The Passing of Hugh Hefner

To be honest, I hadn't thought of Hugh Hefner in years.  The whole Playboy thing has been dated and yesterday for a long time.  I don't think he jump-started the sexual revolution, but he surely cashed in on it and monetized it.  As a young woman, my reaction to Playboy and all its works and pomps was low-grade irritation. My DH subscribed to it back in the old days, for the articles, of course (sarcasm off!)  But the pictures were there.  And the women didn't have stretch marks, or cellulite. Or bed hair.  They always had bedroom eyes, and signaled sexual availability. Some of them even had advanced degrees and careers other than posing for pictures. An image that no real woman could live up to.  Not that most of us were expected to. But just a little reminder of how far from that ideal of perfection we were.  The subscription came to an end and the Playboys went to the dumpster the day dad came home and discovered two little boys under the bed, giggling, because they had found his stash of magazines.
Unfortunately nowadays there is way worse than Playboy on the internet, and it's a lot harder to keep track of what kids are getting a hold of. However Hugh Hefner contributed to that long slow slide, though I know he did some good things with his money and supported social justice causes.  My he rest in peace and perpetual light shine upon him (there, am I virtue signaling enough?). Actually I really mean that prayer.

The Jones Act - Updated

 As if Puerto Rico didn't have enough problems getting aid and supplies after the devastation of two hurricanes, they also have to contend with the Jones Act, a 97 year old  law protecting the American shipping industry:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/27/16373484/jones-act-puerto-rico
"...getting goods from the US mainland to Puerto Rico is much more expensive than sending them to Texas or even to other Caribbean islands as a result of a century-old man-made disaster that’s been crippling the island’s economy for a long time.

Meet the Jones Act, an obscure 1920 regulation that requires that goods shipped from one American port to another be transported on a ship that is American-built, American-owned, and crewed by US citizens or permanent residents." 

The Jones Act is often suspended by executive action in times of natural disaster, but has not yet (that I know of at this time) been suspended for Puerto Rico's present crisis.  It affects the contiguous states very little, but serves to make goods much more expensive for Puerto Rico,  Guam, and other American territories, not to mention the states of Hawaii and Alaska. 

"Unlike Houston, Puerto Rico isn’t a thriving place that happens to have been hit by a serious natural disaster. It’s a poor place by American standards whose economy has been in shambles for about a decade and whose bankrupt government is now hamstrung by its creditors. It badly needs an overall improvement in economic conditions — some kind of prospect for long-term growth — and permanently lifting the Jones Act is one of the more powerful levers at federal disposal for doing that. Reducing the cost of living on the island will make it a more attractive destination for tourism and retirees, while giving the island at least some shot of developing export industries and raising living standards for residents.

This could, of course, be achieved by simply repealing the Jones Act, as Sen. John McCain has proposed several times, most recently in July."

Suspending the Jones Act, or better yet, repealing it, is just one action needed to help Puerto Rico get back on its feet.  Maybe our executive branch could take time away from Twittering to take care of a few details such as this.

Update:  The Jones Act was suspended today to help in relief efforts: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-house-waives-jones-act-for-puerto-rico_us_59cce64fe4b0210dfdfc5b63?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

Summer reading pays off

There were raised eyebrows here when I reported that my summer reading was Notes on a Century: Reflections of a Middle East Historian by Bernard Lewis. Chuckle as you did at such esoterica, but now the full story of my summer reading has been told: CWL: Between Two Empires: The Curious Case of Bernard Lewis.

Following Tom Blackburn's advice I also read Nicholas Nickleby--what a circus!!

Glorious Day

Nature has delivered devastating blows to Puerto Rico and Mexico and points north and east. That makes the glorious day here in upstate New York a cause for both rejoicing and reflecting.

Part of the rejoicing is that a flock of Monarch butterflies are flitting around in the goldenrod. There were none last year and I feared they'd gone missing again this year again even though there was plenty of milkweed. But that is gone, making me think the monarchs are late, but lively--positively tipsy on the ever-abundant goldenrod.

Part of the reflecting is the state of survivors in heat, loss, uncertainty. Let us pray for them and send a good chunk of money to a dependable charity unless like my neighbor you've already taken off for relief work.

Unmarried Americans: National Singles Day

Today (September 23, 2017) is National Singles Day

This whole week has been National Singles Week

Unmarried Americans:

See CNN Opinion: How Unmarried Americans Are Changing Everything 

comprise more than 45% of the adult population in the United States.

They head more than 47% of our households,

and make up fully half of our workforce.

Married American adults include only the currently married and remarried.

Unmarried American adults include the never married, the separated, divorced, widowed. 

Cohabiting people are sometimes identified through the household question(s).

The CNN opinion article includes the usual arguments in favor of marriage, and the newer arguments in favor of the single life. I am interested in neither for two reasons:

1. The people making the arguments are usually trying to sell a product.

2. The data supporting the arguments are highly suspect. The fact that people who are married for a long time are happy, healthy, wealthy, etc. says little about the institution of marriage. These people are both self selected and selected by others, and data is rarely presented about those who divorce or die. One can construction a equally glowing picture of the never married single life by studying aged women religious. Again a both self-selected and other selected group, and little data on those who left or died.

Marital Status (like age, sex, household status, income, etc.) is a fundamental social status question.  We think about ourselves, others, society, religion and politics in these terms. Society is undergoing profound changes that can only be understood if we use these categories well. 

Conceptualizing Marital Status

Safer Alternatives to Opioids

In the process of reading many articles about the Opioid Epidemic, the thought occurred to me, "Gee, I wish they would come up with some more effective, safer alternatives to the opioids for controlling pain."  As it turns out, they actually have.  But they are often more difficult for patients to access than the cheaper opioids which are more likely to be covered by insurance. This eye-opening article was linked on Facebook by my cousin, who is a physician whose specialty is pain management: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/health/opioid-painkillers-insurance-companies.html?smid=fb-share
More after the break:

CLC: What Makes or Breaks a Parish?

Cleveland Commonweal Local Community

Last night was the first meeting of the Cleveland Commonweal Local Community; about fifteen signed up, ten showed up. We all want the same thing good conversation. Good defined as being good listeners and accepting. Conversation defined as intellectually stimulating. Looks like we have a reasonable chance of that happening although the logistics are challenging since we are spread widely geographically. All except one are print subscribers, the lone digit subscriber is unhappy with the digit aspects and will like change to print.

We are going to choose articles from the print edition, so expect more of my posts to be chosen from Commonweal. This article seems a likely candidate for our next meeting. We have a variety of parish experiences already evident in our first conversation

An Ordinary Sunday

A National Survey of Parish Masses

About a dozen posts on parish Masses in various parts of the country by various authors including our own Tom Blackburn. My thoughts on what makes or breaks a parish follows the break. What are yours?

Francis: The Liturgy,The Vatican and Bishops Conferences UPDATED

Francis Returns Authority Over Liturgical Translations To Local Bishops contains an English translation of the APOSTOLIC LETTER ISSUED MOTU PROPRIO OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF FRANCIS MAGNUM PRINCIPIUM.

NYTIMES :

“It’s hugely important,” said Rita Ferrone, a specialist in Catholic liturgy who writes for Commonweal, a liberal Catholic magazine. She said that by loosening Rome’s grip on the language of prayers, Francis had restored the intention of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and erased some of the rollbacks of his predecessor, Benedict XVI. “It was especially astute that he put it into canon law because it makes it official.”

I think this is more about the relationship between the Vatican and Bishops Conferences than about the "liturgy wars."

UPDATE!!!    Fr. Thomas Reese's Software Model and Specific Proposals.
What do think of his model and some his specific proposals, e.g. new prefaces specific to each Sunday, and more Eucharist Prayers that include many responses from the people.

Is Changing Practice More Important Than Changing Theory?

The Suffering of the Rohingya in Myanmar

This is tragic and disappointing:  https://www.vox.com/world/2017/9/7/16256164/myanmar-rohingya-muslim-flee-bangladesh-genocide-aung-san-suu-kyi
It is really hard to understand why Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has suffered persecution herself, would be silent in the face of the military crackdown targeting the Rohingya minority.  The only explanation she has come up with is some "fake news" b.s. 

Ya want Labor Day? I'll give ya Labor Day.

My dear Aunt Loretta returned to God on August 14.  What ameliorates the sadness of sorting through her stuff is finding things like this, my grandfather's ID badge for the Rainey-Wood Coke Company (steel mill), circa 1920's.  At some point, according to legend, his job was to, after the molten steel was drained, walk around the bottom of the open hearth in wooden clogs and scrape off the scale before his shoes burned off.  When my mother told her classmates where he worked in answer to their inquiries, they thought it was cool he made Coca-Cola.  Anyway, sometimes I think the superhero stories are popular because they don't have guys like this around anymore.  I knew my grandfather for a couple years before he died in 1960.  He was rather aloof but I remember the world class fights he had with my grandmother.  I learned all my choice Polish phrases from those battles.  Today I asked my mother what they fought over.  She says it was actually nothing.  One time, he said in polish to my grandmother at dinner out of nowhere or close to nowhere, "There aren't enough sticks in the forest to properly beat you with". It was all verbal, because he apparently never laid a hand on her.  But I can't help but think of the parents in "Everybody Loves Raymond".

Labor Day Songs

Bernie Sander's new book, Bernie Sander's Guide to Political Revolution arrived this afternoon.  It is aimed at the young, lots of illustrations, suggested links, etc.  Easy to page through, I quickly noticed a link to the following website.

The Nations top ten labor day songs.

Of the ten songs I was very familiar with only one, Tennessee Ernie Ford's 16 Tons. This 1956 song was about the time I was going from junior to senior high school. I was really interested in popular songs. Used to watch the countdown on Saturday evening TV.  The lyrics were sold in stores; I was always looking for the newest issues; these had replaced comic books in my life.

I did discover in the list a new (for me) beautiful song, Judy Collins Bread and Roses. I think it should be the recessional for labor day weekend Masses.

Lyrics: Judy Collins Bread and Roses


Here are some more links to Labor Day music. Maybe you will discover some songs you had forgotten or come across an interesting new one.

100 labor day and American workers songs

Billboard Labor day playlist work songs

Yahoo music-news the 25 best work songs for labor day












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