Because I feel compelled to let you all know that, just because I’m not blogging about a particular topic doesn’t mean that I don’t think that it’s important. I just don’t think I have anything to say about it. The downed Malaysian plane: this is bad all around, but I just don’t have an answer. The idea of placing sanctions on Russia still seems bizarre to me — but the report that France is continuing in its plans to sell... Read more
This is what I’ve learned, after two days of Twitter: To start with, I am currently “following” fewer than a dozen people, but one of them is instapundit/Glen Reynolds. And it’s not so much that he tweets constantly, but he retweets incessantly. How to you separate the wheat from the chaff? Twitter has pestered me to follow more people, but how do you manage more? The other disappointment is this: I figured that 140-character tweets wouldn’t really provide any meaningful... Read more
This CNN article reports that the teen birth rate dropped 40% from 2009 to 2013, and 75% of this drop is due to a program that provided free IUDs. Here’s a link from theothermccain.com which describes the program and includes a link to documentation on the program itself and the abstract of the study which detailed the outcomes of the program. Unfortunately, the study itself is behind a paywall, so it’s not possible to assess the credibility of their methodology,... Read more
I haven’t given you all any new recipes in a while, but here’s one which is noteworthy for the simple reason that even my youngest, pickiest eater liked it. This came from a from-the-library Gooseberry Patch cookbook, “Everyday Simple Suppers” — it’s of the same genre as the Taste of Home cookbooks, in which ordinary cooks submit their recipes, which themselves usually came from some other cookbook, with the comment that “we adjusted it to fit our tastes.” And the... Read more
From the New York Times, a report on a new medication for cystic fibrosis: Kalydeco is truly a wonder drug. Developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, it is the first drug that attacks not just the symptoms but the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, a genetic lung disease that usually kills victims by the time they reach their 40s. It doesn’t work for every sufferer of the disease, but rather for a small subset — probably around 2,000 people — who have... Read more
I set up a twitter account (yay, me!) just now, but I don’t know if I’ll use it. In any event, I’ve at least “called dibs” on the name (yeah, “janetheactuary” of course). If I find it to be useful, I’ll follow the instructions for putting a twitter-feed widget on the blog, but not yet. Is it useful? A time-suck? An addictive time-waster? Are there people I should follow? Tricks I should know? I can’t really see myself tweeting a... Read more
I do want to comment on this report later but wanted to save the link, as the original article, originally from Drudge, seemed to tell a story of a thoroughly preposterous set of ideas. So read for yourself, and come back tomorrow for commentary! UPDATE: Sunday night. I’m watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 with the boys and taking notes on the report, “Approaches for Promoting Healthy Food Purchases by SNAP Participants.” Here are my excerpts, notes, and comments.... Read more
OK, before you get all upset and say, “the Isareli-Palestinian Conflict is intractable and if experts in the field haven’t fixed it, you, Jane the Actuary, an armchair foreign policy analyst at best, have no clue”: I know that. But of the three major international issues brewing right now (by three, I mean Ukraine, Gaza, and the mass influx of immigrants from Central America), Gaza seems, at least, the more tractable of these. I mean, let’s face it, to a... Read more
Those of us who have not gone into an apocalyptic panic at the Hobby Lobby court decision have observed that the obvious solution to the issue is to get employers out of the business of providing healthcare to their employees. After all, in any reasonable world, it sounds more than a little preposterous to say, “employers must provide contraception to their female employees and the wives of their male employees.” And this morning I was listening to a training session... Read more
In today’s paper, in the category of “lighter news” (in the paper’s own categorization — the Trib fills page 3 with fluff articles): “Divorcing man seeks custody – of his Lab“* A Carol Stream man upset that his estranged wife has custody of their dog, Pepper, asked a Will County judge today to let an independent arbitrator help decide who keeps the 5-year-old black Labrador retriever known for snoring and hogging the bed. “Your pet has a heart…This is... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In