Ryan and Debi & Toren

Author: rcragun

  • big government vs. little government

    For all you fans of reducing government out there, maybe you should reconsider.  This NYTimes article gives a good illustration of situations when small government doesn’t make sense.  For years the government has allowed private companies to provide student loans at virtually no risk to the companies as the government insures the loans and provides…

  • science is amazing!!!

    Here’s a great NYTimes article this morning summarizing some recent genetic research on the origins of humans in Africa. We’ve known for quite some time that humans originated in Africa, but the current studies trace human ancestry to the southwest corner of Africa, something that had not been done before. That’s pretty cool. But even…

  • Toren Cragun, in utero

    I know I haven’t posted much about the baby recently, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been documenting the pregnancy. As promised yesterday, Toren, in utero:

  • Spring Dance Concert

    Among all the other things Debi has been doing, she found the time to choreograph a dance for the University of Tampa Spring Dance Concert with a friend (and now neighbor).  Here it is:

  • breathing earth

    A student found this site and showed it to me the other day: http://www.breathingearth.net/ Spend a few minutes perusing it.  Disturbing.

  • letter to the editor of the St. Petersburg Times

    I caught this story a couple of days ago about a wealthy chiropractor trying to change Florida legislation on childhood vaccines.  I was so annoyed by it that I wrote a letter to the editor of the St. Petersburg Times. They called yesterday to let me know they were going to publish it. Found it…

  • Nexuiz Nexus

    While I absolutely don’t have the time to do this, I decided I’m going to do it anyway, because I miss it.  I’ve put together a monthly gaming night with my brother (Josh) and brother-in-law (Steve). To make things simple for anyone who wants to participate, we’ll be playing Nexuiz, a first-person shooter that is…

  • age vs. cohort in voting behavior

    I’m preparing a lecture for one of my classes in which we are discussing Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone.  In the 2nd chapter on political participation he claims, “The distinction between intracohort and intercohort change is crucial to understanding what’s been happening to turnout in America over the last thirty years.  Very little of the…

  • Today’s Sunday School lesson is on “open-mindedness”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI

  • new baby pictures

    Debi had another ultrasound today.  Here are the latest photos of Toren. According to the ultrasound technician, this first photo shows hair on Toren’s head (the little whiffs by the arrow): This is a pretty good shot of his face – though he looks a little creepy in this photo: So, I so couldn’t tell…