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.
Emergency call to my IT consultant yesterday - "One of my machines is totally screwed. Nothing will open." Guy arrives, sits down, and in 20 seconds says "You just need a new mouse." And leaves. Sheesh. Talk about feeling stupid.
Even though most pundits and politicos have concluded that
Trump’s support is driven by anger, the truth is, it is more about fear.
Americans are terrified that their nation has hit an iceberg and is sinking.
Examples of STEM classroom practices that contribute to a chilly climate are weed-out courses, courses that grade on a curve, a competitive environment, reliance on lecture as a teaching method, an individualistic culture, and comprehensive exams.
Milo Yiannopoulos: And be wrong about everything… Why is it that just because someone is old and left-wing that they’re nice? We don’t say that about right-wingers. Why do we automatically assume that just because he’s old and doddery, has white hair and he sounds like a crazy old lunatic that he’s a nice guy. Really? Is he a nice guy? No he wants Socialism in America. That’s poisonous, ugly, oppressive political philosophy that has made people suffer everywhere that it has ever been tried… Why is he a nice person? What has he ever done that proves he is a nice person?
Europe operating as a market-state without external threats and a pacified population gave the ruling class of Europe the sense that this arrangement would work long term. Then the king went crazy and flung open the doors to Muslim invaders. Initially, this was not a problem as the ruling class lives in bunkered enclaves, removed from the consequences of their polices. They have no reason to care if the train stations are carnivals and rape and assault by the dusky sons of Mohamed.
But, the people have noticed that their liberties are slowly and methodically being curtailed in the name of public safety. When you can only enjoy a traditional parade from behind barricades and armed soldiers, you’re going to start having dark thoughts about the people who caused this...
In fact, the War Party entrenched in the nation’s capital is dedicated to economic interests and ideological perversions that guarantee perpetual war; they ensure endless waste on armaments and the inestimable death and human suffering that stems from 21st century high tech warfare and the terrorist blowback it inherently generates among those upon which the War Party inflicts its violent hegemony.
I have a better idea. The median household income in the US is around $50,000- 55,000 per year. I suggest, to eliminate inequality, that in the US we tax any income over $50,000 at 100%, and mail government checks to those households under $50,000 to bring them to the mean. Much in savings will come from eliminating all welfare, housing, and government medical programs.
To further level the playing field, all savings and assets should be taken by the government for the greater good. Funds from these can be used for free diapers, condoms, medical marijuana, urgently-needed collegiate safe spaces, and PhDs in anything you want. Cuba figured it out way before I did. Did I mention free TV, cigars, and rum?
As the High Administrator of this evidence-based scientific New New New Deal, with all of the responsibilities, worries, and burdens involved, I will obviously need to expect special compensation. Fidel has how many billions in Swiss banks? Something like that would meet my needs just fine. Even a little less. Special accommodations will be necessary for sub-administrators of course.
This experimental program should begin with government employees and politicians, and proceed to journalists, academics, artists and writers, professional athletes, and to all of Hollywood before moving to the general population. It takes a village to build Utopia so many must sacrifice and continue to work as hard as they used to. For the common good.
There never has been a practical reason to import foreigners into the West, much less hostile, low-IQ savages from the Middle East. Whatever contributions have been made to the Belgian economy by Muslims were just blown to bits by a pair of suicide bombers. There are now rivers of blood because the leadership of Europe has been overrun by what looks increasingly like a suicide cult.
Angela Merkel, who will be remembered as one of history’s greatest monsters, is a good example to study. This piece on her from a few months ago walks you through her “evolution” from mundane Christian lady to a prominent deacon is what amounts to liberation theology, centered on the annihilation of the West as penance for generations of oppression.
... stubbornly unwilling to deal with the reality of Islam, our leaders have constructed an Islam of their very own. This triumph of willful blindness and political correctness over common sense was best illustrated by former British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith when she described terrorism as “anti-Islamic activity.” In other words, the savagery is not merely unrelated to Islam; it becomes, by dint of its being inconsistent with a “religion of peace,” contrary to Islam. This explains our government’s handwringing over “radicalization”: we are supposed to wonder why young Muslims spontaneously become violent radicals—as if there is no belief system involved.
This is political correctness on steroids, and it has dangerous policy implications.
One minor problem with it: she omits the power of religious conversion and religious fervor.
Another "minor" problem with it: She mostly neglects the destructive aspects of people, as if "normal" people had no destructive, wicked, or evil impulses. They do. Unleashed, the dark side can be a terrible thing. That is not news, and Jihadism offers many rationales for behavior that Western Civ. finds abhorrent today. These people did not buy into the historical arc of Western Civ. and perhaps never will.
One major problem with it: Many behaviors and choices of youth can be explained in similar terms so I see nothing specific to joining Jihad here. Similar motives could turn a suburban kid into a stoner Grateful Dead groupie.
The problem is that you can psychologize anything - after the fact. That is not a weakness of Psychology, but, instead, a statement about the complexity of human nature and human cultures.
Trump knows psychology. He knows facts don’t matter. He knows people are irrational. So while his opponents are losing sleep trying to memorize the names of foreign leaders – in case someone asks – Trump knows that is a waste of time. No one ever voted for a president based on his or her ability to name heads of state. People vote based on emotion. Period.
He told the BBC: ‘We're in a situation where we have to fight back. ‘The centre has become flabby and unwilling to take people on. We concede far too much.
‘There's this idea that you're part of an elite if you think in terms of respectful tolerance towards other people. It's ridiculous.’
The vast demographic experiment of the West–importing largely unskilled immigrants from an essentially hostile culture–has failed and cannot be undone. Europe is now paying the deadly price. There have been mass murders by Muslim extremists in Madrid, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Brussels and Toulouse.
I receive emails each week making suggestions for weekend activities. Sometimes they are interesting, most times not. This week, a suggestion to visit certain dive bars before they become Pret-a-Mangers. Not a bad idea.
I love dive bars. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and my stepfather spent time at Mick's Tavern, the local gas station, garage and tavern. Total dive. At Syracuse, we had the student bar, Jabberwocky, which hosted many big name bands before they were names. That was before my time. The Jab also had Oldies Night on Wednesday nights, and Happy Hour on Friday. It wasn't technically a dive bar, but it could qualify. The drinking age was raised to 21 the year I left, and it closed. The real dive bar we used to frequent was Doug's Place, somewhere down near Carrier Circle. Real blue-collar stuff. We'd meet some alumni who lived in the area from time to time. It's where I learned to love dive bars. Pool, dimly lit, cheap glasses of beer, the only 'mixed' drink available was a Boilermaker. Always a few local factory guys in there. Doug's Place is long gone, too. I did hear 'Doug', whoever he is, opened a fish fry somewhere nearby.
When I moved to Queens in the 80's, my roommate was a local who introduced me to My Lady's, a tavern for which I played softball and drank quarter glasses of beer on Thursday nights. I got to know the bartender, a giant of a man, but the classic example of a huge teddy bear. My girlfriend's family came one night to watch college hoops with me and dubbed it The Bucket of Blood because, well, that's pretty much what it reminded you of. The final night it was open was 1991, and early on it was a great party. I heard the rest was very good, too. I guess I had an early start on the evening...
When we lived in Hoboken, Louise & Jerry's was our end-of-the-evening final stop. Louise, a widow in a housecoat, was always behind the bar. When God Bless America played on the jukebox, you had to stop what you were doing and sing with Louise. If she didn't like your look, she stopped you as you walked in, and demanded you leave. She once gave my wife the stinkeye for ordering club soda. When I told her, quietly, that she was pregnant with our first child, Louise smiled and gave us all a round of drinks (but kept the secret). Louise & Jerry's is still open, but I heard it's upscale now.
Recently, I stopped in at the Canyon Club, in Williams, AZ. One of the finest dive bars I've ever experienced. A real honky-tonk. Loved every second, loved the people. Which is important. A good dive bar has friendlies, it doesn't attract surly or violent types. You can have a curmudgeon or two, but people have to want to have a good time.
Some dives are iconic, and unlikely to go away. McSorley's is one. Out where I live, there aren't many dive bars left unless you're willing to take a chance. We used to have the Blue Collar Bar, but that got bought by a high-end group and was transformed into a "dive" bar. It retained the dive nature, but served high end cuisine. Excellent food, but ruined the ambiance. It closed after four or five years. Dive bars, I believe, have short lives.
There is still one place near me, the Garwood Rest, which my buddies and I will gather in to play darts (American Darts - with the wooden shafts and we're playing baseball, not 301, 501 or Cricket) and watch football or baseball once very month. It qualifies as a dive, but it's higher end than any other one I've been in. Here are some more. I'm familiar with the Raccoon Lodge, The Smith, and Hogs and Heifers, though all from 20-30 years ago. When you find a good dive bar, it's a thing to revel in.
Steyn: So "British Muslims Fear Repercussions Over Tomorrow's Train Bombing" is now joined by "Belgian Cabinet Minister Says Tomorrow's Train Bombing Is All Our Fault".
Terrorism is an effective tactic around the world because it allows small groups of people to spread hysteria with relatively little manpower, and because it is impossible to prevent entirely, even in a police state. Where a devoted terrorist group exists, it is nearly inevitable its members will eventually succeed to some degree. But in Belgium, jihadists found a society that was unusually susceptible, and exploited it to bloody effect.
"In small town America, politics has never been a great way to get rich, but it has been a great way to avoid poverty."
It works just fine and quietly as long as the press leaves you alone. From The Clinton Crime Family.
In Washington,the two big scandals were sex and money. Bill was raping interns again and Hillary was selling national secrets for campaign cash. People forget about the Chinese money, the satellite deal and missile technology scandal. They even had that sap Al Gore out shaking down Buddhist monks for cash. On their way out the door they tried stealing the White House furniture.
This e-mail scandal looks a lot like an influence peddling scandal.
I agree entirely with the post, but it is "old news" now and voters will generally prefer their crook over some sleaze on the other team. The Clinton charity makes Wounded Warriors look like pikers, amateurs.
Role models are rare in the political game and most good folks avoid it as a necessary evil.
I first read about Shackleton long ago, and I've been a huge fan of his exploits. He never actually accomplished the goals he set out for, but he was a master of revising goals and probably one of the best examples of great leadership I've ever read. As an Anglophile, I've also been intrigued by the concept of the 'Magnificent Failure' which sometimes seems to be a uniquely British concept.
Certainly Shackleton deserves his name on a polar research ship. But in a magnificent failure, the British botched the naming process for the ship. Well, temporarily botched. I happen to like "Boaty McBoatface" over "Shackleton" it just seems like a ship where stuff gets done.
I think the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claim that human CO2 is causing warming is wrong. They created the result they wanted, which wasn’t designed to deal with warming but to stop economic development and reduce the population. They selected the data and mechanisms necessary to prove their hypothesis and manipulated the data where necessary, including rewriting climate history. The wider evidence, which is only examined when you move outside their limited definition of climate change, is that the world is cooling.
The major rewrite of history involved elimination of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). One of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) gang told David Deming in an email that it was necessary to get rid of the MWP. The reason, although not expressed in the email, was because they were telling people that the latter part of the 20th century was the warmest ever. It wasn’t by any measure, from the warm of the MWP to the prolonged warmer period of the Holocene Optimum. The MWP was the most immediate threat to their narrative because it was within a time period people could grasp. They could relate to the idea that Vikings sailed in Arctic waters that are permanent pack-ice today. There was also the graph (Figure 7c) in the first IPCC Report in 1990 that contradicted their claim – it had to go...
I suspect that Dr. Ball is correct, but really who cares about this topic anymore? Other than bureaucrats, moonbats, and government-funded researchers?
Adulthood means doing things you don't want to do and discovering that they can make you the person you want to be. That's how virtue is born. Perpetual childhood prevents virtue from ever forming. Instead public life is cluttered with oversized children who have the language skills, resources and political power of adults, but none of the virtues that come with maturity.
"the all-powerful central state worshipped by Reich and all the
other Establishment insiders, Democrat and Republican alike, is the true
culmination of fascism."
The developments provoked fury among Eurosceptics. UKIP Migration spokesman Steven Woolfe said: “It’s clear that the EU has got absolutely no moral obligation to accept them.
“To say it is against EU values to send economic migrants back to home is ridiculous. And what are EU values? Ignoring referendum results in France, Netherlands and Ireland?
"Enforcing Euro membership to create poverty and unemployment for millions? Bullying smaller countries to comply with German demands?
“It seems to me that only value that the EU holds is to increase power for itself, and pay for its bureaucrats.
“The UNHCR estimates that there are 60 million displaced people in the world.
"The notion that the EU alone has a duty to take them all in is ridiculous in the extreme.”
I think Trump could conceivably win a general election, although current polls indicate a bloodbath. It's been an interesting 6 months, and the next 6 could be equally interesting. I doubt that he would have done so well with a more compact set of primary candidates, though.
I do not think the Trump phenomenon is about anger, ignorance, or toothless white men. Exit polls I saw indicated that he drew votes from all social classes, ethnicities, and from women. They are not Know-Nothings; they are reluctantly-politicized people. So what is it about? I feel it's a spirit of rebellion and defiance. That is quite American. I think many feel that Washington with its condescending, bien pensant elites and vast, intrusive bureaucracies are diminishing life in America. (But they want their benefits too.) I can relate.
I think upper-middle-class seculars -- and even upper-middle-class religious folk -- don't realize just how much of a minority they are in this country.
Well, it's not that simple but I think many enjoy his anti-effete spirit and his plain talk. He is right about some things, wrong about other things. So is everybody.
On a personal level, I think Trump is a jerk and Hillary! is a revolting human. Given the choice, I'd hire Trump to work for me.
Earnest young Christian writers (males more than females, perhaps) wring their hands over discovering materialism* and pride - even in themselves. In this they demonstrate that they totally get it, and understand, and aren't really judging at all, clearing the battle space for denunciation. Double bonus points - you get to demonstrate after how many mattresses you can still detect this pea. Prejudice is another big-ticket item. We all have prejudices that we don't want to admit. Even I have a cute anecdote that I shake my head ruefully at in feigned humility before condemning all you racist bastards. Being part of the system and all that.
I have been reluctant to spend so much space discussing The Bell Curve’s treatment of race and intelligence because it was such an ancillary topic in the book. Focusing on it in this letter has probably made it sound as if it was as important as President Sands’s open letter implied.
But I had to do it. For two decades, I have had to put up with misrepresentations of The Bell Curve. It is annoying. After so long, when so many of the book’s main arguments have been so dramatically vindicated by events, and when our presentations of the meaning and role of IQ have been so steadily reinforced by subsequent research in the social sciences, not to mention developments in neuroscience and genetics, President Sands’s casual accusation that our work has been “largely discredited” was especially exasperating. The president of a distinguished university should take more care.
Krauthammer: "The immediate conventional wisdom was to blame the disturbance on the
“toxic environment” created by Trump. Nonsense. This was an act of
deliberate sabotage created by a totalitarian left..."
Young O'Donnell rushed into a church, placed his rifle under a pew and entered the confessional. "Father," he said breathlessly, "I've just shot down two British lieutenants!" Hearing no response he went on: "I also knocked off a British captain!" When there was still no response from the priest, O'Donnell said, "Father, have ye fainted?" "Of course I haven't fainted," replied the confessor. "I'm waitin' for you to stop talkin' politics and commence confessin' your sins!"
Emergency call to my IT consultant yesterday - "One of my machines is totally screwed. Nothing will open." Guy arrives, sits down, and in 20 seconds says "You just need a new mouse." And leaves. Sheesh. Talk about feeling stupid.
Bison coming 'home' 
In Newly Created Life-Form,
Mizzou Is Now Forcing Undergrads
Toon via Lucianne 
Female Researcher: