Davidson College Students Tricked Into Saying They Don't Want Socialism

As you can see, almost all of the students don't think it's "fair" that those who work hard should have their GPA lowered, with part of it being "redistributed" to raise the GPA of the students at the low end.

The best part is the reaction that the students had after they realized it was just a hypothetical to make them think about larger issues.

But after students discovered later the petition was a hoax played on them by conservative students in an attempt to illustrate the unfairness of wealth distribution, they hastily called a teach-in at the campus union at which they denounced the effort and vented their frustration.

Some students said the fake petition made them struggle with feelings that they do not belong at Davidson, while others aggressively attacked the video, calling it “oppressive,” “illegally filmed,” and “inflammatory bullsh*t,” according to a video of the April 27 teach-in on Facebook.

So instead of examining their position on redistribution of income as potentially hypocritical, (or at least inconsistent when it comes to other things) these students got mad that they've been tricked into thinking about things.

Everyone is conservative about their own work. Other people's? Eh, not so much.

Movies, Politics, Sports, and Other Randomness

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day. Now it's back to work and the regular routine. I'm going to try and be a bit better with the regular posting, since I sort of fell off the wagon lately. I'll be trying to at least one post a day, even if it's not a big in-depth one.

With that in mind, here are a few of the things I saw recently that were interesting:

1. Bryce Harper charges the mound on Hunter Strickland and goes nuclear. I have to say, I'm all in Harper's corner for this one. Strickland is upset about something that happened in 2014, and has been nursing a grudge since then? Come on, man. That's just sad. Move on dot org and stuff, bro.

2. In other violence related news, Democrats and Republicans in the Texas statehouse did their own version of the Sharks and the Jets fighting it out. In true Texas form, threats of gun-play are prominently featured.

3. Watch this trailer for the movie Lucky Logan. No, seriously. If you haven't already seen it, stop reading this, click the link, and watch teh trailer. It's worth the price of admission just to hear Daniel Craig (Yes, James Bond) cast as a redneck southerner with what my ear detects to be a high Alabama redneck accent. The man has some serious acting chops.

3. In news of the ironic, Germany's PM Angela Merkel said the "U.S. No Longer a Reliable Ally for Europe" which is pretty rich if you consider that it's all the European countries who aren't actually spending the agreed upon amount of GDP on their military. Maybe it's a good thing that Merkel said this, maybe Germany and the rest of the NATO members will decide to actually spend some money on defense rather than just being free riders.

4. In other baseball related news, USC Athletic Director (and former baseball coach) Ray Tanner has to decide whether or not Holbrook keeps the job as head baseball coach after missing the NCAA tournament two out of the last three years. If nothing else, go read the article for the first line.

Here's how I would like to see it play out.

Have a good one, folks.

Wednesday Art Thread

I've been reading Bible stories to our five year old at bed-time, and we skip around a lot, but the story of Daniel in the lions den is one of his favorites.

Personally, I like the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, but I found this nice painting, so we're going with Daniel.

 Daniel's Answer To The King -  Briton Riviere, 1890

Holbrook: "I can get the Gamecocks back to Omaha"

How about try and make it to the field of 64, bro.

If it's a traditional early exit for the Gamecocks at the SEC Tournament, they will be lucky (Lucky!) to make the field of 64 for the NCAA baseball tournament.

(Omaha is the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament)

Friday Art Open Thread

Getting some work done and then going to cook some BBQ in Camden. Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

Come to the Battle of Camden This Weekend!

No, it's not a Revolutionary War re-enactment, it's better. It's a BBQ festival!

The Battle of Camden BBQ Festival, a barbeque contest to benefit the Camden Jaycees’ Annual Stocking Fund, will take place on May 19^th and May 20^th of 2017 at 222 Broad Street in Historic Camden, South Carolina.  The event will include a Chicken Wing Competition on Friday Night, barbeque from some of the finest BBQ Competitors in the Southeast on Saturday, delicious food and drink from local vendors, and live music both days.

This is a Battle with a Purpose: The festival is hosted by the Camden Jaycees, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of the most disadvantaged citizens in Kershaw County by providing meals and toys to families during the Christmas season.

I'll be out there cooking with some friends, so if you make it out there, feel free to stop by our area and say hello. It's BBQ for a good cause; doesn't get much better than that.

Will RompHims Catch on This Summer?

No. No, they will not.

I know that every so often, something comes along that is supposed to be the Next Big Thing, but this is not going to be it. I'm not sure what problem these folks were trying to solve with men's clothing, but this is not the answer.

First, there's no problem with men's clothing. We have shirts, pants, and (if it's hot and we're feeling casual) these things called shorts. They're like pants, but shorter, so you can stay cool.

There's really no need to combine the shorts and shirt into one item. It's really not necessary. I've never heard a guy say: "Bro, what I could really use is a shirt and and shorts item that is just one thing. This whole two pieces of clothing thing is so overwhelming and stressful."

Sorry Buzzfeed, this is the worst idea in a while.

North Korea: Our new missile can support a "large" nuclear warhead

The thing is, even small nuclear warheads really ruin your whole day.

Erick Erickson: "Shut the hell up, Mr. President" a/k/a The Inverse Rule of Trump

Do you ever find yourself reading something and nodding along the whole time?

Yeah, I did that today with this column from Eric Erickson. Erickson begins by recounting all the breathless reports that have swirled around the Comey firing, and how they've been shown to be  entirely incorrect.

He then makes the point that I think is beyond dispute:

Everything made sense and was justified, despite the partisan outrage. It was defensible, even if the timing looked bad.

But God help us all, the President felt overshadowed. He was subservient to checks, balances, systems, and recommendations. So what did the President do? He lashed out and said he’d made up his mind to fire James Comey even before the Department of Justice recommendation. On top of that, he said he would have fired Comey regardless of Justice’s recommendation.

In one short interview, the President made liars of every single person who mounted a credible defense of the decision — a decision that remains defensible.

But the decision is not defensible if the President did it just because Comey wasn’t loyal to him personally. The decision was not defensible if the President did it because he felt personally offended by the FBI Director.

The President’s behavior is juvenile and asinine. He undermines his Vice President, his communications team, and the very foundational reasons for firing Comey. He can’t help but make it about himself and in so doing he undermines his own integrity in the process.

At some earlier point in the Trump administration, someone else came up with the "Inverse Rule of Trump", and this whole Comey thing is a textbook example.

The Inverse Rule of Trump posits that for everything the Trump Administration does, the less that Trump is directly involved in it, the more successful that action will be. However, the more that Trump is directly involved in an action, the less successful that action will be.

With the Comey firing, everything was pretty defensible until Trump decided to just bigfoot everyone and make it all about himself. Now, Trump is facing even more legitimate criticism about the firing because he's gotten more involved.

Trump needs to take this advice and shut the hell up. Being Trump of course...he won't.

The Proper Way to Observe Confederate Memorial Day

"Wouldn’t it be nice if folks who wanted to have an observation to respect the suffering and deaths of forebears (including several of mine) in the Recent Unpleasantness could come up with something less confrontational as waving those flags around."

Indeed. I'll take the folks who go out to the cemeteries and care for the grounds, place a wreath, and solemnly observe the day over the flag-waving yahoos. It's a memorial day, not a celebration.

Jackson grave site, in Lexington, VA

Here's the statue of Jackson at his grave in Lexington, Virginia. It's a beautiful statue. When I look at it, I don't think of slavery, which has long been (and rightfully so) tossed into the ash bin of history. 

Rather, I think of and remember the man's best attributes: his bravery, resourcefulness, and honor. Also, I don't think Jackson would hold with all these folks yelling and waving flags today. I think he'd rather you say a prayer for the thousands of men who died in a conflict that Shelby Foote called "The crossroads of our being".

Trump fires Comey

Could be because he botched the investigation. Could be because he's pushing the Russia investigation.

Or...with Trump? Could be a situation where he shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

SC Guard Expo at McEntire Flies High

(Video of the finale simulating an airstrike in the joint air-ground operation)

(Video courtesy of Mrs. Permanent Press)

Over the weekend, our family went to the South Carolina Guard Expo at Joint National Guard Base McEntire. In addition to some civilian run airshows, I've been to two other military facilities for airshows: (1) MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Beaufort, and (2) Shaw AFB.

This one was the best air show events I've attended - military or civilian. Yes, the air show in Beaufort had the Blue Angels, and yes, the air show at Shaw had the Thunderbirds. While I will acknowledge that the Blue Angels performance is definitely the best stand-alone performance I've ever seen, taking the whole event into account, the air show this weekend at McEntire was the best one I've ever been to.

The event at McEntire gets top marks because they used the space so well. There were lots of picnic spaces open for relaxing, rather than feeling like you were always in a crowd. They had at least 30-50 (and even that may be a low estimate) static displays all over the place so there was always something interesting to see. They had a dedicated kids area set up with free inflatable bounce houses. Our daughter enjoyed the 246th Army Band's rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In. There were lots of food trucks so there weren't any long lines, and there were plenty of trash cans. The MPs did a good job with the traffic - it was actually the easiest in-and-out of an air show I've ever been to.

As forth the show itself, it was great. The announcer did a wonderful job of telling you all about each aircraft, giving out facts, and telling stories about the pilots that really made me just want to listen to him the whole time rather than going to the bounce house for the kids.

The even really had something for everyone -old WWII warbirds, helicopters, kids activities, modern jets, tanks - even a stinger missile demonstration where you could hold the missile launcher and simulate firing it.

In the end, you can't go wrong with a big ol' explosion for the finale.

Well done, McEntire. Well done.

Full Sgt. Pepper/Star Wars Mashup (For the Win)

This is the best thing that you've seen all year. It's amazing. They did the whole album.

The. Whole. Album.

First Two (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends) This is great. If you don't listen to all of them, at least listen to this one.

The next one (Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds):

(Getting Better)

(Fixing a Hole)

(She's Leaving Home)

(Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!)

(Within You Without You)

(When I'm Sixty-Four) One of my favorites in this mash-up.

(Lovely Rita) This one is pretty good, too.

(Good Morning, Good Morning)

(Sgt. Pepper Reprise/ A Day in the Life) 

South Carolina Family Court Discovery Rule Change

One area of law in which I practice quite a bit is family court litigation. That includes divorces, custody issues, child support, alimony, property division, and all the ancillary matters that go along with these issues.

The jurisdiction for these family law issues takes place in family court, which is separate from common pleas, where almost all other civil litigation takes place. There are lots of differences in how family court operates from common pleas, and most of those differences reflect the different nature of the cases.

One difference which has long been an odd one, is that in family court, you have to get the court to authorize discovery before it can take place. However, discovery is always granted. In fact, I've never had a case where discovery wasn't granted, much less even contested. Nevertheless, it was one of those things you had to specifically ask for, or get the other side to stipulate to.

On the contrary, in common pleas discovery just exists. You do it. You don't have to ask for the ability to engage in it. Accordingly, it sort of was this annoyance that in family court you had to ask for the power to engage in discovery since it was granted as a matter of routine.

Today, the Supreme Court of South Carolina has fixed this issue and moved the family court to where common pleas is. I applaud the decision, and I am glad that this has taken place.

Effective immediately, discovery (pursuant to the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure) is a matter of right in South Carolina family courts.

Study Says "Breastfeeding Should Not Be Called Natural"

No, really.

“Referencing the ‘natural’ in breastfeeding promotion… may inadvertently endorse a set of values about family life and gender roles, which would be ethically inappropriate,” the study says.

I'm not a scientist, but I think that breastfeeding would fall under the category of natural. But then again, I don't really mind if I inadvertently endorse a set of values...that seem to make sense.

Talk about a science denier...