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.
“There’s no greater threat to our democracy than a government that weaponizes its criminal justice system to target its citizens and in this case the target today is the President of the United States.”
Story here. We now understand that the SAT turned out to be basically a proxy for IQ. It makes sense to me for schools to be interested in IQ. Of course, there is far more to what a person might have to offer than IQ, but I think they ought to know that when making distinctions between applicants. Especially at a school like Chicago, which, unlike most of higher ed, requires that a graduate actually ends up knowing a lot of basic things which are not easy to learn.
I am just talking about Liberal Arts higher ed, of course.
"I am a democrat because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. And whenever their weakness is exposed, the people who prefer tyranny make capital out of the exposure… The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters."
For a long time, I’ve made the point that the Republican Party is not really a political party, in the sense that it is a coalition held together by common interests. Instead, it is more like a dumping ground for politicians, who no longer fit in with the Democrats.
One of Bob's songs about his conversion to Christ. Not sure what religion he is on board with now, but this was a song with powerful, mythic lyrics.
Now the nature of man Is to beg and to steal I'd do it myself, It's not so unreal The call of the wild's Forever at my door Want me to fly like an eagle while Being chained to the floor...
Why do they even measure these statistics? Can't we just view people as people? I am confident that nobody in the board of ed is discriminating against whites, hispanics, and blacks.
The people that you think of as "poor" -- like the people you see living on the streets, the beggars, the people in the shelters and those in the low income housing -- all of them, if they ask, have full access to benefits that, if counted, will immediately lift them out of measured poverty. Now, could there be some who, even though entitled to such benefits, somehow fall through the cracks because they fail to apply or to take advantage of what is offered? Of course. On the other hand, there are government workers out there every day looking for these people to try to help them. The remaining "real poor" can't actually be a significant part of the residual 2%.
... you’d think that the Left, which is always going on about the importance of dialogue, would champion Donald Trump’s efforts. They don’t, partly because they despise the messenger, partly because his success only underscores their own irrelevance. That in itself has its comic aspects, also its pathetic ones. I think that this is what Hegel called a world-historical moment. If so, I will also note that the dialectic, as the anti-Trump Chihuahuas are about to discover, is a remorseless engine of change. Yesterday people listened to you. Tomorrow, you have a million Twitter followers but no one cares what you say.
Tomorrow, June 14, is Flag Day. So, please get out your flag for your house or flag lapel pin or whatever, and celebrate our flag and what it represents.
The Thomas More Law Center helps us:
"A Brief History of Flag Day:
On June 14, 1777, Continental Congress adopted the American Flag in the First Flag Act. They declared: "That the flag of the United States shall be of thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white in a blue field, representing the new constellation."
Over 100 years later, in 1885, a small-town Wisconsin teacher named Bernard Cigrand came up with the idea of an annual flag birthday to be celebrated every June 14. He lobbied Congress for years to celebrate it as a national holiday. He is sometimes called the "Father of Flag Day." In the following years, many schools and communities observed their own flag celebrations. On May 7, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first state to establish Flag Day as a legal holiday, a recognition that Pennsylvania holds today.
Both President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. But it wasn’t until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law.
The U.S. government encourages its citizens to display Old Glory outside of their homes and businesses. Today is a day of reflection as we consider the sacrifices our ancestors made and consider how we might carry on their work so that our children and grandchildren may live in the freedom the Stars and the Stripes majestically proclaim.
God Bless America"
And sing along "You're a grand old flag" with James Cagney as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy
I think one major impetus for my change was the fact that, despite being in default liberal environments all of my life, I nevertheless always adored the works of the Western literary tradition. And when I saw the 1980s’ multiculturalism taking over university campuses, and ignorant students who had never read the works of the Western canon feeling empowered to reject those works on the basis of the gonads and melanin of their authors, that to me was appalling.
Ironically, people I don’t think understand this distinction, in the 1970s, which was the height of this very abstruse literary theory known as deconstruction, that you mentioned, and that I was an uncritical acolyte of. However odd the theories of language were, holding that meaning is impossible, that the human self is just a fiction, a trope of language, we read the canon without ever once thinking to say, if I’m a female, “Oh, gee, I can’t read Milton because he’s a dead white male.” It never came up. So, I fortunately had a strong grounding in greatness, in beauty, in eloquence, in sublimity. And when that came under attack, that started to turn me away from the broader trends that were going on in academia.
Do many adult humans reveal, in their behavior, a preference for a life with minimal exertion? Some days I feel that preference, some days I don't. That's why I need to apply some force to myself to consistently measure up to my expectations. I don't know about you, but I tend to despise myself when I disappoint myself, make excuses for myself, or rationalize. That's the Yankee way, harsh conscience and a reasonable dose of self-contempt.
People vary a lot in their innate energy and vitality, but I do know that hard exercise increases them for everybody. I'll offer readers a tip: Just Do It. Some mornings at 4:15 I feel "too tired" to face a hard workout at 5. After a cup of covfefe or two while checking Drudge, and then a 5-10 minute warm-up, I'm ready to challenge myself for 60 or 80 minutes. Another tip: An exercise partner or a trainer to push you is a yuge help. I can always do more with a bit of encouragement. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak...and vice-versa.
If you are considering making a commitment to exercise (which I prefer to term "exertion" because "exercise" can mean anything other than sleeping or sitting, while exertion implies pushing the limits to stress, discomfort and sometimes pain), the first step is to define one's goals. The goal(s) determine the path.
Common exercise goals include the following:
- Weight loss - Looking better and/or sexier - Cardio fitness (or rehab) - Health and mental health - Activity as an alternative to drugs, alcohol, and food issues - Muscle "toning" (it's a chick thing, meaning not flabby) - Training for a specific sport or activity - Body-building (muscle bulk for guys) - Power lifting (focus on building physical power/prowess) - General conditioning (getting in better shape for sports and recreation, and maintaining full functionality with a decent physical presentation without clothing)
I'll take Weight Loss off the list, because the only exertion for that is using your right arm to stop your left arm from opening the door of the ice-box.
Each goal requires a different approach. Our fitness posts on Maggie's are all oriented around General Conditioning for Life because it is what we know something about.
Why the hatred? Is it fashion, is it about personality style, or is it about policy?
Hatred is ugly. If it's about policy, I'd like to know what these people object to with their megaphones, not that their opinions deserve to be of any more interest than my own are.
As I recall, many of my pals hated Obama's policies, but never had a visceral hatred for the man himself. I'd gladly have a beer or two with Obama anytime because I think he is a clever bullshitter. Glib clever bullshitters amuse me.
The USA is the worst country in the world. Europe is a terrible ex-colonial place in its death throes, a quaint museum with food. European civilization is the worst the world has produced. The Western World is obsolete and evil, etc.
... in the aftermath of the G-7 summit the Democrat-Left-Media complex and the Eurabians are all butthurt that PDT has insulted them and not knuckled under, like previous administrations have (for the most part) since the end of World War II. With all due respect to Europe and the Left, which is to say none at all, GFY. The President is right; we spent our blood and treasure liberating you from ideologies of your own making twice in a generation and after rebuilding your continent and economies, we've spent nearly 75 years afterwards funding your dissolute, insane, cheese-eating, wine-guzzling, adulterous lifestyles while protecting you from Russia, all to see you committing cultural suicide at our expense and then blaming us, evil Jooz, capitalism, Christianity and the 40 hour work week for the ills you brought upon yourselves, as the illusion of the European union collapses around you. Enough.
Bush 2 and Obama began the turn away from "Old Europe," and it continues. Europe needs to take care of itself, but shows little desire to do so. Spoiled and weakened for too long by America's sentimental largesse in trade and protection. Trump just says out loud what the State Dept. has been thinking for decades.
Trump is willing to militarize the Korean peninsula, in order to demilitarize it; and surround Persia with enough reasons to actually take its nose out of its neighbours’ affairs. To caricature the man as a warmonger or protectionist is to get him backwards. He is pushing “America First” and trying to communicate that if we, for instance, want to put Canada First, he’ll deal. But he isn’t going to deal with what he might characterize as a bunch of wankers.
We're spending the weekend on the water. Picking up a boat in Essex CT, then out to Fisher's and Block Island.
