The Villanova College of Arts & Sciences invites their faculty to an annual formal dinner. Putting on a tux for dinner seemed rather excessive/wasteful to this simple Quaker. But a friend had purchased one at a garage sale that happened to fit me perfectly, and so (more…)
February 5, 2011
February 1, 2011
Comments on Big Little Wolf’s Daily Plate of Crazy
I recently came upon this well-written and challenging blog http://dailyplateofcrazy.com/ The author (BigLittleWolf, or BLF) discusses personal issues of family, relationships, work, etc. from the perspective of a single mother. Here are some of my Comments on her blog and on similar blogs. They can be put in perspective by referencing them to her original postings if you wish. The bold heading is a brief identification of the nature of her original post. These topics are different from my usual ones and present an opportunity for me to write about some issues that I usually don’t cover. But I also see that the author’s situations and concerns are different from mine, and thus my blog and her blogs will naturally go their separate ways, even while we continue to learn from one another. Also, I have transferred much of my attention from my blog to my Facebook posts, where I condense some serious ideas into the allotted 420 spaces.
Her Blog Topics are in BOLD. She identifies as BLW. Her original post would be necessary to set the full context of my comments. My Comments may follow hers and be interspersed, so things may not be clear at times, but this is whatever it is and should not be considered definitive of anything.
January 26, 2011
Dating and Marriage
I started dating during the final disintegration of my former marriage. It is my experience that dating progresses through several stages. (more…)
January 3, 2011
A sustainable marriage (NYTimes 12/31/10)
This NYTimes article focuses on what makes a sustainable marriage. The author proposes that relationships succeed when they develop “self-expansion” via a mutual contribution to increased knowledge and new experiences. The concept is interesting and speaks to the relationship between Fran and me. I took their “quiz,” although I don’t put that much credence in it. What I found most interesting were the comments that ensued. You can see them for yourself online, and I have copied my four comments at the end of this post (#s 69, 159, 174, 207 for NYTimes article).
As a Quaker, I am particularly led by two testimonies focusing on 1) Inner (personal) peace and 2) Outward (world) peace. These two are closely related, and while my comments on this NYTimes article relate particularly to the first sense of peace, it is true that with more of this first type, we would also have much more of the latter type (and vice versa). (more…)
January 1, 2011
Pros and Cons of spending years working for a Ph.D. in the humanities.
As this article in the Economist points out, academic opportunities in the humanities appear rather dismal for procuring full-time tenure and tenure-track employment. Doctoral Degrees: The Disposable Academic http://www.economist.com/node/17723223?story_id=17723223 (more…)
December 20, 2010
My Crèche Tableau
Why do I value the crèche that I set up every Christmastime? I do not take, nor am I particularly concerned with, a strictly literal interpretation of the scene depicted (even the bible tells the story differently). So what does it represent? (more…)
November 23, 2010
What is labor union? Not the following from the NYTimes.
Two-Tier Wage Scales Gain Traction Union workers are reluctantly agreeing to contracts that create two levels of pay on a permanent, rather than temporary, basis.
Labor lost their battle decades ago, when they lost their idealism and settled on the independent self-centered specialties model. Unions could be as uncaring as their bosses for the average working man or woman. I admire the integrity of the old left (now mostly gone) that had high principles and truly stood for the common laborer and a common union of all workers, with leaders elected democratically in open and fully transparent elections. The Socialist Labor Party, the third oldest extant party in the U.S. and the most peaceful of these three (and you well know the other two parties), is a good example. http://slp.org/what_is.htm
November 13, 2010
“Medical science” is becoming a misnomer.
”…research and development at nonmilitary agencies — including those that sponsor science and health research — would fall 12.3 percent, to $57.8 billion, from Mr. Obama’s request of $65.9 billion for fiscal year 2011.” (NYTimes report of Republican platform promising reduction in science and health research.) But don’t suppose that we will get nothing. Instead, we will get science for financial investors, brought to you by those who discovered Vioxx (recalled), Meridia (recalled). Propofol (recalled), Avandia (warning) etc. etc. See http://www.drugrecalls.com/propofol.html and http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm So let’s restrict funding from going to the already underfunded FDA. Give people back their freedom to choose their own (heavily-advertised) poison. “I demand my junk food and Fen-phen!”
When science follows the money, you lose objectivity and thus have no science.
“Sponsorship almost invariably predicts the results of research. David Ludwig and his colleagues demonstrated this phenomenon in studies of the effects of soft drinks on childhood obesity. Independent studies almost invariably find an association between habitual consumption of soft drinks and obesity. By contrast, industry-sponsored studies almost never do.” (more…)
October 14, 2010
Freedom can never be taken for granted.
David Frost queried Nixon “So what in a sense you’re saying is that there are certain situations…where the president can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.” Nixon: “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” Frost: “By definition?” Nixon: “Exactly, exactly.” (more…)