I RECENTLY talked to a female corporate executive who was unemployed. She had earned a handsome six-figure salary at her former job. She still had an annual six-figure income from her ex-husband and a six-figure income (or slightly less) from her current husband. Within a few months, after panic over her unexpected job loss, this mother of three young children found a new position in a dismal economy. Yes, it was a six-figure job too. (more…)

Hannon writes:

I really got a charge from reading Aservant’s post about chefs. While I foreswore I would never work in the “food service industry” and never have, I have great appreciation for Aservant’s sentiments and thoughts on the subject. My own work in another hands-on, unseen and “all labour” industry as a nurseryman is similar in some ways, especially in the technical knowledge and skill that only comes from experience. But it has nothing like the minute-to-minute demands of a kitchen. Still, I would wager that making good money – that is, a wage that allows homeownership at some point and obviates the wife earning wages-  is more difficult growing and selling live plants, mainly because of the low value people assign to them. 

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John Albert Gardner, the man held for questioning in the disappearance of San Diego teenager Chelsea King, was convicted of attacking a 14-year-old girl ten years ago and is a suspect in the disappearance of another girl. He is probably what is known as a repeat sex offender. Psychiatrists say that rapists and child killers are among the least likely criminals to be rehabilitated. Some argue this is proof they are suffering from a disease. (more…)

Jean-Paul writes:

I just read your comment on VFR about Chelsea King, the pretty young girl who disappeared while running alone in the park in California. [More comments can be read here.]

Some young girls know more things than others. 

I learned a lesson from my child when I walked down a crowded downtown street on a summer day a few steps behind her and her equally beautiful girlfriend. I had never really been aware of the ravenous, aggressive stares unaccompanied young women receive from a certain type of male. These were not looks of admiration, they were of another order entirely. It amazed me at the time because those same males were totally discreet when I walked on that street with my very attractive wife; their glances at her were of admiration and very brief. They are cowards, of course, since she was not alone and I am as big as them and I am unafraid of violence, win, lose or draw. They seem to be able to read this. 

Such a shame that it always seems to come down to the same nasty old thing; violence or the credible possibility thereof. Then they leave you alone.

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Aservant writes:

I have gone through a profound awakening in recent years, changing from a knee-jerk liberal to a conservative Christian, even a “fundamental” conservative Christian. I add the “fundamental” to differentiate myself from mainstream conservatives, whom  for the most part I have nothing in common with. 

I state the above to provide some context for the following account of my experience in professional kitchens and my views regarding women chefs and the current phenomenon of “celebrity chefs.” (more…)

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ALL SELF-HELP advice is not “psycho-porn.” There is decent counsel to be had in this sad world. You just won’t likely find it on the bestseller list or in a therapist’s office.

For women seeking to live and love as neither the playthings of their own emotions or of men, there is one excellent source of advice, the blog  What Women Never Hear, the work of an unnamed elderly gentleman who is a former naval officer and university professor.  None of the Elizabeth Gilberts or Lori Gottliebs writing today offer the truths to be found in this man’s tips and insights on courtship, love and marriage. His writings include the input of his wife of 55 years.

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Christ was not tempted in the towns or among the multitudes. During His forty days in the inhospitable void, He allowed himself to be approached. This was no accident. When individuals separate themselves from others, physically or intellectually, they encounter temptation. Satan despises those in the desert. He loathes the emptiness of contemplation. He hates it when we set off on our own.

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Gail Aggen writes:

I was fascinated by the commenter Jake Jacobsen who relayed his experiences working in professional kitchens. From the way he described it, these kitchens are no place for the faint of heart or delicate of constitution. I had not put that together in my mind when wondering why there were so few women chefs. But now that I think back on my own experiences waitressing as a young woman, I cannot remember any kitchen staff being female, including those who wash dishes. (more…)

IN THIS EXCELLENT piece by Matt Labash, Father Rick Frechette buries the dead of Haiti. Labash writes:

Haiti might be the only place where death with dignity entails being buried five-to-a-cardboard coffin. But it is moving and beautiful. Yet, I suggest to Frechette, it seems futile. Why do this? However horrible their lives were, this isn’t going to change that. Why spend so much time and energy serving people who’ll never know they’ve been served?

Frechette thinks about it a long while, then says, “If the dead are garbage, then the living are walking garbage.”

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    The 1995 film version of Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly, directed by Frédéric Mitterand and filmed in Tunisia by Martin Scorcese, is haunting and beautiful. The Chinese soprano Ying Huang does not look Japanese and her singing is not powerful but she is unforgettable, her character changing from a romantic girl to a mature and principled woman. If you have never watched a full-length opera, this famous tale of the geisha who is bought by an American soldier as his temporary bride is a great place to start. On her wedding day, the fragile geisha realizes she has left her people behind and she enters a lonely realm. Some people complain that Butterfly is anti-American, but one could just as easily say it is anti-Japanese. Cio-Cio-San is sold to the soldier, Lieutenant Pinkerton (Richard Troxell), by a Japanese procurer.

  "Women don't have jobs either, but women aren’t abusive, most of the time."                                                                                        --- Harry Reid, Feb. 22, 2010 The nice thing about being female is that you are presumed innocent. You can even shoot your brother, as Amy Bishop did, and not face charges. Men aren't born saints, but it's time we laid to rest the view that women are. I recommend Erin Pizzey's memories of growing up with an abusive mother to anyone who believes domestic violence is the exclusive preserve of men.

HERE’S A SURPRISE. Amy Bishop, the woman who murdered three professors at the University of Alabama, did not have adequate credentials to be granted tenure, according to scientists interviewed by the New York Times. Bishop had filed a sex discrimination suit against the university and her failure to win a position as full professor of biology was seen as possible motivation for her crime. (more…)

FITZGERALD WRITES:

Once again, I’m chagrined at the crass content of this Spearhead article, but the author, Dr. Paul, makes two really solid points that stand out and almost demand highlighting. He writes:

“Fake self esteem, like 98% of everything else that is marketed just to females, has become the psycho-porn of the Western woman, with profits that would put a twinkle in Bill Gates eyes. How much profit exactly is anyone’s guess.”

“Psycho-porn” is a brilliant turn of phrase as women all around are ingesting super-sized doses of narcissistic self adulation on a daily basis. I love how he shreds the self-esteem industry and skewers it. (more…)