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Frequently, upon rising in the morning, I will have a thought, not necessarily new, but forming in a more arguable fashion. The OP title is it for today. I read this while I was still active on issues related to my post about failures of journalists, Preview Open

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King Charles, whose personal carbon footprint is likely magnitudes greater than the sum of the carbon emissions of everyone who has ever posted on Ricochet.com kicked off the Irony Festival in Dubai (COP28) by declaring the “earth does not belong to us.” That is rather hypocritical considering how massive are King Chuck Windsor’s family land […]

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Here’s Jeremy at The Quartering covering a RedState article and adding commentary.  Jeremy is right: this is the FBI reminding conservatives that The Boss is not government, not the Constitution, not even the rule of law, but Big Democrat.  He’s right, but he limits his comment to the FBI, when it should definitely include the […]

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The city of Corinth, like all ancient Roman cities, focused attention on the importance of power. Military power, the strength of armies. Political power, the supremacy of influence. Financial power, the potency of money. Social power, the command of public opinion. Corinthian values were predicated upon domination. In the middle of a city, in a […]

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But Mom is always right. That is the way it works in my family and I dare to say in almost every home on the planet. That may change as woke ideology redefines interpersonal relationships but ideology never actually overcomes reality. My basic presumption about fatherhood and motherhood is now probably considered misogynistic or at […]

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James Carville and Mortal Sin

 

Mortal sin (complete separation from God) comes with three conditions:

  1. The act must be a grave matter,
  2. The sinner must know that what he’s doing is gravely wrong,
  3. And the sinner must exercise the free choice to do it anyway (no coercion).

Many Catholics suffer from scrupulosity (raises hand), worrying that they’ve committed a mortal sin they haven’t confessed that puts them at risk of eternal damnation. I recently heard a Catholic influencer say his priest once told him, if you’re worried that your sin is mortal, it isn’t. I see the logic of that statement, and it’s been a great consolation to me.

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“The late 1950s into the early 1960s was supposedly a halcyon time in American history. But was it?” – Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry Reader’s Guide Does anyone actually teach that the late 1950s and early 1960s were a halcyon time in America? I don’t recall learning that as a fact of American History, in […]

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Frederick III: a Model for What Biden Should Do

 

Frederick III was Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia for the very short interval of 99 days during 1888.  The son of Emperor Wilhelm I and father of Wilhelm II, his reign was cut short by throat cancer.  Prior to his accession to the throne, the then Crown Prince was disturbed by an upsurge in anti-Jewish agitation. Having fairly liberal beliefs (in the older sense of the term), Frederick made his own position clear.  Clad in the uniform of a Prussian field marshal, Frederick, together with his wife Victoria, attended a synagogue service in Berlin in 1880 to show support for tolerance.

Shortly afterward, he gave a speech denouncing the anti-Semitic movement in Germany as “a shameful blot on our time”, adding that “We are ashamed of the Judenhetze [agitation against Jews] which has broken all bounds of decency in Berlin, but which seems to flourish under the protection of the Court clerics.”  In 1881, Frederick and Victoria again attended a synagogue service, this time in Wiesbaden “to demonstrate as clearly as we can what our convictions are”and  followed this up by giving a speech in which he spoke out for “poor, ill-treated Jews” of Europe.

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I hope that my intellectual betters will either indulge or ignore a few thoughts from an unlettered gentile which have been feeding on themselves for several days now. I would not claim them to be either original or especially deep. Those of us with simple minds have to stay within the mental boundaries nature has […]

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Getting Things Done

 

I am not like some Ricochet members who seem to thrive on constant productivity and accomplishment. Instead, I’ve waged a war against hints of laziness in my make-up and have spent time puzzling out the difference between idleness and honest daily rest. I believe that not only are we designed for some breaks from the weekday grind, but also that turning our attention to rejuvenating activities is a privilege we can make use of, now that we no longer live in a harsh subsistence culture. 

That said, I’ve been listening to videos with productivity tips as an enjoyable way to wind down at the end of the evening—and get inspired to better tackle more household tasks, serve the team and families at my job, and get around to what I think of as my many “clerical tasks.” I thought I’d list below my own collection of tips. These are regular habits and inclinations that have been helpful to me, and I encourage you to describe routines that have made a difference for you in your own wrestle against inertia. 

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I had always assumed that if constitutional democracy and freedom were to end it would be the result of actions by very clever actors like Lenin, and/or charismatic charlatans like Castro aided by skilled Machiavellian operators like Felix Dzerzhinsky.  It never occurred to me that the threat would be from really rich people profiting from […]

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The title to this post is part of a quote by uber-Progressive Sam Harris included in Scott Johnson’s post on PowerLine entitled, THE DEEP MEANING OF GOLDIE: [I]f you ever wondered how you might have behaved had you been a German on the morning after Kristallnacht—if you’ve ever wondered whether you would have just gone […]

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One day I woke up and ambled into the living room and sat myself in front of an oddly large computer monitor.  My father or my boss or somebody similarly male-mentor-like sat in the great chair, and I knew I would take incoming fire for powering up the apparatus.  My sister was already there or […]

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