I stopped using Amazon affiliate links on my blog at the beginning of March after reading that the company was threatening to end their Associates program in California if the state passed a proposed law that would require the company to collect sales tax on sales to California residents. The law would define those contract affiliates as Amazon “workers,” and therefore part of the company’s business operations within the state; state businesses pay state taxes. […]
The Hernando De Soto Bridge (I-40 between Memphis TN and West Memphis AR) Image via Wikipedia This is the time of year when I get most nostalgic for the city where my son grew up, and which I still think of as my hometown, although it’s been four years since my last visit. May is usually a fine time to be in Memphis, but this year there’s something besides the Beale Street Music Festival and […]
No, this is not the “Four Things” meme (not today, anyway). I actually have a proper Week-End Review to post tomorrow, so here are some Thursday Tidbits to mention. Sign-ups are open for the second year of Armchair BEA! Over 200 people have already signed up, and even though this virtual conference has no capacity limits, what are you waiting for? If you’re not going to be in New York City next month for Book Expo America […]
Image via Wikipedia The Women’s Museum, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas “Milestones in Women’s History” exhibit (I originally had this scheduled for a different day, but it works out well that I bumped it, as it’s appearing on the 100th International Women’s Day.) March is Women’s History Month – a time to reflect on where we’ve been and consider where we go next. As the saying goes, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it…or […]
Dear Amazon.com, I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say that few online retailers have benefited from outdated sales-tax laws more than you have. For decades, most states haven’t required mail-order businesses to charge and collect taxes on sales they make outside the states where they are physically located, and this has definitely given you a competitive pricing advantage over bricks-and-mortar vendors. And even though you’ve expanded your distribution […]
Image by ksbuehler via Flickr Whenever there’s a newsworthy shooting somewhere in this country – most recently, the one in Tucson earlier this year – the debate about guns gets revived. America is a nation born from war; it wouldn’t have come into existence without firearms. Our Constitution’s Second Amendment was meant to ensure our right to bear arms in defense of ourselves, our families, and our country. However, all too often, they’re used for […]
Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr The annual survey ranking America’s Most Literate Cities was released this month, evaluating the USA’s 75 largest metro areas on six criteria that foster or support literacy: level of education, libraries, booksellers, Internet resources, and circulation of newspapers and periodicals. For the first time in five years, the #1 spot was not claimed by either Seattle or Minneapolis, although those cities still scored very well. Are you […]
Image via Wikipedia “Hey baby, what’s your sign?” You may have to start answering that question differently. It turns out that the stars aren’t aligned quite the way we thought they were. A group of Minnesota astronomers recently pointed out that the relative positions of the Earth and the sun have shifted in the 3000 years since the Babylonians developed the “zodiac” calendar. The moon’s gravitational pull causes Earth to “wobble” on its axis, changing […]
I met Susan Niebur for the first time at BlogHer’09 in Chicago, but I already knew who she was – blogger, mom, planetary scientist, and cancer survivor. When Susan was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) – the least common and most deadly form of the disease – in 2007, fellow bloggers rallied around, forming Team Whymommy to support her in her battle against it. She won…that time. She had a recurrence of the cancer […]
There have been too many stories in the last year or two about cities closing or limiting the hours of their libraries, but bookstores have been having a hard time of it as well. Shelf Awareness regularly reports on closures in the independent-bookseller sector – there’s one looming in Nashville – but they’re not the only ones affected; the big-name bookstores have been struggling too. I live in what’s essentially a one-bookstore town…well, two if […]
Remember Banned Books Week? It was a little over a month ago, and many of us defended the freedom of access to books, regardless of their content: “I’m very much in favor of the freedom to read what one chooses to read – and in order to make those choices well, one needs access to the full range of choices. I also believe in the freedom to choose not to read something. But I believe […]
By the time you read this, I’ll have already voted. The legendary Chicago maxim – “vote early and often” – aside, you can only vote as often as elections are held, and when they are held, you only get to vote once. But in many places, you don’t have to wait for Election Day any more, and you can easily comply with the “early” part. More and more districts are implementing in-person “early voting” at […]
