DEMOCRACY IN ACTIONGovernment rebates coming to citizens soon. I read with interest and curiosity this morning that the federal government intends to cut my wife, myself, and daughter a $1,500 check as a means to boost consumer spending, stimulate the economy, and ward off a looming recession. While any unexpected monies are welcome, I think I need the money less than the government. Maria and I live within our means and don’t live mired in debt; this has been a bedrock principle of our marriage and family, and it results in better sleep at night. We live without the burden of heavy credit card debt weighing us down, as do…
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A Stereotype Come to Life: The Worried Father
A SICK CHILD Bags under her eyes as Julia recuperates from pneumonia. There I was, the living stereotype: the worried parent hovering over his sick child and looking down with concern and fear. All day long Julia had not been her usual self. Her cheeks were flushed. She did not giggle or play with her parents: she laid there with a blank expression on my face. She had once become so lethargic that she could not sit up, or even hold her head up: she was like a rag doll. For the first time in her life, Julia was really sick. She had bacterial pneumonia. Julia had particular trouble sleeping…
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Bread and Circuses: The Temptation
NEW ERA OF HIGH-DEFINITION VISUAL MEDIAMaria browses the Internet on our new HDTV. My Internet service provider, Time Warner, has always probably held that I was a strange customer. When I first called them up to order service, they were incredulous that I wanted only Internet service and no cable access for television. They had all sort of special deals, the customer representative explained to me, to bundle high-speed cable modem access to the Internet with all the cable TV stations. “No,” I was patient but firm. “I just want a contract for Internet access but NO cable TV.” I got what I wanted. For almost two decades I have…