I’ve been more scattered than usual of late. Even these missives have been “a collection of stuff” more than applying to one specific topic. Now that school has started and Labor Day5 has passed (which USED to mean the same thing but doesn’t any more) perhaps it”ll pull together. AND I’ll start doing a weekly football post. So there’s that. Until then, another conglomeration.

I got downsized from the best job I ever had and this was on of the reasons: THE CONSEQUENCES OF GOVERNMENT MEDDLING: What Do “Gainful Employment” Regulations Accomplish? My little For Profit school’s numbers were comparable to the local community college, not quite as good as the local private institutions and better than the state schools, NONE of whom had to meet the same guideline. Make em all play by the same rules.

I listen to a growing list of historical podcasts and the one thing I require if you’re gonna occupy my ear time is that you avoid presentism. And here are some good guidelines on how to DO that: The laws of history

And speaking of presentism: In September 1868, Southern white Democrats hunted down around 200 African-Americans in an effort to suppress voter turnout.

FEMINISM IS SITUATIONAL: “On one hand, I feel bad that I’m playing into sexist tropes, but on the other hand, if you want to change my flat tire for me, I’m going to let you.”. Also : Body positivity is for women, not lazy white guys with dad bods. “If you have a dad bod, it’s time to hit the gym. It’s good for you – and we’ll appreciate you more. This movement isn’t for you and you need to stay in your own lane.”

For those of you not paying attention:

Ignoring Biden’s Fallout in Africa. “As a growing number of African countries devolve into chaos and seek alliances with countries opposed to US policy, the Biden administration is nowhere to be seen on the national stage. . . . It’s worthwhile noting that before Biden handed Afghanistan over to the Taliban, progressives at the State Department hoisted the rainbow flag over Kabul in a symbolic gesture that thoroughly infuriated small conservative nations around the world. Aside from the optics of turning our friends over to the terrorists, the Biden administration forgets that gestures like this do not sit well with many of the small African countries sitting on valuable oil and rare earth minerals. The result is many of these countries simply do not trust us. Instead of seeking help from the United States, a growing number of small, poor countries are running to Wagner for military support and China for shady loans.”

Related: “But the truth is, when we’re engaged with the Chinese, we get an airport. And when we’re engaged with you guys, we get a lecture.”

And I’ll close today with a lengthy quote which will likely be repeated:

To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be place under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, “General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century,” first published in

French 1851.