Aside – The Pacific Bull Moose

Agriculture

It is a mistake to tar our entire modern agriculture and food distribution system with the worst behavior of its meanest participants.

The proper response to the excesses of industrial agriculture is not to destroy it in favor of small scale farms and locovore culture, but to punish the miscreants, remove perverse incentives, and generally to redress the problems in the system.

Fix big ag. With a hammer. And the threat of an alternative.

Transparency

Bureaucrats tend to shortchange the people when the opportunity arises to do so.

Transparency doesn’t make that impossible, only harder, and then only in a functioning democracy.

The Wake-Up

Let’s get something straight: when the Wall fell, it was a triumph of freedom over statist oppression.

The short-sighted attempt to reduce the Cold War to a battle between free markets and breadlines is the work of corporatists who still believe that the primary task of government is to serve the interests of the industrial corporation.

MAGA

We all miss the real meaning of the acronym when Trump types “MAGA.”

It apparently is supposed to mean Make America Gag Again.

And again.

Don and Jeff

Let’s be honest: what really drives Donald Trump batsh*t crazy about Jeff Bezos is that the Amazon founder is so much smarter, so much more respected, and so much more successful than Trump ever will be, and for the life of him, Donald cannot understand why.

Yes, They Really Do Despise Their Civilization | The American Conservative

Thank God that the deracinated, de-Christianized EU elite plan to integrate Turkey into the European Union did not work. And if I were a Turk, I would thank Allah for preserving my Islamic country from that fate too. Elites in both countries wish to deny the religious basis of their respective cultures, and pretend that we’re all a bunch of universalists. We’re not, and never will be.

Rod Dreher,
Yes, They Really Do Despise Their Civilization
The American Conservative

Understanding

Sexism and racism were likely factors for some folks in the election. For the sake of the country, though, we need to take a more ecumenical approach to dissecting this election. There was much more at play here than simple hate.

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The Sharks are Coming for Fat Albert May 22, 2018

The Sharks are Coming for Fat Albert I grew up with Bill Cosby. I watched iSpy with my parents. I watched Fat Albert on Saturday mornings (“Nah nah nah, gonna have a good time!”) I saw Mother, Jugs, and Speed at an age when technically the theatre should not have let me in without a parent. The first comedy album I owned was To My Brother Russel, Whom I Slep […]

Agriculture May 18, 2018

It is a mistake to tar our entire modern agriculture and food distribution system with the worst behavior of its meanest participants. The proper response to the excesses of industrial agriculture is not to destroy it in favor of small scale farms and locovore culture, but to punish the miscreants, remove perverse incentives, and generally to redress the pro […]

Transparency May 11, 2018

Bureaucrats tend to shortchange the people when the opportunity arises to do so. Transparency doesn’t make that impossible, only harder, and then only in a functioning democracy.View On WordPress

The Wake-Up May 3, 2018

Let’s get something straight: when the Wall fell, it was a triumph of freedom over statist oppression. The short-sighted attempt to reduce the Cold War to a battle between free markets and breadlines is the work of corporatists who still believe that the primary task of government is to serve the interests of the industrial corporation.View On WordPress

Finding a Happier Place May 2, 2018

Finding a Happier PlaceWe are species built on tribe; yet we live increasingly alone in societies so vast and populous our ancestors would not recognize them; we are a species designed for scarcity and now live with unimaginable plenty; we are a species built on religious ritual to appease our existential angst, and yet we now live in a world where every ind […]

Clintonistas Revisited May 1, 2018

Looking back on the election now from the distance of eighteen months, it should be possible for all of us, regardless of political bent, to admit a few things. One of those is the essential justifiability of attacks on both candidates. I won’t go into Mr. Trump: he is doing a more than adequate job proving his detractors right. As to Secretary Clinton, it i […]

Opening Up the Identity Conversation April 30, 2018

Opening Up the Identity Conversation Men should have the same right to opine on gender issues as women. Having an identity doesn’t give you total authority over certain issues. Source: Christian Alejandro Gonzalez, Rejecting the Left’s Conversation-Ending Identitarianism | The American Conservative Agreed. And first principle. But let’s open this up: Atheist […]

Same as the Old High April 29, 2018

If Marx posited that religion is the opiate of the people, then we have reached a new, more clarifying moment in the history of the West: Opiates are now the religion of the people. Andrew Sullivan This is a plague ripping America apart from within, far greater public health crisis than AIDS ever was. And the Presidential solution is to give it to his wife t […]

In Search of an Historical Metaphor April 26, 2018

In Search of an Historical Metaphor I am crafting my list of essential reads for politics and policy in America (I’m calling it the Bull Moose List) with a view to sharing it on July 4 if all goes well. I have just added to that list Cullen Murphy’s controversial Are We Rome? I know that Murphy’s thesis – that there are enough similarities between us and Rom […]

Pork the Navy Doesn't Want April 25, 2018

Pork the Navy Doesn’t WantThe $230 billion for operations and maintenance is $2.43 billion above the Pentagon request. The summary boasts of adding $550 million specifically for the services to “improve military readiness, including increased training, depot maintenance, and base operations support.” Whereas Congress added $12.9 billion above the figure requ […]