Tuesday, January 31, 2017

You Might Be a Democrat If...

Found on Ace of Spades.

Check out the comments - the first few are silly (claiming FIRST! if they were the first post - an on-going competition for Ace), but some of the rest are priceless.

My favorite?

"After whatever reduction occurs at the EPA -- and hopefully it is 100% -- immediately announce that its HQ is moving to the banks of the river in Colorado that their negligence trashed a year or two ago and mandate that their potable water supplyvwill be drawn from that river. 

Perhaps if they have a personal stake in the outcome of their incompetence they might take a little more care to see that they actually pay attention to what they're doing."

Excellent idea! I hope Trump does just that.
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Monday, January 30, 2017

De-Bunking the Fear-Mongers

Trump's crackdown that stops automatic travel by non-US citizens from 7 countries has infuriated the Seriously Hurt and Unhinged Totally Useless Progressives (SHUT UP, for short).

The Washington Post (owned by Jeff Bezos - hey, Jeffy, why don't you stick to a business that you are actually GOOD at - Amazon?) is placing over-the-top personal stories on the front page that are intended to change Trump's mind - or, at least, to demonize him as heartless in the minds of the voting public.

Here is one - the tale of a rich man whose Iranian wife went to visit her parents, who were having trouble getting permission to visit her in the US.

Some questions NOT asked in the article:

  • This is being portrayed as a PERMANENT inability to see each other. Why wouldn't she eventually pass muster with the American authorities, and be able to return home?
  • What are her (and her parents) political affiliations? Are they Muslim Brotherhood, or other terrorist-linked groups?
  • Why didn't her parents qualify for the visa? Is there something Iran knows that apparently we don't that would make them a bad bet to give them permission to travel?
The next story, about an American contractor who was set to come to America with his family, is also filled with questions.
  • If, in fact, his story is true, he should be eligible to fly to America in a relatively short time. A delay is not that bad.
  • Is he, in fact, who he says he is? We've had a few impostors in the visa application process, some of whom were not caught before them managed to arrive in the US, then disappear. He should be able to supply details about his service that would establish his bona fides.
  • He comes from Irbil - a region where ISIS/ISIL was quite active. A good reason to check him out more thoroughly. Easier to keep someone out than to get rid of him after opening the door.
A woman was kept from visiting her mother, who was having surgery.
  • The woman was a Syrian, who had been living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for over 30 years. She is said to teach 1st grade.
  • A family member (Nour Alghnimi Ulayyet) has posted a picture (below). It refers to a day that the rebels chose as a "day of silence for Syria" - March 6, 2013. Apparently, she has some sympathy for the rebel faction.


A link to the Facebook page for that campaign.
On March 6, 2013, Syrian people worldwide will unite in their silence. On that day we will share one message of solidarity for Syria’s martyrs.

We ask for one day of silence to honor the thousand of civilians who were killed, their families broken, and their homes destroyed. We ask for one day of silence for the revolutionaries, the medical aid volunteers, the humanitarian workers, and the peaceful protesters who were targeted because of their unbreakable resolve. 

One day to remember Syria. Together. In silence.
It's pretty clear that the sympathies for at least SOME of the family members may be with the radical terrorists.

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Sunday, January 29, 2017

It's STILL the Culture

And, to use the modern phrase, it sucks.

Too many kids are exposed to cultural influences that are far too adult and emotionally upsetting for their age.
children whose lives resemble the characters in a current young-adult novel probably need professional intervention more than they need a good book.
Read more here.

I was reading Bastion of Liberty today, and his post caused me to think further about this.

Here is a Radical Idea:

I keep returning to the idea of Culture - not Fine Arts, but the overall Culture of the Average American - to be the next Big Push by those of us who plan to MAGA.

How about a push for the free networks - and the equivalent in the cable world - to return to the idea of Family-Friendly Only during the times when kids might reasonably be around - say, up until 9pm?

The paid cable stations can have whatever gross/salacious/vulgar/disturbing things they want to promote, as long as its access is limited to those patrons that PAY for it.

Same with the News - keep it clean, not gory, not dealing with scandals of the sexual kind. In other words, what would be been the norm when I was growing up.

This could be a win-win - the networks could offload all that vulgar crap to a PAID channel, which, presumably, people would gladly flock to see all that stuff.


Or, to their huge surprise, these Cultural Warriors would find out that the crap was only tolerated, not desired, and that their paid products - the sleaze, the sex, the half-naked women - all of that is not interesting enough to pay for it.
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St. Thomas Aquinas, and How His Thinking Informs Modern Life

I'm going to be leading an Adult Faith group again, starting next Wednesday evening. One of the people we will be looking at in our video series is St. Thomas Aquinas. His thinking about the conflict between Church Teaching and Science/Natural Philosophy formed the basis for much of Western Civ.

The dynamics between dogmas of the Church (those teachings held to be authentic and fundamental to the Faith) and Science (which is always open - theoretically - to modification, as data is found that contradicts the previous theories), is one of the big issues of our time. Many moderns use Science as a way of 'proving' that religion and God are hogwash. When faced with contradictory information, moderns choose to dump God, or, at least, organized religion. Many retain some sort of mushy 'spiritual' awareness, without all those yucky rules or structure.

Fr. Michael Barrone, a long-time and very popular defender of the Faith, ruminates on the influence of Aquinas:
Thomas Aquinas saw with utter clarity that since all truth comes from God, there can never be, finally, any conflict between the data of the sciences and the facts of revelation. In his own time, there were advocates of the so-called “double truth theory,” which held that the “truths” of philosophy and science were in one category and the “truths” of the faith in another. On this interpretation, one could hold mutually exclusive positions as long as one remained cognizant that the opposing views were in separate departments of the mind. 
The article is worth reading. Have a good and refreshing Sunday.

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Saturday, January 28, 2017

Remember When?

The term "Prepper" is one that has been used to smear

The Tech Moguls Turned Preppers.

The media "bravely" used their press credentials to shore up their allies?

Ooooops!

US companies moved their production overseas, and benefited from tax breaks?

Not under Trump, apparently - it's in the works, although the exact form is in flux.

"Fake News" is, indeed, a problem. Too many people are prone to spread rumors to ALL their email list/Facebook Friends/Twitter Followers, BEFORE taking action to verify the truth of it.

The "New Media" can be, at times, the source of these problems.

However, so can "activists" who are SURE that EVERY White (except, of course, themselves) is a rabid racist, eager to oppress/kill/torture any random non-White they encounter.

So much for the KKK sightings.

I can't get too concerned about fears of a Trumpian Facist Takeover. Trump is too much the guy who doesn't think of himself as a follower of any crowd. In his own way, he is an individualist.

This linked article, about the Sanders candidacy, provides some reasons to wonder whether the fear-mongers should look elsewhere for next Hitler.

Some Leftists say that there is NO voter fraud, and that attempts to deal with this non-existent problem amounts to voter suppression.

Some thoughts on that.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Thinking vs. FEELING

Compassion is deemed to be, by moderns, the most important quality in a 'good' human being. They talk of how proper Christians must 'show compassion' for the less-fortunate (those that have a troubled life, no matter how they got there - parental neglect, if a child, or conscious choice, if an adult).
These moderns demand a PUBLIC expression of that compassion - quiet charity is NOT sufficient. The compassionate must put their charity on display, for all to comment on, critique, and, ultimately, judge. Sound like any group that Jesus Christ roundly condemned? (Cough, Pharisees).
Those who go along with the bullying are praised - as long as they are properly grateful to the scolds forcing them to go along. Think of the major pressure in most companies to have ONE HUNDRED PERCENT participation in United Way - executives and administrators will make multiple visits to employees to hector, cajole, and intimidate them into giving at least a minimal amount.
Then, the employee is congratulated - for giving into pressure and intimidation - by being called generous and giving.
They were not - merely concerned about retaliation from bosses.
One of the best things about retirement will be the end of those yearly extortion attempts.
Here is a link to a site where people talk about the forced 'contributions'.

Meryl Streep


Say what you will about her, she certainly has acquired a large body of work - AND a lot of award nominations - 19 - and 3 wins. It can safely be said she is highly respected by her peers.
Does that translate into being knowledgeable and informed about politics?
No.
Many people are highly successful in one field, and a total failure at another:

  • Michael Jordan - great at basketball, lousy at baseball
  • FDR - great at politics, terrible at running Warm Springs resort - lost a lot of money
  • The Woz - amazing at computers, lost tons of money in many other pursuits, and is pretty universally used as the bad example at dancing
  • Ross Perot - probably one of the best salesmen ever at IBM, failed to win the presidency
  • Ashley Judd - a success as an actress, a failure at politics
There are others, but that gives you the idea.
Look at her face in the picture above. VERY, VERY self-satisfied - you might say, smug. She is in her comfort zone - surrounded with those who hold her in high regard. People surround her, eager to hear each pearl of wisdom she deigns to let fall from her tightly pursed lips.
And, yet, is she, in fact, the essence of empathy for the average person?
No. She despises those regular people. She thinks them boors, cretins, and incipient Storm Troopers.
Is it any wonder that she seldom makes a picture that those people are lining up to see? Her films may win awards, but they generally don't make a lot of money. Some of them fail, miserably. See the number, here - no information on the ROI (Return on Investment), but she is returning - at most - about 5 to 1 of the investment. Often less, 2 to 1. In Hollywood terms, that's a HUGE failure. Her higher grossing films often have other stars in them that - arguably - provide the bulk of the audience.
The outrageous success of Mamma Mia! has kept her from being seen as a fading star.

Parenthetical comment - I have absolutely NO idea why Mamma Mia! was such a success. Meryl's performance was mannered, stiff, and predictable. Her singing was atrocious - the only thing worse was Pierce Brosnan's off-key, limited vocals. It was a HORRIBLE film.

But, is she brave to call out Trump and his supporters?
Please.
She is surrounded with those who would cut off an arm before critiquing her, who hold the same political beliefs as she does, who have been known to make dissenters into outcasts. That doesn't call for bravery.
OPPOSING the conventional wisdom does. That's what a brave few have done - Stephen Baldwin, James Woods, Adam Sandler, Vince Vaughn, Patricia Heaton.

But, such people have FEELING!
So what?
What is important in public affairs is not how you FEEL, but what you THINK.

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The 'Activist' Celebrity

This is probably the best explanation of the phenomenon that I've ever read.

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Sunday, January 22, 2017

Catholic Reading

i'm working on improving my non-necessary reading, with a focus on the Classics. I decided to work on Catholic Classics, and will be posting here on my progress.

The first long-neglected book I decided to tackle is Mere Christianity.

The C. S. Lewis Society has a reading and discussion guide, which might be helpful.

I'm going to try to be consistent about posting on my progress about once a week. I'll start next Sunday.

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Friday, January 20, 2017

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Re-Building Our Country

This process will not be just a simple matter of diving into the politics, or making/removing laws. Those things are what we hired Trump for - to reduce the size of the federal government, and to take our country back to its Constitutional roots.

No, the real challenge in re-building our country will be to change the culture. That process will be multi-generational, expensive, and time-consuming.

And, it will be viciously opposed by the Left.

About the only advantage we have is that the Left so far over-stepped the boundaries, that they caused the average person to say "WT-?" That point may have been when they:

  • Made normal male-female relations a trap to catch unwary men, and criminalized the normal interactions between men and women.
  • Criminalized failure for MEN to pay for the care of their children, and excused WOMEN from any responsibility to contribute. Men will always owe money, even when unemployed. Women on welfare don't have to pay it back when they begin to earn money.
  • Made claims of sexual abuse of children by their father the first line of attack in many divorces, as a negotiating tactic.
  • Said that men (PWPs - Persons With a Penis) could arbitrarily decide that they 'really' were women, and use that restroom, locker facilities, and other amenities without challenge. If challenged, they could (and did) sue, using the force of government's many commissions to do so without expense to them.
  • It's a SERIOUS offense to call someone by a 'wrong' pronoun. Even if the someone is clearly of a different sex, you MUST call them by their chosen appellation.
  • It is a CRIME to refused to provide services to a gay wedding. However, it is an Enlightened Action to refuse to provide services to Trump or his family, or anyone supporting them. Oh, and if there is a person who wants to make a buck playing music at the Inauguration, it's TOTES OK to send death threats to them.
  • We are told that we aren't paying enough for the education of our kids, despite schooling taking a bigger and bigger bite out of our budget each year. However, the kids know less and less every year.
  • Teaching about gayness has permeated the elementary schools, even to the Kindergarten level. Parent preferences to move those discussions to later in the school years are blithely ignored by the administration. In the middle school, at times, the presentations are so graphic they constitute child abuse. The language used would cause a teacher to lose his or her (or zher) job, if they said the EXACT SAME WORDS in the presence of those kids.
Amazingly, despite a childhood devoted to reading just about everything I could get my hands on, I had never read The Prince. I recently read yet another reference to it in the news, and decided to rectify that deficiency.


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Correlation vs Causation

One of the toughest things for beginning Stats courses to teach is the idea that:

Correlation does NOT mean Causation

What does that mean?

Just because two things are often found in common, does NOT mean that one caused the other.

A prime example is religion. Families that raise kids who succeed often are regular church goers. However, going to church, by itself, is NOT necessarily connected with successful kids. That distinction is not shown in this article.
Even the religious gap between the rich and the poor—traditionally rather narrow—is widening. These days, Mr. Putnam laments, ‘poor families are generally less involved in religious communities than affluent families,’ which is unfortunate, he notes, given that churchgoing is associated with better performance in school, less drinking and drug use, and less delinquency.
In my early teaching career, I taught at a VERY tough school in Cleveland. In one of my classes, there was a kid who was gang-connected (both by his own admission and by the many tats he wore), foul-mouthed, often chemically altered, and someone who did not hesitate to use force with his peers - male or female. His mom took him to church regularly, hoping to offset the environment he was being raised in.

Didn't help. One of his more infamous fights occurred when he was carrying his Bible at school. Some kid said something - I don't remember what - and it was ON.

He used the Bible to administer the smack-down. Literally, Bible-thumping.

Does that mean that religion is of no use?

No.

IF the parent ACTS to put their religious convictions into practice in their own life - not shacking up, not using, working for a living, not hanging out with bad influences, etc., then the religious influence might tip the scales. However, it's the way that parent puts their faith into practice that really makes the difference, not dragging the kid into the building.

Probably the most influential thing a parent can do to raise good kids is to get out of the hood. That DOESN'T mean moving to a high-priced neighborhood that will require that parent to put in long hours at work, just moving to a less crime-ridden neighborhood. While that will reduce the number of good people in that urban neighborhood, which will likely make it more miserable, I maintain that individuals do not have the responsibility to put their own kids in harm's way just to prove a point.

Some of the people from the Katrina flood were able, after relocation, to build better lives far from New Orleans. Some of them moved to small towns and rural areas, and reduced their kids' exposure to the seamier side of life. Others broke with the old family/friendship relationships that were holding them back, and made a new life.

No matter what method parents use, the most important thing is to PUT THE KID FIRST.

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Sunday, January 15, 2017

A Round-up of Various Thoughts

Marxism is not well understood. Part of the reason is that students and the general public are only exposed to the individual tenets of such Marxist philosophers such are Fanon, Gramsci, and other staunch Communists.

Here is a quick breakdown of how that influence is working to destroy our America.

Apparently, some organizers of the Milo upcoming event at UCLA-Berkeley have experienced doxxing (release of personal information - name, address, phone, workplace, etc. - designed to make it easy for the opposition to open up a $hit-$torm against their opponents). I commented, suggesting it was time for dox-in-response to that crappy tactic.

Repeat after me - your enemy is NOT Hitler. You will not go down in history as the Brave Opposition to the Nazis of Your Time.

You will go down as The Intolerant Nut Who Suppressed Those Who Disagreed With Him/Her/Zher.

WHY are the Leftists seemingly so Triumphant, since no sensible person you know agrees with their nutty thinking?

Was this the secret to Trump's success?

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Saturday, January 14, 2017

6 Days to Go!

The always bitter, mean-spirited Left is working furiously to gin up "protests" against Trump on Inauguration Day - next Friday, January 20th.

Activists are charging the government with restricting their Free Speech Rights.

Nope, honey. Haven't you ever heard of the concept of Security? Trumps - oops, there's that word! - your Constitutional Rights in the event of a credible threat. Which, there has been a plethora of.

As far as I can determine, this Mass Action is destined to be a Big Bust (kind of like those beauty pageant participants have). Too many venues, too few people in Washington - the coverage of the actual inauguration should overshadow the Bitter Soros Clingers.

Will Women make the difference? Not likely The unity they would need to succeed is unraveling, as we watch.

The number of bus permits has exceeded previous inaugural events, so the media is dutifully reporting that the protesters will outnumber the celebrants.

Eh. The cost of applying for, and getting, the permits is minimal. FILLING the seats in those buses might be hard. I just don't see it happening.

There are multiple days of protests planned, by different organizations. My guess is that the same core groups will attend ALL of them, supplemented by a small number of actual participants. Look for the media to number the protesters ADDITIVELY, as though the numbers each day composed entirely different participants.

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Friday, January 13, 2017

The Parliament of Clocks

When there really is no basis for determining something in a factual way, consensus becomes important - even more important than the truth.

There are times when consensus makes sense:

  • A time standard - the atomic clock - is agreed to be the "official" time.
  • The French - who invented it - define SI - the international system (better known in America as Metric Measurement).
  • Pantone sets the standard for color, and all other methods of identifying color agree to follow its color shadings standard.
  • If there is disagreement in a family about where to go on vacation, they may decide to vote, and accept the consensus of the majority. They might agree, by consensus, to cede that decision to a single person.
Where consensus cannot be the basis for determining things is in fields, such as science, where the data, and analysis of it, are critical. No matter how many scientists agree, if the data can be shown not to back up their consensus, they must give way.


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Thursday, January 12, 2017

Gentrification & Crime

I tell you, even the Elites can learn, if you believe this article.

Long article about the fact that - amazing as it seems - people are more likely to move to parts of the city/region that are lower in crime.

I know, who would have thought that?

In a side note, if you scroll down to the end of this article, the writers/publishers acknowledge that Donald Trump - after being criticized about not correctly citing facts - is found to have been correct, after all.



Correction: January 7, 2017 
An earlier version of this article misstated that Donald J. Trump was inaccurate in citing a statistic for rising homicides in Washington, D.C. Appearing to cite the 2015 statistics for the city, he was correct in saying that homicides rose by about 50 percent that year.
Imagine that - a man who made a living understanding numerical data actually might know more than the Liberal Arts types!

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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Smartness vs. Education

I was reading something on Sarah Hoyt's site, According to Hoyt, and it triggered some thoughts about smartness.

Now, you would think that, as I'm a teacher, I would look upon the book-smart (those who do well in school) as the top of the line in Smartness.

You would be wrong. I'm of the belief that many people are smart, some are as dumb as a box of rocks (maybe even dumber), but that it all had very little to do with school. Or smart parents, in general. Or social class.

What, to me distinguishes the Smart from the Not-So is not the degrees awarded, nor the tests passed with stratospherically high scores, nor even an official designation of Gifted & Talented.

It's the desire to know more.

Years ago, I read about a bus driver, who started attending college in his spare time, eventually graduating at the top of his class, and winning a scholarship for further study. He'd grown up in a poor family, with few prospects for more education after high school.

One thing he said struck me at the time as wrong - he said that he didn't believe that brains could be inherited. He felt that it was the desire to learn that might be passed on.

I thought that was absolutely wrong. I was certain that IQ was proven to be heritable, and the determining factor was that heritage.

After years of teaching, I've come to realize that he may have had something - that his insight may be more correct than I realized at that time.

I've known smart kids - and, many average. Seldom actually dumb, except in the sense that teens are always dumb - little experience, a tendency to believe plausible lies, and impulsiveness that leads them to do things even they have to agree were pretty dumb.

What has distinguished the Life Winners - those that made the most of what they had been given access to - was, generally, ambition, that burning desire for more than they had.

Some have it.

Others, equally or MORE gifted, do not.

Kids whose parents are CEOs of multinational corporations sometimes, just don't have the burn.

Others, from desperately wretched backgrounds, with every excuse for failure, find the guts to overcome all obstacles and do whatever it takes to succeed.

Some people are content to just meander through life without making their mark. They make enough money to satisfy their needs, and keep their time clear for what interests them - family, sports, video games, hobbies.

That's actually OK. Despite all the ads and campaigns that urge everyone to be MORE, in America, if you just want to "go with the flow", life can be pretty good. There isn't a law that forces you to run around madly trying to pile up more of the world's riches.

Similarly, just because someone has attended a prestigious university, graduated with high honors, and is pulling down a huge salary, is no guarantee that he/she isn't an absolute moron.

Grade inflation has reached such a level as to invalidate any reliance on grades as an indicator of knowledge. The person with that 'A' might have learned something, they might not. Since both the learned, and the un-learned have the same grade, there is no way to tell the difference.

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Monday, January 09, 2017

Why Bother?

I ran across this when clearing out some old draft posts on this site - it's still worth reading, no matter what your political/cultural leanings.

Nock on the Remnant



Saturday, January 07, 2017

How Views on Abortion Changed

I highly recommend this article - it's by a former supporter, who has come to evolve her thinking.

It's hard for today's citizens to believe, but there was a time when the mere thought of abortion was enough to horrify the majority of Americans.  Women, in particular, were vehemently against the killing.  Even the movies were reflexively pro-life.  Some examples:

  • Love With the Proper Stranger - a young woman gets pregnant as a result of a one-night stand with someone she barely knows.  She initially just wants the money to end the pregnancy.  After scraping up the cash, she and the father go to the abortionist, but she can't go through with it, and confronts her family with the truth.

  • A Place in the Sun - not technically an abortion movie, the film is of the murder of the pregnant mother committed by the father of the child, in order to facilitate his marriage to the rich girl.

  • Georgie Girl - a party girl becomes pregnant, her roommate and the boyfriend persuade her to have it, the roommate ends up raising it.  The mother is relieved to give the kid up, the boyfriend goes back to his slacker life, and Georgie marries an older, rich widower.

  • Dirty Dancing - lots of sympathy for the whoops-not-a-mother from everyone.

  • Cabaret - the Liza Minelli character has an abortion.  She is shown to be relatively shallow and unconventional.

  • Fast Times at Ridgemont High - it's considered a relatively small problem with a quick, although expensive solution.

  • Coach Carter - until I Googled Abortion movies, I had forgotten this.  A promising athlete and his girlfriend are confronted with a pregnancy.  The father involved works to find a way to make it work for them.  The mother aborts without telling him.

  • A Walk in the Clouds - a retro movie about a WWII vet as a traveling salesman, who finds a nice young lady in "delicate circumstances".  He decides to help her out by posing as her husband.  Very respectful of unwed pregnancy, and of the tough choices women make.
Until around the 1960's, abortion in movies was relatively rare.  This was a reflection of the prevalent moral code that condemned abortion, and also practical - abortions were, for most people, either not available, or very dangerous, not to mention illegal.  So, promotion of a dangerous practice would have been reckless.

Recently, there have been several movies that presented the possibility of a would-be mother continuing the pregnancy, to either raise the child herself, or to select the adoptive family that would do it.  They were quality films, and fairly reflect the current practice of women not worrying about "the disgrace" of unwed pregnancy.

Many of the original reasons for the push to legalize abortion are no longer valid:

  • Rape - the common use of the post-pregnancy emergency contraception (I'm using the terminology that is best-known, without regard to scientific controversy about whether it's an abortive drug) has made this a less-common reason for later abortion.

  • Lack of access to contraceptives - Please!  They are everywhere, and cheap.

  • Public shame - just about every family knows someone, or has someone, who became sexually active before marriage.

  • Lack of money - our society supports - quite liberally - those families that have little money.  Also, provides LOTS of opportunity to educate/train for better-paying work.

  • Medical - many doctors point out that truly medical abortions are quite rare.  Almost all pregnancies could be managed medically, and brought to term - IF the mother wanted it.

  • The young couple being doomed to a life of poverty, misery, and no hope.  For heaven's sake, not unless they want it.  There are programs for young mothers who need to finish their education, money for all medical expenses, help for the new baby, etc.

What is the Downside of Interacting ONLY With Those Who Agree With You?

That's the situation in too many colleges and universities. Here is a thoughtful take from a moderately conservative professor, who did NOT vote for Trump, but has friends and relatives who did.

Why Thought Diversity may be MORE important than Ethnic Diversity.

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The Future for Women?

I'd hate to see it - I've long enjoyed wandering around unescorted.

However, the New Reality in the EU is that women's freedoms may continue to be restricted, to allow the Elites to pump up their Progressive (Regressive) Self-Esteem.

Do not let his Hispanic name lull you into complacency. The FL airport Jihadi's background.

Christians, both in public and in their churches, need to make protection of their fellow Christians a priority. I'm hoping that Trump will put some muscle into assisting Christians get out of danger zones around the world - NOT necessarily bringing them to America, but helping use our influence, and TARGETED money to help them re-settle.

I'd not thought of this before, but it does make some sense.

Send these refugees from tropical countries to Puerto Rico. DO NOT give them the right to travel to the rest of the USA.

This fake "Born in America" scam needs to be shut down - NOW. Perhaps we could present them with a bill for the expected cost of their child's American passport - just offhand, how about $10 million dollars? They could avoid paying the bill - right then - by renouncing their child's citizenship claims, and leaving - NOT to return. Stamp their passport "NOT PERMITTED IN THIS COUNTRY". Any fines would be waived if they turn in the people who facilitated this scam.

But, they would still have to waive citizenship claims and leave.

Same for those jumping our Southern borders. Add up the costs of educating their kids, anticipated medical benefits, etc. Present them with a bill, and give them the same choice - renounce their "American" citizenship claims for all time, or go to jail - then be deported. If there is an American who is one of the parents, they could be hit with the bill - to be paid BEFORE getting any government benefits. Suddenly, having sex with illegals would not be so attractive. All bills and fines waived if they leave to go back to their own country - and stay there. Coming back again invalidates the agreement.
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Wednesday, January 04, 2017

What Could This Mean?

I'm not posing a rhetorical question - I'm asking those with military experience to add their expertise to the comments.

ALL carriers are in their home ports, or sitting waiting for repairs/maintenance. I could easily be wrong, but this doesn't sound normal or like a good idea.

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Monday, January 02, 2017

Some Uplifting Resolutions for 2017

Yes, I'm a little late with this.


  1. Finish reading the Bible this year. I started it MANY years ago, always got bogged down at some point. I'm going to find a good online guide, and spend about 1/2 hour a day on this project.
  2. Read the Federalist Papers - right now, they are so often being referenced, I feel at a loss for full participation in the conversations. There's 85, so if I shoot for 2 every week, I should be able to complete this one in a year.
  3. Organize. I mean it this time. Stop laughing - I said, STOP laughing. Oh, go ahead, I'm kind of giggly myself.
  4. Eat healthier. Plan meals.
  5. Stop posting and commenting in a heat - cool off first. If I still feel strongly about it, then OK.
That's it. I'm going to post these where I'll be reminded every now and then.


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Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...