So here’s an update on my Adventures as Cub Scout Committee Chair. We are a small pack — by my count, 31 boys. Maybe a few more, if we get some more new boys. Maybe a few less, if we some of the boys we’re assuming are continuing this year, turn out not to be doing so. This means that we don’t really have the numbers for some of the Big Things that other packs might do, and we don’t... Read more
Yes, I know my blog readers are hardly a random sample. But it would help me with a project I’m working on if you would answer this question for me: what is your own understanding of how much one should save for retirement? By “one” I mean whatever rule of thumb you are aware of for American workers, in general, or whatever you believe is the right approach for you personally. Please feel free to add comments on your own... Read more
From Inside Higher Ed: No one — besides fellow racists, perhaps — is pleased that white supremacists have been using imagery from the Middle Ages to further their cause. However, as two professors disagreed about what was to be done about that trend, the dispute was laid out for the public to see, resulting in calls for civility from medieval studies organizations, and Facebook posts tagging far-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos. Dorothy Kim, an assistant professor of English at Vassar College,... Read more
“Medicare for all” has been the Progressives’ rallying cry for a while now, and Bernie Sanders has gotten 16 co-sponsors on his latest bill, which he himself admits is just an effort to “begin the debate” and which even Slate criticizes for its lack of any funding sources. Now, in that same “for all” spirit, Progressives are promoting a bill being touted as “Child Care for All,” and which came accross my twitter feed as #ChildCare4All. Sponsored by Senator Patty... Read more
Yes, it’s time for the annual Cub Scout gripe. Last night was the official “Blast Into Scouting” recruiting event. The Chicago area council had advertisements on the radio, on facebook, on billboards. And, we, the leadership of our local Cub Scout pack, advertised in the school newsletter, in the parish bulletin, via an e-mail to parents — heck, we even visited the classrooms, handed out information folders to the boys, and had my husband, who is good at this sort... Read more
Is Cupich's definition of "Christian" so expansive that it is synonymous with "good person" in the opposite direction? Read more
So Amazon is inviting bids for a “second headquarters”; the HQ2, as they’re calling it. You can view the RFP directly on their website. What are their objectives, their motivations? This is what they say they want: Metropolitan areas with more than one million people A stable and business-friendly environment Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent Communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options But how will... Read more
Subtitled The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men. And, yes, I’m typing this up as quickly as I can so that I can get it back to the library before I pass not just the due date, but the end of the grace period. The book’s thesis, as you can guess, is that boys are in trouble. At every age, from childhood to young adulthood, they’re falling behind their sisters. They’re doing poorly... Read more
The U.S. Catholic bishops are, unsurprisingly, angry at the Trump administration’s plan to cancel the DACA program that gave amnesty to minor-arriving illegals. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the decision “reprehensible”; locally, Cardinal Cupich called it “heartless” in a statement. They reference scriptural calls to care for the stranger, as if this is a black-and-white issue, that Catholic doctrine apparently calls for open borders, and open-ended stranger-welcoming should be a matter of law, rather than personal action. In the... Read more
I raised the issue the other day, of what an appropriate compromise would be, that is, what trade-offs would take a step toward mitigating the ill effects of DACA/amnesty for minor arrivals in setting a general principle of “stay here illegally for a given length of time and we’ll treat you as having a right to stay.” And in the meantime, various politicians and pundits are suggesting that the answer is “enhanced border security.” This proposal appears in an op-ed in... Read more
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