Happy Friday, all — and I’ve got a couple posts in draft form, or maybe just sloshing around in my head, but have been reading your comments on my existing posts, and I just wanted to jump in to say: you guys are great. Really. Other bloggers have these lengthy comment policies of the circumstances in which they remove comments, but I’ve virtually never needed to do so. There were one or two occasions when I deleted a comment that... Read more
You know the drill if you’ve been following the blog for long enough: Friend. Cancer. Major suckage. Did I mention the 4 kids? Backstory here. More backstory here. Prayers if you got ’em, please (and yes, despite my repeated questioning on the topic of prayer in prior blog posts). Read more
This is, as you’re likely used to by now, one of my more fact-free posts, in which I try to make connections without a heck of a lot of research. But I wrote about guns the other day, and as a result of the comments to that piece, and some other things I’ve been reading, am thinking the following: Yes, there is data to be found and analyzed with respect to concealed carry, and the overall impact of gun-ownership by... Read more
If you’re a pension actuary, you know that there are two pieces of data that are crucial to your valuations, for which the company experts spend lots of time and effort developing guidance. The first is discount rate — or, to the outside world, interest rate. To calculate the value of pension payments in the future, you need a rate at which to discount them to the present day. Back when I started, the lead actuary would just have a quick... Read more
When I wrote my post the other day suggesting that Rubio give a Big Policy Speech on immigration, and make some commitments to the GOP Base, I hadn’t dug into the specifics of Rubio’s backtracking from amnesty. And I hadn’t realized how weak Rubio’s current position is. Here’s an article from Breitbart (actually from April but with renewed notice on twitter), on an interview Rubio gave, in which he says that, assuming the “DAPA” amnesty (that is, the executive order granting... Read more
We know that criminals, by their nature, violate the law. An individual with an intent to shoot someone else isn’t going to be deterred by those no-gun stickers at public buildings, stores, restaurants, etc. But my friend N. who posted a set of links on her facebook page, and called for her friends and colleagues to sign a petition against allowing concealed carry on public university campuses in her state, isn’t foolish enough to think otherwise. Rather, this is her... Read more
So it appears, based on mass today, that someone from the parish reads the ol’ blog — whether they knew they were the subject of last week’s post or just thought the situation was familiar. OK, who am I kidding? But nonetheless, they announced today, both in the form of a bulletin announcement and a “note from the pastor” read by the weekend-presider priest before the homily (and we finally got a proper homily today, too), that the capital campaign,... Read more
That’s the trouble, isn’t it? Marco Rubio wants amnesty. There’s no mistaking this. He also wants high levels of immigration, in general. There are certainly plenty of well-meaning people who take the position that open immigration is good for a country in the long term, just as globalization is; if incoming workers underbid existing workers for the job, it simply makes the company more profitable and/or lowers prices, so everyone wins on average, and if some individuals find themselves displaced... Read more
Yes, somehow my middle-school son’s friends were all into Monty Python and decided to dress as monks this year, giving me the perfect opportunity to use up some fabric (actually a $5 thrift-store tablecloth) that I had originally bought for another purpose, and, afterwards,to photograph him anonymously for the blog (don’t worry, family and friends got to see his face). I’m rather pleased with how this came out — I used my older son’s 8th grade graduation gown to get... Read more
Here’s some news out of the latest budget deal that pretty much escaped the notice of the general public: PBGC premiums have again been increased. What, you say, are PBGC premiums? Some quick background for non-actuaries: the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, is a FDIC-like agency whose purpose is to protect the pensions of employees of bankrupt companies. Established as a part of the 1974 ERISA legislation, it collects premiums from employers who provide defined benefit pensions, both a flat per-participant... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In