Thursday, September 21, 2017

On Website Formatting/Maintenance, Etc.:
(Musings of your humble servant at Rerum Novarum)

In posting the most recent thread pertaining to the president and the issue of the Iran deal, I found myself thinking of the subject of war and remembered that one of the tags on this page that I have utilized for a long time is the War/WOT/Etc. tag. I remember when the tagging feature was first made available on this platform roughly ten years ago and I set out in piecemeal fashion creating various tags to better categorize posts for easier access and perusal by pertinent subject matter. As is my wont with rough drafts be they in writing or otherwise, the tags initially were longer and I ran into space limits. I noted this not long after posting the first thread on these matters with an expository musing detailing an even further expansion on the tagging method including the distinction between major{1} and minor tags.{2}

Basically, after taking some time in years past to thoroughly categorize every post in my archive, everything eventually was tagged at least in a rudimentary fashion. It took no shortage of time because of a principle I have utilized from day one that I do not purge or otherwise airbrush my archives because of a concern that I have for history being accurately reported, even when the latter is not to my own benefit. Or as I noted when detailing the largest such formatting project of its kind:

Essentially, we would be less than fully honest if we did not admit that there are some postings in the archive which we do not find to be of value anymore for a variety of reasons which we are not going to delve into at the moment[...] except to note one significant reason which went into this determination.

For you see, your host has refused to purge his archives of stuff which in retrospect he regrets posting. Part of the reason for this is principles as we have been critical of others for trying to airbrush the historical record at their own sites to avoid telling the truth about their past actions or statements in a given point of time. But another reason is that life itself is a process of growth and development across a broad continuum. This includes weblog writing and interests.

We have no problem admitting that it took a bit of time before this weblog really started to take a discernible shape and some of the features and/or principles which have become standard or typical over time were in the "finding their feet" stage early on. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa May 15, 2007)]


In the interest of fairness, I have to note that I later made exactly four exceptions to the above rule in the interest of attempting to foster a greater atmosphere of both civility as well as charity. And while all the effort I put into that endeavour was unfortunately not appreciated or reciprocated by those for whom it was intended; it would be less than honest if I did not admit to the above exceptions to my general rule. But that is neither here nor there as I am getting off the general point of this posting; ergo, let us return to it now.

After finally getting a general pattern of tagging down, I had to later on do a mess of reformatting to condense a number of tags as I found space constraints in this area to have hit a kind of critical mass. Today's revisions are much less extensive; however, as it was a stretch of years since anything of this sort was undertaken, it seemed appropriate to explain my rationale a bit at this time.

So as I posted a thread yesterday which could indirectly pertain to the subject of war, I found myself thinking the previous tag which I created for that subject was to a certain extent obsolete at least in my mind. So I decided on the following revision to the pertinent tag which will be obrogated with this posting:

War/WOT/Etc.

That tagging with the publication of the present material has been changed on all previously tagged postings of its type and will henceforth read as follows:

War

I also decided to change the description which from its founding up to the present read as follows:

My musings on ...well...basically whatever I want to muse on...

It will henceforth read:

Musings on whatever I want to muse on...

All things to the contrary notwithstanding.


Notes:

{1} So while the weblog probably will not be close to fully and thoroughly archived until summertime but as it is, the entire weblog has been given a preliminary go-through. While still far from complete, it can now be said that nearly 100% of the posts to this weblog can be broken down into eighteen non-overlapping primary categories. [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa May 15, 2007)]

{2} Taken together, the eighteen categories above comprise by our count 100% of all posts to this weblog as primary categorizations. But besides those primary categories, there are also various additional tags including the following which will at some point be added as applicable to all the various postings on this weblog to which they can be ascertained to apply[.] [Excerpt from Rerum Novarum (circa May 15, 2007)]

{3} I go over this matter in the following thread:

Commemorating A Controversial Anniversary (circa August 17, 2017)

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Trump: I’ve Decided What To Do On The Iran Deal, But …

In the words of that great western philosopher Meatloaf "What's it gonna be boy, yes or no?"
A Way Out for Democrats: The President Offers a Deal

Here is just a taste of the article, click on the link above for the rest...

"...What is extraordinary about this is the fact that the social-policy program could be readily embraced by the Democratic Party consistent with its heritage and mission. But there is a hitch; the president proposes to make a deal. All the Democratic Party would have to do in exchange is to accept some modest tax and trade proposals and give up its identity politics. The master of the “art of the deal” has shaped a scenario in which the Democrats in Congress could throw the Republicans completely on their heels by embracing the Trump agenda and paving the way to re-brand Trumpism as old-fashioned Democratic policy. 

But the cost! The cost! No more identity politics! That is what it would mean to resume the authority to represent the great American middle. President Trump crafted his inaugural address as if he was very consciously aware of this and thus for its very sake. That is the meaning of his assertion, “When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.” To the progressive Left, it has been the case for some time that patriotism is simply a screen for racism. They would have to abandon that posture to strike a deal with the president. Would the Democrats strike a bargain that could pave the road to their return to dominance? Or will they cling to the cul-de-sac approach that has for the moment grounded them? That is the question of the hour..."
Points to Ponder:

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. [Alexander Hamilton]

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

When the U.S. Almost Went to War With North Korea

Demonstrators Shout Down Pelosi At San Francisco DREAM Act Event

To be clear: if anything is done with DACA{1}, those folks should be kissing our feet for being so generous.

For those who want to act like spoiled children, you could always be shipped somewhere else, remember that!

Note:

{1} Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Points to Ponder:

To a degree unprecedented in human history, super-majorities in the West experience few impediments to earning and accumulating wealth—other than those they (or their parents) impose by ill-considered uses of their freedom (which turn out to be significant, often insuperable impediments). Age-old expectations of marriage and children have become choices. We can even choose to become male or female. In this context, voting for a 'socialist' does not mean signaling a return of Marxism. It reflects the fact that, thirty years after the end of communism, some voters haltingly recognize that our freedom must be directed toward enduring ends if it is to serve something higher than itself. And in our age, which has taken economics to be the key to almost everything, that intuition naturally comes into focus with calls for limits on economic freedom.

Retro-socialism is a dead end. But in the absence of alternatives that promise stability and relief from the existential exhaustion of perpetual dynamism, Sanders, Corbyn, and others on the left are likely to garner support. The same can be said for populist sentiments that endorse nationalist economic policies of protectionism and subsidies that fly in the face of free market principles.

Michael [Novak] was right in his time, but times have changed. The truth about the human person has a side other than the one that seeks dynamism and openness. This side requires permanence, not in the superficial form of a frozen status quo, but rather in ends, purposes, and projects to which we can entrust our loyalty. This side of the human person has gone unfulfilled in recent decades. Today’s crisis is one of reliable loves.

It is time, therefore, to set aside the notion that the problems we face in the West can be solved by stiffer doses of economic freedom. In parts of Asia, Africa, and other areas of the world, this prescription has merit. But here it’s pure homeopathy. What we need is quite different. [R.R. Reno (circa September 10, 2017)]
A few busybodies have destroyed a dream for NYC

Radical environmentalists are among the spawn of Satan!