Category Archives: Notes from the Household

The Destructionists

That’s the title of a recently published book by Dana Milbank about the Republican agenda over the last quarter century. Duh! I’ve been referring to destruction as an ideological agenda for eighteen years on this blog. So, Mr. Milbank would seem to be a bit slow. Indeed, I’d argue that the destructive national agenda came into its own with the First Gulf War and the “liberation” of household assets for “the market.” If women were not going to be returned to the household to provide unpaid labor and work for wages like the men who initiated the industrial era, then households might as well be converted into status symbols. Now we have a housing and homeless crisis because few are left to manage households.
Continue reading

IUDs in use

The insertion of intrauterine devices (IUDs) to prevent the implantation of fertilized ova in women has had a rocky history in the U.S. and I am not sure how to address an issue with which I have had some fifty-five years of experience. A summary article from the Kaiser Foundation indicates, at a minimum, that that is unusual. It seems to be generally assumed that the device is removed and/or replaced every five or ten years.
Continue reading

On Nixon and the gold standard

I missed this article when it was published in 2011 and the notion that an action can simply be reversed is obviously wrong. While I have long thought the significance of Nixon’s action was overlooked (even by Nixon himself), it was the response that caused the errors, including the initial imposition of price restraints.

Now, fifty years later, the country is ironically awash in currency which is not being spent because the hoarders do not have the capacity to spend in a timely fashion. The infrastructure of investment has been destroyed in the interest of speculation. Reality has been replaced by ideas and ideas are simply not productive. Wishful thinking does not put dinner on the table.
Continue reading

Snow Stories

HOUSTON
We have not had a freeze in years. Tonight calls for 9 with snow. Wow. Scary. Shopped for rest of week. Wrapped pipes filled tub downstairs. Lots of drinking water. Made gumbo and chuck roast. Lots of veggies and chicken pieces for chicken soup. Baking our favorite cake and berries in freezer for quick cobbler.
Continue reading