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 have spent a good part of my life talking with people about the role of faith in the face of imminent death. Since I became an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1975, I have sat at countless bedsides, and occasionally even watched someone take their final breath. I recently wrote a small book, On Death, relating a lot of what I say to people in such times. But when, a little more than a month after that book was published, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, I was still caught unprepared...
Twitch users watched 18.3 million hours of chess content in January, nearly as much as they consumed throughout 2019. Last week, chess even surpassed League of Legends, Fortnite and Valorant as the most-watched gaming category.
He has been an inspiration to millions for 32 years. A warm, loving guy who seemed to see through all BS but was, above all, entertaining and (almost always) cheerful and upbeat.
His wife spoke a lovely remembrance of him today on the radio, with gratitude for all of the prayers and love from his listeners.
RIP, Rush, with thanks for all of your work almost until your last breath.
I had to write and read a few paragraphs on that topic in middle school. I can't remember what I said but it was probably something optimistic about the "American mythology."
“Nationalism” is now seen as a destructive ideology, next-door to or perhaps cohabitating with “fascism.” Our would-be liberators hold that the Declaration and the Constitution are instruments of tyranny, and that taking them seriously poses a grave threat to the kind of wise, benevolent government that the experts are earnestly trying to “deliver” for us. A nation, after all, has borders and other kinds of boundaries. If it is a republic, it expects its citizens to take responsibility for electing its leaders and helping to shape its laws. These are unquestionable goods in the eyes of those who uphold the teaching of the American Founding, but they are obstacles to progress in the eyes of those who are eager to move us into a new historical epoch.
It's an interesting development. Evil, of course by American standards, but, as the article points out, the USA is an outlier in the world when it comes to free thought and free speech. Establishments and powers hate freedom. Thus American values.
Of course we will attend a Bobby Burns Birthday Party here in NYC with pipers, kilties - and the Chieftain o' the pudding race - Haggis. And whiskey to make the haggis edible.
I emailed our host that my kilt got lost at the dry cleaners, but will attend anyway.
As I predicted, as soon as Joe Biden became president, the narrative on COVID-19 would change. Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) proved me right.
What really was/is the point of COVID testing? Unless you are ill and your doctor needs to know?
As we are often reminded, the USA was founded as a democratic republic, not as a pure democracy. Many states would not have joined the deal without the original electoral college, or without the two Senators per state (which, as we recall, were originally selected by state legislatures and not by popular vote). They were supposed to be wise old owls to keep things rational - like the House of Lords.
But everything political ends up being power plays. It's a game, and a rough one because careers, money, power, and status are involved. Also, ideological passions which tend to be about power anyway. Politics in the US is not pretty and never has been.
