photo by Cardyn Brooks 2014  Confession: Fiction books with humans on the cover almost always make me feel excluded. They rarely resemble me in skin color, body type, age or attitude. BATAF: The growing demand for diversity in casts of characters and main characters is a fad.

photo snapped by Cardyn Brooks 2014  Confession: Hearing someone (or myself) say, "Thank you for your service," to a military service member always sounds like inadequate words of gratitude for all that they risk and suffer and sacrifice to protect the U.S. The expanding investigation into VA hospitals magnifies that sense of shameful inadequacy. BATAF: One day; one holiday weekend per year is sufficient acknowledgement for those who have died to protect and defend the United States of America.

image by Cardyn Brooks 2014  Observation: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Bill Gates made technology mainstream. They and their peers conceived and built upon innovations that launched this current digital society, measured by likes, views, unique visitors, subscribers, customer reviews, etc. We are connected through many more ways of communication and information access at the same time the depth of our face-to-face connections is eroding because we're always looking down into our personal tech for amusement and knowledge. BATAF: Human- to-human engagement is obsolete.   

image from weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com  Confession: The #WeNeedDiverseBooks and #DiversifyYourShelves threads are so encouraging to me after reading so much mainstream contemporary fiction in which there are no non-Anglo characters or the ones who are included seem flat and false. BATAF: Diversity is a politically correct fad, not a universal necessity.

original image from hercampus.com Confession: Being called bossy doesn't bother me. Not teaching our girls, boys and young women and young men how to move through life as propelled by ethical ambitions, the Golden Rule and internal validation does. This Ban Bossy campaign is well-intentioned, but ignores the source of the leadership gap between girls and boys: the suffocating narrowness of gendered expectations and the consequences of not conforming to them. BATAF : Desirable female and male personality traits are rigidly defined.  

image from crooksandliars.com  Confession: It didn't surprise me to learn that Hobby Lobby indirectly invests in companies that manufacture the types of contraceptives that Hobby Lobby finds objectionable based on their religious beliefs. It did surprise me that no one on their highly educated and generously compensated legal team advised Hobby Lobby to divest from these mutual funds before filing suit for an exemption from the ACA's contraception coverage mandate due to infringement on the religious freedom of their corporation's personhood. They could have easily avoided the appearance of sanctimonious hypocrisy. BATAF: A woman's fertility is her only significant contribution to society.

Question: What if everyone universally agreed that intoxicated people are automatically not candidates for any kind of sexual activity? Regardless of the circumstances. When in doubt, don't.  BATAF : The burden of proof always falls on rape survivors to prove they weren't asking for it.