“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is a family affair.
The Making of a Myth 0
Emma and her guest discuss the birth of a notion: the story of the “Lost Cause” amd the major role played in its creation by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Full Disclosure:
I had ancestors who belonged to the UDC.
A Tale of a Tycoon 0
Meet the (self-proclaimed) brilliant business man and his money laundromat.
A Case of Identity* 0
At the Idaho State-Journal, Leonard Hitchcock considers whether the Republican Party has turned into a cult of Trump. Here’s a bit:
It’s worth noting, however, that the Trump “personality” is not without policy implications. In any number of public remarks and actions, Trump has made it clear that he believes that white people are the “real” Americans and that conservative Christianity is the country’s “real” faith. It is this barely concealed racism and overt support for evangelical Christianity that seem to be the Trump traits that have produced a cult following. Admittedly, neither racism nor religious bigotry qualify as policies, in the proper sense of the word, but Trump’s immigration policy obviously flowed from his racism, and his opposition to abortion reflected his commitment to conservative Christian doctrine.
His is a thoughtful and reasoned analysis and well-worth the few minutes it will take to read.
__________________
*With apologies to A. Conan Doyle.
Routine Maintenance 0
I recently had all the water cutoffs in my residence replaced because none of them cut off the water any more. But hey! they were all over 30 years old, and stuff wears out. (I had the primary cutoff replaced about a year ago with a nice ball valve for the same reason.)
This applies to blogs and bloggers, also. I just removed “Margaret and Helen” from my blogroll because there’s not been a new post there for over six months (which, by the way, is a darned shame–it was fun to read).
Bloggers, maintain your blogrolls and remove defunct blogs. I can’t count how many times I’ve clicked on a link in a blogroll only to get a 404 or to find that the latest post was in aught-something or other.
Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Facebook Frolics 0
The Zuckerborg is a malevolent kludge that despoils society as it packs the purses of its proprietors.
Ask me nicely, and I’ll tell you what I really think.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Set a precedent of politeness for your progeny at an early age.
Maskless Marauders 0
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bill Torpy is not sanguine. Here’s a bit from his article:
(snip)
Months ago, I thought civil discourse had bottomed out when self-deputized members of the Stop the Steal crowd stalked, yelled at and menaced election workers. But this new brand of madness is more loathsome and its perpetuators border on being domestic terrorists. They aren’t trying to undo an election. They’re playing with people’s lives.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
My professor for the history of the early federal period (roughly the early 1800s) when I was in graduate school (where my most significant learning was that I was not cut out to be an academician), Dr. Shade, was fond of saying that “history is irony.”
Here we have persons protesting the teaching of the existence of systemic racism–something not being taught–proving the existence of systemic racism.
There are none so blind as those who will not look.
Legacy 0
Michael in Norfolk points out that Barry Goldwater got one thing right.