Because I’m just in that sort of mood. Yes? No? There’s got to be a middle ground between “no Muslims allowed” and the current state of affairs in which “vetting” for Islamic extremists is pretty half-hearted. But what is it? Thoughts? Read more
Because I’m just in that sort of mood. Yes? No? There’s got to be a middle ground between “no Muslims allowed” and the current state of affairs in which “vetting” for Islamic extremists is pretty half-hearted. But what is it? Thoughts? Read more
I’ve got to be honest with you; I’m pretty disappointed with what I’ve been reading over the course of the day (sorry, no links). Yes, various candidates have condemned Trump’s call for a halt to entry by Muslims into the United States, but pundits and conservative commentary sites are saying something rather different: “sure, I wouldn’t go as far as Trump, but he raises some good points.” Basic rule of thumb: The rules are different for a Presidential candidate. You... Read more
It’s a frickin’ mess. When I first read that Trump had called for prohibitions on Muslims entering the country, I thought this was another one of his off-the-cuff statements, and misquoted at that. But it’s there in his press release: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on. According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans... Read more
So this is the time of year when media types, and pundits, and politicians, attempt to conjure up a “true meaning of Christmas” that can appeal to nonbelievers, and provide a way for public figures to celebrate the holiday without feeling like they’re promoting one religion over another. Some people latch on to the tradition of candles, and the identification of Christ as Light, and connect this to Hannukah, and say that Christmas is all about hope in dark times — whether... Read more
Here’s something that’s been shared by several facebook friends: Which is certainly a well-meant thought. But, with the good intention of being respectful, the creator and the sharers of this meme are displaying an ignorance and an insensitivity that they don’t intend. The very creation of the idea of the so-called “holiday season,” after all, implies and assumes that in each religion or culture there is an important celebration roughly coinciding with the winter solstice, and many “happy holiday”-wishers go... Read more
If you read twitter, you’ve likely seen the “prayer shaming” debate over the last couple days. It goes like this: public figures reflexively tweeted, posted on facebook, and (gasp!) verbally said that their “thoughts and prayers” are with the victims of the San Bernardino attack. Then some leftist said, paraphrased, your prayers are worth nothing, only actions — and jumped into demands for more gun control, and everyone else chimed in. See The Atlantic for some details, or Slate.com for... Read more
I have a facebook friend who right now is keeping track of which prolife organizations, Republicans, and Catholic bishops have gone on record as condemning the “Planned Parenthood shooter,” who is believed to have been motivated by an anti-abortion ideology due to an anonymous source’s claim that he said “no more baby parts” in police questioning. Hence I was thinking about this issue even before yesterday’s events. In the meantime, we now know that the killers in San Bernardino were... Read more
Up to now, I’ve refrained from commenting on the protests by black* students at American universities, not wanting to simply chime in with what’d be a repetition of other commentary out there. You know, the sort that advises the reader to take a gander at TheDemands.org, see if their alma mater is on the list, and excerpts some of the students’ demands, which they aim to see realized via sit-ins and other campus protests. Demands such as these, taking Michigan... Read more
Yeah, another visit home. Usually, I try to keep the family stuff limited to cute stories about the kids. After all, I blog anonymously as “Jane the Actuary,” but I occasionally share things on facebook (the noncontroversial things, like recipes and cute stories), and it’s always possible that family members have read other parts of the blog besides what I’ve directly shared, though no one’s every said anything to that effect, and, so far as I know, they’re just not... Read more
What if it turns out that Robert Dear was, in fact, motivated by the Planned Parenthood hidden-camera videos? What if he was, in fact, of sound mind, and his goal was, in fact, to punish Planned Parenthood as an organization, and the women at this location, for their crimes? To make every woman coming to Planned Parenthood for services just a little more afraid? To harm them financially, as they retrofit clinics for greater security? That’d make him a John... Read more
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