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As you may have noticed, my presence here or anywhere else online continues to be patchy. I wish I could tell you it's because of my summer beach frolicking or my fabulous remote-jungle excursions, but my story remains the same: life continues to be complicated enough that I can't manage consistency. Different circumstances, same result. The irony is that, since mid-May, by focus and plan has been to update the back end so Parent Hacks isn't as vulnerable to life's storms. But...life's storms have made it impossible to do that work right now, and even the work it takes to accept all of your generous offers of help. Sigh.
I almost didn't write this...I'm aware of broken record syndrome and I don't want to sound like a whiner. But I feel a big responsibility to you, and, more than that, I LIKE YOU. As I try to keep my friends informed about the general state of my life, I try to do the same with you.
So. Just know I am here and I'm not going anywhere. Hacks will continue to appear as I can get them up. And I stand by my fervent belief that this is TEMPORARY. I see many bright and promising lights at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for listening, everyone. xo
Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died Monday at the age of 93. The architect of the Vietnam War served during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Over the years, he came to regret the decisions that led to the escalation of the war in Vietnam.
Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, who died Monday at age 93, offered an appraisal of the Vietnam War and his role in it in the 2003 documentary The Fog of War. Filmmaker Errol Morris, who made the award-winning film, offers his insight.
Leevi Barnard, 28, died in a bomb explosion in a Baghdad market. Family described the North Carolina National Guardsmen as quiet with a dry sense of humor. He loved to play church softball and help his grandfather work in their vegetable garden.
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A federal judge approved GM's bankruptcy plan, saying liquidation would be "disastrous" for everyone concerned. Now the "New GM" faces a formidable task: figuring out a way to make money in an economy that's just starting to heal.
President Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, laid out a plan to reduce the number of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons. The "joint understanding" is intended to lead to a new strategic weapons treaty by the end of the year.
The death toll in the violence between predominantly Muslim Uighurs people and Han Chinese in western China is likely to increase, officials say. The clashes Sunday in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province, which killed 156 people, underscored the deep hostility between the Uighur and China's Han majority.
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Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died Monday at the age of 93. The architect of the Vietnam War served during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Over the years, he came to regret the decisions that led to the escalation of the war in Vietnam.
In the northwest corner of Trafalgar Square, in the heart of London, there is a base, or plinth, for a statue that stands empty. Now, an artist is putting it to use for a project that involves 2,400 members of the general public each doing whatever they want atop the plinth for one hour.
Ten years ago, a huge windstorm struck the remote Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota and killed 35 million trees. It took three weeks to get everyone out of the woods. Now, the forest is growing back and people are still flocking to the sprawling wilderness.
Super Smooth Scooter Bag
By Bernadette Noll and Kathie Sever
Future Craft Collective
As I type this I can see the Atlantic Ocean out one window, the Empire State Building from another, and the full moon too. Visiting family in the motherland has got me feeling all sentimental for all of it — the places and the people too.
We at Future Craft Collective are on opposite coasts these next few weeks with Kathie out West and I in the East. Of course we'll take in the sights at each shore, but it's family and friends that serve as the main impetus — both immediate and extended. We're kind of sentimental that way.
Our project this week is a bit sentimental, too, in its summer simplicity. And with its nod back to another time, it goes along perfectly with our returns to our childhood sights, sounds, and people. How lucky for us that these simple modes of transport have been modernized in their design but hearken back to days of old as well.
The scooter bag! Simple form and function that will hold your drink and your book in smooth style. Perfect for a ride on your favorite sidewalk — wherever that may be!
I also talked to my BIL the doctor, who set my mind at ease, because what with all the telephone runaround I was starting to get wigged out.
"Basically you had the bad luck to have all this happen on a holiday weekend," sayeth he.
"Well, shit, I'm ready to hop the jitney and head to the Hamptons, storm the first golf course I see, and scream 'ONE OF YOU FUCKERS LOOK AT MY LUNG ALREADY!'" This got a chuckle. He went over a basic list of shit it most likely could be. I've never had pleurisy but I've had wicked bronchitis more than a few times in my life so it might could be scarring, and since I'm completely asymptomatic as far as any pulmonary conditions go, it could be something congenital that means nothing atall-atall...I've never had a chest scan of any kind until recently so I'm thinking that idea could have merit.
I have a bar of Lindt Extra Creamy and I'm gonna eat half of it and go read a book.
It gives me no pleasure to do this, but sometimes even friends let loose with such jaw-droppingly bad arguments that it is impossible for me not to redirect a bit of the old Respectful Insolence in their direction. So it was earlier, when I saw an unreasonable article by an otherwise reasonable guy sneak into my newsfeed. If you want to see an example of a bad analogy, watch Dr. Kevin Pho have at it in a post entitled We've Tried Single Payer Health Care, and It Has Failed.
Quoth Kevin:
Based on an agreement in 1787, the government is responsible to provide free health care to Native Indians on reservations. And, as you can see from this scathing story from the Associated Press, that promise has not been kept.
It is a horrible story about how badly underfunded and run the Indian Health Service (IHS) is, certainly a story worthy of comment. Unfortunately, Kevin uses the story as an excuse to indulge his dislike of anything resembling a single payer system by laying down one of the worst arguments I've ever seen anywhere (and I do mean anywhere):
And, after Haiti, where in the Western hemisphere do men have the lowest life expectancy? It's on Indian reservations in South Dakota.The primary reason, not surprisingly, is lack of money, compounded by a difficult time recruiting physicians and other clinicians. Indeed, many Indian health clinics cannot "deal with such high rates of disease, and poor clinics do not have enough money to focus on preventive care."
So, if you're in the camp that supports a Medicare-for-all-type solution to our health care woes, consider how that same government, whom you're entrusting to be the single-payer, has neglected the Indian Health Service.
Because the IHS is just like a Medicare-for-all type solution to the problem of the uninsured.
Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...Alzheimer's is thought of as a disease for the elderly, but several hundred thousand cases are in men and women under 65. Because the disease makes it difficult to work, these people often lose their jobs — and their health insurance, too.
On the Sunday morning of Maker Faire, I was armed with paper and glue sticks to start my paper bead jewelry crafts with the kids. One of them was this adorable girl named Sylvia who wanted to make a paper bead necklace. Sylvia worked on her necklace while her mom helped her cut strips. She quietly planned her design while coloring and glueing her strips of paper. In the end, she wasn't satisfied with just paper beads around an elastic band. She started to cut out a small piece of paper and gathered scraps that were on the table. It turns out that the final touch to her design piece was a triangle pendant embellished with pieces of glittery elastic which she attached to the necklace with piece of ribbon. I loved how she whipped up her own touch to the project in a matter of minutes. Her mom took a picture of us to capture her finished necklace and then she adorably asked for my autograph.
Sylvia recently did a blog post (with special help from her dad) recapping our morning at Maker Faire. It turns out today is Sylvia's 8th birthday so I wanted to wish this little crafter a Happy Birthday! I can't wait to see you again at the next Maker Faire!
You can see more photos of us crafting in my flickr set. She also got meet with our fellow MAKE peeps, Kip Kay and John Park.
- Music:cat power
In January I posted a theory that the U.S. economy might not do anything more dramatic than slide sideways, which would look like a downward slide relative to other nations, more or less as the U.K. has done since World War II. There is no law that says we have to grow or crash. It has been six months since that post and the economic numbers remain depressing but not terrifying. GM is still in the news, having absorbed perhaps another $50 billion in taxpayer funds and hopelessly ill-equipped to compete with the Tata Nano or the electric cars coming out of China. The government continues to expand but few have noticed any great improvement in the quality or quantity of services delivered by the government. Any growth in GDP seems likely to be roughly matched by our 1 percent annual growth in population, which will result in a reasonably happy government, but a disappointed people. The government will be a happy due to a rising tax base. The people will be disappointed because increased population will bring congestion, rising real estate costs, and constant per-capita income that most likely will turn into a falling income for most Americans, given that a lot of forces tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
How accurate does this assessment seem? Are you seeing evidence of a recovery in your neighborhood?
Carolyn Kellogg wonders whether books will shape the legacy of former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who died today at age 93.
Like Sarah Palin, but wish she'd talk about God more? You're in luck! The Alaska governor will release two editions of her forthcoming memoir, one for Christians and one for the rest of us. Providing, of course, she doesn't get bored writing it and decide to quit halfway through.
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