Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

Another day, another dollar. Or less. On the other hand, a blue glove. “Two by Two; Hands of Blue”.

Whot?

Never mind; as it sez in the good book: “Blah Blah blah-blah, etc.”

Or, as my grand-ma used to say: … er … I know she used to say something … I forget what. It was a good one, though. Of course, you had to have been there.

Thanksgiving dinner was excellent, anyway. My son tried frying a turkey. Next year it will be better, he says, this year was just a learn-how exercise. I thought it was pretty good, myself. Also the roast duck was pretty good too. In fact everything was pretty good. Yummy. I hope yours was the same. Now we just have to survive Christmas and then a whole new year will open up. Once more around the sun, folks, how can things get worse? Or better? Or stay the same!

The 3-year-old was here for the Thanksgiving Dinner, of course. Made me laugh a lot. Lord knows there is not a lot to laugh about these days, so I appreciate it. Then the day after we all went out to a Christmas Tree Farm to pick out a tree. After the Great Tree Hunt we were all sitting around a fire at the Tree Farm, when the 3-year-old climbed into the Adirondack chair next to mine, somehow managing to not spill a drop of his cup of hot chock-lit. Then he started talking to me in his 900-miles-per-hour fashion (I hardly can understand but a word here and there), and he put down his cup and jumped down and started yelling “Momma!” “Momma!” “Momma!” until she came over, at which point he grabbed her hand an lit out for the territories or something. In a bit they were back and he solemnly handed me a cup of hot chock-lit. I didn't have one and he thought I needed one. So he got me one. Good to see he's looking after me, eh?

Me, I read. Always have. Now more than ever. And I am even going to report on some of that reading Real Soon Now. No, really!

No submissions in the email again this week. Tends to happen around holidays, some years more than others. This year, well things are pretty fucked-up, but than things are almost always fucked-up here in America in the 21st Century. If the 20th Century is going to be named The Age of Mass Destruction, no doubt the 21st will be The Age of the Fuck-Up. Or something like that, after all we are just getting started. Things could get worse. Or better. Or stay the same. Hum ….

 

Anyway, some things to think about from last week:

Unite and Get Ready to Fight
by Mario Loyola.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran one of those opinion pieces you know you’ll remember years later. In “The Impossible Insurrection of January 6,” the Journal’s Barton Swaim argues that the invasion of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters shouldn’t be considered an insurrection or an attempted coup, chiefly because, given progressives’ near-total control of our institutions, it had no chance:

It is irrefutable that some form of modern liberalism or progressivism prevails in nearly every sphere of American public life: the news media, the universities, K–12 education, the entertainment industry, corporate boardrooms, mainline religious organizations, college and professional sports (excluding the fans), much of U.S. military bureaucracy, and state and federal agencies.

Americans are increasingly aware of progressive dominance of society — and outraged at the woke mob’s totalitarian tendencies — but they despair at being able to do anything about it. Growing numbers of conservatives and independents sense that whatever the results of any election, the progressive agenda always wins. As in other instances of democratic failure, they are shifting their allegiances away from democratic institutions to charismatic personalities, from American ideals to cultural identity, from conservatism to a bipolar mix of nationalism and national divorce.

Alas, the progressive state is like quicksand: Do nothing, and you will sink; but struggle against it — without the right strategy — and you will sink even faster. Though the Trump presidency was one of significant policy successes for conservatives, the MAGA impulse — more visceral than strategic — often lashes out in ways that only reinforce the progressives’ dominance of the state.
[Read More]

Universities Try to Force a Consensus About Kyle Rittenhouse Instead of using his acquittal to promote vigorous discussion, many administrators sent out statements decrying the verdict.
by Conor Friedersdorf
At universities, the recent acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse should be an opportunity to study a divisive case that sparked complex debates about issues as varied as self-defense laws, guns, race, riots, the rights of defendants, prosecutorial missteps, media bias, and more. If administrators were doing their jobs, faculty and students would freely air a wide variety of viewpoints and have opportunities to better understand one another’s diverse perspectives. Instead, many administrators are preemptively imposing their preferred narratives.
[Read More]

 

America's greatest living novelist makes some remarks:

Neal Stephenson recommends 6 books on information manipulation

And other interesting things from other people and places:

The Leftist Campaign to Redefine Conservatives as ‘White Supremacists’

This Study Finds That Drinking Coffee And Alcohol May Be The Key To Living Longer, by Angela Andaloro

Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should: Install Linux on NTFS – on the same partition as Windows by Liam Proven.

Accidental shooting of Marine driving down the road brings scrutiny of air gun rules, by Jaci Smith

California Horseshoeing School Prevails In Constitutional Lawsuit.

 

Funny pictures? Have we got funny pictures? Well, a few:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we come to the end of our broadcast day, we remind you to Stay DEPLORABLE! my friends.