Here’s my latest recipe: a lamb and pasta skillet dish. This was inspired by a recipe we had at Easter with ground lamb; I hunted around online and found something vaguely similar, a recipe with Greek seasonings. This came from the McCormick website, because it instructs you to use their seasonings, but I’m going to lay it out as I modified it. Ingredients: 1 pound ground lamb (at Aldi for 5.99) 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 tsp. oregano leaves 1... Read more
So I quit my job yesterday. To clarify, I quit the job that I’ve had for over 20 years, where, ever since my now-nearly-18-year-old was born, has accommodated a part-time work schedule, and where, for the past 6 years, I’ve been able to work from home. It was a great gig for many years, providing me with the ability to work at a professional career while also devoting time to my family, both during the hands-on time of infancy and... Read more
It’s graduation season, and hence we have, from the New York Times, the report: “Catholic School Rejected Its Gay Valedictorian’s Speech. So He Gave It With a Bullhorn.” — which implies that the student was discriminated against because he is gay, even though, if you read the article, it sounds like the administration struggled to work around his nonconformism, but that there is a fundamental he-said, she-said dispute about whether the school appropriately informed the students about their policies for... Read more
The Daily Mail reports: “Condoms must now be made available to ‘all participants’ at the Boy Scouts global gathering as girls are permitted to join the organization” The Boy Scouts will ensure that condoms will be made ‘readily and easily accessible’ at its global gathering this summer, it has been revealed. Rules now require that the host organization of the World Scout Jamboree provide condoms at a ‘number of locations’ for staff and participants during the event. Leaders of the... Read more
You know the quote, don’t you? I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. President Barack Obama in an April 2009 press conference, here quoted at FactCheck.org. He came under much criticism for this comment, suggesting as it does that he doesn’t really believe that there’s anything special about the United States, except for as a certain emotional reaction that everyone has about their countries. ... Read more
Is what’s going on in Gaza at the moment a “protest”? No. Protestors march around yelling chants in order for those whom they’re angry at to see their anger and their numbers. Is it a “riot”? No. That’s uncontrolled chaos with the goal of causing destruction, either truly for no reason at all, or as a means of causing harm to some disfavored group (Korean shopkeepers, for instance). Is it a military incursion? It’s a challenge to use this vocabulary... Read more
An update on Starbucks: as part of its resolution to the bad publicity in the wake of the arrest of two men at a Philadelphia Starbucks, the company has announced that, henceforth, they “will now allow anyone to use the restroom at Starbucks locations even if they are not paying customers.” To be sure, executive chairman Howard Schultz, when announcing the policy, then said, “we don’t want to become a public bathroom,” but, quite honestly, that is, in effect, what... Read more
https://twitter.com/bethanyshondark/status/994693414938660864 The second, from Channnn @Chan_the_world (and, no, I can’t figure out why this time around, only the text of the tweet appears, but if you follow the link you’ll see more context, including the fact that she’s a 17 year old black girl): https://twitter.com/Chan_the_world/status/991844070145249281 Two tweets, to which I’ll add a third incident, my own tire-changing story, when I, a 5’3″ 115 lb weakling of a 24 year old, who had always been told, “if you get a flat... Read more
The New York Times: “The Scene Inside the Met Gala.” Also, “What Is the Met Gala, and Who Gets to Go?” The Federalist: “At The Met Gala, Celebrities Glam Up Their Idea Of Catholicism.” The Daily Mail (Piers Morgan byline): “If the Met Gala was Islam or Jewish-themed, all hell would break loose – so why was it OK for a bunch of flesh-flashing celebrities to disrespect MY religion?” The New Yorker, “Pope Rihanna and Other Revelations from the Catholic-Themed... Read more
Yes, it’s taken me a while to start typing about Alfie Evans, the 23-month-old British boy whose parents fought to stop a hospital from disconnecting the ventilator that provided needed support in breathing. After 5 days without the ventilator, and multiple desperate court battles, he died of an unannounced cause. Some useful further reading: “The Alfie Evans case shows liberal individualism has gone too far,” Megan McArdle, Washington Post. “Parents Fight With U.K. Hospital To Feed, Give Oxygen To, And Diagnose... Read more
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