tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post7522853903210444863..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: S.N.A.F.U.Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76333240878443148802012-11-09T11:54:03.026-08:002012-11-09T11:54:03.026-08:00Van,
Thank you, thank you. In looking for an old...Van,<br /><br />Thank you, thank you. In looking for an old article I had read a while back, I stumbled onto this blog:<br /><br />http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/blending-sustainability-and-education-to-gain-arational-nonlinear-minds-and-new-behaviors/<br /><br />Very appropriate photo at the top.<br /><br />Thank you very much for the links. I'm going to check them all out. I have a lot of reading to do.<br /><br />It's heatening to know it's not an impossible task.Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77631324118291588432012-11-09T11:52:01.755-08:002012-11-09T11:52:01.755-08:00Van,
Thank you, thank you. In trying to find an ...Van,<br /><br />Thank you, thank you. In trying to find an old article on Common Core, I stumbled onto this:<br /><br />http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/blending-sustainability-and-education-to-gain-arational-nonlinear-minds-and-new-behaviors/<br /><br />It's a very good blog on the whole subject with the perfect photo at the top. <br /><br />Thanks very much for the links. I will check them all out. I have a lot of reading to do. <br /><br />It is heartening to know that there are already people engaged in this battle and that it is not impossible. Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37919636449920338272012-11-09T07:31:22.857-08:002012-11-09T07:31:22.857-08:00Chris M said " Bill Ayers' Common Core Cu...Chris M said " Bill Ayers' Common Core Curriculum, which my husband describes as "making little sceptics," and I call, "producing feral children.""<br /><br />And which I call downright evil, and in its roots, the source of the world we face today. <br /><br />Heh, you've no idea how many thousands of words are fighting to fly out of my figertips at the mention of that. In one of my earlier comments on this page, I ref'd this: "<a href="http://www.missourieducationwatchdog.com/2012/11/how-did-we-get-here_4625.html" rel="nofollow">posted a decent, short, snopsis of that today</a>", which is from a post by some friends of mine who run "Missouri Education Watchdog". Gretchen & Annie have been working with parents, teachers and others from around the country who've reluctantly become activists, trying to wake up school boards & legislators to the fraud which that, and Race To The Top, are.<br /><br />And believe it or not, as discouraging as the going has been, they have had a surprising amount of success. It is well worth reading through their posts and following their links; comment or send them an email (pretty sure it's on their page), and they can probably put you in touch with someone in your area willing and able to give pointers on what to look out for and how to combat it.<br /><br />Or for a few thousand of my words that I've already let fly on the subject, <a href="http://blogodidact.blogspot.com/2011/03/our-school-curriculums-rotten-common.html" rel="nofollow"> Our School Curriculum's Rotten Common Core - pt.1"</a>Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76122022267966266292012-11-09T06:23:31.631-08:002012-11-09T06:23:31.631-08:00Thanks for the replies NoMo and Van. Van as you w...Thanks for the replies NoMo and Van. Van as you were picking up your returning soldier, we were driving to the Army recruiter office with our oldest to hear a discussions of his options. He is interested in joining the Army, like his dad, before him. <br /><br />We went to the school board meeting last night, arrived late, and walked in just as the board was finishing up an enthusiastic discription of Bill Ayers' Common Core Curriculum, which my husband describes as "making little sceptics," and I call, "producing feral children." Ugh.Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22216174883789644782012-11-08T16:59:52.794-08:002012-11-08T16:59:52.794-08:00Jack said "a recommendation may be worth--the...Jack said "a recommendation may be worth--the book "A Canticle for Leibowitz" as I think it is very relevant to our situation"<br /><br />Agreed, an excellent book. Just read it in whole this summer. Bitter sweetly loved it.<br /><br />"One who's goal is to keep the great achievements of Western Civilization alive. I think it should be as compressed as possible and widely distributed."<br /><br />Although saddled with the vagaries of electronic media, you can request a complimentary copy of the Portable Library of Liberty DVD - which is one of the best online sources for the learned wealth of Western Civilization, from the <a href="http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1607&Itemid=352" rel="nofollow">Online Library of Liberty</a>.<br /><br />Similarly for Project <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_CD_and_DVD_Project" rel="nofollow">Gutenberg.org</a>, which has an even wider and larger selection... their target is digitizing everything ever printed, and they are well on their way to achieving it.<br /><br />And... if you look at my profile pic, you can see I've got one hardcopy copy of the greats of Western Civ (and another copy in our guest room/bunker).<br /><br />Spread it. <br /><br />When the improving economy succeeds in tanking the company I'm working with now, I'm going to use my unemployed time to finally finish the e-reader/teaching app I've been envisioning for a decade - the hardware is finally here (the new crop of Windows, Android & Apple tablets) to make it practical... wish me... luck. ahem.<br />Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79534846035964875772012-11-08T15:01:41.047-08:002012-11-08T15:01:41.047-08:00This may be stating the obvious but it is the best...This may be stating the obvious but it is the best I can do. I think it is incumbent upon all of us to find ways we can keep the torch lit when and if future generations desire to live as free people again. <br /><br />Part of that is to pass the tradition on from person to person. Children are an obvious way. Though not limited to one's offspring. Basically to live as a remnant or in the catacombs, even if also in plain sight.<br /><br />In my darker moments I am afraid this may not be enough. I will once again recommend--for all such a recommendation may be worth--the book "A Canticle for Leibowitz" as I think it is very relevant to our situation, though the particulars may be somewhat different.<br /><br />This may sound a bit crazy, but I think that there is a need for a new monasticism. One who's goal is to keep the great achievements of Western Civilization alive. I think it should be as compressed as possible and widely distributed.<br /><br />Also, I don't think the Western Canon can depend on the survival of the humans guarding it. It should be hidden yet still ultimately accessible when it is eventually(?) needed again.<br /><br />That's the best I've got so far. Needs more thought. Maybe it's too crazy to work. Maybe there isn't enough time. Yet, I think it's something I would like to dedicate the rest of my time here to achieving.Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708393262849661076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-28302524055207013932012-11-08T09:45:04.377-08:002012-11-08T09:45:04.377-08:00Van, thanks. I meant truly no disrespect by it. I ...Van, thanks. I meant truly no disrespect by it. I don't see yours as as a quirk. I see it as a very important role.<br /><br />and Julie:<br /><br />"and this is what may convict me in their eyes"<br /><br />Yes. And truly the BEST days we've spent together. They know not...<br />I know they'll forgive me someday.<br />Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-60474967955350821772012-11-08T08:29:10.632-08:002012-11-08T08:29:10.632-08:00Rick, "She didn't change. I did on 6/11. ...Rick, "She didn't change. I did on 6/11. I am very sad to see her at her age and in this age like that. She knows no better. My friends who voted "against me" the other night. And against themselves. I tried to talk to them. In very brief-, polite-, sober-, simple logic-ways. The absolute basics. They could not hear it. They cut it off. "<br /><br />Yes, that's what I experienced, too. This is the first time an election has had the possibility of coming between me and family. Not because I want it to, nor because I am bitter, but because certain of them are like you said, and one in particular has taken the step of taking our political ideas as an implication that my husband and I might be very bad people. I wouldn't care what he thinks, except that he's married to someone important to me, and as such she may take his side. And for my part, I admit that all of this - the inability to acknowledge any good character or motive in those with whom one politically disagrees - does make me think less of them. <br /><br />She taught me better than that.<br /><br />All the things my family has been through over the years, and this is what may convict me in their eyes. And this, too, is part of the world my kids will inherit. This, too, is part of the sadness.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-47674160784638225252012-11-08T08:26:18.257-08:002012-11-08T08:26:18.257-08:00Rick said "I've read 100 times more books...Rick said "I've read 100 times more books, the kinds of books we read here, history, you name it, all the good ones, since I found this place on 27 Jan 2007 than I had my whole life previous. I don't need more Hillsadale lectures (no offense)"<br /><br />Certainly no offense taken here. I enjoy seeing the different ways people present the same information I learned a gajillion years ago (and teaching those same basic ideas myself... over and over and over again), but I realize that's a quirk that's far from the norm.<br /><br />And Yep on the rest of your comment.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57158805657077317722012-11-08T08:05:27.030-08:002012-11-08T08:05:27.030-08:00Nomo said "It means something that Bob Dylan ...Nomo said "It means something that Bob Dylan was right and the GOP pundit experts were wrong." I haven't gone into the details myself yet, but it seems that it turns out that the voter turnout was significantly less than in 2008, for Dems, <i>and even worse</i> for Reps. Think about that. There were a lot of people who, even last election cycle, said that they'd never vote for Romney because of the obvious lack (even violation) of those core principles that conservatives typically look for.<br /><br />I looked beyond that, deciding that even if I couldn't vote <i>for</i> Romney/Ryan, I needed to oppose Obama via Romney/Ryan, and I did my best to convince others that that was the right thing to do. <br /><br />And the GOP assumed everyone would do that as well, because they would have <i>no other option</i>. They felt so confident in that, that they muscled grassroots and Ron Paul types, etc, out of leadership positions and input, during the RNC convention. <br /><br />I can't tell you how many people that p/o'd, and they all vowed "You'll be sorry!".<br /><br />If you total up the ballots this week, the largest ever turnout of Libertarian votes (which would have secured the election, had they gone for Romney/Ryan), it's apparent that voters didn't see that they had 'no other option'. They either stayed home, or voted libertarian.<br /><br />Even more telling, in my state, Missouri, we had a candidate, Todd Akin, who shoved his foot so deep into his mouth that he booted himself out of an untouchable lead against the Dem incumbent. Romney/Ryan swept Missouri by huge margins... but looking at the ballots, there were a large percentage of those who voted for Romney/Ryan, that didn't even vote for the libertarian candidate in the senate race (who is a felon, druggie, twit), but skipped the Senate vote entirely.<br /><br />There's a message in there for the GOP... which has a very real possibility of vanishing in the very near future.<br />Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15840720940593388882012-11-08T07:39:42.371-08:002012-11-08T07:39:42.371-08:00Sorry, had to scoot.
Thanks, Julie.
I don't w...Sorry, had to scoot.<br />Thanks, Julie.<br /><br />I don't want to give the wrong impression. I'm not thinking of packing up. Going to live somewhere pretending it's 1918 or pick a year. Well, to be precise, I'm thinking <i>through</i> it. I see some common thing in the people I mentioned who "separated". Like the Obama phone lady looks like she's holding the golden calf. That's what it looks like to me. She didn't change. I did on 6/11. I am very sad to see her at her age and in this age like that. She knows no better. My friends who voted "against me" the other night. And against themselves. I tried to talk to them. In very brief-, polite-, sober-, simple logic-ways. The absolute basics. They could not hear it. They cut it off. They're too invested. It wasn't sour grapes with me when I lost the other night. I think Romney was the perfect candidate for that time and these people. That was the tipping point. When the perfectly reasonable guy - when the other side could not hear him, that was the tipping point.<br /><br />I've read 100 times more books, the kinds of books we read here, history, you name it, all the good ones, since I found this place on 27 Jan 2007 than I had my whole life previous. I don't need more Hillsadale lectures (no offense) -- not compared to the folks who voted on the other side. That's my point. I've got plenty of work to do to me, but it's not the Hillsdale basics. They need the basics. They're dying of thirst and they don't know it.<br /><br />How would Noah live in this age. That's what I'm trying to do. Today.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81692543619799564092012-11-08T07:19:02.173-08:002012-11-08T07:19:02.173-08:00Chris_M "I had a sinking feeling when I heard...Chris_M "I had a sinking feeling when I heard the third debate on the radio. " <br /><br />Chris, I had the same reaction. I was driving to the airport & back to pick up our oldest (just returned from deployment), and listening only to their voices, all I heard were the missed opportunities and the weakness of the responses... not only the lack of fight, the the absense of a sense of something being there to fight for.<br /><br />Depressed the heck out of me.<br /><br />That's about when I tuned out and just went through the motions as needed.<br /><br />Regarding the bandwidth issue with Hillsdale, no I haven't noticed it being any different than something such as YouTube. They've got a channel on YouTube btw, chalk full of goodness.<br />Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-14958886769720452602012-11-08T07:02:01.250-08:002012-11-08T07:02:01.250-08:00Chris, ditto. It means something that Bob Dylan wa...Chris, ditto. It means something that Bob Dylan was right and the GOP pundit experts were wrong.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-3974662847540777862012-11-08T06:30:26.853-08:002012-11-08T06:30:26.853-08:00I helped count absentee ballots in my county the o...I helped count absentee ballots in my county the other night. All the Republicans were ahead in those counts. I was quietly happy about that. But I felt inexplicably subdued when I went home and I went straight to bed, without consulting any news. I think I already knew somehow. <br /><br />I had a sinking feeling when I heard the third debate on the radio. (We have no tv.) I was not looking at the appearances of the candidates. I was listening to their words, and my heart sank when Romney didn't fight. Other than that, I think he and Ryan did as well as could be expected. I feel no amnosity towards them. <br /><br />On the morning after election night, I woke up and I heard John Paul Jones words in my head: "I have not yet begun to fight." <br /><br />And that's the way I feel about all of this. I have not yet begun to fight. (And I have fought long and hard these last few years.) <br /><br />Doc Zero/Selwyn Duke @ American Thinker says we have to change the culture. I'm doing that tonight by sitting in on the school board meeting. My husband says no to homeschooling, and his arguements makes sense, so we're working where we can. <br /><br />Van, does the online course take up a lot of bandwidth? I have been so wanting to take Hillsdale courses online. Could I use the WiFi at the library or McDonalds?Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73972894970227634562012-11-08T06:29:38.464-08:002012-11-08T06:29:38.464-08:00I read a quote somewhere that things reveal themse...I read a quote somewhere that <i>things reveal themselves in passing away</i>. That describes the sadness for me. You can't truly know what you've got -- or had -- until its gone.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-24357771269294723592012-11-08T06:23:00.828-08:002012-11-08T06:23:00.828-08:00Van-
Thank you for the Hillsdale link! I have jus...Van-<br /><br />Thank you for the Hillsdale link! I have just signed myself up. Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708393262849661076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-56643910436088509602012-11-08T06:18:34.838-08:002012-11-08T06:18:34.838-08:00Rick - yes, just so. Rick - yes, just so. juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38464422307694148282012-11-08T06:01:21.212-08:002012-11-08T06:01:21.212-08:00Heh - Mayans: Quit exploiting our calendar! It'...Heh - <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gywyFBlDnkiDery2-7rJ3p_bh4Yw" rel="nofollow">Mayans</a>: Quit exploiting our calendar! It's not the end of the world, it's just that everything is going to change!juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25005563561585355202012-11-08T05:57:52.717-08:002012-11-08T05:57:52.717-08:00Thank you, Sal.
The night before, when it all wen...Thank you, Sal.<br /><br />The night before, when it all went down, I was sad in a strange way. My wife went to bed and I told her I would be right up, but I kept finding myself stopping. Like, stopping in the middle of the kitchen. Then in the hallway on the way to the bathroom. Then leaning with my back against the counter.<br />Yesterday was release of emotion. We can't fault for that. Only if it lasts for 4 years. We're not the type to remain that way.<br />But I've been trying to figure out what precisely I was sad about.<br />The next day I really didn't want to be around anyone but my wife. I went to work and worked and it was good therapy. To think about something else. Since then I think the sadness was for my son. If I'd had kids it would be for them. But what was it? It was that, and I've been knowing it, that's why a write about the world my father-in-law knew. What stories, and mind you, he's not a story-teller, he would just tell me little things when he was reminded of them. He wasn't trying to teach me. His life was very much like a Norman Rockwell painting. When he told how when he was a boy in Fall River many of the streets were unpaved. When he went swimming with the boys they stripped their clothes and jumped into the river from a tree limb. They would swim across the Taunton River. Which must be half a mile if not a full mile.<br />The sadness for my boy was that he wasn't going to know the America I knew as a boy. I grew up in the 70s and maybe it felt like this for my parents. I remember the gas lines and the odd and even license plate days. But otherwise I was very insulated from what was going on. It was good to be nine. And to be insulated. My son though was nine on 9/11. More or less.<br /><br />Nothing happened on 6/11. Maybe we can use that as our Jesus Fish scratched in the sand - to let the other know "I'm one of you.". The quickening was always going on. On 6/11 it just got quicker.<br />Where?<br />In our eyes. It became actual. We saw it no longer as only a vision. But the other side was doing what they've been doing all along. If we'd have won on 6/11 we would not have seen it. Things would have gone on, right along with all those on the other side who, forgive them Father, they know not what they do."<br />Maybe that's what Bill Whittle meant when he said in his video that, "No. America was BORN last night." But I've only watched about 10 minutes of it so far.<br /><br />Alright, so what do we do about it. I don't know yet. What do you do during a quickening quickening?<br /><br />A recent thought, since I've been seeing a lot of people on our side being called unpatriotic, and cowards for suggesting they feel like leaving the country or really, to move to a red state, or to the hills or whatever. I wish I was that kind of coward. Anyway, if they are unpatriotic or cowards, so were the people on the Mayflower and Noah, those who wrote our Constitution, or anyone who goes to a church. Noah gathered what was good. Noah preserved.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-23505824197587675152012-11-08T05:11:59.403-08:002012-11-08T05:11:59.403-08:00Our parish just had the nephew of the late Cardina...Our parish just had the nephew of the late Cardinal Kung to lecture.<br />Although most didn't say it, we were taking mental notes, in a "things to come" kind of way. What I find most disorienting about all this is that I now calmly think things and consider possibilities I would have mercilessly hoorawed myself for before.<br /><br />Singing before the lions- might have to go on the fridge, next to Bob's quote about avoiding the infrahuman tide of ugliness.<br /><br />Thanks, all. OC is a tonic and a refuge.<br /><br />Salhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13201226644704622876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-43453312837492407612012-11-07T21:28:12.560-08:002012-11-07T21:28:12.560-08:00Jules said "Sent her " the secret knowle...Jules said "Sent her " the secret knowledge" by mamet to expose her to a different viewpoint."<br /><br />Excellent choice; lots to chew on in that, and flavorful as well.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-69220800505362723882012-11-07T21:26:21.778-08:002012-11-07T21:26:21.778-08:00Gagdad said "I would be overjoyed if he were ...Gagdad said "I would be overjoyed if he were to attend a place like Hillsdale."<br /><br />You and me both. As an alternative, their online courses, especially on the constitution, are not only top-notch, but enjoyable.<br /><br /><a href="https://constitution.hillsdale.edu/" rel="nofollow">Hillsdale online courses</a><br /><br />Hillsdale's President, Larry Arn's book "The Founders Key", is also one of the best, and briefest, overviews of not only the Constitution, but human nature.<br />Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-60068614704123027762012-11-07T20:01:04.299-08:002012-11-07T20:01:04.299-08:00We all know the John Adams quote:
“Our Constituti...We all know the John Adams quote:<br /><br />“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” <br /><br />Where are the morality and religious levels at across the fruited plain? Are we still above the level required to keep our republic?EbonyRaptorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02483546359869912858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72959959515091374432012-11-07T19:46:39.178-08:002012-11-07T19:46:39.178-08:00Is a catacomb culture unavoidable? Rene Guenon ins...Is a catacomb culture unavoidable? Rene Guenon insisted that we are in the grips of the Reign of Quantity. I've been wondering if leftism was a forgone conclusion the moment modernity came to be.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04865413665629644313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-24858665167366241062012-11-07T18:00:48.718-08:002012-11-07T18:00:48.718-08:00Apparently college was spiritual boot camp for me....Apparently college was spiritual boot camp for me.I wouldn't be commenting here if I hadn't gone to college.<br /><br />That being said, it had nothing to do with anything the college actually taught and more to do with my associates there.<br /><br />The guy across the hall from me became a Benedictine monk.<br /><br />However, for the most part, college was a complete waste of time.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126071014909954387noreply@blogger.com