NYT: Damage from Covid closures.
NYT: Damage from Covid closures.
What was done to children in public schools during the Covid lock-down was inexcusable. There will never be a full accounting, but this article in the NYT gets much of it right.
Author: Richard Nestoff (Page 140 of 168)
WaPo: Your clothes no longer serve you.
WaPo: Your clothes no longer serve you.
I wouldn’t have thought that an article about a 70 year-old fashion influencer would resonate with me, but here we are.
Now that I am a punkwad, I have come to the opinion that dogs and children should not be indulged, but should conform to the customs of the house.
Being two old guys, Sparky and I agree on a lot of things. Sparky doesn’t sleep in my bedroom because I am indulging him, we both just sleep better knowing what the other fella is doing.
When Sparky slept in his crate, no matter what time I woke up, he’d be sitting at attention. He’d come out of the box ready to frolic. I am not a big morning frolicker.
Now, he sleeps in to give me time to shamble around with my coffee. I got out of bed two hours ago and Sparky is sleeping past his 10 am breakfast.
He is such a good dog.
I did not know that.
Ann Althouse explains that the bully pulpit is not a pulpit to bully.
In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt exclaimed: “I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!” First, clearly, he was using “bully” — as he often did — to mean very good or excellent. And he used the word “pulpit,” because he knew he was preaching, that is, proclaiming righteous opinions in public.
This comes up due to legal issues resulting from the Biden administration’s manipulation and coercion of social media platforms to suppress free speech.
This would not be an issue if parents cared about their children enough to get them flip phones instead of smart phones. However, this is a positive step.
Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday gathered school administrators from around the state to discuss how they’ve instituted policies to restrict middle- and high-school students’ cell-phone use while at school.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion, superintendents spoke about how lunchrooms and playgrounds have been falling silent as students focus on their phones instead of each other. Kids use their phones to harass other students, set up fights, or skip class.
This article is about social media influencers. That’s boring, but I like the term they coined.
Dinkwad: Dual income, no kids, with a dog.
By extension, I’m a punkwad.
Punkwad: Professional uncle, no kids, with a dog.
The person in the online chat introduced himself as “Brad.” Using flattery and guile, he persuaded the 14-year-old girl to send a nude photo. It instantly became leverage.
Don’t blame WaPo for the lurid article. Can you pass up a trigger warning like this?
Editor’s note: This story describes extremely disturbing events that may be upsetting for some people.
It’s not just regular disturbing, it’s extremely disturbing, and some people want to be upset. In a good way. Like watching a Frankenstein movie when you are a kid.
NewsMax: West Point changing mission statement.
I’m going with Lily Tomlin on this one.
Here is the old mission statement:
To educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the United States Army.
The new mission statement:
To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation.
The substantive difference is that “Duty, Honor, Country” is changed to “Army Values”. Sure, the mission statement has changed before and the “Duty, Honor, Country” was add 25 years ago. What makes this change significant is that our country is dangerously polarized. The federal government, academia and commercial media are infected with cultural Marxism and are failing at their primary functions.
“Army Values” can mean anything. It may mean “Duty, Honor, Country” right now, but can be changed to “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” without changing the mission statement. Since “Army Values” is not defined in the mission statement, professors and administrators at West Point can assume it means whatever they want.
Am I too cynical? I don’t think so.
There was a time when women weren’t placed in combat because it might reduce fighting efficiency. Now, if a soldier requests a sex-change operation, the military pays for it and the soldier requires ongoing medical supervision.
West Point and military leadership have been woke for some time.
Since 1992, the Department of Defense has observed Gay Pride Month.
This isn’t a TV show review, but a complaint.
While cleaning up the hard drive, I was checking out the TV show, Once Upon a Time, to see if it was worth burning to a disk.
The premise is a bunch of characters from the Enchanted Forest live in a little town in Maine called Storybrooke. Initially, none of them know they are from the Enchanted Forest, but they figure it out as the story progresses.
All the supporting female characters are hot brunettes with heaving bosoms. All the supporting male characters look kind of like Keanu Reeves. It’s kind of hard to tell them apart.
It’s the main characters where they missed the boat. The actor in the blue sweater isn’t even supposed to be a guy. That’s Snow White. She has little charisma and isn’t a handsome woman. Her worst feature is her protruding ears. Why she’d sport this hair cut is anyone’s guess. The male antagonist is a weaselly fellow with greasy hair.
There is a 10 year old boy who is the center of attention. He is an unbearable little prick. I blame the director.
I decided to retire a month before the end of the school year. That was four years earlier than I’d planned, but the principal wanted me to go and the money worked out. Because this scenario wasn’t anticipated, I had only prepared for retirement in a broad sense.
Once retired, I looked for more thoughts on the topic. The Wall Street Journal has a Retirement Rookies column that could be useful if I wanted to retire in Costa Rica or manage a non-profit. More pragmatic wisdom came from retired friends. Here they are.
Do at least one productive activity per day.
Pete added the “at least” later, because I was limiting myself to just one. Writing it down in a daily planner would be a good idea, but I lack consistency.
Everything doesn’t have to be done today.
Pace yourself and don’t get anxious.
If you aren’t interested in an activity or pursuit when you were working, you won’t be interested in it when you are retired.
That is much like saying that you won’t be a different person. While working, there may not be time or energy to pursue some interests. That’s different than not being interested. If you always wanted to spend a month abroad, now you have the time. If you never wanted to travel, you still won’t want to.
I have always loved dogs, but living alone and traveling extensively, never had one. I’ve had Sparky for a year, and he’s been splendid.
If there is something you have always talked about doing, either do it or forget it.
I bought a camper to take long trips to visit family who don’t live nearby. I haven’t taken a trip like that, and I’m getting close to the point where I either do it or forget it. Retired friends and I take a half-dozen short trips per year. I enjoy that. This year, I either take the long trip or admit I’m never going to.
There are improvements to my house that I’ve always wanted. I want a concrete driveway. It is not as practical now because if I don’t want to plow the driveway, I can just stay home. I either start calling for quotes or forget it.
There are a couple of corollaries that I have adopted.
Say yes to everything.
If friends or family invite me to something or need my help, my default is to say yes. It may or may not work out, but it might. All I risk is time.
A friend invited me to join his group playing Warhammer every couple of weeks. That isn’t a particular interest of mine, but they are a great group of guys and it expands my circle. Another friend invited me to join his group for a trip to Pennsylvania to ride ATV’s. I went, it was fraught with peril, but I didn’t embarrass myself and met a good group of guys. I doubt that I will do that again, but I can if I want, and my friend knows that I’m capable.
My nephew asked me to extract him from Fargo, so I went.
Even if it isn’t fun, it keeps me engaged with other people and experiences.
Call or get together with retired friends on any pretext.
Most of us don’t call many people because we don’t want to interrupt their day. Texting is less intrusive. Retired people are different. We are busy, but what we are doing can usually wait. If a call isn’t convenient, the retiree will say so and call back later.
Texting is less social than calling which is less social than visiting.
If you were wondering about something in which your friend has expertise, call your friend. If you rent a piece of construction equipment, invite people over to help. That’s just more entertaining.