With the major hurricanes done for the moment and a debt crisis averted by Trump's deal with the Democrats, Congress must turn to the issues in front of it. Tax reform code is at the top of the list, although I'm not holding my breath. Behind that is the DACA program, or the "Dreamers," where …
If You Can Lead Sheep, You're Ready for Politics
I could not pass up this gem from Philo Judaeus, in his Life of a Man Occupied with Affairs of State, or on Joseph, I: Now, this man (Joseph) began from the time he was seventeen years of age to be occupied with the consideration of the business of a shepherd, which corresponds to political …
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Having a Form of Diversity, but Denying the Power Thereof
Millennials' legendary capacity for diversity may be just that: A recent study conducted by a Grand Valley State University professor suggests that political correctness, at least among millennials, is little more than a charade. In an August 16 study, Professor Karen Pezzetti explains that millennials pursuing careers in education “position themselves as good, non-racist people,” …
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Evidently Twitter Doesn't Like My Post on Trump and Palm Beach Clubs
One of the most popular posts I have on this site is Trump Opens the Club to Blacks and Jews? Not Quite, which is about two years old. It's gotten a good deal of traffic and the gamut of reactions. I'm glad to inject a little Palm Beach perspective to this question, because both what …
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My Facebook Rant re the White "Supremacists"
I was kind of nudged by one of my illustrious relatives (who is now in the Old Country) on the subject of our Confederate ancestors, and this is what I came back with: I think that what's been neglected in this debate is an answer to the simple question "How did the 'Lost Cause' lose?" …
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It Takes More Than the Russian Scandal to Connect With Voters
The Democrats need to weigh their options carefully: “We need to talk about what people think about when they wake up in the morning, and it’s not Russia,” Sragow said. “The more we talk about stuff that voters don’t truly care about in their daily lives … it confirms that the Democratic Party’s brain has …
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Revisiting the Adventure of Offshore Oil
It may seem that posts on this blog are slowing down, but elsewhere it's another story. There are actually four sites to this "family" and one of them, vulcanhammer.info, is being moved to WordPress hosting. (The other two, vulcanhammer.net and Chet Aero Marine, were moved around the first of the year.) Moving a site that …
Harvard's Clubs: So Much for Faculty Governance
The right to take a vote doesn't make the result meaningful, as one committee at Harvard found out: On Friday, the Crimson reported that the surprising recommendation to ban all social organizations received only 7 votes from the 27-member Committee on the Unrecognized Single-Gender Social Organizations, which had been empaneled to review implementation of last …
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Keeping a Watch on Diversity
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Provost, Jerald Ainsworth, sent out this directive today: Funding for diversity initiatives has transitioned to Academic Affairs as of July 1, 2017; therefore, requests for funding will be received, reviewed, and funded from the Provost's Office. The Office for Equity and Diversity will monitor funding and audit our efforts for …
If California Can't Pass Single Payer, the Democrats Will Never Really Win
Most of the attention these days on Congress (the opposite of progress) has centred on the Senate's inability to pass a replacement for the misnamed Affordable Care Act. Let me make my first stipulation: the "repeal and replace" business is pure political theatre, has been from the start, and in a sense Donald Trump has …
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