Eric Scheske

Random Passages "[T]he poverty rate in the United States fell from 95 percent in 1900 to around 12-14 percent in the late 1960s ”“ a period in which government antipoverty measures were fairly trivial. By the late 1960s, when Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty programs began

In a recent interview, Hillary Clinton said that one of the jobs that prepared her to be president was sliming fish in Alaska. As opposed to Bill, who learned by catching crabs in Cancun. Chris Christie, John Kasich, and Rick Perry are currently fighting for the final two spots in

Another Jewish joke that slayed me from Epstein's essay, "You Could Die Laughing: Are Jewish Jokes a Humorous Subject?, one of the few jokes, Epstein notes, to make it out of that terrible experiment known as the "Soviet Union": "On a laceratingly cold and

Greatly enjoying that new Kauffman book. Some more great passages: "[Al] Davis, as commissioner of the AFL, hired ex-Buffalo Evening News sportswriter Jack Horrigan as his PR man. When Horrigan was diagnosed with leukemia, writes Felser, 'Davis, a Jew, bought a votive candle in a Catholic religious

One of the best things I've learned about gardening: You don't just "put your garden in" once and walk away. You continue to plant from spring through early fall (if you're so inclined). I put the bulk of my fall garden in

Miscellaneous Rambling I've heard from good sources that it's acceptable to bring a notebook to Mass and take notes, if it helps keep you engaged. Can a person bring a Bible to Mass and read from it? Maybe a spiritual book? I'm really struggling

Another mileage marker on the Surreal Freeway of Idiocy: > A NY judge hinted that marriage equality could pave the way to rights for chimpanzees: http://t.co/ho7YY7ynYw pic.twitter.com/asUSB2iTv0 [http://t.co/asUSB2iTv0] > — Slate (@Slate) August 1, 2015 [https://twitter.com/Slate/status/627600511492063232]

No rush to use these coupons:

We went to the Alpena Brown Trout Festival two weekends ago. While at the free concert, Meg tried out this huge chair: I really enjoyed Leinenkugels, back when I could drink beer. I've embraced my wine/vodka/gin regime with vigor, but I wince with sadness when I

A joke from Joseph Epstein's entertaining essay, "You Could Die Laughing: Are Jewish Jokes a Humorous Subject?" "Walking along the beach, Goldstein finds a bottle, picks it up, and–surprise! surprise!–a genie emerges. The genie instructs Goldstein that he will grant him one wish,