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.

Bull Moose Sheet (Tumblr)

Crapitalist Pig September 3, 2018

I have never been an especial friend of organized labor because by the time I reached political consciousness, Big Labor had gone from being a righteous force hoping to meet the owners of capital on an equal footing to an entitled deadweight on the American economy. That was 40 years ago, and today the pendulum has swung far into the favor of management and […]

#NeverTrump Conservatives Are Not Democrats August 6, 2018

#NeverTrump Conservatives Are Not DemocratsConservatives who think the GOP-led Congress has proven an insufficient check on the GOP-led executive are placing a vote of confidence in the Constitution, not the progressive agenda. — Read on www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/nevertrump-conservative-critics-never-become-democrats/View On WordPress

Short Shot: Prom Dress Blues July 18, 2018

Short Shot: Prom Dress BluesThe debate over a Caucasian teenager wearing a cheong sam as a prom dress offers conclusive proof that “cultural appropriation,” whatever its original validity, has become an instrument of social tyranny deserving of ridicule and opprobrium. Going forward, whenever someone suggests that I join the Democratic Party instead of holdi […]

Over the Aisle: This You Must Defend July 10, 2018

Over the Aisle: This You Must Defend Marie Myung-Ok Lee finds herself conflicted about attending a controversial author’s reading and wonders: what does “speaking up” actually mean? Source: Politics and Prose Lee writes a fascinating article that is worth the long read for two reasons. Most obviously, she is a progressive who is uncomfortable with the Antifa […]

An Economic Issue July 3, 2018

In a fascinating London Review of Books essay earlier this Spring, the distinguished historian Peter Clarke engages in a singular attempt to resuscitate the reputation of Enoch Powell, the late British parliamentarian and classicist who became infamous for a xenophobic address in Parliament in 1968 that was later dubbed the “Rivers of Blood” speech. Acts of […]

Wealth does not make Wise June 12, 2018

Wealth does not make WiseThe time has come for us to abandon the implicit belief that the successful acquisition of deep pools of money or vast power does not confer prima facie credibility or rightness on anyone. That process begins in our daily conversations. So the next time someone defends a questionable idea posited by a self-made individual with a rejo […]

In Re Barr and the Bee May 31, 2018

In Re Barr and the BeeWith regards the fact that Samantha Bee still has a job on television while Roseanne Barr does not, I see four possibilities. 1. Some unknown authority has issued a secret decree to the effect that an offensive sexist slur is less egregious than an offensive racist slur. 2. The leadership at TBS lack the courage and conviction of the le […]

A Nation of Creeds May 29, 2018

A Nation of Creeds To those who would make of America a Christian nation, I respond thus: if you succeed in your ultimate goal of having America decreed a “Christian Nation,” you might hold your head a little higher on your way to church. You might eliminate some of the opposition to your practices that have been an irritation for you. Maybe. What you will h […]

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 […]