Month: December 2015

Worthwhile Reading & Viewing

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An analysis of the Trump campaign from a Boydian perspective.  (“Boydian” refers to the views of the fighter pilot and military theorist John Boyd, who emphasized the importance of the “OODA loop”–observe, orient, decide, act)

Desperately trying to be one of the Kool Kidz:

…the increasing number of voters who do not make their decisions on who will create the most jobs, build the most infrastructure, save the environment, strengthen the economy or even keep citizens most safe. These people don’t care about that. And while they do vote based on what they think is in their own self-interest, their regard is not for what they view as the path most likely to improve society’s lot. It is, curiously, motivated entirely by their sense of what is most socially fashionable – in other words, the fundamental high school desire to be one of the cool kids.

Claire Berlinski has a thread on Churchill quotations

 

“Miscellaneous Americana for the New Year”

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A new, brief and most interesting post from Seth Barrett Tillman:

[Wilkes] was expelled from the Commons in 1764, and also expelled 3 times in 1769. After the last expulsion in 1769, he ran for election yet again, and although he had more votes than his opponent, the Commons seated his opponent. He was elected again in 1774 and took his seat. Arguably, Wilkes’ taking his seat in 1774 established the principle that each member of the House of Commons is chosen by the voters, and that the voters’ choice cannot be second-guessed, rejected, or overturned merely because a majority of the House finds a particular member’s political principles and morals objectionable.

Read the whole thing, as the bloggers say.

Is the Ryan budget the last gasp of the public employee unions ?

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As usual. Richard Fernandez has a unique view of current events. He compares the present federal government to Boss Tweed’s Tamany Hall.

But in actuality the impetus for moderating political excess often comes from the elites themselves when mismanagement finally becomes so bad it threatens the survival of everyone.

Until things reach the point of failure mismanagement has the effect of leaving voters no alternative but content themselves with the opposition party. Republican voters may have been disappointed and outraged at the perceived sellout by a Paul Ryan-led Congress to the Obama administration. “It was another Republican “compromise” meaning Democrats got every item they asked for,” said the Drudge Report.

Paul Ryan has engineered a “compromise” with Democrats that gives them everything they wanted.

Today, he defended it on Meet The Press.

And in divided government you don’t get everything you want. So we fought for as much as we could get. We advanced our priorities and principles. Not every single one of them, but many of them. And then we’re going to pick up next year and pick up where we left off and keep going for more.

Is this true ? I doubt it.

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Outdoor Adventures

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Jamal Green makes multi-day hikes across Utah and other interesting places, and then produces videos showing interesting moments along the way.

Mesa_Arch_Canyonlands
(Image source.)

His website Across Utah! is a good starting point for videos, maps, and recommendations for gear.

During several of his hikes, Jamal crosses a spectacular feature called the Water Pocket fold, the edge of a monoclinal fold that eroded away across the crest leaving the edges as upturned rocks pointing into the sky. If you’re interested in a professional geological look, visit Written In Stone and travel along with Dr. Jack Share in a regional overflight, Flight Plan: Part II – Geology of the Circle Cliffs Uplift and the Waterpocket Fold at Capitol Reef National Park.

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Songs of 2015

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I’ve heard quite a few good new songs this year…not all “new” in the sense of being just-released, but at least new to me.  Some of them…

Della Mae is an all-female bluegrass-oriented group.  Their songs include Hounds (inspired by Francis Thompson’s poem ‘The Hound of Heaven’),  Some Roads Lead On,  Heaven’s Gate, and  To Ohio.

Reflections from the beyond of an Irish immigrant who fought in both the American Civil War and at Little Big Horn: Mick Ryan’s Lament, sung here by John Sheahan, Jane, & Shane.

From Tom Russell’s new album: The Rose of Roscrae and When the Wolves No Longer Sing.  (I’ve written about some of Tom’s earlier work here)

Laura Orshaw: Guitar Man

I heard this sequence of songs on the radio while driving home one foggy night:

John Prine, Clay Pigeons

Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams,  Midnight Highway

Jason Isbell,  Hudson Commodore

Nanci Griffith,  Waiting on a Dark Eyed Girl  (can’t find Nanci’s version online, the link goes to one by Kevin Welch)