And by old-time, I mean about five thousand years. Two bar mitzvahs in two weeks. One very Orthodox, with a capital O. Women segregated, not allowed on beama, not allowed to read Torah. Next one mostly Orthodox, mixed congregation, women only allowed on beama for their OWN bat mitzvahs. [Because excluding half the population is [...]
Back in the day, Aristotle was “THE Philosopher.” In fact, that is exactly how he was referred to by the Church fathers, from the time of his reintroduction in the west in the 11th century. St. Thomas Aquinas made it his life’s work to put a Christian spin on the old pagan, and by the [...]
Quick! Does anyone know when the Catholic church decided that early term abortion was a sin? [Hint: unless you've recently looked this up, you're probably way wrong. Like, centuries wrong.] Way, way back, the ancient Greeks decided that a fetus was human when its limbs articulated. Hippocrates said that was around 42 days for females, [...]
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, they say. [Sometimes it hits someone important on the head, and the theory of gravity is born. Sometimes it just falls on the ground and rots. We all root for the former.] It helps if the tree doesn’t have a whopping set of bad genes to pass [...]
For the first time in 22 years I do not have a child at home during the day! [Okay, there was an all too brief year and a half eight years ago when I tasted freedom. Then got pissed off and brought them all home again.] Stretch started real school this morning. YES! The Goth [...]
While we might consider this odd question to be a bit of an academic exercise, this was the single most important problem occupying the collective mind of Merry Olde England in June of 1688. When last we left the obstetrical travails of the British Royal Family, James II had just succeeded his brother Charles II, [...]
I kept telling people that the healthcare bill wasn’t the solution. Do we really want to spend a trillion bucks and put an ever-growing layer of bureaucracy between us and our health? What we really need is a cure-all. A panacea. If no one’s sick, no one needs healthcare. I know, I know. It sounds [...]
Last year I gave all the back-to-school advice I know. Since this is absolutely the definitive guide, I’m posting it again, just in case any of you forgot any of these important steps as your kids head back to school. Step #1: Refill the kid’s lunch money account online at least a week ahead. That [...]
[Warning--readers might very well not like this man.] J. Marion Sims is one of the most simultaneously revered and reviled people in medical history. Medical historians note his massive contributions to gynecologic surgery, leaving out all the controversy. Feminist and revisionist historians detest the man, and whitewash the fact that he redeemed the lives of [...]
It seems like every week someone is decrying, bemoaning, or otherwise pointing to a “generation gap.” Kids, apparently, just THINK differently than adults. Well, duh. But is that permanent? Is it a generation thing or a kid thing? [As a confirmed materialist, I don't believe claims that the next generation is wired differently unless I [...]
The Goth has rather, um, eclectic taste in clothes. If one wants to wear poet’s shirts, gothic trenchcoats and Dracula capes (and doesn’t want to spend the ridiculous money that adult dress-up shops charge), one has to make minor accommodations. The Goth has learned to deal by–wait for it–making his own. Having a mom with [...]
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