Quote of the Day – Problems

 

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. – H. L. Menken

We have seen this illustrated daily over the last week in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Recovery involving the rescue of thousands of people in remote mountain areas is a complex problem. Yet government – on most levels, from federal to county – all offer the same clear and simple answer to the problem: let us run everything. Do not assist without prior permission and clearance from us. Most of all, respect my authoratah!

October is not even one week along and we’ve already had enough “October surprises” to span about five years. First, the epiphany of J.D. Vance, Superstar. If he had been any better we’d need to enlist Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice to score and produce the Broadway musical of Vance the Vanquisher. Come to think of it, that would make a great professional wrestling name. Except Tim Walz wrestled himself to the ground; maybe we should call him the Klucking Knucklehead?

From there we offer some observations about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and wonder whether the usual incompetence or malevolence explains the appalling spectacle of the government’s recovery efforts there. We won’t find out from the mainstream media.

RFK Jr like you’ve never heard him before!

A lot on his father’s old boss, Sen. Joe McCarthy — the subject of Ann’s revisionist account (i.e., “true”) in “Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism.”

Physician, heal thyself (part 2)

 

So I went to my doctor for my annual assessment two days ago. It was a joint visit for both my wife and me. It’s a weird arrangement, but we have the same doctor and think it is important to always have someone with you when discussing potentially serious medical issues. Neither my wife nor I have any serious problems yet but we have chosen to be in life together, so there we were.

I have been ridiculously healthy my entire life. I have never had a headache, a stomach ache, significant back pain, constipation or even any significant insomnia throughout my years. I have recently been plagued by muscle cramps at night while I sleep. Not just simple calf muscle cramps but spasms in muscles I didn’t know I had, particularly in my hands and feet. My doctor thought that that might be a manifestation of restless leg syndrome. I told him my legs weren’t restless, they were sound asleep until they decided to cramp… Anyway, he prescribed a low dose of ropinirole which was developed for the rigidity of Parkinson’s disease but which helps restless leg syndrome.

Memories flood the brain like the mighty Sheyenne River pouring over its banks. Grab your shovel, son, there’s work to be done.

The Sun Will Set On The British Empire

 

The sun has not set on the British Empire for about 200 years.  As a result of yesterday’s decision to cede the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, this will no longer be true at some point in 2025.  The point at which the sun will actually set is somewhat indeterminate because of sunlight in the British Antarctic Territory for several more months (see map projection below), but it is estimated that a setting sun in the Pitcairn Islands will mark the date sometime early next year.  The Chagos Islands, also referred to as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), include Diego Garcia, where the U.S. has a joint military base.  It will be preserved.

With all of today’s attacks on “colonialism,” I suppose that I shouldn’t find this sad.  Still, as a descendant of some fine English stock of Empire-years gone by, I do.

With Israel’s stunning string of victories over its enemies and the approaching anniversary of October 7th, Eli Lake returns to the Ricochet Podcast. He gives his take on the reasons for the administration’s dithering support and rallies for the West to give its ally the greenlight!

Plus, Charlie, Peter and James discuss the Veep debate, the averted longshoremen’s strike and an ineffective Federal Emergency Management Agency… We count three rants out of Charlie Cooke.

Ugliness you can hear

 

I used to enjoy Facebook.  In fact, I thought it was performing a valuable public service, helping families and friends stay in touch with one another, sharing pictures of kids and pets, and bringing us all closer together.  When I realized that Facebook was collecting information on all of us to sell to the highest bidder, I became less of a fan and spent a lot less time on the site.  But I have changed my mind again.  I found a page that has renewed my faith in Facebook, and even, dare I say, in humanity itself.

I speak, of course, of the Facebook page dedicated to Bad Album Art.  It’s simply wonderful.

As I scroll through this page, and lose myself in the sheer beauty of the ugliness of it all, I find myself strangely drawn to the music on these remarkable albums.  I haven’t actually had the courage to listen yet, but after a couple more bourbons, perhaps I will.  Maybe today is the day.  After all, today is YOUR lucky day, because I’m going to share my joyous discovery with you.  Take these, for example:

Now that a few days have passed, Ann re-assesses the Vice Presidential Debate.

BRICS+

 

I’ve been a member since 2011 and this is my first post. I’ve been a federal worker until this month (retired after 33 years) and I take the Hatch Act seriously. Unfortunately, it’s become cleat the senior levels of the deep state do not have this concern.

I want to take advantage of my familiarity with this community to both raise awareness of, and possibly dispel, my growing anxiety about what I think are significant geopolitical issues.

More Mayorkas Malfeasance Hits Helene Victims

 

The incompetence of Biden-Harris cabinet secretaries have brought us: an invasion of illegal aliens, including murderers, gang members, rapists, and other hardened criminals across the southern border; the enrichment and appeasement of Iran so it could continue to foment terror across the Middle East and in particular threaten the existence of Israel; a massive longshoremen’s union strike across ports along the East and Gulf Coast ports that threatened stores and other retail outlets with massive shortages—a strike that the Secretary of Commerce admitted, in her own words, “…I have not been very focused on that. I would refer you to the White House or the transportation secretary.” Stunning advice to refer the longshoreman’s union dispute to Pete Buttigieg, the most ineffectual, unresponsive and incompetent cabinet secretary to hold that position.

But the hits keep coming. Ashley Moody, Florida’s attorney general has just called previously impeached DHS Secretary Mayorkas on the carpet for spending, according to Fox News, over $1 billion in FEMA’s available natural disaster relief funds for illegal alien resettlement instead:

ASHLEY MOODY: Everyone should be waking up this morning outraged by that comment. This is not something that has just happened recently. And Florida’s been warning about this since this administration took over. Mayorkas has come in like a virus and infected what need[s] to be healthy, strong, fundamental programs to ensure the stability and safety of Americans in times of disaster. 

Top Banana and the Topkick

 

You know how influential TV is with children. I was no more than six when I first cast an admiring look at the Sergeant Bilko lifestyle and said to myself, now that’s the kind of man I want to grow up to be. By the time I was eight, I’d added Richard M. Nixon to that select list of inspirations (“Do you want to win? Steal!”). Well before I was twelve, Cardinal Richelieu (Armand du Plessis, onetime bishop of Luçon), had joined them as my role models. A soldier. A statesman. A man of God. Men of confidence.

In 1954, Phil Silvers was still a year away from the role that would bring him lasting fame. Top Banana had been his big breakthrough on Broadway, a hit 1952 musical about a TV comedian’s struggle to top the ratings and produce his show in the middle of chaos. Top Banana, the film, has echoes of other mid-fifties comedies about television, like the TV show finales of White Christmas and It’s Always Fair Weather; or Bob Hope’s That Certain Feeling, with its disruptive broadcast of Edward R. Murrow’s “Person to Person.” Top Banana’s New York Times review is hilarious—wildly laudatory towards Phil Silvers, a locally well-known night club comic who was then all but unknown nationally—but on the other hand, “It is hard to imagine a picture appearing more cheaply made. Even the color is shabby. It’s the cheapest-looking film we’ve ever seen.” Quite a Times review!

Dennis has the three biggest stories of the week in his sights. First up is the Veep-stakes as JD Vance and Tim Walz battle on CBS.

And then we welcome in Melissa Francis, formerly of Fox News, about her new documentary on the October 7, 2023 massacre that sparked the current conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah. The film, Revelation, debuted on YouTube two weeks ago,

In this episode of Homeschooling Journeys, Curious Mike interviews Uli and Toni, the founders of Surf Skate Science, a unique program that combines beach-based science lessons with surfing and skateboarding activities. The program offers kids hands-on experiences in physics and chemistry, both on land and in the water. They explore how Surf Skate Science highlights the advantages of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which allow families to fund specialized, engaging educational experiences. This episode also reflects on how traditional schools often lack the resources, freedom, and partnerships, like those between Uli and Toni, that can make learning truly relevant and memorable for kids.

Et Tu, Kamala?

 

File:Brutus and Caesar's Ghost, illustration to 'Julius Caesar' IV, iii by William Blake.jpgApologies for the way I’m easing myself into this post.  And thanks to the Ricochet member (you know who you are) who read a comment of mine on this subject elsewhere and suggested that I post it separately.  You deserve what you get.

“Kamala,” I suppose, passes in an odd way for a first declension Latin noun.  When I was ten years old and going through my first Latin grammar lessons, the object lesson for first declension nouns (which generally end with an “a”)  was “Mensa,” meaning “table.”

The second declension example was always “Dominus.” Meaning “master.” (I don’t think the word conjured up any other connotations at the time, and wasn’t necessarily in opposition to any other term indicating servitude.)

Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Baker joins Henry to consider how J.D. Vance’s debate performance might have given us a glimpse of post-Trump populism, and they discuss how Trump and Harris might win undecided voters by sticking to their (wildly different) campaigning guns.

Plus, Henry draws our attention to three far-flung disturbances that have the potential to form into great October surprises; and he takes a close look at two competing ads aimed at defining PA senatorial candidate Dave McCormick based on his time in the private sector.

The Evil That Was Always There

 

When I was a wee bairn in the 60s, I remember seeing movies about WWII, the Holocaust, and all of that.  I could not believe that people could do the things that were done.  How could they be so evil?

My mother fixed her gaze on me when I voiced these opinions and told me that someday the evil that is hatred of the Jews would rise again, because it is an ancient evil that will never go away.  It’s just something that goes along with being God’s chosen.  Satan will always be after the Jews, and he has many allies.  When antisemitism came back in full force I would have to choose whether I would be good or evil.

Darwin Would Vote for Vance

 

“Haughty, shallow with an utterly mediocre intellect such that the increasingly error-filled zeitgeist of one’s peer group has entirely devolved into a kneejerk partisan creed.”

The above description is:

Join Robert Chernin and Ericka Redic as they welcome American diplomat, businesswoman, and former deputy administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Bonnie Glick. Bonnie, Robert, and Ericka will discuss Israel Appreciation Day where Bonnie was a featured speaker, Israeli tech, the expanding conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and her work in USAID.

Brash, irreverent, and mostly peaceful!

If you had to move out of state, where would it be?

 

If you had to move away to any state in the country, which one would it be?  Many years ago, my wife and I had a decision to make: Do we stay in liberal Massachusetts, or start a new life somewhere else? It really didn’t take us very long to decide to stay where we were. I’ve never lived more than five miles from Podunk. This is where I will stay. This is where I’ll die. Family is everything.

However… (Yes, this sounds like a big BUTT.) But should I have to move out of state, there is only one place for me: western North Carolina. My job brought me all over this country. I have spent time in every state other than the Dakotas and Oregon, (Not organ). This area of the Southeast is truly a jewel of the country.

Tim Walz said WHAT in the debate!?

 

Tim Walz perhaps just turned himself into a viral internet meme as a result of that debate. The one line that absolutely cracked me up in disbelief was when he stated: I’ve become friends with school shooters. Ooph, that’s a rough gaffe. And the expression on his face when he said it just enhances it.

I thought I might have misheard it, so I searched online and found the New York Post had already clipped it and put it in a post here.

What Islam and Paganism Have in Common

 

“If blood, suppuration, and pus, were to pour from the husband’s nose and the wife licked it with her tongue, she would still never be able to fulfill his rights over her.” (This Hadith is repeated, also with great reverence, five times by commentator Imam Suyuti who is regarded as one of the greatest of all Muslim scholars.)

The West often sugarcoats cultures with whom we are not well familiar. My local newspaper will do anything to make Catholic schools a hotbed of the most vile crimes against humanity. But “natives” in other countries are perceived as noble savages, above all criticism or condemnation — even they happen to, from time to time, eat other people. Or just the odd household pet.

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Meredith Coolidge of DFER – MA interview James Conway, a World History and Psychology teacher at Revere High School, and Ela Gardiner, a freshman at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Wellesley High School alumna. Conway discusses the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) and its role in establishing a progressive state funding formula, high-stakes testing like The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), and rigorous curriculum standards. He highlights the national and international successes of Massachusetts students, particularly through NAEP, TIMSS, and PISA assessments, and emphasizes MCAS as a key tool for improving educational equity. Mr. Conway also reflects on the importance of MCAS for instruction and accountability, and the negative implications of eliminating it as a high-stakes test. Ms. Gardiner discusses her personal experiences with the Massachusetts curriculum standards and MCAS testing. She shares how the rigorous academic expectations helped prepare her for college and how her experience compares to peers from other states and countries. Gardiner also addresses the critics’ questionable concerns about MCAS, explaining how her high school’s curriculum aligned with the standards and MCAS effectively prepared her for both state and national tests. Finally, she speaks on the potential academic consequences for future students if MCAS is removed as a graduation requirement, stressing its importance in maintaining high academic standards in the Bay State.

In Defense of the 7 Deadly Sins

 

One of the differences between Christianity and Judaism is that Christianity is more prone to simply labeling things in this world as “good” or “bad” and acting accordingly. So, for example, alcohol, to many Christians, is “the devil’s drink.” But to Jews, everything in the world can be used for holy OR profane ends. Nothing is considered inherently positive or negative.

So we could, for example, look at the 7 Deadly Sins. Though, to my reading, they really ought to be considered “desires” or “temptations.” Nevertheless, I’d like to offer a quick Jewish defense of each of them.

What is a ‘regime,’ and what does America’s current “anti-discrimination regime” do and portend for individual liberty, limited government, and rule of law? Jeff discusses this thorny topic with scholar Thomas Powers, exploring the background of today’s regime, how it functions, and what it might mean for our future.

#civilrights #woke #antiracism #antidiscrimination