I read the other day that our modern view of Hallowe’en was created using white suburbia as a model, and that it should be dismantled because the act of Trick Or Treating propagates racial oppression. The gentleman who wrote that had earlier mentioned that I was unqualified to opine on matters of race, as I’m one of the oppressors and couldn’t possibly understand the way he could.
(more…)“There’s no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is — other people!”
– Jean-Paul Sartre, “No Exit” / “Huis Clos”
The latest in the interminable blame-game handoffs that are what passes for normalcy in Washington D.C. is upon us — again. And, as always, it’s everyone’s fault and no-one’s.
(more…)I’ve never understood why it is that otherwise intelligent people instantly assume that a simple, massive change is the only solution.
(Brace yourselves. This rant has been building for a while.)
It’s a truism that every single complex problem has a simple, easy-to-understand, common-sense wrong answer. What’s wrong with complex solutions for complicated problems?
(more…)It’s been a while since our last Update; thanks for that, COVID.
Here are a few events you might have missed in the mean while:
(more…)
Even its proponents will often be compelled to admit: This is a strange type of law.
There’s precedent for granting bounties to private citizens, and it’s very probably lawful to use the civil courts instead of criminal for enforcement in this or a similar fashion. Even if it’s not, centering a counter-argument on this point is an error anyway. Those who invented the bill in the first place are attempting to choose the ground for the next fight over what is effectively a “heartbeat law” on abortion.
(more…)
Permit me, gentle readers, to recommend a book: “Starship Troopers”. If you’re looking for a gift for that stubborn conservative in your life, it should do fine.
But, recognizing that you probably won’t have time today, and you may not actually have a copy on your shelf at present, I’ll paraphrase a bit and apply that to the vaccine debate. After, you can go buy the book at the link provided above. (Independent booksellers will benefit, not Bezos.)
(more…) Not now but soon, we’re going to wake up to an unexpected headline. It will read, “No More Pandemic”.
It’s not going to be what you think.
(more…)
“There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy…”
– President Joe Biden (July 8, 2021)
The following is not a popular opinion, either among historians or the general populace:
By 1970, the United States had won in Vietnam.
It’s generally understood that the Vietnam War was the most embarrassing defeat for the United States military in history. Yes, the debacle at Bladensburg was bad, and the subsequent burning of the capitol unpleasant, but compared to Vietnam? And yet, by any objective measurement, the war in Vietnam had actually been all but ended with the destruction of organized resistance in the south. That is, by any measurement but one.
(more…)There are storms on the horizon, friends. Some of us have seen more them than we’d like; some of us haven’t noticed. And if you’ve been watching a single storm cloud, you might have missed the others.
So here are a few things you might have missed in the past week or so, particularly if you’re relying on infotainment to deliver your news:
(more…) (This article is designed to follow two others: Masks Don’t Help You Much, and Defying Mask Mandates. If something in here doesn’t make any sense to you, perhaps you missed it in one of the other two.)
As I begin this, it’s quarter past five in the morning. I’m just back from taking out the garbage. I usually do this around three, but today I slept in. I do this in the middle of the night for two reasons: one, it’s much cooler; two, I’m less apt to meet people, so I don’t wear a mask.
The reason I don’t wear a mask while hauling trash is that I tend to hyperventilate. I get panic attacks which induce asthma, and masks set me off for some reason. I’ve read articles and talked with smart people, and on their advice I’ve tried acclimating myself through long use — and with some success. Even so, I find that the only way to be sure I don’t pass out on the (concrete) stairs is to take my mask off while hauling heavy burdens.
(more…)
You must be logged in to post a comment.