Been meaning to write about this new CNN poll since it came out yesterday, and the news that Scott Walker has dropped out of the race adds another wrinkle. Where do things stand? Who has a chance? Here’s your armchair pundit analysis for the day: Trump still leads, of course, but his lead has narrowed, at least according to this poll, of registered voters who identify as Republican or as independents who “lean Republican”, with a margin of error of... Read more
The refugee crisis. Germany has no idea how to handle the situation, and they’re looking at an unsustainable inflow of refugee/migrants, far more than can be assimilated economically or culturally. Putin’s move on Syria. The Iran deal. That stomach-churning NYT report about the US ignoring sexual abuse of children in Afghanistan. (Link to Ann Althouse who reminded me of it again.) The overreaction, in both directions, of the “clock-bomb” case. The Planned Parenthood budget fight. A concern that the Pope’s... Read more
My husband was out yesterday and this morning, leading a Boy Scout outing, with 9 boys and 4 adults biking along the Illinois Prairie Path and camping at a forest preserve in Glen Ellyn in the western suburbs of Chicago. As is their tradition, they went to Sunday mass at the nearest church — in this case biking there — as a part of the morning’s activities. Only . . . in this case, the church in question, which... Read more
So I wrote about Volkswagen yesterday; here’s an update, starting with an article from the New York Times: “VW Is Said to Cheat on Diesel Emissions; U.S. to Order Big Recall.” Key paragraphs: Experts in automotive technology said that disengaging the pollution controls on a diesel-fueled car can yield better performance, including increased torque and acceleration. “When the pollution controls are functioning on these vehicles, there’s a trade-off between performance and emissions,” said Drew Kodjak, executive director of the International... Read more
Yeah, Peggy Noonan’s What I Saw at the Revolution came to mind in titling this post, because this isn’t a blow-by-blow of the debate, or an objective analysis of the candidates’ performances, but rather my impressions as I watched. Not that I couldn’t give a blow-by-blow; semi-experimentally, I decided to take notes, not just of what catches my ear as the key moments, but the whole frickin’ thing. I filled up a 24 page notepad, then went on to the... Read more
You’ve heard the story by now. Boy brings “invention” to school, people think that, because he’s Muslim, he’s brought a bomb, he’s questioned by the police, and though released, his supporters decry the injustice of it all, with a twitter campaign charging racism, that ultimately produces an invitation to the White House. There’s an alternate story emerging now, at the “Techvoice” blog at the “Artvoice” site (as linked to by Inquisitr, retweeted by someone on twitter): the “invention” was a disassembled... Read more
In which I talk about sex, sex robots, and “needs”: Here’s a Q&A from a Dear Prudence column from earlier this week at Slate. My husband and I have been married for almost two years. We are deeply in love and have a passionate sex life. He’s amazing and I’m incredibly blessed. There’s one point of tension that pops up that I need your help with. Before we got married, he told me about his struggle with pornography. He recognized its... Read more
Here’s an article from today’s paper: “VW cheated on U.S. pollution tests for ‘clean diesels’” (link to the LA Times as the article is only available online from that site, but also printed in the Chicago Tribune): Turns out the increasingly eco-conscious buyers of the sporty German cars have been unwittingly pumping smog into the air — because of software VW installed to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. The world’s largest automaker has admitted selling 482,000 such diesels since 2009,... Read more
Your feedback, please! Dear parents [of 1st – 5th grade Cub Scouts], Did you know that, well before the Girl Scout Cookie Sale became big business (including a whole set of merit badges to be earned), Juliette Gordon Low’s first troop of girls baked their own cookies to sell? Well, we’ll do the same thing. Here’s how it’ll work: the fundraising committee will select several simple cookie recipes, such as chocolate chip, double-chocolate, sugar cookies, and rice krispie treats. Then,... Read more
Yes, I watched the debate last night. I took copious notes, somewhat experimentally. I was exhausted at the end of 3+ hours. I have some definite opinions. And now I have in front of me a day in which I can’t take a long lunch, or take some time before starting work, because I need to put in extra work hours to finish a project to finish a project due EOD. (And in my world, EOD always means, “hit send... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In