibility. But he asked for it, and now he has to decide. I now address the Governor directly....

Fighting Abnormal (And Fake) Body Images As The Mother Of A 14 Year Old Girl

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My 14 year old daughter wears a size 0 and still thinks she's not skinny enough. It's enough to make me want to pull my hair out. I want to scream when her friends come over and the discussion spirals into what's wrong with my body. Granted, their focus is on their bodies only, and they're quick to come to each others' defense. Also, they don't attack someone for their weight or their looks, which, I guess, is a step in the right direction. But... they are ridiculously hard on themselves.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King

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Yesterday would have been Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's 82 birthday. He had a dream......... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs&feature=fvsr[/youtube]

Thus ends the most quixotic Presidential run this cycle…

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So former Utah Governor and former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, mired in the low single digits in the polls in South Carolina after a respectable but insufficient third place finish in New Hampshire, is dropping out of the race. There was a time, before he became Ambassador to China, that I most feared Huntsman as a potential rival to President Obama. But a misreading of the political landscape and a patriotic decision ended that threat.

Sunday Open Thread [1.15.12]

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We got two new polls showing Mitt Romney surging and Gingrich dropping. Looks like the Bain attacks backfired on Gingrich. Republicans love vulture capitalists and firing middle and working class people. Therefore, Romney is their hero. We also have Stephen Colbert's latest campaign ad. It's hilarious.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

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Post hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for "after this, therefore because of this," is a logical fallacy that states, "Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one." I was reminded of this scene and this principle when reading of a tragedy in the News Journal this morning.