So here’s something of a ranty update on what’s going on at my own parish: In the fall, our pastor announced that he had agreed with the bishop to accelerate his retirement, previously scheduled for two years from now, to this coming summer, so that we can be a part of the next wave of pastor reassignments and have a new pastor well-integrated into the parish before the upcoming Renew My Church process begins. That’s fine, it makes sense. I... Read more
So who’s following the Harry-and-Meghan drama? Are you waiting with bated breath to see if they get to keep their royal titles? The Duchy of Sussex? Their income from Dad? Are you on Team Meghan convinced that the royal family’s mistreatment of her, and the racism of the British people, in general, forced her into this decision? Are you on Team Royal Family believing that Meghan and Harry are narcissists who want to enjoy all the trappings of royalty without... Read more
Here’s the headline of the Chicago Tribune‘s online article about the United Methodist split announced on Friday and reported on Saturday: “United Methodist churches that oppose gay marriage and clergy will break away, form new religion: ‘We came to an impasse that can’t be bridged’.” Here’s the headline in the printed version: Now, I’ll assume that, as readers of a website devoted to religion, whether or not you identify as believers, you understand the basics of the major world religions. ... Read more
Here’s an excerpt from an opinion piece at NBC News: It’s impossible to discuss what might be motivating these attacks without an understanding of the role anti-Semitism plays in narratives about gentrification and poverty. Anti-Semitism is not just a blind hatred of Jews — it is often tied to conspiracy theories about Jewish economic and political power. The Jews running the banks. The Jews as the landlords. Just as capitalism absolutely depends on racism in order to justify exploiting black... Read more
Incidental initial comment: once upon a time, when I was a college student, I took a class on the subject of the Holocaust, and the professor, who was, by the way, a rabbi, said that the proper label for antipathy against Jews should not be spelled anti-Semitism because it was not opposition to “Semites” as a general grouping of Middle Eastern peoples, but to Jews specifically. Having said that, here are some recent developments in New York City and environs:... Read more
Imagine this dystopian scenario, if you will: Puerto Rico negotiates a status which is even more autonomous than its current “commonwealth-ness” but not quite that of an independent country. (Let’s say the territory wanted to get itself out of the Jones Act restrictions that increase the cost of goods shipped onto the island.) Then, the country’s government becomes less respecting of civil rights and, because of the semi-autonomous status we’ve granted it, the federal government considers itself unable to intervene.... Read more
Yesterday, I wrote at Forbes about a bill that aims to force “gig”-type companies to pay Social Security taxes on the workers’ total compensation — for providing taxi services, handyman services, grocery shopping, etc. I observed that it was flawed by its inability to differentiate between gross and net income. But in looking at some of the details, I came across an article saying that Uber was making some changes to its structure in order to bolster its claim that... Read more
So in the last two posts I’ve mentioned the book Pressure Cooker, which wants to talk about such issues as the challenges the poor have using their food stamps to shop, and the pressures (some) middle class women perceive to put from-scratch meals on the table every night, but can’t really pull this together into a coherent whole. The book bops back and forth from one family to the next, of the 9 women and their families which it profiles,... Read more
So, as is my usual practice, I posted a little comment and link about yesterday’s post to my twitter feed, and, as is not usually the case, one of my twitter followers, who herself has far more followers, replied to it, and it started circulating among a more progressive/woke crowd than is usually the case. Suffice it to say, they were Not Happy. There were, I’d say, four categories of people replying. First, those who really did not understand what’s... Read more
In the news today: “Feds tighten work rules for food stamps: 688,000 adults could lose benefits” The Trump administration on Wednesday announced changes to the federal food stamp program that will make it harder for states to exempt adults from the program’s work requirements, a move it expects will cause 688,000 people nationwide to lose their benefits. . . . Those affected by the changes announced Wednesday are able-bodied adults under age 50 without children or other dependents, a group... Read more
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