Tonight in honor of Veterans Day I read Sara the story of Betsy Dowdy. It is about a sixteen-year-old girl who lived on the barrier island of Currituck, North Carolina. On December 8, 1775 a neighbor warned Betsy's father that the redcoats were marching toward them, and surely would take their supplies and animals. As the legend has it, Betsy got her beloved horse, Bess, and took off to warn General Skinner, who was fifty miles away. She made it to the General, who gathered his men together and joined with the Virginia militia to fight and defeat the redcoats. Their victory on December 9, 1775 was important, because it proved to the Americans that the British could be defeated.
The book I read to Sara was entitled The Ride by Kitty Griffin.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Fascism and Communism: Variants of Totalitarianism
"Fascism and communism are variants of the same totalitarianism, which central control of all economic activity tends to produce." So writes Frederich A. Hayek in his classic book The Road to Serfdom.
Lords of Discipline
I just finished reading Pat Conroy's Lords of Discipline. I had not been too eager to begin reading it, because I knew from reading his My Losing Season that it was going to be about the cruelty he and others endured as cadets at The Citadel. He disguised The Citadel as "Carolina Military Institute." The book builds to a climax that left me in tears, but I am so glad I read it (or, more precisely, listened to it as an audio book). His development of characters is just perfect. What a rich imagination he has. I found myself trying to guess what was going to happen to each of the characters. Which would turn out to be persons of honor and courage? Which would turn out to be pathetic people not to be trusted? One thing I knew for sure, though, all would be thoroughly believable characters.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Time to hit the slopes
I found this photo on Theo Spark's blog. I better not show it to my stepson Erik, who a couple of weekends ago was skiing at the top of Loveland Pass. I want to make sure Erik keeps his head in his school work, which he has been doing very well so far. We have snow here now, and more expected tomorrow.
Who are the ones who are developmentally disabled?
Yesterday I was in one of those huge big box superstores. There were twenty or so developmentally disabled adults being chaperoned by two other adults. Suddenly, one member of the group, a short round young woman, let out a piercing scream I had never heard from a human or animal. She had recognized her brother shopping in the store with his two young children. She ran to him and gave him a highly emotional hug. After telling him several times, "I love you," she patted the two young children lovingly and returned to her group, telling everyone that the man over there is her brother. The male chaperone came over and introduced himself to the brother, which I thought was very cool. The group milled around for a while, then left the store. The joy never left that young woman, as she continued to tell everyone that she had just seen her brother.
The genuineness of that young woman's love for her brother was inspiring to me. We are so used to reciting polite but phony greetings to one another. Here in Colorado, it all starts with "How're you doing?" If I am not doing well, I still say that I am. Sadness and loss are subjects that are off limits among us non-developmentally disabled adults. If you say "I'm well, thank you" enough, you start to believe it yourself, and you actually begin to feel better! Developmentally disabled adults do not seem to be capable of guile. The loving emotions from that young woman seemed to burst forth from every cell of her body.
I wonder, who are the ones who are disabled?
The genuineness of that young woman's love for her brother was inspiring to me. We are so used to reciting polite but phony greetings to one another. Here in Colorado, it all starts with "How're you doing?" If I am not doing well, I still say that I am. Sadness and loss are subjects that are off limits among us non-developmentally disabled adults. If you say "I'm well, thank you" enough, you start to believe it yourself, and you actually begin to feel better! Developmentally disabled adults do not seem to be capable of guile. The loving emotions from that young woman seemed to burst forth from every cell of her body.
I wonder, who are the ones who are disabled?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Hilarious Trick Play
There was one minute to go in the game and The Mayor’s team was down by six. The ref just finished marking off five yards on the defense when The Mayor – quarterback Mayor, that is – leaned over and yelled at the center that the ref was going to mark off five more yards. The Mayor then told the center to give him the ball – ”hiking it” in football lingo – technically starting the play. The Mayor then started to walk off the yards – as cool as a cucumber on a crisp autumn day in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – and once he passed by the defensive line, he ran like diarrhea coming down the leg of a tourist at an all you can burrito cart in Tijuana.
video and narrative from a blog called Mitchieville
via Andy's Place
And Now...Some Good News!
Cap and Trade is Dead!
MISH reports "After a decade of hype over what amounts to nothing more than a fraudelent taxpayer ripoff, Cap-and-Trade is about to turn into a pumpkin. Glen Beck did not even notice."
"Global warming-inspired cap and trade has been one of the most stridently debated policy controversies of the past 15 years. But it is dying a quiet death. In a little reported move, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) announced on Oct. 21 that it will be ending carbon trading - the only purpose for which it was founded - this year."
Further, "The CCX seemed to have a lock on success. Not only was a young Barack Obama a board member of the Joyce Foundation that funded the fledgling CCX, but over the years it attracted such big name climate investors as Goldman Sachs and Al Gore's Generation Investment Management."
"But a funny thing happened on the way to the CCX's highly anticipated looting of taxpayers and consumers -- cap-and-trade imploded following its high water mark of the House passage of the Waxman-Markey bill. With ongoing economic recession, Climategate, and the tea party movement, what once seemed like a certainty became anything but."...
A great read if you have the time! Notice the liberal media, and the media in general did not report this to the American people, something as land mark and a colossal defeat for the secular elitist who were imposing their socialist engineering on the world! I may go buy a cigar and celebrate by ever so slowly blowing a cloud of greenhouse gases into the air!
MISH reports "After a decade of hype over what amounts to nothing more than a fraudelent taxpayer ripoff, Cap-and-Trade is about to turn into a pumpkin. Glen Beck did not even notice."
"Global warming-inspired cap and trade has been one of the most stridently debated policy controversies of the past 15 years. But it is dying a quiet death. In a little reported move, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) announced on Oct. 21 that it will be ending carbon trading - the only purpose for which it was founded - this year."
Further, "The CCX seemed to have a lock on success. Not only was a young Barack Obama a board member of the Joyce Foundation that funded the fledgling CCX, but over the years it attracted such big name climate investors as Goldman Sachs and Al Gore's Generation Investment Management."
"But a funny thing happened on the way to the CCX's highly anticipated looting of taxpayers and consumers -- cap-and-trade imploded following its high water mark of the House passage of the Waxman-Markey bill. With ongoing economic recession, Climategate, and the tea party movement, what once seemed like a certainty became anything but."...
A great read if you have the time! Notice the liberal media, and the media in general did not report this to the American people, something as land mark and a colossal defeat for the secular elitist who were imposing their socialist engineering on the world! I may go buy a cigar and celebrate by ever so slowly blowing a cloud of greenhouse gases into the air!
Monday, November 8, 2010
0 for 95!
In an article entitled "Net Neutrality" goes 0 for 95, Gordon Crovitz writes in the Wall Street Journal today that all 95 members of Congress who signed a pledge to support "net neutrality" lost in last week's elections! Crovitz documents the absurdity of trying to regulate the internet, and urges more competition as the solution, not more regulation.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
A politician hooks himself up to a lie detector machine
I found this at the wonderful Invincible Armor blog
Now do you understand why, even as a teenager, I so enjoyed watching a bit of Johnny Carson every night with my parents, before heading off to bed?
"Can we read now?"
By now those of you who are regular readers of this blog (and who are very much appreciated), know that I am enamored with the writings of Pat Conroy. I am now reading to Jon and Greg The Water is Wide, which is Pat's account of his year teaching on Yamacraw Island, off the coast of South Carolina. The boys are thoroughly enjoying it. Conroy is so much like me, except that he can write so wonderfully. He is five years younger than I, so we have lived through the same decades in this American life. He went through the same do-gooder phase at about the same time that I did. He shares my lack of love for bureaucracy, or to put it more positively, he was willing to be unorthodox in order to reach his students. Greg, Jon, and I love his wonderful sense of humor. I love to put the boys asleep at night reading to them something they enjoy so much. They ask questions or I explain words to them I know they do not understand. I love it when they actually come to me and ask, "Can we read now?"
Thursday, November 4, 2010
America the beautiful
I found this at Gecko's blog, and please tell her I miss her! Via American Digest
Lots of zeros
President Obama and his entourage of 3,000 attendants are flying in five jets to India, where they plan to spend $200,000,000.00 per day for ten days! One person will not be part of the entourage: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Do you think Obama's $3,000,000,000.00 aid package to Pakistan might be on India's agenda of items to be discussed?
Bullseye!
If you ever get a chance to visit Arches National Park in Utah, you'll be glad you did. I found this photo at Theo Spark's Last of the Few blog.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
When countries invest hope in a leader
Two years ago this month the majority of the American people invested their hopes and dreams for themselves and their country in Barack Obama. He was smart enough to convince them, albeit with the help of the omnipresent teleprompters, that he was the person who could bring them the changes they sought. Seventy years ago the German people invested their hopes and dreams for their country and themselves in Adolph Hitler. He was smart enough to convince them that he was the man who could deliver the changes they sought.
A.J. Goldmann writes in today's Wall Street Journal about an exhibition at the German Historical Museum entitled Hitler and the Germans: Nation and Crimes. The exhibit addresses the question of how Hitler was possible. How did parents allow their young people to be indoctrinated with evil? The exhibit shatters the myth that Nazis seized power. What was Hitler's appeal to the Germans? How did the acts of violence meet with the approval or at least the acceptance of the German people? Were the German people seduced by a ranting lunatic? Why does Hitler so fascinate the Germans even today? (10.000 visitors lined up to see the exhibit on the first weekend of the show).
Until we understand what ordinary Americans were (are?) thinking when they invested their hopes in Barack Obama, we are going to have a hard time winning the 2012 election. I think they thought he would miraculously create an America in which our sins of the past would not be allowed to be repeated; all that was or is bad about America would be vanquished by their fearless leader. Then, of course, there are the union people who know that he shares their belief that corporations are evil, the racial and ethnic minorities, the gays, and the women who think (sometimes correctly) that Republicans are going to make them carry rapists' babies, the young adult males who do not want to fight for their country or have anything to do with military discipline, and the young adults who want to get high on marijuana or cough syrup or glue or on whatever they can get a doctor to prescribe for the psychiatric fad of the month.
A.J. Goldmann writes in today's Wall Street Journal about an exhibition at the German Historical Museum entitled Hitler and the Germans: Nation and Crimes. The exhibit addresses the question of how Hitler was possible. How did parents allow their young people to be indoctrinated with evil? The exhibit shatters the myth that Nazis seized power. What was Hitler's appeal to the Germans? How did the acts of violence meet with the approval or at least the acceptance of the German people? Were the German people seduced by a ranting lunatic? Why does Hitler so fascinate the Germans even today? (10.000 visitors lined up to see the exhibit on the first weekend of the show).
Until we understand what ordinary Americans were (are?) thinking when they invested their hopes in Barack Obama, we are going to have a hard time winning the 2012 election. I think they thought he would miraculously create an America in which our sins of the past would not be allowed to be repeated; all that was or is bad about America would be vanquished by their fearless leader. Then, of course, there are the union people who know that he shares their belief that corporations are evil, the racial and ethnic minorities, the gays, and the women who think (sometimes correctly) that Republicans are going to make them carry rapists' babies, the young adult males who do not want to fight for their country or have anything to do with military discipline, and the young adults who want to get high on marijuana or cough syrup or glue or on whatever they can get a doctor to prescribe for the psychiatric fad of the month.
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