Down With Women! There, I've Said It.

Oh, sweet nectar.

My mother always told me that there were two things I shouldn’t talk about in public: Politics and religion. Such subjects always seem to invite arguments, so I should keep my opinions to myself until and unless someone asks. And then, of course, tread carefully and try not to step on too many toes. In retrospect she probably could have added sex to that list, but…well, back in the 1960s, children didn’t generally get into such discussions anyway.

What a difference forty years makes.

In the past few weeks, a public debate has arisen over the subject of birth control, on a scale that I cannot recall in my adult lifetime. Under the provisions of the new health care law, all insurers must provide free birth control pills for women of childbearing age, at no cost.  

Look At Me! I'm a Tramp!

Scoundrel?

Here we go again.

It seems you can’t turn on the television these days without hearing about a new sex scandal involving some celebrity or politician. I must admit, there was a time in my youth then when I was fascinated by such stories, and I couldn’t get enough. I felt privileged to get the inside scoop on the private lives of these people I adored and envied.

But not now.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of hearing such tawdry details on the sex lives of the rich, famous, and powerful. It’s none of my business, nor is it yours.

This week we were assaulted once again with the story of a sex scandal, this time from a former White House intern who says she lost her virginity to the young and charming President John F. Kennedy. Mind you, she doesn’t claim that she was raped or assaulted. Rather, she freely admits that she was flattered by the attention, and voluntarily continued in this illicit relationship – sometimes as often as twice a week – for about a year and a half.

Why Can't We Just Follow Jesus?

Martin Luther

Over the past few years, I’ve become something of a student of church history. Sometimes this study reaffirms my faith in profound ways, while at other times it leaves me thoroughly confused. Perhaps you can help.

Take, for example, the thousands of institutional schisms that have taken place through the ages. This often presents two problems:

One: All of the great thinkers of the Reformation – every one – began from the basic premise that Catholic doctrine was essentially sound. Hence, when they were done with all of their "reforming," their new creeds looked a lot like a Catholic Catechism, and their liturgies could easily be mistaken for a Roman Mass.

Contrary to a popular belief, Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses did not introduce any revolutionary ideas; in fact they were already well-known, widely subscribed, and centuries old. Further, the text of this historical document actually defended the pope as much as it rebuked him. He never attempted nor desired to split the church, seeing as his complaints were few. Many modern historians believe that Luther would never have rebelled against the Roman church of today, and I’m inclined to agree.

Don't Rescue Me From My Humanity

For anyone who follows my blog regularly, you might remember that I posted a long article in October 2010 about the death of my friend Jeanne. The news, and the subsequent reunions with many old friends, got me thinking deeply about a subject that no one wants to talk about: death. Life is short, we will all be in that box someday, and we all should make the most of the time we have and, well, gather roses while we may.

This week I noticed a news feature about the American Psychiatric Association. Long story short, they want to add “grief” to a long list of diseases in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.  

Translation: When your husband dies – or your sister, or a child, or a close friend – and you mourn their demise – it means you’re mentally ill. Here, take this pill and everything will be OK. (Up to now the official definition of depression has allowed a “bereavement exclusion,” because we all know it’s a natural and temporary condition.)

If You Want to Vote...Vote!

It's not rocket science.

I just don’t get it.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the U.S. Justice Department blocked a new South Carolina law that would require voters to present photo identification at the polls, saying the law would disproportionately suppress turnout among eligible minority voters. Apparently they have the authority to do so, under the provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

In a recent editorial, the New York Times identified another subset of voters that tend to be disenfranchised under such a requirement: college students. Such a voter might (ordinarily) live in State A and attend school in State B, yet never bother to obtain an official ID in State B because his tenure there is only temporary.

Of Gods and Rockstars

Really?

I thought it was a joke. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it was real. I assumed it was one of those fake commercials, like the ones they show on Saturday Night Live. But at the end of the 30-second spot, try as I might to deny it, the gruesome reality set in:

President Barack Obama, immortalized in red clay and green hair as a Chia Pet. The perfect Christmas gift for kids of all ages.

That’s right. Move over, Shrek. Make way, Spongebob. No more tasty snacks for you, Scooby-Doo. You’ve been upstaged by the leader of the free world, as he joins you in that sacred pantheon of American culture: good old traditional crass commercialism.

Good grief, Charlie Brown. What has become of our society, that it’s now acceptable to trivialize the office of the American presidency? Could it be that our national executive is now no better than a Veg-O-Matic, or a Lava Lamp?

Authors vs. Publishers: Who Wins?

It’s getting harder and harder to squeeze out a nickel in the publishing business these days. Authors, publishers and vendors continually struggle for the upper hand. The business models are changing, technology brings new opportunities, and everyone wants to be first to exploit the Next Big Thing.

In today’s online update, Publisher’s Weekly reports a new development in this ever-changing landscape: Regnery Publishing prevailed in an arbitration case where three authors accused the company of cheating them out of their royalties. (The case has many facets, but for our purposes today I will carve out this narrow angle.)

For those not familiar with the eccentricities of the business: It’s a standard feature of almost all book contracts (surely there’s an exception somewhere), that the author’s royalty can vary according to several factors. The part that’s relevant here, is that the royalty can be reduced for copies sold to books clubs or to big-box retailers (think Walmart or Target). This is clearly spelled out in the contract, and too big to miss.