Analysis and Comment

When capitalists cared

Friday, September 7th, 2012

In the rancorous debate over how to get the sluggish economy moving, we have forgotten the wisdom of Henry Ford. In 1914, not long after the Ford Motor Company came out with the Model T, Ford made the startling announcement that he would pay his workers the unheard-of wage of $5 a day. Not only Read more

The “Live Below The Line” challenge

Friday, September 7th, 2012

A couple of weeks ago Jonah Lomu announced that for 5 days this month he and his family were each going to live on just $2.25 a day.   This is to raise awareness for UNICEF”s “Live Below the Line” challenge. I admire his intention but will this really help the poor? Saturday’s DomPost Your Weekend Read more

Church should submit to more women in ranks

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

The gong for the Most Bizarre News this week surely goes to the Anglican Church, whose men at the top have decided women need to be reminded of their position – one of submission. Positively kinky, quite hilarious and maybe just a touch offensive. Having seemed one of the most progressive of the larger church Read more

The too-much-information age

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

A man walks into a bar is the opening line of a joke. A man walks into a movie theater is the opening line of a homicide investigation. This is the hottest summer in recorded Colorado history. There are forest fires in the mountains. There is gunfire in the city. On the morning we awoke Read more

Sign of the times or time to redesign marriage

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

Fear not, Your Majesty. It’s taken a while – 842 years, to be precise – but they’ve done it for you. Got rid of themselves, it would seem, with nary a murmur of dissent. “We don’t care who’s on top.” No hint of the turbulent Becket there, Your Majesty, no call to sustain the separation Read more

Melanesian Way: the sacred pig whose time is past

Friday, August 31st, 2012

I can tell you the reason for the story of declining services, declining prosperity and the declining well-being of the people of PNG. It’s very simple. As coined by a group of Papua New Guinean intellectuals many years ago, the problem is the Melanesian Way. There. It’s been said. The big, sacred pig which has Read more

Men and women are different, and so should be their marriage vows

Friday, August 31st, 2012

Marriage really matters. Thank God we are talking about it. As Professor Patrick Parkinson said in these pages last week, marriage is ”by far the most stable, safe and nurturing relationship in which to raise children”. However, fewer people are choosing marriage as a way of relating to someone of the opposite sex and fewer Read more

The crackpot US Republican caucus

Friday, August 31st, 2012

The tutorial in 8th grade biology that Republicans got after one of their members of Congress went public with something from the wackosphere was instructive, and not just because it offered female anatomy lessons to those who get their science from the Bible. Take a look around key committees of the House and you’ll find a Read more

Bye-bye, Boomers: this is the age of the baby Bust-ers

Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

One way to think about the Great Recession is like a great pause button. In normal times, millions of people get married in their mid-to-late 20s. They spend lots of money on a wedding. They buy a car, often with a loan. They buy a house, always with a loan. They buy new furniture and Read more

Forget the Mormon moment; it’s about Catholics

Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

Forget the Mormon moment. The religious group that seems to be figuring most prominently in the presidential election right now is the Roman Catholic Church. With Mitt Romney’s recent choice of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as running mate, this campaign is the first in which Catholics are on both major party tickets. Vice President Joe Read more