Watering down the (national park) brand?

Last updated on: October 12, 2016 at 6:09 am By Jane the Actuary

You know, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is really not the best part of the Lake Michigan shoreline — that’s along Michigan’s “west coast” (as they like to market themselves). Instead, the National Lakeshore exists where is does because of the history of its creation, long after much of the shoreline was used for industrial purposes, or for vacation or year-round homes. It was cobbled together from purchases, and much of it isn’t even lakeshore, but natural areas slightly inland,... Read more

What if payday lenders didn’t exist?

Last updated on: October 11, 2016 at 8:27 am By Jane the Actuary

According to today’s Tribune, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing to crack down on payday lenders. Broadly, the bureau proposes that lenders must find out upfront if a borrower can pay back a loan (using check stubs, financial statements or other measures), limit the number of times a payday loan can be rolled over and give borrowers more time and protection before lenders can debit money owed them from customer checking accounts. Other activists have called for an outright... Read more

“Fair and square” and the GOP establishment

Last updated on: October 11, 2016 at 7:46 am By Jane the Actuary

Two opposite approaches: Trump wins primaries, and the GOP establishment follows all the rules, scrupulously voting down attempts at the convention and elsewhere to replace him. The drama over the weekend included various Republican congressmen pulling their support of Trump, but the RNC itself then issued a statement that they will do no such thing. A voice on the TV last night (I wasn’t really paying much attention; don’t know who): “Trump won the primaries fair and square; he’s the... Read more

“62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings”?

Last updated on: October 10, 2016 at 6:30 am By Jane the Actuary

That’s what the USA Today reports, based on a survey by GoBankingRates.com. Except that’s not actually what the survey revealed. The survey asked a much more specific question: “How much money do you have saved in your savings account?” And the answers were: 34% – $0 35% – more than $0 but less than $1,000 11% – from $1,000 to $5,000 4% – from $5,000 to $10,000 15% – $10,000 or more. What’s more, far more women than men report a $0... Read more

Debate #2: please make it stop!

Last updated on: October 10, 2016 at 7:31 am By Jane the Actuary

Oh, wow, was this painful — especially as it startedout. I cringed when Trump sniffled; the first time I could excuse this as an incipient cold, but now, it’s got to be something else entirely. A nervous tic? And he rambled, and didn’t answer the questions, and he aggressively interrupted Clinton, and just would not let the moderator move on to the next question. And his debate prep seemed to have consisted of half-memorized statistics, that he threw in whether... Read more

My kids are growing up

Last updated on: October 9, 2016 at 6:08 pm By Jane the Actuary

This is it. My boys are packing up the Playmobil in the basement playroom. Sure, we’ve had prior rounds of sorting through toys before, to get rid of the most babyish items, but this is the real deal. They’re demoting the playmobil upstairs to the attic, to await the hands of grandchildren. Also various toy cars, trucks, fire engines, and all manner of other toys, and the play food and play kitchen and play workbench will either meet their fate... Read more

What happens to Trumpism?

Last updated on: October 9, 2016 at 8:52 am By Jane the Actuary

Let’s stipulate that Trump will not win the election, that the polling showing him ahead, or at least tied, was a fluke, and that the distance between Clinton and Trump will widen as Americans realize what an incompetent he is, and as he beclowns himself at the remaining debates*, and that the Republican Party will neither find a way to remove him from the ballot nor convince him to leave. (* The claim I’ve read on twitter is that he’s... Read more

President Pence?

Last updated on: October 8, 2016 at 12:15 pm By Jane the Actuary

In case you missed it, it was reported yesterday that Trump said really nasty things on a hot mike back in 2005, about groping women and some actions that are, at best, unsavory, at worst criminal. Late at night he made a “video announcement” in which he said he was sorry, and made the claim that he’s a changed man now, and, oh, by the way, Bill Clinton’s done worse and Hillary abetted him. Lots of Republicans are — finally... Read more

From the library: Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance

Last updated on: October 6, 2016 at 8:19 am By Jane the Actuary

So this is a book that I’d been trying to find at the library for a while, and I’m not sure if it was truly checked out until now, or if was just that my “looking” was in the memoirs section, when it was actually located in the 300s nonfiction. (My library switched to a “marketplace” concept several years ago — basically an oversized new books area in which the books are sorted into general categories rather than strictly by... Read more

Hijab-ing Chess Players

Last updated on: October 4, 2016 at 11:58 am By Jane the Actuary

First of all, who knew that there was a separate world championship for female chess players? I didn’t. Sure, I knew there were chess clubs and competitions specifically for girls, which I had always figured were meant simply as encouragement for girls to play, if they’d otherwise walk into a room full of boys and turn around. But I’m surprised that there are top-level competitions. At any rate, though, no doubt you’ve read that the next World Championship for female chess... Read more