Claudia Connell admits at the advanced age of 46 that she will never have a family.

ECOLE EDITOR writes:

I am a regular reader of your blog. Thank you for your work. I really enjoy your social commentary and insights.

I read this article in The Daily Mail about a forty-six year old journalist who comes to realize that men prefer to marry younger women.  She comes to this conclusion:

“I … think it’s an uncomfortable truth that the sort of high-flying alpha males we were all holding out for didn’t want women like us. All the successful men I know have married sweet, uncomplicated women who are happy to forfeit their careers to support their husbands,”

She concludes the article by comforting herself with the thought of her disposable income.

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VINCENT C. writes:

Mr. Smith’s commentary about the German school’s dress etiquette for teachers might leave the impression that such rules for dress were long forgotten in the school systems in the U.S. Speaking from personal experience, it is beyond cavil that those “teacher dress codes” began to unravel in the 1970s with the ascendency of the counter-culture’s belief, now indelibly etched in our custom, that “clothes did not make the man,” but were merely an external and inappropriate system of judging anyone, including a teacher, and which played no part in his/her performance or success.

The class pictured here, taken about 1966/67 was of 12th year students (17-18 years of age) taking their second part American History course in preparation for the state examinations – called Regents in New York State. There was no warning that such a photo would be taken; hence, neither the teacher nor the students dressed any differntly than they normally did. Read More »

ALAN ARCHIBALD writes:

I marvel that Christian conservatives rally around Mitt Romney, the first non-Christian to run for president of the United States. Did you note Rev. Billy Graham’s recent “rehabilitation” of Mormonism from “cult status” to “full biblical integrity?” Perhaps Rev. Graham has been swept away by the zeitgeist of flip-floppery.

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JANE R. writes:

Pictures do say a thousand words. This photo of Gov. Christie and Obama is sarcastically being referred to as their Love-In. I don’t get it. The whole country is watching and this is how politicians conduct themselves and allow themselves to be photographed? Weird!

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TWO friends of mine who are financial analysts have been following the polls closely since last summer. They believe the polls are wildly wrong because they overestimate voter turnout among Democrats. My friends have made two predictions:

1. Romney will win in a landslide,

2. Obama will become a talk show host.

I have tried to convince them that their predictions are overly optimistic, but have not succeeded.

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DANIEL S. writes:

It has been widely reported in the liberal press that discussion between the Vatican and the traditionalist Catholic group, the Society of Saint Pius X, has irrevocably broken down, with blame being placed on the SSPX for being retractable and reactionary. Reports of the demise of the ongoing dialogue have been greatly exaggerated. Indeed the Vatican is now awaiting the response from the traditionalist society concerning a doctrinal preamble submitted for their consideration. The SSPX has requested more time to review and consider the preamble, with the Vatican stating that the ongoing process must be met with patience and perseverance. It would seem neither side has abandoned dialogue. Read More »

P. SMITH writes:

Your recent articles on clothing piqued my interest. I’m an American who’s been living in Germany for many years. My wife and I have put four children through the excellent Bavarian school system.

I’m attaching two photographs which summarize the change in attitudes that has occurred in the West in the past century. The newer photo may be familiar from the recent strike in Chicago. The older photo, taken in 1925, is of the teaching staff at a Gymnasium (college prep high school) in Osnabrueck, in northwestern Germany. The painting behind the teachers, The Announcement of the Peace of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years’ War, was destroyed by a bombing raid in 1942. On the wall at the right are the names of the school’s teachers and pupils who had been killed in the First World War. Read More »

IN CONTINUATION of the discussion about refusing state marriage licenses, Jeremy Morris writes:

America has been reduced to a culture filled with distractions, light shows that do nothing more than hold our attention just long enough to cause us to forget our duty to God almighty. It is the “Vanity Fair” of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Its days are numbered, the evil that is rampant can only destroy itself eventually. The hold it has on people will eventually be loosened. Similar, to how the beauty and distractions offered by a luxury cruise liner can only hold the passengers attention so long before they realize it is sinking. No matter what the people in authority over the ship say, the discovery of its true fate is inevitable. The crew down below are the first to realize with absolute certainty that the ship is bound for a watery grave. The story of the Titanic is a great metaphor for what is happening to America as we speak. Many will perish in the confusion, many more will perish in denial. My sincere prayer is that Christians will break the hold that “Vanity Fair” has upon them, remember their duty to God, and seek him before it is too late. Read More »

THE GREAT Miami Hurricane of 1926 would cause $180 billion of damage if it were to strike today. Katrina cost $85 billion. Sandy is expected to cost $20 billion. Roger Pielke Jr., of the University of Colorado, argues that the U.S. has actually been extraordinarily lucky in recent years, contrary to alarmist statements by politicians eager to worsen fears related to global warming. Andrew Cuomo said this week,  “I think at this point it is undeniable but that we have a higher frequency of these extreme weather situations and we’re going to have to deal with it.” He is wrong.

Pielke writes in the Wall Street Journal:

While it’s hardly mentioned in the media, the U.S. is currently in an extended and intense hurricane “drought.” The last Category 3 or stronger storm to make landfall was Wilma in 2005. The more than seven years since then is the longest such span in over a century. Read More »

A Woman's Protest, John Liston Byam Shaw; c. 1899

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Sgt. Jennifer Smith

SEE this astounding headline in The New York Times:

Military Has Not Solved Problem of Sexual Assault, Women Say

Why would anyone expect that a coed military would ever solve the problem of sexual assault? It’s much more likely that the problem has just begun. Also, might we ask, why women who are trained aggressors are not able to deal with aggression from their fellow soldiers? Someone who cannot defend herself against other service members is hardly in the position to defend herself against committed enemies.

Here is my working definition of a woman in traditionally male military positions. A female solider is someone who joins the military not to defend her country but to fight her country. Even if she has patriotic feelings, even if she has done her job well, she is, unless in some crucial role that can only be served by a woman, effectively at war with her own country to the extent that she approves of, seeks and fights for equality in the military. America depends on a male fighting force and on the relative cohesiveness, simplicity and camaraderie of a male force.

Illustrating this point, the women interviewed here are outraged that men made improper comments or physical contact. And it’s true these actions are improper. But the idea that they could ever be eradicated is delusional. There is a quite easy solution: minimize the number of women in the armed forces, making it as close to none as possible. Read More »

LYDIA SHERMAN writes:

One of my concerns about the appearance of the advanced West is the clothing. In all fairness, it is not entirely the fault of the people. They buy what is manufactured and put on the rack in the stores. In the photograph you posted of the people in the city, well, some of them may have paid a lot of money for a pair of jeans and a hoodie. Others bought something very cheap or practically free at a big box store. These clothes are easily available, in great quantities; very visible in ads and store windows, in movies.

There are better styles but sometimes relegated to catalogs or more expensive stores, which can hardly survive the competition, which puts out tons of dull, puffy, stretchy, baggy, shapeless, androgynous, colorless clothing, and makes it visible from the windows of the stores.When people are not informed or educated about whether clothing is in good taste or not, they buy what is easiest to attain. Read More »

THE REV. James Jackson writes:

Here is an epitaph from an English headstone that I put in the bulletin for this coming Sunday; thought you might like it.

Here Lie I, Martin Elginbrodd;
Have mercy on my soul, Lord God,
As I would do, gin I were God
And thou wert Martin Elginbrodd.

A blessed All Souls Day to you.

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JAMES P. writes:

Elizabeth McBride writes:

Are you serious about the way New Yorkers are dressed after the worse storm in recorded history? Should they dress up in suits for the men, gowns and heels for the women?

I encourage everyone to search for images of past hurricanes — e.g., 1938, 1944, or 1954.

Here are images from the 1938 New England hurricane and its aftermath. How did they find time to dress?

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MEREDITH writes:

I too am saddened by the extreme casualness of our society’s dress. Just this past weekend, my daughter and I traveled to Dallas for a baby shower that was a tea party theme. Since we were going to Dallas (which tends to be much dressier than my city) I had assumed that the women would be better dressed than I, so I was sure to wear a nice, albeit homemade, dress (brown calico with a floral print) and my daughter who is six and a half years old, wore a bishop dress that I’d just finished sewing and smocking.

I nearly made myself blind to get the thing done in time for the shower, but it turned out beautifully. I was dismayed to see that most of the hostesses were wearing jeans, or short skirts and leggings with boots … only one was in a dress, but it was a leopard print and she wore it with black tights and four-inch heel pumps, which she complained were hurting her feet. Read More »

DON’T miss the extended discussion in this entry of ecclesiastical marriage and the rejection of state marriage licenses. Especially see these comments by Jeremy, who argues that Christians can no longer with good conscience participate in the civil institution of marriage.

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JOHN HARRIS, editor of Praesidium and executive director of the Center for Literate Values, writes: