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I’ve had some conversations on Ricochet where setting clear and measurable assimilation standards for migrants (specifically migrants from MENA to Europe, as refugees or not) has been raised. (@GrannyDude – see, I was listening.) There is a jurisdiction in the West that has done just that for migrants (and has recently kicked it up a […]

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Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. ‘Ford v Ferrari’: High-Octane Awesome!

 

Go see it! You won’t be disappointed. Just watch your speed departing the theater parking lot.

My only complaint: while at a Thanksgiving get-together, I mentioned that I loved this movie, some car snob, know-it-all kept talking about how it wasn’t the “real” story. Then we all had to hear the real story. Jerk.

But the movie is awesome. Normally I’m not a fan of Matt Damon because of his liberal politics but for this movie, I overlooked it and, boy, I was not disappointed. Christian Bale is damn good and really steals the show. And, overall, there wasn’t a weak performance to be found.

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https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/11/30/polish-chef-used-5-foot-narwhal-tusk-to-help-bring-down-london-bridge-terrorist/ Well, if you can’t have guns, can’t have knives, I guess Narwhal tusks and fire extinguishers are what you have left! Preview Open

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Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Chick-fil-A Betrayal Worse Than We Thought

 

In addition to Chick-Fil-A corporate ceasing contributions to Christian organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, we’re now learning it has funded many left-wing, anti-Christian (but, I repeat) outfits such as the SPLC, the Pace Center for Girls (pro-abortion), and Chris 180 (a “pro-LGBT behavioral health and child welfare service agency.” Wow, when the Left speaks of “child welfare services,” hide your children.) — for years! Read the gory details here.

It’s one thing for Chick-Fil-A to stop supporting Christians; it’s another for the corporation to go out of its way to poke us in the eye. Time to return the favor?

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Quote of the Day: Experience

 

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.” — Vernon Sanders

Boy, isn’t that true. I cannot think of all of the times I flunked a test I did not know I was taking. Fortunately, even though I paid in hide a few times, my misjudgments have never resulted in death, mine or others. Yet.

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I was listening to the 3 Martini Lunch talking about Anonymous and what they are up to.   Preview Open

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Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Flipping Congressional Districts, Parts 5 and 6

 

I’ve been doing some research into finding the most efficient way to flip the House, and presenting my findings here. (Unexpected good news at the end.)

[Later added: Flipping Congressional Districts Part 7: Two Can Play at That Game]

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Boots, Hammers, and Classic Math

 
From the invaluable comic Flintlocke’s Guide to Azeroth

Being a man subject to his vices, I’ve started up again on World of Warcraft. Not the new stuff, the “Classic” servers. “Is that what’s taking up your time?” I hear you all saying, “I had wondered why it was slightly less nerdy and pedantic around here.” Well, worry no more! For the joy and edification of the Ricochet audience, here I reproduce the work I did with the damage formulas. Because a simple post about Warcraft wouldn’t be nearly nerdy enough.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Gratefulness and Common Grace

 

“[F]or he makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” — Matthew 5:45b

Somehow we survive on this small blue planet, we fragile bipeds vulnerable to the elements, to disease, to time, and to each other. Logically, our lot is sustained misery, ended only by a merciful death. Yet mankind has done far more than survive. Our life experiences are a rich intermingling of joy and angst, satisfaction and boredom, love and suffering. We look back on our early years and we remember carefree, secure innocence. Centuries’ worth accumulated knowledge was ours to study. Next we loved, and married, and cherished children. We are paid well for skills that we are pleased to perform. And all this while we are nourished with good food, warmed with comfortable clothing, and aided when we are ill.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. ‘Spitfire’: Amazing and Beautiful

 

Can a documentary about the British WWII fighter, Spitfire, be a beautiful thing to watch? It can. This is probably the most beautifully rendered documentary about the remarkably engineered plane, the young men and women who flew it to defend Britain and later the island of Malta and parts of the Mediterranean that has aired. Sprinkled throughout are the remembrances of those who flew successive versions of the aircraft. It’s a heartfelt and touching documentary with some amazing present day footage of this aircraft in flight. It’s available now on Netflix. When you have some free time away from the relatives and your obligations, treat yourself.

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Thanksgiving weekend is one of the best times to watch college football. Throw the polls out the window – when rivals play, anything can happen! I’m in the StadCave, the big TV fired up for Clemson vs. USC, Michigan vs. Ohio State, and Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. Then there’s a new round of games 3:30-4:00, […]

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We’re all familiar with how it started with global cooling, morphed into global warming, then became climate change. For the first time I remember, the leftist environmental movement admits it’s all about manipulating the language (something not limited to the environmental movement): https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2019/11/29/alarmists-propose-rebranding-climate-change-for-greater-shock-value/ Preview Open

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Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Friday Food and Drink Post: Winging It, Albeit With No Turkeys In Sight

 

Well, Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, and as with so much of my life this past year, it didn’t go off exactly as hoped, expected or planned.

I’d already announced, last week, that since Mr. She and I were on our own this year, I’d abandoned the idea of going full-bird, as it were, and would probably be doing my favorite iteration of fresh salmon on a bed of asparagus, with rice and pine nuts, and salsa verde over all. I’d dutifully acquired all the ingredients, driving for what seemed like days into Pittsburgh and back, and it was just after dinner on Wednesday evening. I was happy, ready, settled, watching an old movie on TCM, and nicely relaxed (well, except for the cat), with an adult beverage on the side, knitting a Christmas present for my granddaughter when, Blammo! Out went the lights. I suppose that wasn’t a total surprise, as it had been blowing, what I was taught to judge on the Beaufort Scale, about a Force-8 gale for several hours outside. I daresay a tree took down a line somewhere, and there it went.

Truth be told, it could have been worse. And it has been. But over the summer I finally got the backup generator hooked up, and our 8kW Generac kicked itself on flawlessly, about ten seconds after the power dropped. It doesn’t support the whole house, just the essentials–the water pump, the fridge and freezer, the blower for the heat, and a few strategically placed circuits. So for the first time in 35 years down here, we had water during a power outage. The height of sybaritic luxury. (I don’t want to know if that’s a rhetorical faux-pas or not. It deserves repeating. So I did.) The generator doesn’t run the kitchen stove, though; so it looked as if FirstEnergy was about to put a crimp in our holiday celebration. Especially when I woke up on Thursday with no clear indication of when the power would be restored.

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. It’s Better to Give than Receive but Tough to Ask for More

 

This is the worst time of year. Not the feasting of Thanksgiving or the celebrations of December, but when I’m asked every November to fill out an Amazon Wish List for my birthday (Nov. 21) and Christmas.

I bug my wife and kids to fill out their wish lists, so I better reciprocate. This year, like usual, I wasted a couple of hours on gift guides for guys, for dads, for writers, for podcasters, for malcontents, you name it. And I came up with bupkis. I can’t think of anything I want. Is this a guy thing? A getting-older thing? It can’t be just me, so I turn to the experience and wisdom of the Ricochetti.

Please note, I’m not some evolved spiritual being who’s transcended material concerns. It’s just that I have pretty much everything I want or need. Got a roof over my head, a decent car, food on the table, and coffee in the mug. I’m a minimalist at heart, so much more than that seems like clutter.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Sin, Ancient and Modern

 

Cain killing Abel, marble relief on the facade of the Milan Cathedral, Duomo di Santa Maria Nascente. (Shutterstock.com)
When Cain becomes sullen and angry because his offering of the “fruits of the soil” is not as well received by God as his brother Abel’s offering of the “fat portions” of his sheep, God tells Cain that “sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Well, we know how that turned out.

Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Capitalism vs. Socialism: Facts vs. Opinion

 

Opinion: Capitalism is a corrupt system, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Fact: Capitalism has created more wealth for more people, than ever in the history of the world.
Fact: The poor in America are still richer than about 70% of the rest of the world.
My opinion: Capitalism in itself is not a corrupt system; people are easily corrupted and the system need not be replaced.

Opinion: Democratic Socialism is a better economic system for the US than capitalism.
Fact: Socialism is defined as “[a system] in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the [government],” and “[a system] in which there is no private property.”
Fact: This is what happened in the USSR, Cuba, and Venezuela, and it resulted in extreme poverty for all, except those in power.
Fact: The Nazis were the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. The Best Part of My Job…

 

…is when you Google “John Yoo” in images and these are the results you get: