From the category archives:

IN THE NEWS

STANDARD TIME: gaining an hour of sleep while forfeiting the afternoon to darkness

November 5, 2011

Tomorrow morning (Sunday) at 2:00 we in the Eastern Time Zone are asked to turn our clocks and watches BACK one hour to 1:00 a.m. as the continent switches from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.  You don’t have to worry about your computer clock or your cell phone.   It will change automatically. It is [...]

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THE SUPREME COURT: the issue that gets hidden beneath all the sexier ones

October 30, 2011

It is early in the 2012 elections calendar for people to have selected their candidate.  The issues are swirling around pretty fast and are dripping with rhetoric and hyperbole that is common in the primary season.   The candidates are sucking up to their bases and will say almost anything to get the smile they are [...]

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OCCUPY: to dwell in a space

October 28, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street movement is several weeks old now, and it has spread from a New York City beginning to cities and communities all over the country and into foreign countries as well.   The attempt to characterize it has baffled even the most articulate reporters who seek language from past experiences such as the [...]

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PENSION: a fixed amount paid to a retired employee

October 20, 2011

It appears that pensions were first established in Europe in the seventeenth century, the first in the United States showing up as benefits to widows of Revolutionary War veterans.  The primary incentive seems to have been recognition of one’s service to the country which interrupted one’s life and employment  and the modest situation in which [...]

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UNEMPLOYED: without work and unable to secure new job

October 17, 2011

My Pittsburgh daughter related the story of a friend who is in the business of hiring security people at entry-level positions in Western Pennsylvania.  He has about 100 jobs available at the $10-$12 per hour level, with full benefits available after 60 days.  His problem: he can’t find people willing to take the jobs!  They [...]

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LETHAL INJECTION: the execution of a prisoner by use of drugs

September 22, 2011

Last night there were a number of violent deaths in communities throughout the United States.  In cities it is a common thing to check the papers in the morning to see how many people were shot, stabbed, strangled, or otherwise relieved of their lives in a criminal way. One of the violent deaths that occurred [...]

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“…IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH….”: wedding vow too familiar to be taken seriously?

September 18, 2011

Pat Robertson, the aging TV evangelist-political candidate for President, has never been one of my favorite people.  His simplistic theology seems to take delight in trampling on people who live in the margins of belief and life, particularly if those margins are far from his own comfortable location.  This past week he not only stepped [...]

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“ALL THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN”: a euphemism for all those who have died

September 12, 2011

In the liturgy of  The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church in the United States there is a phrase used when the Priest who is celebrating the liturgy of Holy Communion says, “…and so, with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of Heaven….” It is meant to indicate that what is [...]

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NOTE TO BUSINESSES: hire!

September 10, 2011

Dear Business Owners, I just read the lead article in the September 10 New York Times which begins, “The dismal state of the economy is the main reason many companies are reluctant to hire workers, and few executives are saying that President Obama’s jobs plan–while welcome–will change their minds any time soon.” I’m not surprised [...]

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SOCIAL SECURITY: a social insurance program funded through payroll taxes

September 8, 2011

A potential candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, has enjoyed labeling Social Security as a Ponzi Scheme. He has a right to do that, and there appear to be a number of people who agree with him.  I don’t. First of all, labeling Social Security as a scheme implies that [...]

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