I’m trying to do some clean-up to the blog, adding tags, pictures, etc., and thought I’d solicit suggestions for the incomplete blogroll, as I’m also feeling like I’m in a bit of a rut. What are your go-to blogs and news sources? Read more
I’m trying to do some clean-up to the blog, adding tags, pictures, etc., and thought I’d solicit suggestions for the incomplete blogroll, as I’m also feeling like I’m in a bit of a rut. What are your go-to blogs and news sources? Read more
The latest news on Boy Scouts and gays seems to have caused barely a ripple, as last week, as the Washington Post, and other news outlets, reported last Friday that the Greater New York Council has hired Pascal Tessier, an 18 year old Eagle Scout who is openly — and activist-ly — gay as a summer camp counselor. What’s more, this wasn’t an “accidental” hire by virtue of him having his application reviewed and accepted under the same terms as any... Read more
Yeah, I know, I do a lousy job of coming up with intriguing titles. Suggestions, anyone? But here’s the news report du jour, from the New York Times, “Sex Education in Europe Turns to Urging More Births.” Europe, and Scandinavia in particular, is known for low teen pregnancy rates achieved by means of sex ed classes that normalize premarital sex and drill contraceptive use, Brave New World-style. And this particular article, after a snippet of such a sex-ed class, goes on... Read more
Back last week, New York Times columnist Frani Bruni wrote a piece saying that, basically, Christians should be persuaded and/or compelled, as needed, to cease considering gay or lesbian sexual acts as sins, in the same manner as, for most Christian groups, neither divorce nor contraception are considered sins any longer. Of course, mainline Protestant groups such as Episcopalians, ELCA-Lutherans, and USA-Presbyterians have already done so, in the same way as they’re “pro-choice” with respect to abortion, and really have... Read more
It occurs to me, after my comments yesterday about the Trust Fund and Megan McArdle’s subsequent post on the topic, that I haven’t really laid out my preferred Social Security program. (I just did a search of my past posts and I can’t find anything that isn’t labelled “draft”.) So I’m going to spend a few minutes writing this out. It’s a multi-part system, actually. Part 1: a basic anti-poverty benefit for everyone over a fixed age, with a fixed... Read more
Yeah, OK, let’s label this more accurately as “Obama’s speechwriter’s Easter Breakfast remarks” — and observe that he seemed to have farmed out the job to two speechwriters, and pasted it together. The text is at the White House website. And, you know, he actually starts out pretty strong: For me, the celebration of Easter puts our earthly concerns into perspective. With humility and with awe, we give thanks to the extraordinary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We reflect... Read more
Just wanted to highlight something from my write-up yesterday on Falling Short: the Social Security Trust Fund. Quite some time ago, there were raging debates on the Trust Fund: is it real, and, hence, we need only worry about the shortfall in Social Security funds after it is exhausted, many years from now? Or is it already spent on other things, and the money is every bit as gone as if Congress were an irresponsible parent breaking into his kid’s... Read more
This book, subtitled “The Coming Retirement Crisis and What to Do About It,” was published back in December, at which time it was reviewed in the Economist, and I summarized their prescription, as presented: “work, save, move,” that is, work longer, save more, and tap into home equity. Now, the “move” part really doesn’t get much airtime in the book itself; it’s largely about working longer and saving more. As to the working longer, they emphasize that there is no... Read more
One last thought — and then tomorrow I’ll move back to retirement topics and a book I’m reading: I’m not sure how the topic came up, but I was talking about baptism with my middle son the other day, and I pulled out the catechism. From paragraph 1260: Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can... Read more
“Live blogging” in this case means that I expect to be popping over the the computer periodically over the course of the day, while things are in the oven, for instance, with a variety of Easter-y comments. I should warn you not to expect any particularly profound reflections; these are just a few miscellaneous thoughts. We don’t really have any big Easter traditions around here. Some years we go to my parents’; this year we’re staying at home both because... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In