Over the past weekend, a strange news feed about possible white supremacists marching at the Lincoln Memorial popped up on one of my YouTube subscriptions; then disappeared within a few hours of being up. I did the usual innerweb search, but could find nothing about it. This seemed strange to me that no one, not MSM sources or Alt-media, seemed to have picked up the story.

I noted from the video of the march, before being taken down, that the “white supremacist demonstrators” were being escorted by DC Police, which means it had been coordinated with the city. If that was the case why wasn’t BLM/ANTIFA there to counter-protest. If DC City Hall knew this was going on, someone would have passed the word on. And yet, that didn’t happen. Stranger still, it appears that the group in question, called “Patriot Front” seemed to appear from nowhere, march down the steps, and disappear without holding a rally or making speeches.

Then yesterday, the “Mr. Reagan” YouTube channel did this update about the event that didn’t seem to happen, and group that no one has ever heard of. After viewing the video, I came away thinking, OK that’s weird, someone/group has gone through a lot of effort and expense to do what I’m not sure.

This past week in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Association, the Supreme Court heard extended and heated arguments on whether Roe v. Wade (1973), a fixture of American constitutional law for nearly fifty years, should be overturned. As envisioned by Mississippi’s solicitor general, Scott Stewart, abortion regulation would then be turned back to the legislative branches of the states, subject to any constraints that individual states might impose under their respective constitutions. Dobbs arose because of a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after fifteen weeks, long before the third trimester of pregnancy specified in Roe as the time of viability (around twenty-five or twenty-six weeks), at which the state may protect not only maternal health—itself only allowed in the second trimester—but also the life of the fetus.

This case thus cuts into the heart of the constitutional theory. It is widely accepted that any Bill of Rights necessarily limits the right of legislative majorities from trenching on key individual rights. No one denies that proposition at the most basic level, for otherwise a bare political majority is free to target certain despised groups for death, imprisonment, or confiscation. But that general principle itself does not articulate a coherent answer to the question of which laws protecting individual rights should be respected and which not.

The Wall Street Journal is running a music commentary piece on Ira Gershwin, “Ira Gerswhin at 125.” It’s a short piece on his contribution to the Great American Songbook, particularly apt on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Second Great War shaped our cultural understanding, perception, and celebrations as Americans, proving an optimism and steeled determination that we shared and embraced.

If the WSJ piece is an overarching celebration of Ira’s birth, this poignant post by @ejhill from October 2020, offers a more touching, relatable window into what we take for granted when consuming entertainment, especially from the brilliant minds of our cultural geniuses. They acquire their inspiration from depths not often known to us; thoughts and feelings kept secret by the architects even as the art they create is exposed to the world.

I am reminded that today is the 80th Anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. I am embarrassed to admit that my own understanding of our history with respect to this event goes little beyond what was still being taught in schools when I was a kid; the few children’s books that provide a basic overview; stories of the Second World War, which must necessarily describe an event that finally brought the reality of war close enough to home that the United States could no longer sit back, somewhat coldly debating “someone else’s problem.”

I have a friend who was eight years old at the time, in Toppenish, WA, which looked much, much different than it does today – he showed me a class picture from that year and pointed to four young Japanese-American friends of his. They left … and eventually they came back. People leave and come back all the time, and even in the 1930s, you don’t think much of it at the time.

Mr. Williams was the best substitute teacher at Shadow Mountain High School. Not to say he was good at teaching. To be honest, he was terrible. But any day students saw the elderly man shuffle to the chalkboard to scribble his name, we knew we were in for a treat.

The first time I had him “teach” was for my freshman Algebra class. He didn’t mention math. Instead, he gave us a play-by-play of Dec. 7, 1941. Mr. Williams had enlisted in the US Navy before the war and was stationed at Pearl Harbor.

A century ago today, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed between representatives of Great Britain and Ireland. The significance of this treaty is lost today on many Americans, many Brits, and sadly many Irish people. But it is without question probably the most significant document in Irish history. The Anglo-Irish Treaty ended the devastatingly brutal guerilla war of independence between the U.K. armed forces and the original Irish Republican Army and established the first de facto, independent modern Irish state. Yet its terms would lead to an even more divisive civil war in Ireland that destroyed the nationalist movement at its moment of triumph and ruined the lives of a generation in bitterness.

The treaty marked the fulfillment of several months of negotiations between Irish representatives and their U.K. counterparts since a truce had taken place on July 11, 1921, between both sides. Prime Minister David Lloyd George, having seen a negotiated settlement as the best possible way to end the war, invited Irish leaders to Downing Street with the hope of coming to some form of agreement. The leader of the Irish national movement and Sinn Féin President Éamon de Valera agreed to talks with the British. However, from July to September, little progress was made between the two leaders.

“Entirely new perspectives were opened when the economists discovered that there prevails a regularity in the sequence and interdependence of market phenomena. It was the first step to a general theory of human action, praxeology. For the first time people became aware of the fact that, in order to succeed, human action must comply not only with what are called the laws of nature, but also with specific laws of human action.

“There are things that even the most efficient constabulary of a formidable government cannot bring about, although they may not appear impossible from the point of view of the natural sciences.

Over the years, Formula One racing has become ensnared by its own rules. What was once a free-for-all, unlimited budget only has to last two hours flavor of innovation and competitiveness has become a sport better suited for lawyers. Every significant pass or off is litigated – was it fair? – within the rules? It is hard not to hear a note of mockery in the commentary.

The evolution did not come without good reason.  It was a horribly dangerous sport; several would die every year.  It was not hyperbole to say you were never sure you would survive a race.  Drivers began to reject overtly dangerous conditions such as heavy rain.  Especially with the advent of ground effects where the cornering force improves with speed as the aerodynamics glue the car to the track.  Untrained drivers find it hard to force their brains to allow them approach corners with speeds adequate to fulfil the car’s promise.  Deaths have plummeted under the new safety rules.

Very simple; strengthen the law and then, enforce it. Define mob looting as a crime as follows: when more than one person cooperatively enters a retail establishment with the intent to steal merchandise. Aggregate the loss in determining the level of felony charged so that each person involved in the theft, including those aiding and abetting (drivers and those obstructing response, fences, persons who receive stolen property, etc.) are charged with the full value of all merchandise stolen and the costs of all damage.

Allow up to triple damages as compensation upon conviction. Allow a weapons charge if implements are used in the theft that could be classified as a weapon or used to intimidate a response. Arrest the perpetrators.

Stack up the felonies and dare the prosecutors to dismiss.