Jane the Actuary -

Needs vs. Wants, date night edition

April 21, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

I try not to do too many of the “take a look at this terrible article” type of post, but I couldn’t help myself today. The article in question is at Slate (where else?), “The Work of “Marital Maintenance” Is a Privilege.” In it, the author explains to readers that she is divorcing her husband and is tired of being told by friends that she and her husband should have worked harder at “marital maintenance,” which is apparently the new word… Read more

A protest about nothing?

April 18, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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A Seinfeldian protest, if you will, that is, in reference to the TV show that famously was a “show about nothing.” In the Chicago Tribune today, “Supporters rally for gay teacher amid discrimination claim after he told 1st-graders about same-sex marriage.” It’s something of a he-said, she-said sort of incident. A gay teacher’s husband arranged to have flowers sent to the first-grade classroom, prompting questions from the children about who the flowers were from. Subsequently, a parent complained, and the… Read more

Is Starbucks fix-able?

April 17, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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Last week, two black men were arrested at a downtown Philadelphia Starbucks, after a dispute in which they, according to their and their defenders’ telling, appeared to be loitering but were simply waiting for a third business associate in order to conduct a meeting, and did not make a purchase before asking to use the bathroom because they wanted to wait for that third person to arrive. Also according to this telling, the manager did not ask them to leave… Read more

Eeew – yuck! (A food post)

April 14, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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So I was shopping today . . . and, well, you could tell that Greek Easter wasn’t all that long ago, judging by the number of packages of miscellaneous lamb parts and pieces. (I’ll refer readers to a John Kass column from a week ago, “The Greek Easter lamb debate: Head on or off?”) Among them (page break added for the truly squeamish): Read more

What about the new Holocaust poll?

April 12, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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The headline is dramatic: 66% of Millennials don’t know what Auschwitz was, and 22% don’t even know what the Holocaust was. That’s according to a new poll, the Holocaust Knowledge Awareness Study, produced by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Just how dire a situation is it? For comparison, the ADL produces an ongoing poll about antisemitic attitudes globally, and their 2015 poll reports that 93% of Americans say they have “heard about the Holocaust.” Of these, 89%… Read more

Please tell me your “social capital” retirement stories!

April 11, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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I’m reading about Social Capital and looking to write something about the issue as it relates to retirement, and hoping readers will share their stories, not here, but at JanetheActuary.com. What is Social Capital? It’s social networks, community and church involvement, the bringing of casseroles at funerals and when loved ones are in the hospital. It’s giving and receiving support. And I’d like to hear what readers have to say, about their own experiences, or those of people they know,… Read more

Is Illinois headed toward a Brain Drain?

April 9, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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Some time ago, I wrote about the shocking statistics on declining enrollment at Illinois’ “regional” universities — that, with the exception of SIU-Edwardsville, all of these second-tier Illinois universities have seen dramatic decreases in enrollment in the past decade, from 21% for Northeastern to as high as 40% at Eastern and 49% at Chicago State (which is, admittedly, an outlier). Part of this is due to the budgetary crisis of the past couple years, which caused students to worry about… Read more

A Few Kevin D. Williamson Thoughts

April 7, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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For those of you who don’t follow All The Right People on twitter, former National Review writer Kevin Williamson was hired by The Atlantic a few short weeks ago, then fired after one article, due to the “discovery” of a podcast in which Williamson took the position that women who obtain abortions ought to be treated as murderers. Here’s a report from The Hill which also includes a link to the memo itself. Defenders of Williamson’s termination cast the decision… Read more

Good Friday: The Most (and Least) Catholic Liturgy

April 1, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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This is not an Easter post. It’s not even a Easter Vigil post. I long ago realized that I should leave the inspirational posts to other Patheos writers who, quite frankly, have more inspiring things to say, and say them in more inspiring ways. But here are a few thoughts for that point in the day when the ham and/or lamb is in the oven, or has been eaten, and everyone has scattered to the different parts of Grandma and… Read more

Three things about Emma Gonzalez, accused ostracizer

March 27, 2018 By Jane the Actuary

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Earlier today, I saw a snippet of a speech by Emma Gonzalez, emerging gun control activist, in which she spoke of “ostracizing” the school shooter. When I first saw this, I assumed it was from this past weekend’s march/rally, but it turns out that it was from a rally back in February, and I was able to find a full transcript of the speech. Here’s the key paragraph: So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled… Read more