...lock the doors, sell the furniture, and cut them down.Time to shrink the state.
...
Due to the lack of funding, many federal agencies are now operating more effectively from the top down on a fraction of their workforce, with only select essential personnel serving national security tasks. One might think this is how government should function...
Furloughed employees should find other work, never return and not be paid.
Speaking My Language
A senior official writes with advice to the President on the shutdown:
Against American Football
American Football [is] a game of collisions and brute force that requires an entire chest of drawers of padding and equipment and a storm trooper helmet. More than a few professional football players will not even let their children participate in it. Everybody hates it.Spoiler: the author is in fact an American. Specifically, he's one of those white American males trying desperately to differentiate himself from the rest of 'them' that VDH was discussing.
Except the race of barbaric persons known collectively as Americans.
Really, it's a classic of the genre.
...And Then I Lie To Myself For A While
It's OK, because it's 'meditation.' From a piece on morning routines:
Then I drink some strong black coffee. I might have a glass of water first, if I'm feeling dry. I go to work usually about the time the wife is starting in on the coffee.
In the summertime, it's just the coffee.
Then I do some meditation, where I might recite some mantras. One of them is "all of my relationships are harmonious and full of love," which is good if you are working with difficult clients.In the wintertime like it is now, I wake up and go downstairs. I put some coffee on, then I split some wood to rekindle the fire. Then I rekindle the fire.
Then I drink some strong black coffee. I might have a glass of water first, if I'm feeling dry. I go to work usually about the time the wife is starting in on the coffee.
In the summertime, it's just the coffee.
What Does 'Authentic' Mean Anyway?
VDH writes:
That song came from "King of the Cowboys," which was a classic example of Roy Rogers' particular approach to the genre. It wasn't an 1880s "Wild West" bit, it was set in its own present day. Are they cowboys? Well, yeah, in a way: "The Old Bar X is a barbecue."
In another way they were quite self-consciously performing an iconic role, for reasons of their own. Roy Rogers was definitely Roy Rogers. He had his own unique style and manner even within the context of the 'cowboy' genre of the 1940s-1960s. How much he was like the cowboy of the open range days was a question that amused even him. How much were any of them "authentic" cowboys?
You might think this is less applicable to whether or not one is 'authentically' a member of an ethnic group or a sexual minority, but I'm not sure. Really people are individuals, like Roy Rogers was. Membership in social groups is to some degree performative, just as playing a cowboy on the screen was. What does it mean to be "black," for example? Barack Obama was from a white family on his mother's side, even a cousin of George Washington's. On his father's side, well, his father was from Kenya in that generation. The whole thing we think of as 'the black experience' -- the Western passage, the heritage of slavery, Jim Crow, the long economic oppression in American cities -- neither side of his family experienced that. His father had some claim on a similar heritage of being oppressed by the British within Africa, and of course he had black skin. But what we normally think of as 'black American' experience had no role in Obama's heritage. Yet he performed as 'the first black American president,' and was accepted as quite authentically so by everyone.
At this point we've started to let people make performative exceptions even to their physical sex, and are treating the performance as more authentic than the genetics. What could authenticity mean in such a context?
It's got to mean that, like Roy Rogers, you're delivering a great performance. Which is to say that the word is a kind of contradiction in terms as we currently use it; to be authentic is to be great at constructing and presenting yourself as something. It's artifice, it's artificial, and yet the word we use for it has exactly the opposite connotation.
One common denominator, however, seems to govern today’s endless search for some sort of authenticity: a careerist effort to separate oneself from the assumed dominate and victimizing majority of white heterosexual and often Christian males.Even before we got to the present moment, I always wondered what the 'authenticity' debate was really about. It seems to be an attempt to define yourself by adopting someone else's categories. A country music singer who wanted to be successful might well say that he was "an authentic cowboy," or in any case present himself as such, as if Roy Rogers hadn't already mocked that concept way back in 1943.
That song came from "King of the Cowboys," which was a classic example of Roy Rogers' particular approach to the genre. It wasn't an 1880s "Wild West" bit, it was set in its own present day. Are they cowboys? Well, yeah, in a way: "The Old Bar X is a barbecue."
In another way they were quite self-consciously performing an iconic role, for reasons of their own. Roy Rogers was definitely Roy Rogers. He had his own unique style and manner even within the context of the 'cowboy' genre of the 1940s-1960s. How much he was like the cowboy of the open range days was a question that amused even him. How much were any of them "authentic" cowboys?
You might think this is less applicable to whether or not one is 'authentically' a member of an ethnic group or a sexual minority, but I'm not sure. Really people are individuals, like Roy Rogers was. Membership in social groups is to some degree performative, just as playing a cowboy on the screen was. What does it mean to be "black," for example? Barack Obama was from a white family on his mother's side, even a cousin of George Washington's. On his father's side, well, his father was from Kenya in that generation. The whole thing we think of as 'the black experience' -- the Western passage, the heritage of slavery, Jim Crow, the long economic oppression in American cities -- neither side of his family experienced that. His father had some claim on a similar heritage of being oppressed by the British within Africa, and of course he had black skin. But what we normally think of as 'black American' experience had no role in Obama's heritage. Yet he performed as 'the first black American president,' and was accepted as quite authentically so by everyone.
At this point we've started to let people make performative exceptions even to their physical sex, and are treating the performance as more authentic than the genetics. What could authenticity mean in such a context?
It's got to mean that, like Roy Rogers, you're delivering a great performance. Which is to say that the word is a kind of contradiction in terms as we currently use it; to be authentic is to be great at constructing and presenting yourself as something. It's artifice, it's artificial, and yet the word we use for it has exactly the opposite connotation.
Tulsi Gabbard to Run for President
If you don't have anything to do during primary season next year, you might give a thought to supporting Tulsi. She'll be running into the winds, between her support for religious liberty and her tangling with more powerful Democratic leaders. She's not likely to win, but she might force a debate among them that would be helpful; and if she did happen to win, her support for Assad aside, she served honorably in the military and has shown at least some deference to historic American principles.
When it comes to Democrats running for President next year, we could do worse.
When it comes to Democrats running for President next year, we could do worse.
What Did You Just Say?
The U.S. approved more than 5,000 requests by men to bring child or adolescent brides into the country over the past decade, enabling forced child marriages....
The requests and their approvals were apparently legal, according to government data obtained by The Associate Press, due to the fact that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not limit the age of spouses. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also approves or denies requests based on whether the marriage is legal in the home country and the state of the applicant.
Yes, the Connection is Obvious
Bristol banning grilled cheese sandwiches in order to fight the formation of motorcycle clubs.
Nationalizing Elections
Under the traditional system, states run elections under state law even if they are for a Federal office. The Democrats would like to change that. Unsurprisingly, this is a wish-list of everything from "mandatory felon voting" to "mandatory registration to vote of everyone on welfare rolls." (Not everyone on welfare rolls is a citizen, but so what?)
Also, mandatory limits on states trying to make sure that voters aren't registered in two states at the same time. Hey, that sounds like an effort to ban checks on voter fraud. (So does 'mandatory same-day registration').
I'd like to see mandatory voter ID, of a sort that requires establishing citizenship -- a passport, or a certified birth certificate, or fully executed immigration and naturalization documentation.
Also, mandatory limits on states trying to make sure that voters aren't registered in two states at the same time. Hey, that sounds like an effort to ban checks on voter fraud. (So does 'mandatory same-day registration').
I'd like to see mandatory voter ID, of a sort that requires establishing citizenship -- a passport, or a certified birth certificate, or fully executed immigration and naturalization documentation.
Jorvik Viking Festival, Year 35
You still have more than a month to plan a vacation to York, if you'd like to participate this year. I've always wanted to go, but have never managed it so far.
A History of Assassination
"The trouble with many attempted assassinations is that the subject refuses to die."
A Bargain at the Price
The US is currently debating whether or not to spend $5 Billion constructing a partial steel fence along the southern border. The NYT reports that the US has spent $8 Billion on the Afghan Air Force -- which is still "struggling."
Which of these is really more relevant to US national security? Which one is more cost-effective?
Which of these is really more relevant to US national security? Which one is more cost-effective?
Unexpected Finding
Look at the Norway/Sweden split in this poll result.
Now, if I've understood AVI correctly, we should read the Scandinavian results of this poll less as phrased, and more as, 'I believe it is my social duty to answer that our culture is [better/worse].' The very fact that Scandinavians so readily submit to the dictates of their culture proves their faith in it; thus, the honest answer should be similar to the happiness surveys out of Scandinavia, where vast majorities answer that of course they are happy in spite of the long winter darkness.
If that's all correct, Norway's result is the more surprising, because it's only a majority and not a supermajority. Sweden is the expected supermajority, where the people have internalized that they're supposed to proclaim themselves no better than anyone else.
UPDATE: And could it really be true that only 36% of Frenchmen believe their culture is superior to others'? France should look like Greece if people were being honest.
Now, if I've understood AVI correctly, we should read the Scandinavian results of this poll less as phrased, and more as, 'I believe it is my social duty to answer that our culture is [better/worse].' The very fact that Scandinavians so readily submit to the dictates of their culture proves their faith in it; thus, the honest answer should be similar to the happiness surveys out of Scandinavia, where vast majorities answer that of course they are happy in spite of the long winter darkness.
If that's all correct, Norway's result is the more surprising, because it's only a majority and not a supermajority. Sweden is the expected supermajority, where the people have internalized that they're supposed to proclaim themselves no better than anyone else.
UPDATE: And could it really be true that only 36% of Frenchmen believe their culture is superior to others'? France should look like Greece if people were being honest.
Indian Science Congress: Ancient Demon Kings Had Planes
Surely, in this age of multicultural respect, we should all take these claims just as seriously as any others.
Nageswara Rao, a vice chancellor at Andhra University in South India, said that Ravana, a demon god with 10 heads, had 24 kinds of aircraft of varying sizes and capacities — and that India was making test-tube babies thousands of years ago.Sadly, some haters have been making noise about this, much to the surprise of the organizers.
Dinosaurs were created by the Hindu god Brahma, said Ashu Khosla, a scientist with expertise in paleontology at Panjab University in the North Indian city of Chandigarh....
The organizers of the conference were taken aback. "This is the 106th edition of the Science Congress," said the group's general secretary Premendu P. Mathur in an interview with NPR. "Since 1914, we've had so many meaningful conversations with children on science. We've hosted Nobel laureates from around the world..."Why can't we all be devoted to the norms of inclusivity and acceptance?
About 15,000 scientists from India and around the world attend the conference every year, said Ashok Saxena, a zoologist and a former president of the congress, in an interview with NPR. They are a part of the 50,000-strong Indian Science Congress....
Among the famous attendees this year were three Nobel laureates: Hungarian-born Israeli biochemist Avram Hershko, who won the prize for chemistry in 2004; British-born physicist Duncan M. Haldane, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2016; and German-born American Nobel laureate for medicine in 2013, Thomas Christian Südho[.]
Religious Tests
Out in Texas, Republican donors are getting nervous.
Republicans in one of the most populous counties in Texas will decide this week if they should remove a party vice chairman who is Muslim following allegations he has denied that suggest he prefers Islamic over U.S. law and opposes the GOP's pro-Israel stance.... Some have even speculated that the ouster of Shafi could drain fundraising efforts and jeopardize the party's 2020 campaign.... William Busby, a former precinct chairman and leader for the Tarrant County Republican Party [said], "Corporate donors, the big donors, don't want to be associated with a party that's going in the direction of excluding people based upon their religious beliefs."So that's both parties, then.
Some Analysis of the Green New Deal
I apologize for linking to Twitchy, whose tone and format I neither enjoy, but it's a good single link to a series of posts.
UPDATE: "Growing number" of Dem 2020 hopefuls signing on to Green New Deal.
UPDATE: "Growing number" of Dem 2020 hopefuls signing on to Green New Deal.
France to Ban "Unsanctioned Protests"
Guess who makes the decision on whether or not your protest is sanctioned?
All this started over an attempt to impose climate-change policies including new taxes.
All this started over an attempt to impose climate-change policies including new taxes.
Update on Angela Davis Story
The issue, she claims, was her criticism of Israel or, as she puts it, 'the indivisibility of justice.' The facts seem to support this:
In a statement expressing dismay at the controversy, Mayor Randall Woodfin of Birmingham said the decision had come amid “protests from our local Jewish community and some of its allies.”If true, it wasn't the communism or the violence and murder after all.
The institute did say in its statement announcing the revocation that it had begun hearing from “concerned individuals and organizations” in late December, around the time the magazine Southern Jewish Life published a piece about the award by its editor, Larry Brook.
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