Subtitled Its People,Past, Religion, Fault Lines — and Future, this book, published in 2012, was the result of House’s travels and interviews over a four year period, during which time she met with ordinary people and Saudi princes alike. It’s what I found at the library after reading the articles I linked to the other day. Much of the story of Saudi Arabia is familiar: women who are virtual prisoners in their homes, guest workers living in poverty, religious police... Read more
Lots of spoilers here, so click away if you were thinking of checking this movie out from your local library — though, let’s face it, there are not too many people who browse the German movies section for 4 1/2 hour long TV miniseries for their weekend (and stay up way past their bedtime to watch it). The basic premise of the miniseries, which aired on German TV in 2013, is this: five twentysomething friends meet in Berlin in the... Read more
Did the Pope just admit remarried Catholics to communion? Strictly speaking, no. Did he make it possible for others to make decisions in that direction? Most likely. Let’s start by backing up a bit: So far as I understand, when the Pope speaks of “conscience”, there are two ways in which he might be referring to a remarried Catholic receiving communion in good conscience, absent an annulment or “living as brother and sister”: either he refers to a person who believes... Read more
in the new apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of Love”? Nothing that I can pin down with certainty — or, at least, I can’t pin down the long-term impact of the document. It reportedly has long passages on the importance of marriage, and speaks of the need to prepare couples for marriage and counsel them once married, and quite unambiguously rejects same-sex marriage. The fuzzier issue is what the pope has to say about those who reject church teaching. I’ll be... Read more
What do maternity leave programs look like in those states which have adopted a program? This is just a data dump, as I set about compiling this information for myself and thought readers might be interested. First, California. They’ve had a state disability program for two decades, which pays 55% of pay for up to 12 months, up to an annual covered pay of $106,742. The benefit is fully employee paid, via payroll deduction, which is treated as a tax... Read more
OK, this is more informal than a poll in which you can click on your choice. But recall that New York has now added a family leave program. Considering the design of the program, what’s the maximum amount as a percent of pay that you’d be willing to accept as a mandatory payroll deduction, for a 12 week, 67% benefit? (Coming next: some data on actual costs elsewhere in the U.S.) Read more
Lost in the hubub around California’s and New York’s minimum wage increases is the fact that, at the same time, New York enacted a family leave bill. Now, there are various articles providing the basics of the provisions of this legislation, for instance, at the Huffington Post, but even on the governor’s official web page touting the new law, I can’t find reference to the actual legislation, nor the name/number of the bill itself. The best I can find is an... Read more
The subtitle: My Year of HOPE and DESPAIR in a NEW YORK CITY HIGH SCHOOL (yes, that’s the capitalization on the front cover). A quick synopsis: Ed Boland, a professional fundraiser for a nonprofit which aims to send talented inner-city poor kids to top-flight private schools, decides to move to the frontlines of the battle, by getting a teaching degree and teaching ninth-grade history in a high-poverty-neighborhood high school. He discovers that, all inspirational movies aside, it’s difficult to impossible... Read more
So I’m here at the computer, looking at the screen refresh at Real Clear Politics, telling me that Cruz has resoundingly trounced Trump, with nearly a 20 point margin, while I procrastinate on washing up the dishes in the kitchen. (I made a batter-fried chicken recipe, in another of my series of experiments with the new deep-fat fryer, since Valli Produce had skinned chicken drumsticks on sale last weekend. It came out OK, but the batter stuck to the basket,... Read more
Should the Senate hold hearings on Merrick Garland? Doesn’t make much sense to me, if it’s solely a matter of holding hearings, and nothing more. Why, then, are Obama and the Democrats pushing on this? Presumably with the expectation that, having (they hope) shamed the Republicans into holding hearings, they can further shame them into a vote, and peel away enough Senators in tight races in order to get him through. Should the nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court justices... Read more
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