Briefly...

I have been remiss in not welcoming Kevin Tierney back to the wasteland. 

Points to Ponder:

While one should never be rash and should always strive towards both ethics and prudence; at the same time, if someone can never define a hill on which they are willing to die, they do not really understand what it means to live. [Circa 9/23/20]

Alex the Chick on Stare Decisis

Dulce Et Decorum Est:

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori. [Wilfred Owen]

The News as We Once Knew It Is Dead

Well, it is not as if this sort of thing is new{1} but it really has reached previously unfathomable depths the past few years. I do not see how it can possibly get any worse than it is now but then again, I thought that when writing the post in the footnote below and look where we are now.

Note:

{1} To note one example from our archives in years past:

On the Subject of "Deep Throat", the Correlative Ramifications Thereof, Etc (circa 

June 1, 2005)

Points to Ponder:

Silence is argument carried on by other means. [Ernesto "Che" Guevara]

Supreme Court says Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87

The Band’s Robbie Robertson: “If there was anything wrong with ‘The Last Waltz’ it was that the cocaine wasn’t very good”

Responding to critics, Vatican clarifies Pope Francis’ new encyclical is addressed to both men and women

You’ll die at sea.
Your head rocked by the roaring waves,
your body swaying in the water,
like a perforated boat.
In the prime of youth you’ll go,
shy of your 30th birthday.

Departing early is not a bad idea;
but it surely is if you die alone,
with no woman calling you to her embrace:
“Let me hold you to my breast,
I have plenty of room.
Let me wash the dirt of misery off your soul.” [Abdel Wahab Yousif]

Cigars International Opens Second Texas Location

Cigars International has been my main go to source in recent years for premium cigars. 

Cigar Thoughts, Week 1: Russell Wilson cooks the Falcons

Briefly...

Whatever else one thinks about him, President Donald Trump has now had more success by far in Middle East peace than Barack Obama or George W. Bush ever did. Israel has signed peace treaties with the United Arab Emirates (August) and now Bahrain (September). Oman is apparently next up. If that deal is inked say in October, that would be three Middle East peace treaties in three months. It would make not giving him a Nobel Peace Prize look pretty damn foolish since they gave one to Obama just for winning a presidential election and before he basically did to the Middle East what Antifa has been doing to Portland in recent months.

Points to Ponder:

For those who want to talk about prayer in the absence of doing something themselves, I have these ancient words of wisdom for you: "work as if everything depends on you, and pray as if everything depends on God." Note which of the two is listed first in the sequence. Prayer is fine of course but if you do nothing, you will get nothing: if memory serves that is the pattern of events in the Bible too. [Me (circa September 13, 2009)]

Points to Ponder:

Lord, take me where You want me to go; let me meet who You want me to meet; tell me what You want me to say, and keep me out of Your way. [Fr. Mychal Judge (d. 9/11/01)]

"None Dare Call It A Volokh Conspiracy" Dept.

To revisit an old segment once run on this humble website at sundry times and in divers manners, we have the this recent piece on the latest list of Supreme Court justice candidates announced by President Trump. Just a snippet to whet the appetite, click on the above link for the rest...

In May 2016, President Trump released his first short list for the Supreme Court. At the time, I was cautiously optimistic about the eleven names on the list. There were two names missing from that list: Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. At the time, those omissions did not bother me. But it surely bothered these two judges, and their boosters. In September 2016, Trump added ten more names to the list, bringing the total to twenty-one. Neil Gorsuch was added to the list. Brett Kavanaugh was not. In January 2017, Trump nominated Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Fast forward to November 25, 2017, President Trump added five new names to the list. Now, Kavanaugh was added to the list. At this point, it was obvious why the five other names were added: to bring Kavanaugh into the fold. And after Justice Kennedy retired in June 2018, Kavanaugh was tapped to the Supreme Court...

Jadeveon Clowney back isn’t a big blow 

Let’s be honest — the Seahawks failed their off-season test

Seahawks’ quest to improve pass rush severely underwhelms

Points to Ponder:
(On the Far Left and the Far Right)

It is like the far left and the far right both ignore exactly half of the old "sins crying to God for vengeance", most specifically the half that is inconvenient to them.

The far right is all righteous about abortion and sodomy but does not give a shit about oppression of the poor or defrauding labourers of just wages.

The far left is all righteous about the latter two but do not give a shit about the former two.

Both are 50% wrong while prancing around as More Moral Than Thou presuming to pronounce on the eternal damnation of those who disagree with them.