We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
I almost can't believe I'm saying this, but I am declaring myself for Ted Cruz, because I have always leaned toward the moderate wing of the Republican Party and have always been first and foremost a foreign affairs conservative. But, the Republican Party is too far away from even minimal effectiveness, even with Congressional majorities, the issues being so aligned closer to conservative values, and the sheer incompetence and thuggishness of the Obama administration so evident and scary. And, Republicans in leadership have been as willing as Democrats to allow the hollowing of our military and degradation of its spirit. The situations in the MidEast and with Russia and China are among the most fearsome that our country has faced and we have frittered away our abilities to counter these threats. At the same time, our domestic strengths have been so weakened and spent into moral and financial near bankruptcy that unless we rebuild domestically we can forget about having a future in dealing with foreign gangsters not to mention the class of gangsters -- the politicians arm-in-arm with Wall Street and megacorporations --who are looting our pockets and self-esteem.
Ted Cruz is not a foreign affairs candidate. If anything, I would expect him to be restrained, both out of traditional conservative restraint and due to concentrating on setting us upright at home. He may be too restrained for my taste but there is something more important right now at stake, the very survival of the United States as the strong beacon of values that light up the world. Meanwhile, I feel confident that Ted Cruz will help rebuild our military strength and combativeness, weakened by social experiments that disregard fighting effectiveness, and will not stand idly by as foreign slime spit at us.
Ted Cruz is a principled Constitutionalist and conservative of the stripe that used to be so common. That's why the hypocrites and sell-outs in the Senate despise him, because compared to his legislative bravery they are revealed as pygmies of pusillanimity. I remember when Barry Goldwater ran for the nomination, how castigated he was by the Republican establishment, who deserted him. He lost by a landslide, but set a standard that Americans could gather around and retake the Republican Party for conservative principle and patriotism that didn't just conveniently wave the flag but who were willing to bleed for it and for what it stands for. That is Ted Cruz. Every generation, we must reassert our standard of principles, or see them bought for a pocket of lucre and allowed to be weakened for the passing comforts of laziness.
Ted Cruz may very well go down to defeat. It is tough to buck the stacked big city states in the electoral college and the sheer wall of hatred spewed by the mainstream media against any Republican -- and most Americans still get their news and views from the mainstream media. So may any other Republican go down to defeat. None of them are inspiring. I am willing to see that happen IF, IF, the Republican candidate sets out a clear standard of conservatism and articulate, knowledgeable defense of the Constitution and decency of values. Of all the candidates, only Ted Cruz has done that and can do that and be counted on to govern that way if elected.
At National Review some of the leading principled conservatives, none of them sycophants of big government-big business, set out their reasoned opposition to Donald Trump. In doing so they actually set out the case for a real, principled, knowledgeable, brave conservative. The only one on the field who lives up to that standard is Ted Cruz.
Sober reflections by Allahpundit. The NYT quote is worth considering:
[T]he cadre of Republican lobbyists, operatives and elected officials based in Washington are much more unnerved by Mr. Cruz, a go-it-alone, hard-right crusader who campaigns against the political establishment and could curtail their influence and access, building his own Republican machine to essentially replace them…
Presidential candidates always have flaws. Personal flaws, and flaws in the sense that they do not agree with me about everything. Elections are not about messiahs.
I am your basic Libertarian-ish Conservative Constitutionalist "Leave me alone" American, but I am practical.
Ted Cruz is impressive but unelectable. Keep him in the Senate to stir the pot, and thank Texas. Trump is more fun than a barrel of drunk monkeys but he is deeply incurious about anything, to put it nicely. His remarkable work is done for now. Some of the others (eg Kasich, Bush) might be fine but they do not have the pizzazz for the circus this year.
For me, Marco Rubio is at the intersection of the lines where acceptability to me meets electability. He is a serious person.
He is in error on some topics, I feel. Every person has deep flaws (pols maybe more than most), and political errors. Bill's Wife has more personal than political flaws from a general election standpoint, but she is not my candidate.
It is a complicated topic. Private schools can and should accept whoever the heck they want for whatever reasons they want. However relevant SAT scores and grades are, they are not the only things of interest to colleges and not the only measures of merit or of potential. If all a school cares about is IQ, then a combined SAT is an excellent proxy for that.
Snow on the way. I blame global warmening. Stock up on beer, canned goods, and batteries - and keep your TV or radio turned on for the latest catastrophizing. Sheesh.
Oxford Union backs motion to remove Cecil Rhodes statue - Students narrowly back Rhodes Must Fall campaign despite hearing that next step would be to tear down statues of Winston Churchill and anyone else with a blemished historical record
My lad and a couple of my cousins are studying old family portraits and putting them on a family ancestral photo website. Good clean fun. They emailed me this photo of a couple of my Mom's ancestors, asking me whether I recognized them. They must think I am ancient, but I can't even make out the faces.
A guess is that's my great-grandfather's winter house in Fort Lauderdale. His grand old place still stands there.
It's an interesting topic. For example, there are still people who avoid fats for fear of their cholesterol or of getting fat. Even some doctors can't let that go although it's been debunked for years now. So often, people believe what they want to believe unless they are of a skeptical bent.
Many people believe that the moon landing was faked. People afraid of cell towers.
How to make Moroccan/Turkish/Greek/Arabian coffee. Delicious stuff even without any spices - just sugar. I prefer it to espresso. You need a dallah or ibrik or whatever it's called to make it properly. Alas, not available at Dunkin or Starbucks. Why not?
A machine can not make it. I think it could become more popular, for sure, than the crappy, watery espresso one is typically served in the US.
In the US, the Federal state is The Borg, gobbling up the rights and responsibilities of state and local government. At the dawn of the First World War, it was possible for an American to have no interaction with the national government, outside of the Post Office. His government was the town, village or city. Even his state government was alien to him. Today, it is impossible to live as an American without rubbing against the rasp of national government.
He was dealing with unassimilated (but more historically-accurate, de-assimilated) people who mostly did not want to be there. So why were they there at all? Such stories are heart-breaking. I do blame the emergence of this urban subculture on LBJ, a racist at heart who figured that urban blacks could never succeed in civil life in any numbers, and so needed to be given money to vote and to shut up.
I sometimes wonder what I would be like had I been sent to a school like that. I doubt that I would be skiing in Vermont with a bunch of friends on the MLK long weekend.
That was a public school. Charter schools can be wonderful, but only with parental (ie maternal mostly) support. These kids are screwed - by their "parents" and not by any "system." It's hopeless, so give them free money to live on. And guess what? It's not just urban black people. It can be rural white people too. There is a bell curve in human nature. I just feel for the ones who have aspirations, talent, and abilities but are crushed by their destructive subcultures of dependency and sociopathy.
Obama had a great chance to change this game for all colors of skin, but never did. Politics.
Well, the math of music is fascinating but I suspect that composers hear the music in their heads before they write it down, just as writers do with words. Being, sad to say, tone-deaf and a musical no-talent, I can not assert that with any confidence.
There is a sort of closure when a missing person is found dead or alive. There is closure any time a question mark is resolved with a fact.
However, there is no closure to grief. Major losses leave a hole in the soul. The sediments of time layer evenly over everything, but the depression in the ground remains for your lifetime. WSJ (paywall, alas): Closure Really Is a Myth, A Stumbling Block to Grief - I know both professionally and from my own experience that the term “closure” isn’t only a myth, it’s an illusion that is counterproductive.
It has always seemed quite simple to me: Socialist schemes require governmental force while free markets permit people to do what people naturally do of their own accord- trade things they make, or trade their work, to get whatever they want. Freedom can not exist without property rights.
Of course, there are no truly free-market nations, so it is all relative.
For an excellent summary of the inspirations of the socialist, "idealistic," totalitarian-minded youth, The Leftist Intellectuals Hovering over the Campuses. Short version: They want my stuff, by force if necessary. Take my freedom, my autonomy, my stuff - and then what? Shoot me as a bourgeois, hang me as a kulak - and then what happens?
Snow on the way. I blame global warmening. Stock up on beer, canned goods, and batteries - and keep your TV or radio turned on for the latest catastrophizing. Sheesh.
A day to remember MLK. An American hero. Not a day off work for most people, though.
Titanosaur, Museum's Biggest Dinosaur Ever,