1. Most modern social and psychological commentary and scholarship gives me the impression of attending a high-level film-studies class given by Uwe Boll; a complacent, confident assumption that you know what is right, delivered from atop a pile of unmitigated failure. 2. It occurred to me last night that I find the news repulsive. Not … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Various Thoughts and Grover Cleveland
America
Saturday Flotsam
1. I seem to be missing Friday Flotsams quite a bit lately. These are confusing times. 2. My first year of teaching has officially concluded in a chaotic rush of a 'center cleaning day'. It was truly a life-changing experience, and I've learned an enormous amount even in a single year. I feel that, at … Continue reading Saturday Flotsam
Friday Flotsam: Legal Rebellion and Written Law, and ‘Monkey Man’ Impressions
1. Among the many absurdities of the American mind is the notion that a revolution can be legal. Consider the incessant quibbling over whether, say, Southern secession was 'legal' or not under the Constitution. In the first place, the question of whether leaving the Constitution is or is not permitted under the Constitution you are … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Legal Rebellion and Written Law, and ‘Monkey Man’ Impressions
Friday Flotsam: 26 to 48, America Lists, and ‘Godzilla x Kong’
1. First and foremost is some pretty big life news: after much searching and many applications, I've been offered a full-time teaching job with a traditional Catholic, classical education school. The only slight catch is that it's, ah, rather far. I live in Metro Detroit, and the job is in Phoenix, Arizona. Which means that … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: 26 to 48, America Lists, and ‘Godzilla x Kong’
Wednesday Politics: Some Constitution Impressions
One of my recent personal study projects has been outlining the Constitution. One picks up on so much more and retains so much more when one has to actually write something out or summarize it point by point. **My chief impression is how odd it is that we continue to use and hold such reverence … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: Some Constitution Impressions
Songs at the Heights of Empire
In 17 B.C., having brought peace and prosperity to the whole Roman Empire after centuries of non-stop war, revolution, and upheaval, having, indeed, brought peace to the Mediterranean world for the first time since man began to live there, Caesar Augustus decreed the holding of the Secular Games: six days of athletics, entertainment, and religious … Continue reading Songs at the Heights of Empire
Friday Flotsam: Hodge-Podge
1. Intellectual Key Stone: Wealth is not money; wealth is what you own or can produce. 2. In 1856, the anti-Catholic Know-Nothing Party only carried Maryland, which had been founded as a Catholic colony, when it ran Millard Fillmore, the first major Presidential Candidate to have had a meeting with the Pope. History is weird. … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Hodge-Podge
Wednesday Politics: A Summary of My Political Views
It took me a while to settle on a political ‘name’ for myself that I liked. I'm not a Conservative, since most of what I would have wanted to conserve has already been destroyed (and I differ from most American Conservatives on a lot of points). I don’t like ‘Reactionary’ because it makes it sound … Continue reading Wednesday Politics: A Summary of My Political Views
Luther Martin Calls It
Luther Martin was the Attorney General of Maryland and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was in favor of strengthening the central government, but also of maintaining the sovereignty of the States, and he quit the Convention when he judged they'd gone too far and was one of the most out-spoken Anti-Federalists. From … Continue reading Luther Martin Calls It
President’s Day List
A little while ago I ran down the Presidents and made a list of the first thing that came to mind for each one. Here's the resulting list: Biden - SenileTrump - LoudObama - WimpBush Jr. - "Freedom on the march"Clinton - SmarmBush Sr. - Oh yeah, him.Reagan - 'Murica!Carter - MalaiseFord - FootballNixon - … Continue reading President’s Day List
Serpent's Den 