The arts are pressing in on my brain

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The early steps in directing Tommy have NOT been as positive as I’d like. Things are starting to pile up, crashing into and over each other. Something’s gotta give soon.

Maybe PART of this is because of some of my recent readings. Disquiet on the Western Front covers many topics not the least of which is how much reality is needed to achieve verisimilitude. Good read.

Bastardizing Beethoven deals with, among other things, the Presentism that is over-running history is also over-running the arts. And with Tommy I’m dealing with quite a bit of this. I’m still not convinced that I’ll even get enough people to CAST this things. what with the sexual abuse of a deaf, dumb and blind kid … and all.

Maybe I should throw some other things in here to pad it out.

Multisport american athletes best all time. No MJ but I think I’m OK with that.

Speaking of History

Summer “vacation” – but the news cycle never rests

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WHAT CAN’T GO ON FOREVER, WONT. The government schools are a total mess, but let’s make one thing very clear: this is the result of policies promoted by the teachers’ unions and the “ed” schools: Teachers sound alarm on growing problems in schools as colleagues leave ‘in droves’

Brutal new research shows how the government ruined higher education

Not sure if this is “science” or “education” or both. I KNOW it’s effecting law as well. Professor says ‘junk citations’ have created ‘distrust’ in academic research.

Teachers “all over” are decrying this: “Equitable grading” a trainwreck in the making.

Study Shows that Teachers’ Race Does Not Affect Students’ Outcomes.

“Social-Emotional Learning” Is a Dangerous Fad

Putting this here in an “Ed” post because at one of the schools I sub for this has been a growing problem since the before times – and it’s NOT getting better: RAYMOND IBRAHIM: Bedlam at City Council: Somali ‘Culture’ Takes Minneapolis by Storm. “That Somalis felt comfortable enough to enact their culture here in America is connected to the unwavering Rule of Numbers: the more non-Westerners, especially Muslims, grow in the West, the more phenomena endemic to their nations—in this case, a breakdown of law and rise in thuggery—grows with them.”

And now it’s time to hit the road!

Since they will NEVER admit error …

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let’s revisit the past a bit.

Charley Hooper Testifies on Ivermectin

the best 4 minutes you’ll spend this …. hour – Margery Smelkinson on Natural Immunity

Keith Lowery: A Fascinating Retrospective

Wearing Masks Can Cause ‘Substantial’ Harm, Even to Unborn Babies.

SCIENCE! DC Bar Exam Will Require All Test-Takers To Wear Masks For 12-Hour Exam. Twelve hours??! Ohio’s was 18!

KEVIN DOWNEY JR: Three Years of COVID Democrat Tyranny That We Should Never Forget.

VERY: How bad was the gaslighting?

CAN’T SAY THIS ENOUGH:  ‘Human Shields’: Former Trump Adviser Slams COVID-Era Lockdown Policies For Harming Children

OUT ON A LIMB: Study: Lockdowns Produced No Reduction in COVID Deaths.

FDA study shows “serious safety” issues, elevated risk of myocarditis and pericarditis in young people after taking the Covid jab

Time, time, time ….

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with apologies to the Bangels and Simon & Garfunkle. I’ve written about facing/accepting aging before but got some negative feedback on it so I let the thread drop. Then this week I was given a link to Tim Urban’s blog Wait, But Why? I’m enjoying the recent writings and have shared several links. But not this one. This one I saved until now. Memorial Day.

Those of you who have been around for a while might recall that I’ve been doing an annual circuit of the local grave sites of my ancestors. Most years lately I’ve been accompanied by The Boy but he has a small squirming daughter to care for now so won’t be taking the trip. Last year mom accompanied me. Makes for a pleasant drive – having someone else along. But I’ve been doing this for a decade or more. Was thinking about taking this year off. But … mom. And this post. Called the tail end.

John Hancock says I’ll live another 19 years. Which means I’ll die younger than both of my parents. Don’t think that’s gonna happen but I’ll use it for the purpose of this post. Mom’s looking at 96. Eight more years. She’s in pretty good shape physically. Eyes not bad. Hearing going. And sadly, memory is slipping. Not willing to use 8 years here. I’m gonna say 4.

Four more Memorial Day tours. Four more Christmases, Easters, Thanksgivings. Four. So you damned well better BET I’m taking her this year. I spend, on average, 3-6 hours per week with mom. On the low end that’s 150 hours per year. So 600 hours left. That’s less than a month. Just saying.

Now, to get a tad more personal.

I have 19 more Super Bowls. And Christmases. And Fantasy Football League seasons. And other annual things. The WJHS Class of ’76 has a reunion every 5 years. Next one will be in ’26. And I’ll have THREE after that. I’ve been to TWO regular season NFL games so far. I MIGHT get one more. But the odds drop under 50% pretty soon.

Pizza three times a month? That’s 684 more pizzas.

And my beloved OYC group? The Secret Seven. In the last 49 years we’ve spent probably spent 150 days together (Fair, Europe, Messiah, reunions, etc.) And MOST of us don’t have the 19 years I do. So we MIGHT have already HAD our last full gathering. But let’s say we miraculously begin to put together a weekend every year, for a day and a half. That’s gonna be roughly 30 days. So MAYBE 15% of our total time is left.

If you’re in your last 10% of time with someone you love, keep that fact in the front of your mind when you’re with them and treat that time as what it actually is: precious.

edit to add: I was remiss. In that 19 remaining years I will hopefully see my grand-daughter graduate from HS if there IS such a thing in the 40’s. And first boyfriends. And ponies. And stuff.

Back to the highways and byways next week

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Unless I land a sweet, sweet summer school sub gig. I’ll do my usual out around 9 and be done by 4 or $100 whichever comes first. Or after a LOOONG trip. So wish me luck. In the meantime:

A ‘Congestion’ Charge on Just Ubers and Lyfts Won’t Improve Congestion

This is how great the economy is: HMM: https://twitter.com/Hedgeye/status/1654551629834625028

BLUE CITY BLUES: Uber will lease out entire office building in San Francisco. “Rumors that Uber was abandoning one of its new office buildings in Mission Bay have been circulating since 2021. This week, CoStar News finally confirmed it was true and that the entire building at 1725 Third Street is for lease.”

Related: No! Really!! The War on Tamales

Unrelated filler:

I’ve been assured by the best people and “Top Men” that this didn’t happen: Longtime Democratic Campaign Strategist Charged with Election Fraud.

THIS is why I need the break: WELCOME TO AMERICA’S GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS. #JustWalkAway:

An interesting read over at substack: Equity-toonz

Summer shrinkage for kids:

Quote of the Week (which I’ll likely use again): the main function of education is not to teach useful skills (or even useless skills), but to certify students’ employability. By and large, the reason our customers are on campus is to credibly show, or “signal,” their intelligence, work ethic, and sheer conformity. While we like to picture education as job training, it is largely a passport to the real training that happens on the job. — Bryan Caplan

As we head out of spring …

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to begin – no running update this season. My two month stint covering freshman world history destroyed me. Gained 10 pounds, BP up 20 points, RPR up 10. I’m back to walking hoping to get my weight back under 220# so I can even START running again. And it saddens me because February was full of good numbers.

In the mean time:

Tom Patterson: Climate Change Alarmism Not Supported by the Facts

Global warming trend is ‘only one-half of the climate model simulations,’ says new paper

From Instapundit via Reex Reed:

“All the people who want to ‘regulate the planetary climate’ and demand the power and unlimited resources to do so are people who have proven themselves incapable of competently managing and running recently built, closed, man-made systems. They cannot competently run power grids, or municipal water systems or trash pickup; they cannot competently maintain, let alone repair, the ‘roads and bridges’ they are always pratting about; they cannot competently run or maintain the public housing they increasingly want people to live in, or the public transportation systems that they want people to rely on …

“Yet they want people to believe that they can, and should, be permitted to try and regulate the planetary climate.”

The Hockey Stick is still alive and well and like Glenn Close rising from the tub it must be killed every few years/.

And if you’ve noticed David Friedman is becoming a regular read for me and it SHOULD be for you too. Statistical Arguments

And of course as is confirmed regularly: “OUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER SEE SNOW.” “Global warming hysteria is politics or religion, not science.

As school gasps to a close, lets revisit some Covidiocy

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OH: Canadian Officials Reportedly Knew COVID Vaccine Wasn’t Effective Pre-Mandates.

FDA Says ‘Vaccines Do Not Require Demonstration of the Prevention of Infection or Transmission.’

CDC Will Continue To Ban Unvaccinated People From Entering The US, Defying Science

NEED TO KNOW: Pfizer Knew of COVID-19 Vax Risks to Breastfeeding Babies in April 2021.

COVID IS OVER: Chinese who reported on COVID to be released after 3 years.

From the Comments to an Alex Tabarrok piece. Deals with “medical ethics.”

AS ALWAYS, POLITICAL CONVENIENCE: Why Is One Dose Suddenly Enough for the mRNA COVID Vaccines?

I CAN’T SEE THIS – THE FDA WOULD NEVER APPROVE AN UNSAFE VACCINE*:  Increased Risk of Serious Eye Problem After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study.

Pushback: Three teachers blacklisted by Rhode Island for refusing the jab score total victory in court.

UNEXPECTEDLY: The Harm Caused by Masks.

MASS FORMATION PSYCHOSIS: Psychologist Breaks Down How Society Descended Into COVID Insanity.

And if you’re an underclassperson who is done for the summer – ENJOY IT!

Odds n Ends for Mother’s Day

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Saul Bass. If you can’t recognize most of his work the instant it appears on screen you shouldn’t call yourself a movie buff.

We’re due.

I HATE that this seems to work: Clean vs. Dirty: A Way to Understand Everything ⋆ Brownstone Institute

For my prepper friends: This is an important thread on why you don’t want to leave America when the apocalypse kicks off

We’re All Collateral Damage in the War with the Left Elites. TLDNR:

  • The 13 military personnel who died in our departure from Afghanistan
  • The Afghan translators who were left behind
  • The people whose businesses were destroyed in riots after the George Floyd death
  • The people who died in the recent mass shooting in Nashville
  • The people who warned and are still warning against the Covid-19 vaccine
  • The people who live in the southern border cities as migrants invade
  • The ongoing disaster of the spread of Fentanyl
  • The cutting of fossil fuels and ignoring the benefits of nuclear power
  • The children sacrificed to the transgender agenda
  • The migrant children forced into slavery in New York
  • The residents of East Palestine
  • The people victimized by criminals released by Soros prosecutors
  • The people suffering from inflation and shortages
  • The demand that consumers purchase expensive EVs that have limited drive time and dangerous batteries
  • The debilitation of our military
  • The curse of systemic racism–everywhere

Please enjoy this old video where a man reads a 1943 directive to American commies to label their opponents “fascists”

And that’s about enough for today

School daze

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it’s winding down. Today is the last day for my seniors. This school started EARLY. OHSAA Baseball tourney doesn’t START until next week!

Faculty is split over a lot of the discipline and grading rules. ‘Restorative’ backlash: Legislators propose tougher school discipline. Obama/Biden supporters love it. The rest of us? Not so much.

Liberal Policies Endangering Teachers And Students

The Indiana government looks ready to create a special fund for training teachers to use and carry firearms. I’m thinking of going through the Ohio program myself.

POST-COVID SCHOOL DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS:  Some statesare adopting reforms that will give teachers and principals the authority to suspend disruptive students.  That’s good news.  School discipline is an area that had been too long left to progressives.  They made a giant mess of it.

CHANGE: The North Carolina legislature is making attempt to restore classroom decorum by putting teachers and principals back in charge. (Background on how that decorum was lost here and here.)

FROM EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR STUDY HABITS…: Now Comes ‘Equitable Grading’ to Dumb Down Our Children.

They SAY it’s over

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but the damage cannot be undone and there’s no “Move On” coming to their rescue. They’re too busy with the Trans issue.

Analysis:

COVID Vaccines Caused 300,000 Excess Deaths in 2022 Alone.

Senate COVID origins report details lab leak theory.

In case you’re still getting jabbed: The Original COVID Vaccines Are No Longer Authorized By The FDA

WHEN TREASON PROSPERS:  The former Director of National Intelligence agrees with the former

CDC Director that Dr. Anthony Fauci lied to Congress under oath about funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab.

Law student suspended for questioning Covid policies shares story: ‘These people put us through hell.’

Insert clown nose here: Justin Trudeau admits Covid jabs have side effects, claims he never forced “anyone to get vaccinated” … I know a few thousand truckers who disagree

Good to know I’m not the ONLY one sick and tired of being right, being chastised for it and then having the whole thing memory-holed: The COVID lockdown scolds killed people — but they still have no shame.

Anthony Fauci Says Don’t Blame Him for COVID Lockdowns and School Closures

Hannah Cox, as usual, nails it: Justin Trudeau joins long list of leaders and ‘experts’ trying to rewrite COVID policy history

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Face masks and testicular dysfunction.

I have more but I’ll close with this: I CANNOT BEGIN TO EXPLAIN HOW UNCUTE I FOUND THE LEFT’S “IT WASN’T MY FAULT” AND “MISTAKES WERE MADE”:  No Forgiveness Without Repentance.