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.
“In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is...in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”
Today, literary scholarship is home to some of the most impenetrable gobbledygook ever put on paper. The main culprit is easily identifiable: literary theory. Literary theory, a school of criticism with little hold outside the universities, has captured whole colleges and threatens to extinguish students’ love of reading. Imagine the dejection a student about to begin university, eager to read the best that has ever been written, feels when they are told to examine some heavy tome of unreadable theory. It drains all the fun from reading.
Purgatory, it seems, is the place for purging of sin and evil through penitence and painful self-awareness, and embracing virtue. A beautiful seven-story mountain. In some ways, Purgatorio is begging us to take purgatory today rather than later.
Interesting topic. On average, female students are more conscientious and more eager to please than males. Thus they make for better students, as college and grad school admissions currently reflect. Our German educational system was not designed for red-blooded restless boys.
It's interesting to consider the IQ distribution curves of males and females. Males have longer tails on the left and right sides - more dummies and more geniuses. Neither adapt well to classroom demands.
For a small school located in the nearest thing to the middle of nowhere, Hillsdale has an outsized impact. Its graduates can be found working all over Capitol Hill and in the White House. Its monthly newsletter, Imprimis, has a circulation of 3.7 million, and its free online courses in history, politics, and philosophy have been viewed millions of times. It could reasonably be said that, under Arnn’s leadership, Hillsdale has become a full-blown multimedia company, which just happens to include a college among its many endeavors.
Seventy-one years ago this month — in January 1948 — a black, 17-year-old high school dropout left home. The last grade he had completed was the 9th grade. He had no skills, little experience, and not a lot of maturity. Yet he was able to find jobs to support himself, to a far greater extent than someone similar can find jobs today.
I know because I was that black 17-year-old. And, decades later, I did research on economic conditions back then...
Last August, after I’d published an article in the Times entitled Obsession with gender identity goes too far, in which I expressed doubts about the current ideology of transgenderism, I was immediately labelled ‘transphobic’. However, as I had explained, in order to fear or hate something, I’d first have to have some idea of what it is I’m fearing or hating; and my problem with claims to transgender identity is that I find myself unable to understand their content. After all, what does it mean to be a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’, now that feminists have rightly taught us to jettison sexist stereotypes? Before I am able to be phobic, I first need to get past being baffled.
With two criminal parents, no surprise he made the wrong turn. Still, a great talent. I'd like to own one of his Picassos.
He's now an excellent forgery-detector because he knows the artists, and knows forgery, from the inside-out. A highly-talented and charming sociopath.
One of the world's most notorious art forgers, Guy Ribes is profiled in this documentary. For over three decades, Ribes has scored major deals selling works by Picasso, Matisse, and other legends, with a twist: Ribes himself painted the facsimile works himself. Fake heirs, ruthless dealers, and more - it's all here in the life of Guy Ribes, a Genuine Forger.
Their 60% polyester semi-dress pants are comfortably stretchy, hold a good pleat, do not wrinkle, and are as comfortable as sweat pants. So are $200 wool trousers obsolete? For me, yes, mostly.
Since I wear sport jacket and tie to work - not a suit - these are perfect for me. They are not really "casual" trousers, but can double as that too. Did I mention that they look good, and are cheap as dirt?
They have a slim fit for the youthful hipsters, and a less-slim but also trim-looking line so you don't look like an old fogey but not like you live in Brooklyn.
