I just completed the book “When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor … and yourself” by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert. I found I very much identified with their setup of the problem as laid out in the first half of the book, the heart of which begins with a… Continue reading When Helping Hurts
An unconfirmed report from an insider in the Illinois State government has indicated that a proposal to address the state budget was made Wednesday night by Mike Madigan, speaker of the Illinois House of Representative. As proposed, funding would be restored to last year’s level for education. But because tax increases will not be considered,… Continue reading Borrowing Against Human Lives
I will be the first to admit little knowledge of the inside workings of the sporting world. As I’ve heard reports about the NFL draft, though, I’ve got to thinking about its underlying procedure — the teams that performed most poorly have the option to select earliest in the draft. This is done in an… Continue reading The NFL Draft and the Case for Social Justice
Finding an affordable, durable, flexible rolling computer desk for public computing centers can be a real challenge. My solution was to build this trapezoidal desk. The top is 38″ across the front to easily hold a keyboard, mouse, book, and 20″ monitor, while the space underneath is wide enough to securely hold a tower computer. … Continue reading Building a Rolling Computer Desk
I recently completed reading the 8-book series “Kent Family Chronicles” by John Jakes. This work of historical fiction covers the history of America from pre-revolution through the late 1800’s. It’s a remarkable work that brought to my attention many different historical events of which I was previously unaware, as well as bringing to life historical… Continue reading Erosion of Societal Values
