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Tired of Terri Schiavo and John Paul II?  Here are two thoughtful diversions.

You may have heard that a Native American tribe in Washington State is using its status to begin manufacturing cigarettes.  RoguePundit explains:

The Squaxin Tribe was the first to sign a [tax-collection] compact (whereby the reservations collect the state tax but get to keep it for tribal purposes), and are now the first organization of any kind in Washington to manufacture tobacco products.  The money to build their Skookum Creek factory has come from one of their other major industries, the Little Creek Casino. 

The scheme has become, not surprisingly, somewhat controversial.  RoguePundit's take?  Live and let live.

I'm glad a number of tribes are trying to strengthen and diversify their economies.  It's too bad that some of them are doing so via not-so-healthy activities like gambling and now smoking.  But, they shouldn't be held to a different moral standard than anyone else.  And, why shouldn't they exploit their economic advantages?

Over at Fagistan, former BlueOregonian Joshua Gibson reflects on a column in Salon by Ayelet Waldman. 

Ayelet reveals that her sons thinks he's gay because he doesn't like girls and goes on to rhapsodize about how having a gay son would be awesome, and how she really hopes he is gay. A gay son would  shop with her! But she doesn't want her daughters to be lesbians because they'll make her feel bad about shaving her legs.

Needless to say, Gibson finds this observation less than trenchant.  While he offers a hilarious rebuttal of her shallowness, the best part of the post are his thoughts on larger themes.

There's no real problem with Waldman wanting her son to be gay -- this doesn't make her a terrible mother. Writing about her son's sexuality while he is at a vulnerable age is a much greater offense, I think, and one fewer readers key in on. Okay, being gay is hard. Boo-hoo. Being a  human is hard. Her son comes from an (at least) solidly middle class background, will likely have all the advantages of good education and masculine privelege. Being gay isn't so hard in that context (just ask me.) And why shouldn't she wish he was gay? Many parents wish their kids will grow up to be lawyers, doctors, handsome, smart, witty, why not add cocksucker to the list? The liberal myth that parenting can be done without any actual, you know, parenting is infuriating. Children need some kind of direction, need their parents to have hopes and desires for them in order for them to learn that having hopes and desires is important.

There's more.  Really nice stuff. 

April 04, 2005 Posted in elsewhere.