Recommended Reading

Now that the dust here in the Old Dominion appears to have settled, please consider this essay by Larry Elder: The Virginia Blackface Follies, which points out the following:

...Nearly 70 percent of black kids are born to unwed mothers. The dropout rate in some urban high schools approaches 50 percent. Of those who do graduate, many cannot read or do math at a 12th-grade level.

The No. 1 cause of preventable death for young white men is accidents, such as car accidents. The No. 1 cause of preventable death for young black men is homicide, almost always committed by other young black men....According to a 2017 report by the Centers for Disease Control, a black child is almost 10 times more likely to be a victim of a gun-related homicide than a white child.

But let's talk about 35-year-old blackface pictures.

Read the entire essay HERE.

Influencing Public Opinion

By Sam Huntington

“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” is an axiom with several connotations, an apophenia if you prefer, leading us in different directions while remaining remarkably human.  Humans tend to seek out patterns, which sometimes leads us to false positives. What we may perceive as significant isn’t, and what we think may not matter, does.  Humans are naturally nostalgic; we relate things in the present to experiences of the past.  The above phrase could be voiced to signal our resignation to life’s many cycles.  We may hope for social progress, but the greater our optimism, the more likely we are to be disappointed in social progression. Changes in our lives without foundational consistency would, I suspect, produce a very disordered society; it would be like the sound of one hand clapping.

Lasting social progress takes time.  So much time, in fact, that unless we are paying careful attention, we may not even recognize social changes, whether positive or negative.  As an example, someone growing to maturity in the past twenty or thirty years, who did not experience the violent racism of the Democratic Party in the years before their birth, may not recognize the progress we’ve made since 1950 (which, in my opinion, was largely undone by the presidency of Barack Obama). A young person’s point of reference is confined to what think they know, and that may be entirely predicated on what they’ve been told by leftist educationalists (and parents) pursuing their own peculiar agenda.  Should anyone think that I am speaking now about the leftist brainwashing that is prevalent in our public schools, they’d be correct.

Our Alpha Cat Minxy

(For politics, please scroll down)

For Caturday — and the rest of the weekend...

Like Cameo, Minxy (b. 9-8-2017) is not camera shy:

January 23, 2019

Minxy is a troublemaker. One of her recent escapades, at 5:45 A.M., was knocking off the bowl of dried beans which had been soaking overnight in preparation for ham and bean soup.

The Server-gate Deep State?

Astounding, really. Please watch and listen:

This should be retweeted everywhere.

The scope of the Hillary Clinton email investigation was so private, the OIG didn't have the security clearances needed to view the emails.

And, the emails couldn't be given to Congress.

Just wow.

Listen.pic.twitter.com/Wwb2hisnUH

— Mike (@FuctupMike) February 12, 2019

Political Humor

Hat tip to Bocopro:

One of my recent Facebook finds:

And one more:

The Jussie Smollett Case

[source]

Two links about the jumping onto the bandwagon of racism and homophobia (Celebrity Jussie Smollett is both black and gay):

1) Montage: Watch the Media Uncritically Accept Another Outlandish ‘Hate Crime’

2) Pelosi Deletes Sympathetic Tweet For Jussie Smollett

From Here Are All The Politicians Who Rushed To Judgment On The Smollett ‘Hate Crime’:

Those Democrats included Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, and Reps. Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others.

Waters blamed the attack on President Donald Trump....

Read the rest HERE.

Oh, the hysteria to jump in and support politically-correct protected groups!

Below the fold, the interview in which actor Jussie Smollett lashed out against those who doubted his story:

The Wisdom Of Mark Twain

One of the eternal truths about growing up (Click directly on the graphic to enlarge it):

One of the eternal truths about stupid people (Click directly on the graphic to enlarge it):

Your personal experiences with or personal observations about either or both of the above nuggets of wisdom?

The Genius Of AOC (With Video Addendum)

For various reasons, Amazon axed its plans to open a NYC headquarters.

AOC jumped in to take credit for Amazon's change of mind — and both the loss of jobs and tax revenue (Ego much?):

Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world. https://t.co/nyvm5vtH9k

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 14, 2019

From Powerline Blog's "How Dumb Is Ocasio-Cortez?":

... This is where Ocasio-Cortez went off the rails and took a deep dive into stupidity:

You know, I think it’s really important that we understand that we need to invest in our economy, but we need to invest in our people, and to give away $3 billion to a company that has a history of worker exploitation that’s paying below what the cost of New York City is not acceptable for us.

Of course, New York wasn’t going to “give” Amazon anything, let alone $3 billion. The $3 billion is an estimate of forego ne tax revenues. In other words, money that Amazon won’t pay New York, not money that New York will pay Amazon. This is childishly simple, but apparently too much for AOC....

Read the rest HERE.

Also see The Week in Pictures: Green Nude Eel Edition at Powerline Blog. Some good laughs there, along with pointed political satire. First graphic at that link:

More humor HERE.

ADDENDUM (hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance):

Our Congress Critters

The days shaded in blue are our Congress critters' workdays.  They get a 218-day vacation (click on the graphic to enlarge it):

So, why are we paying them so much?

Related reading: GOP senators introduce bill to end pensions for retiring lawmakers.

For All Those Lovers Out There...

(For politics, please scroll down)

A little Retro music for Valentine's Day 2019...



The version by Carole King, the composer (1942-present):



Two more retro tunes for lovers:

Happy Valentine's Day!

About The Green New Deal

At the University of Miami:

Related reading: GND Undergoes Mysterious Overhaul (February 10, 2018).

Democrat Nightmare Fuel

A commenter at The Hill linked to a twitter account with this video...  The artistry is amazing!

Someone said it was made to criticize President Trump, others said it was tongue in cheek, I don't know...

I agree with the commenter who said President Trump just had to buy that thing, bring it over here and use it for his 2020 reelection campaign.  Progs would be soiling their dainties.

I enjoyed the comments, especially these:

Doc Hollanaise said... Apparently Disney finally did some tweaking on the Hall of Presidents

Matt Thompson said... Is that supposed to be . . . an insult? They know he'll want to pilot that thing for the 2020 campaign, right?

Nick Davis said... That nation: we hate you so much, we're going to build a 20:1 scale highly detailed functional mecha and parade it down our streets!
Trump:

The man down the hall said... I don't care if you like Trump or not or think this is supporting him or mocking him. This is one badass float. Look at that detail on the sword and uniform. They eyes even move. Holy crap, the artists who did this were phenomenal. 

It's only two minutes, enjoy!

About Those Covington Boys (With Addendum)

A must-watch video:

Article "If You Still Think 'MAGA Hat Kid' Nick Sandmann Did Something Wrong, Watch This Video" HERE.

It really does look as if the mainstream media are the enemy of the people in that the mainstream media deliberately spread lies!

Addendum
Covington Catholic Teen's Lawyer: Hundreds in Media Will 'Pay a High Price' for Defamation.

Meanwhile, In Virginia...

Source, with article

The top three Democrats — Governor Northam, Lieutenant Governor Fairfax, and Attorney General Mark Herring — are under fire for either Blackface or sexual assault. Democrats all.

I read Lieutenant Governor Fairfax's accuser's account yesterday, and, in my view, that account rings true. Read Professor Vanessa Tyson's account of what happened between her and Justin Fairfax HERE.

The next in line to take office, should those three be forced out, is a Republican: Virginia Assembly House Speaker Kirk Cox.

Additional reading...Report: VA Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax Lashes Out at Accuser: 'F*** That B****'.

The 2019 SOTU

The House Chamber

The 2019 State of the Union Speech is underway tonight, albeit a few weeks later than usual.

I admit that I'm looking forward to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's facial expressions during the speech.   A sort of "Will she or won't she?"  Heh.

BTW, you might notice a lot of white outfits at the 2019 SOTU:

Twilight of the gods

Silverfiddle Rant!

Imagine fighting a war in a foreign land.  The good guys are there to save the people from the bad men.

The good guys fight the bad men, allow little girls to go to school, build roads, school houses, and basic infrastructure like wells, electrical systems and sanitary facilities.

Here's the crappy thing: The good guys are bunkered in fortified camps to protect themselves from the people, while the bad men live securely in the villages and neighborhoods among the people the good guys are trying to save.

KABUL, Afghanistan - The United States and the Taliban are closing in on a deal to end America's longest war after six days of some of the most serious Afghan peace negotiations to date wrapped up on Saturday. (MSN - NY Times)

As the article states, the devil is in the details. 

The "Experts" in the foreign policy establishment excoriate President Trump as "rushing for the exits" and "surrendering" in Afghanistan. These are the same people who created a flaming arc of tragic conflagrations from Africa to the border of China. These are the people who have gotten absolutely nothing right since the wall fell.

American negotiators want the Taliban to swear they will respect the western-style government and human rights regime we imposed on them.

The US is also extracting a promise from the Taliban that they will not allow foreign terrorists to plot, train and launch attacks from their territory.

It is naïve to believe peace talks will arrive at any agreement that respects anything other than brute force.  This is a managed sham to keep from spooking a massive humanitarian stampede.

We did a horrible thing, and we started it by holding out a promise of hope we had no ability or cultural understanding to fulfil. Until we confront the tragic facts as they stand on the ground, admit we were wrong, catalog and study our manifold mistakes, and blow up the foreign policy wings that supported such hubristic stupidity, we are doomed to create more trillion dollar tragedies that kill people by the tens of thousands.

Musical Interlude

(For politics, please scroll down)

Enjoy this pristine music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791):

[about Piano Concerto No. 12]