This is an issue, whether you’ve thought about it or not. Better provision for mothers is a part of the “Expand Social Security” platform, and I thought it’d be worthwhile to write up some thoughts on the issue. In general, there are two ways that Social Insurance systems provide benefits for mothers, or, strictly speaking, parents who have gaps in their work records because they’ve stayed at home caring for children. The traditional approach is that of the U.S. On... Read more
Apropos of nothing, here’s something that I was thinking about the other day. We all learn in our civics classes — or should have learned, anyway — that the Constitution itself did not define what the Supreme Court should be up to, exactly. Section 1 of Article 3 states, “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” And... Read more
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is currently suffering heavily. The city is divided into two, half held by government forces, and half by rebel forces. It’s been besieged, and it’s been a battleground, and that going on for years now. Here’s an excerpt from a piece by an exile-Syrian journalist in the New York Times: For Syrians like me, who believed in a just revolution, who wanted an end to the oppressive Assad dynasty, the meaning of victory has changed. Victory... Read more
and what will it look like? I wrote on Friday about the Gallup poll reporting a huge rise in the number of people identifying themselves as current marijuana users, from 7% in 2013 to 13% in 2016. That’s a startling increase. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to compare this figure internationally, since the standard metric is percent of respondents who have used pot at some point in the past year, such as in this set of Wikipedia statistics, which reports that, in... Read more
Two statistics from the past week: First, a Gallup poll that reported that 13% of Americans reported being current users of pot. That’s up from 7% in 2013 — a startling increase. Has usage always been higher than the 7% and only now, with partial legalization, are users willing to admit to anonymous pollsters that they use the drug? Or has usage increased that dramatically as a result of its legalization and normalization — a normalization that’s been so dramatic... Read more
Just passing on a link to an article in the New York Times, “On Paper, Italy Allows Abortions, but Few Doctors Will Perform Them.” This was from back in January, but came across my twitter or facebook feed the other day. [A]bortion within 90 days of pregnancy — and later for women in mental or physical danger, or in cases of serious fetal pathologies — has been legal in this country for over three decades. But that does not mean... Read more
So, look, it’s no surprise that I identify with the Republican Party, but let’s break this down. What do I think of as being Republican Party values? With respect to the economy, it means a belief that self-reliance and free enterprise are the keys to a strong and growing economy. While a safety net is important, the plain fact of the matter is that a generous social welfare state simply doesn’t work in the long run, and that innovation in... Read more
The Egyptian volleyball player. No, not her. I’m not referring to Doaa Elghobashy, the hijab-wearing player who made the news as a demonstration that “even modest Muslim women can play sports.” See the Huffington Post, “These Olympic Beach Volleyball Photos Prove That Sports Are For Everyone,” as one source among many for these images. But Nada Meawad, her teammate. In case you didn’t notice, she doesn’t cover her hair. Here’s another image: this is from a set in which the two... Read more
So over the weekend, in case you missed it, Drudge highlighted a photograph of Hillary Clinton needing help to get up stairs. (The screen shot is actually courtesy instapundit.com, since by the time I got around to it, the site had changed.) As it happens, this is an image from earlier this year, not from this weekend. And I think that Drudge realized that a bit late, since the banner headline early on Sunday featured just this incident; then the... Read more
Readers will know that the other day, in what you might call an “exercise in writing towards an audience,” I encouraged Donald Trump to recognize that the media, the Establishment, and various other Powers That Be are aligned against him, and will do everything in their power to ensure he loses, so that he should strategically quit and name his replacement instead. As a reminder: I do not support Trump, I do not support Clinton, I think both are bad... Read more
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