1. I've actually seen some commentators trying to spin Iran as a big win for Trump, which makes me write them off pretty much immediately. I think the best case scenario here is a 'War of 1812' situation: America launches an incredibly stupid war based on unrealistic expectations, realizes that their expectations were unrealistic when … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: More Iran Thoughts, History, and the Dynamics of Service
Thoughts
Monday Mixer: Mostly Current Events
1. Extra late this time. I was meditating on what to post, as well as coming out of spring break and trying to prep for the end of the year. 2. For the record (and I'm a couple weeks late in saying this), I am completely done with the Trumpster. I favored him all through … Continue reading Monday Mixer: Mostly Current Events
‘Animal Farm’ at the Everyman
My latest is up at the Everyman, discussing Animal Farm and the lie of equality: It is said that you should never judge a book by its cover or a film by its trailer. This is fair, except that covers and trailers both exist to be judged; to give the potential audience some idea what … Continue reading ‘Animal Farm’ at the Everyman
Saturday Sundry: Life Change, Misc Thoughts, and ‘One Piece’ Again
1. The big news this week was that I found out that my contract with the school is not being renewed, so I'm going to have to scramble to find a new job. This was, of course, extremely disappointing, though I had seen hints of it coming, so I wasn't completely caught off guard. I'm … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: Life Change, Misc Thoughts, and ‘One Piece’ Again
Friday Flotsam: Miscellaneous Thoughts, Equality, and ‘One Piece’
1. Everyone knows that the best way to encourage dissent and rebellion in a country is for a foreign power to launch an unprovoked sneak attack against it. 2. If a statement is true, it cannot be racist. If it is false, the falsity is more important than racism. Therefore, the first question should never … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Miscellaneous Thoughts, Equality, and ‘One Piece’
Saturday Sundry: US Foreign Policy, ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
1. US Foreign policy since about 1898 has followed a pretty consistent pattern: Step 1: "The US has gone into X:" "Yay! USA! This is a righteous and noble crusade!"Step 2: "The US has left X:" "Yeah, that whole thing was a stupid idea; why did we do that?" Step 3: Repeat 2. To put … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: US Foreign Policy, ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Sunday Sundry: ‘Hamlet’, the Witan, and Rockefeller
1. Is it really just to expect a community to house and care for a man indefinitely because he has shown that he is a danger to it? 2. My sophomores are starting to read Hamlet, only since they've so far only done Shakespeare through a translation, they're slightly panicking (which is exactly why I … Continue reading Sunday Sundry: ‘Hamlet’, the Witan, and Rockefeller
Saturday Sundry: Jefferson Davis and Some Education Thoughts
1. Last weekend Phoenix had a massive used book sale. I got in on Sunday (when everything was half-price) and got out with at least ten or twelve books for under forty dollars, including a three-quarters complete set of Douglas Southhall Freeman's definitive biography of Robert E. Lee (it's missing volume one, but I figured … Continue reading Saturday Sundry: Jefferson Davis and Some Education Thoughts
Sunday Thoughts: Subjectivity
I've been reading Scott Adams lately; How to Fail and Nearly Everything and Still Win Big and Reframe Your Brain. As I said, he was a notoriously brilliant man, such that even when his conclusions were wrong, his insights and the lessons he draws from them are often worth considering. In particular, he deals a … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts: Subjectivity
Saturday Flotsam: God’s Existence and Miscellaneous
1. By hypothesis, we would expect there to be many difficulties and seeming inconsistencies involved in God's existence. The idea of God is of One who is all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing, and all-wise. Such a Being would necessarily have a vastly different perspective from us, meaning that much of what He would do would seem strange … Continue reading Saturday Flotsam: God’s Existence and Miscellaneous
Serpent's Den 