A READER sent this e-mail. I cannot vouch for the figures, but it is consistent with what I know of Obamacare:

I am a consulting engineer and make between $60,000 and $125,000 per year, depending on how hard I work and whether or not there are work projects out there for me. My girlfriend is 61 and makes about $18,000 per year, working as a part-time mail clerk. For me, making $60,000 a year, under ObamaCare, the cheapest, lowest grade policy I can buy, which also happens to impose a $5,000 deductible, costs $482 per month. For my girlfriend, the same exact policy, same deductible, costs  $1 per month. That’s right, $1 per month. I’m not making this up. (more…)

AT Crisis Magazine, Stephen Baskerville writes:

The churches’ irrelevance is especially conspicuous in one of the militants’ most dishonest campaigns. If the feminists are to be believed, we are experiencing an epidemic of sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, child molestation, paternal abandonment, and more. And yet the churches—the supposed guardians of sexual morality—have nothing to say about this. They undertake no campaigns to eradicate this alleged scourge of male perversion. The reason, we all know, is that the feminists’ hysteria is a hoax and their charges are fabrications, because no such epidemic exists. But neither will the churches point this out or take a stand, because they know the accusations will be turned on them as “apologists” for rape. (more…)

FRANK REGA writes:

Here is a Rush Limbaugh article that is worth taking the time to read. Actually it is a transcript of a radio show. Below is an excerpt:

“Vester Flanagan was hired repeatedly to meet these EEO and affirmative action goals, and he was fired repeatedly. Most likely his incompetence got him fired. But it was also attitude related. When he was fired so many times for these reasons, he couldn’t deal with it, and he went postal. No, let’s not say that. He lost it. He went mental health on everybody while deep in this stigmatized victimhood. (more…)

DANIEL writes:

I took these two photos in front of an old Dutch church in Kingston, New York, which has been there since the 17th century. The cemetery is filled with Revolutionary war veterans. You can’t tell, but there is now a “Gay Pride” rainbow flag hanging beneath the American flag (a recent addition) and you can also see the PC sign as well. The minister is also a female. This all is no coincidence.

Only a few short years ago this section of Kingston (and the city at large) was an economic ghost town. Every other shop on the Main Street was closed. (more…)

MIKE writes:

I’m not sure I buy the thesis that the quality of modern goods is generally lower than it was historically.  (more…)

SUSAN HAWK, the Dallas County District Attorney, went on leave from her job this week, saying she was suffering from “serious depression.”  Hawk has not just been depressed. She has reportedly exhibited serious paranoia and has been in drug rehab as well. Oddly enough (or perhaps this is a form of affirmative action), she is being praised for her courage in facing mental illness.

Jim Schutze of the Dallas Observer writes:

Wednesday she posted a statement on her Facebook page saying the truth was that she had departed from her duties because she was depressed. This is the same person who went AWOL while running for election in 2013, said it was something about back surgery and then later (after she got elected) admitted she had left the campaign trail to be treated for addiction to multiple prescription drugs.  (more…)

A READER writes:

I just learned of the St Paul’s rape case through The Thinking Housewife’s entry, and decided to investigate a bit more.

Laura Wood summarizes, “This case reeks with so much hypocrisy, it’s sickening.”  She’s fundamentally right, of course–but I’m tempted to say she’s also ultimately wrong, due only to her gross understatement. (more…)

WHEELER writes:

I’m sure by now you’ve seen the reports of the black man who allegedly shot two former coworkers on live TV.

Have you seen the Fox News interview with Alison Parker’s boyfriend and father? It’s very eerie, and very similar to some of the Sandy Hook stuff. I keep trying to imagine if my daughter were murdered by some rage-filled maladroit with whom she used to work….would my demeanor and bearing be like this man’s? If my girlfriend, with whom I shared a portion of my life, were cut down while doing her job….would my demeanor and bearing be like this young man’s? (more…)

“The pope has transcended religion in some sense, transcended Catholicism, just like Donald Trump has transcended politics,” said Jonah Berger, associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. That has only broadened the market for pope gear: “There’s some savvy marketers in South Philly saying, ‘Hey, if I put the pope on top of a Philly building, somebody will buy that.’ ” -- The Wall Street Journal

FRANK REGA writes:

Thanks for posting about Woolverton Mountain. I had a lot of fun listening to it again and enjoyed the article. The story would not be complete without this interview, where song writer Merle Kilgore talks about writing it as a present for his Uncle Clifton Clowers, and he also sings it. (more…)

DON VINCENZO writes:

The recent revelations of the actions of Planned Parenthood are just one example of the demise of conscience, but lurking in the background another moral travesty is gaining ground: euthanasia in the West as a legitimate and moral way of dealing with suffering, both physical and psychological. (more…)

JAMES N. writes:

I don’t know how far out of New Hampshire awareness of the St. Paul rape case has spread, but it contains a number of interesting issues. St. Paul’s is a moderately elite residential high school, and apparently the senior boys compete with each other over how many freshman virgins they can seduce. In this case, the then 15-year old girl accepted an invitation for a “senior salute” from a young man, Owen Labrie, who had been accepted at Harvard and was quite popular. According to her testimony, she expected kissing and “making out” but things went a little too far. She helped by removing some of her clothes and was laughing, but her roommates have testified that she always giggled when she was nervous. See news links here, here and here. (more…)

ALAN writes:

Thank you for your thoughtful essay on mountain hiking and family togetherness.

There is much to be said in favor of the simple act of walking.  (Read the anthology The Magic of Walking, 1967.)  Walking is conducive to thinking, which is one reason why most people don’t like to walk.  Of course Fast Folk hate the very thought.  I have always enjoyed both, which is one reason why I am such a terrible misfit in today’s world.

It is not directly pertinent to what you wrote, but your essay reminded me of a story-song that I am sure is unknown to you and your readers.

On AM radio in the summer of 1962, there was a popular song called “Wolverton Mountain.”  It was sung by Claude King and was the story of a man who wanted to marry the daughter of a gun-toting mountain man.  I had the 45-rpm record on the red Columbia Records label and my boyhood pal Jeff and I often sat on the floor that summer with a record player and sang along with that record. (more…)

To not believe the news is to be a heretic, a traitor to your country, and a downright evil, heartless person.  Who wants to be called that? So someone who wants to get along in the world would believe TV news without question, and so this is how our society works smoothly and non-believers might as well just move someplace else far away…someplace with a nice beach and good surf.  --- Suzanne Broussard

Source.

PAUL A. writes:

Regarding mops, when I had my cleaning business, we would use the basic Swiffer mop head and just put our own rags on it. Buy a dozen bar rags from Costco or wherever, and you can wet ’em down in the sink, soap ’em up, etc. Just tuck a fold of the rag into the four little grab points for the original Swiffer wipe, and it works like a charm. Toss the rag in the laundry when you are done. (more…)

GUILAIN writes from France:

I enjoyed your article on family hiking. I’ve seen a video of Mount Washington in winter. It is very impressive and I wouldn’t climb up there unless someone would promise me tons of candies.

On another note, I think you will find this collection of daguerreotypes in The Atlantic interesting.

(more…)