Then and Now; Two Marines in Okinawa - About a Half Century Apart

I was thinking about my father-in-law today. He's not doing so well. Here's a picture of him from a long time ago, back when he was in Okinawa.

My Father-in-Law, James Barber, in Okinawa in the early 1960s

And just for perspective, time-capsule purposes, here's a picture of one of my friends, Steve, from earlier this year in Okinawa, celebrating the USMC's Birthday.

My friend, Steven Kasdan (center) in Okinawa a few weeks ago

Anyway, keep my father-in-law in your prayers.

Social Justice Warriors Change Lyrics to "Baby It's Cold Outside"

Most notably, when Liza sings, “I ought to say no, no, no,” Lemanksi responds with “You reserve the right to say no.”

Progressive aren't happy unless they are banning/prohibiting something fun, huh? The Puritans called and said, "Whoa, back off, dudes!"

Also, I always thought the song was pretty clear that she's fine with the idea of staying but is trying to put up a plausible resistance to save her reputation. But maybe that's just my privilege showing.

Whatever. These people annoy me so much (and I don't even really like this song that much). Here's the version I like best.

Happy Monday

Open Thread. I'm working on things.

Why Mattis Makes a Great Pick for Secretary of Defense

It looks like it's going to be the "Warrior Monk" for Secretary of Defense.

Here's why I think Mattis will be an excellent Secretary of Defense:

First, Mattis is going to stop/reverse the idiotic social engineering that gets put on the armed services. He's not going to be worried about the politically correct stuff.

Second, I think he's going to be pushing for sensible ROE policies for the men and women who are at the tip of the spear. If we send an Iowa kid into some hell-hole on the far side of the world, he's going to make sure that the kid from Iowa has rules in place to engage the enemy that make sense.

Oh, and he cares about his Marines. Go find the story that everyone will be telling you in the next few days and weeks about Mattis and Christmas guard duty. Just remember I told you here, first.

Third, I think he's going to honestly focus on war-fighting and making the military the best that it can be at killing the enemy and breaking their things. That's what the military does, campers - it's there to kill people and break things. The military isn't there to be some social experiment, or be some progressive enclave of social justice. However, Mattis is going to try and avoid conflict if possible because he knows the cost. He's seen it firsthand. But, as he's said, "there are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot".

Fourth, he's also going to do this job with a sense of history, so he's not going to ever find himself at a loss for a sense of how things can go wrong. He's such a student of history, he carried his own personal copy of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius throughout his deployments.

Finally, and most importantly, he's going to tell things to his boss (the President) like it is. He's not going to live in a fantasy world, he's not going to hide the truth, and he's not going to avoid the hard questions. I think President Trump is getting someone in Mattis who is not going to be intimidated by the oval office and try and cover things up or mask the hard choice. Mattis is too smart for that, and he's not a political hack. He's a professional war-fighter. Trump is getting someone who will force him to think and make tough decisions rather than provide easy outs.

No, we shouldn't get rid of states: My case for states from over on Brad's Blog

A guy was trying to make the case for getting rid of states. My reply was as follows:

I gave this some thought. I had my two drinks as recommended by the federal government while doing it. After giving it considerable thought, I don’t think it’s a good idea to get rid of states.

Our system of government entirely revolves around the idea of many states working together with a federal government in a balance that can be sometimes frustrating, sometimes inefficient, but ultimately provides for a great deal of diversity and freedom for the people.

We don’t have a “one-size-fits-all” set of laws in all aspects of our lives because the people in different areas of our vast country have different beliefs, cultures, and ideas. Federalism allows us to have these different cultures, beliefs, and ideas flourish together. The people of New York can have very strict gun control, while the people of Wyoming don’t. The people of Texas can have zero income taxes, while the people of Connecticut have high ones. The folks in Louisiana have some really weird real estate laws. (By the by, South Carolina has some weird laws, too.) But that weirdness makes us great.

It’s the motto of our country – e pluribus unum. Out of many…one. At our core, we are many people in one country all living together. We have different cultures, ideas, and beliefs. And this diversity is to be celebrated and protected – even thought it’s not super-efficient. However, as you’ll probably agree: Government isn’t like running a business.

Federalism allows for diversity of culture, ideas, and beliefs. Is it easy? Nope. For example, it’s it a pain in the behind for me to have to understand that the concealed carry laws in South Carolina don’t in another state. However, I respect that the people in New York have a different point of view than I do on this issue, and I don’t begrudge them the right to restrict the carrying of firearms, as wrong-headed as I think their belief might be.

Bud, I think you’re a very passionate person, I know you believe in what you believe in very deeply. That’s why you have such strong reactions to people who don’t share your viewpoint.

If you’ll permit me to give you a bit of friendly criticism, you go wrong when you think that you have a monopoly on what is right and what is good. No one does. That’s why I often in a half-joking way, occasionally state that “I’m just a moron” or “Your mileage may vary” at the end of some of my comments. Half of that is me just joking around. But the other half of it is me realizing that I don’t have the ordained wisdom of perfection in what is right and good.

What flows from your thinking thinking you have a monopoly on the right way of thinking is your desire to simply eliminate states and all the differences that they carry.

My advice is to realize that not everyone shares your exact culture, beliefs, and values – and realize that’s okay. So, let’s keep the states, and our state laws, and our differences.

But hey, I’m just a moron, and your mileage may vary.

Best,

Obama: The Democrats failed because "Fox News in every bar and restaurant in big chunks of the country"

Pardon my language, but the President is being a silly goose.

In this election, [white working class voters] turned out in huge numbers for Trump. And I think that part of it has to do with our inability, our failure, to reach those voters effectively. Part of it is Fox News in every bar and restaurant in big chunks of the country, but part of it is also Democrats not working at a grassroots level, being in there, showing up, making arguments. That part of the critique of the Democratic Party is accurate.

I don't know what kind of bars and restaurants that President Obama has been going to, but all the bars I've ever been to have sporting events on the television. I mean, who in their right mind would go out to a bar and watch news of any kind? And if it's not sports, it's weather. But 99.9% of the time, it's sports.

In other public areas where there are televisions, like airports, it's CNN. (Or sports) A few weeks ago, I traveled via commercial air travel for Thanksgiving. I went from Columbia to Atlanta (you have to go through Atlanta everywhere in the South no matter what) and then on to Shreveport, Louisiana. Guess what is on every single airport television. Yeah, CNN. And in all the airport bars, it was sports.

No one puts Fox News on in public probably because so many leftists would freak out, but more importantly, because no one goes to a bar or restaurant to watch the freakin' news.

Can you imagine: Excuse me sir, I know you and your friends are watching the Notre Dame-Michigan game and drinking some beer, but could we switch it over to Fox News? I understand that a particularly good edition of Hannity is coming on in a few minutes.

Give me a break. This is such a cop-out because Obama is basically saying that the Democrats couldn't get their message out to the people. Apparently, they couldn't break through the Fox News stranglehold of Buffalo Wild Wings - not that people rejected their ideas on the merits.

I guess despite having every other media outlet and all newspapers in America they just couldn't break through the Fox News on the television down at Applebee's.

That's the thing about the Democrats and leftists in general. Nothing is ever their fault. It's bad messaging, or bad optics, or communism just hasn't been tried in the true sense yet by the right people. Nothing is ever actually their fault.

And again, we're talking about one news outlet. One. It's the only media outlet that the left demonizes. You remember the scene from Blazing Saddles where the Governor says, "I didn't get harumph out of that guy!", because one single guy didn't agree with him?

Yeah, that's Obama and the left - pointing at Fox News because it's not harrumphing.

Tim Scott and Trey Gowdy Named to Trump Transition Team

Is this indicative of one (or both of them) possibly getting a position in the administration?

Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Trey Gowdy were both named to positions on the transition team Tuesday.

Scott was named a vice chair of the transition, one of seven named in a release sent out by the Trump team on Tuesday. Four others are also members of Congress. Vice President-Elect Mike Pence is the chairman of the transition.

I can't really see Tim Scott leaving his US Senate seat. He just won an election, so he's got a nice, long six year term. I'm not sure what would tempt someone to leave the US Senate in such a situation.

Gowdy is maybe more of a possibility. He's a great prosecutor and he could be a good fit somewhere in the Department of Justice. Maybe Deputy AG or Associate AG? I could see him leaving Congress for something like that, maybe.

Or is this just not that big a deal?

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article117897243.html#storylink=cpy

Mitt Romney Sums Up 2016 In One Expression

JOHN ANGELILLO/EPA

Mitt Romney went to dinner with Trump tonight and a reporter "happened" to catch them, meaning that someone tipped off the reporter.

You can just feel Romney's embarrassment coming through the photo. I feel you, Mitt. We all do.

It's gonna be a weird four years.

Content Free Music Post

There may be some actual content later. Or maybe not. We'll see how you behave, and then I'll decide.

"I continue to believe it is strategically unwise, but it is a decision you have the right to make."

Said Judge Gergel after allowing Dylan Roof to proceed as his own lawyer. 

I guess we shouldn't be surprised at this development. My guess is he won't have much to say in his own defense.

Monday Morning Headlines

Curran, Charles Courtney. American 1861-1942. Shadow Decoration. 1887.

Good morning, campers! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with lots of good food and time with the extended family. Now it's back to work. Here's a few headlines to get you caught up on some actual news.

1. Fidel Castro is finally dead. Good. He was a murderous tyrant, and the world is a better place without him. Hopefully, the Cuban people can move forward towards freedom.

2. The Clemson football team beat the Gamecocks like Hannibal beat the Romans at Cannae. Yeah, it was that bad. No word yet if Dabo and his team are now preparing to march on Columbia to subdue the capital and complete the victory.

3. Heroes in Blue is kicking off their second "Feed and Officer" campaign. Consider visiting one of the participating restaurants and making a donation.

4. Nikki Haley is going to be the new UN Ambassador. I think she'll do a good job in a tough role, but don't feel too sorry for her. She gets a very nice penthouse in the Waldorf Astoria as her new permanent residence. 

Oh, and here are some tips on how to be a Gentleman. (Also know as just being polite.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Freedom From Want, Norman Rockwell 1940

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Relax, enjoy the holiday with your families and be thankful for all the blessing that you have.

Remember that there are people out there who don't get the day off. From our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines around the world, to local police, firemen, and doctors, all these folks are hard at work making sure that we're safe and secure.

Oh, and we've got some football teams out there practicing, getting ready to entertain us on the gridiron. For instance, Coach Muschamp, when asked if the Gamecocks would be practicing, said "Thanksgiving is a meal, it's not a day." indicating the Gamecock football team would be practicing today.

In all fairness, I thought the meal was the day. On the other hand, the team could probably use the practice.

A Handy Guide For Liberals Who Are Suddenly Interested In Gun Ownership

Yes, there is some snark, but it's also full of actual tips for people interested in gun ownership.

Many of you have been sharing every second hand account, rumor, and urban legend about some random doofus in Somnambulant, Wisconsin or Bumfight, Louisiana, shouting an ethnic slur or spray painting a swastika on a wall. Newsflash, in a country with a third of a billion people, some percentage of them are going to be assholes. I hate to break it to you, but the assholes were there before, and they will be there forever. Just right now the news has a self-serving incentive to report about these assholes in particular.

But Correia! You’re not a marginalized Mexican transsexual Muslim! What do you know!?

I know that anybody can be “marginalized” if they walk into the wrong neighborhood. Violence can happen to any of us, and it does, all the time. Whether your odds of being a victim are good or bad, it still sucks when you draw the short straw and somebody tries to hurt you. Whoever you are, you are correct to be concerned for your safety. Anybody can be attacked, and everybody should be prepared to deal with it.

Go read the whole thing.

The Marine Corps Reading List

Not the first thing you think of when I say "Marine Corps" is it? You might be surprised.

Normally, you don't think of the United States Marine Corps when you think of great reading. Usually the first thing that comes to mind is strong men storming out of amphibious landing crafts storming the beaches to close with and kill the enemy. Maybe you think of their famous assault on Chapultepec in the Mexican War, or Belleau Wood, or Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

In any event, the image of the Marine Corps is one of martial strength, discipline, courage, and commitment. Notably absent there is the virtue of being well-read. However, that's a bit inaccurate.

Did you know the United States Marine Corps has a reading list? Yes, every Marine has assigned books to read based on their rank, and it's phenomenal. At minimum, three books per year are required to fulfill annual reading criteria for all active duty and reserve Marines, officer and enlisted.

Here's a selection of some of the books on the list:

The Killer Angels -Michael Shaara

I'm Staying With My Boys...: The Heroic Life of Sgt. John Basilone, USMC - Jim Prosser

The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

The Marines of Montford Point: America's First Black Marines - Melton McLaurin

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae - Steven Pressfield

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa - E.B. Sledge

Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life - Eric Greitens

Infantry Attacks - Erwin Rommel

Black Hearts - Jim Frederick 

Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It - Ian Leslie

Into the Tiger's Jaw: America's First Black Marine Aviator - Frank E. Petersen

Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions - Gary Klein

We Were Soldiers Once and Young - Harold G. Moore

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society - Dave Grossman

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War - Robert Coram

Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations - Michael Walzer

Assignment Pentagon: How to Excel in a Bureaucracy - Perry M. Smith

The Face of Battle - John Keegan

Diplomacy - Henry Kissinger

Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay

The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War - Robert B. Strassler

Again, this is just a partial list, but look at it. There is everything from the philosophical to the historical, to the abstract, to the in your face awfulness of war. Just even looking at this partial list, how much have you read?

Since I'm always looking for a good book to read, I've decided that I'm going to work my way through the list (after I finish the Aubrey-Maturin Series, of course). Accordingly, just like the Marine Corps is always looking for a few good men, you should always be looking for a few good books.

If you are in need of a good book, the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps has a few suggestions for you.

Carry on.

James Mattis on the State of the World

Happy Monday to all the ladies, gentlemen, scholars, Thanksgiving procrastinators, lawyers everywhere, and all the ships at sea!

This is a short week since the Thanksgiving holiday will be cutting into things, which means I'll be working to get the regular amount of work done in less than the regular time. As Jerry Reed would say, We've got a long way to go and short time to get there.

However, I would encourage you to find some time this week to watch the video below. Right up front, I'll let you know it's long. But hey, not everything is a quick-hitting hot take.

The video is a speech that General (Ret.) James Mattis gave back in 2015 to the Heritage Foundation in which he discusses his view of the state of the world. If you hadn't noticed, Mattis appears to be on the short list for SECDEF in the new administration.

In this lecture, Mattis discusses expansionist Russia, the issues dealing with a muscular China, and he lays out the fundamental question we aren't asking ourselves in dealing with the middle-east, which is preventing the United States from having an overarching strategy.

I highly recommend that you watch this video, if for no other reason, to educate yourself on how the possible new Secretary of Defense views the world. If you aren't as fortunate as me to have wonderful in-laws, you could watch this video over the holiday with some earphones and avoid them for awhile.

Video below the jump

Friday Open Thread

Happy Friday, campers.

Lots of work today, so you're just going to have to enjoy this picture of a dog in a boat. Have a great weekend!

A Great Rogers Hornsby Anecdote

I was re-watching some of Ken Burns' series Baseball last night, and I enjoyed this anecdote about the great hitter, Rogers Hornsby:

Rogers Hornsby - Perhaps the game's best right-handed hitter

Rogers Hornsby, who averaged.400 over five years, and was unquestionably one of the greatest hitters of all-time was facing a rookie pitcher. The pitcher was understanably nervous facing Hornsby at what was the height of his career, and he threw the first three pitches just barely outside the strike zone. However, the rookie pitcher thought that he thought these pitches were strikes and shouted to the umpire as much. The umpire then replied: "Young man, when you throw a strike, Mr. Hornsby will let you know."

Cause and Effect

They raised the minimum wage, but are confused as to why daycare now costs more.

Starting in January, Advent Child Center is increasing tuition about $140 a month per child, taking tuition from $705 to $845 a month, an increase some are not ready to pay. “It just adds to the tightness of general month to month expenditures," said mother Dawn Ellis, who has two children enrolled at Advent Lutheran. The increase is a direct result of the passing of Initiative 1433, increasing statewide minimum wage to $13.50 by 2020.

See, if you require businesses to pay their employees more, the business is going to have to charge more for the service in order to make up for that. That's how it works. It's what people who understand economics have been saying for forever. Here's my favorite part an employee who still doesn't get it.

Kristin Larson, program supervisor at Advent, said that "women and men who work here and go to school and get a degree in early childhood education should be paid a living wage." But the staff does wish that money could come from somewhere else. "I feel the state needs to be helping a little more,” said Larson, “it would be nice if parents didn't have to spend a majority of their paychecks for childcare."

Ms. Larson seems to have decided that the "state" a/k/a everyone paying taxes needs to now pay part of her salary. It's always this way with government intervention into markets. The government intervenes a little bit and then causes a problem. The proposed solution to that problem is additional intervention into the market. And so on, and so on, until the daycare facilities are just run by the state.

Same as what we've been seeing in healthcare. Intervention causing problems in the market and the next proposal is always more and more intervention until we get single-payer.

Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.

UVA Students Beclown Themselves

So I saw this today:

Students Ask U of Virginia President to Stop Quoting Jefferson Because He Owned Slaves https://t.co/9t9m4c8JLR pic.twitter.com/U5av5EheDz

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) November 14, 2016

The key quote from the offended folks is: "For many of us, the inclusion of Jefferson quotations in these e-mails undermines the message of unity, equality and civility that you are attempting to convey."

I knew the social justice warriors of the left had repudiated Andrew Jackson. Apparently, they would like another scalp, and even Thomas Jefferson is not safe to quote by the President of the University that Thomas Jefferson founded.

Bless your heart, kiddos. By the way, we're not laughing at you...wait. Yeah, we're laughing at you.

P.S. This is just another reason why my alma mater of Washington & Lee University is better than TJ's college. Oh, and William & Mary (where Jefferson went to school) is also better

Lots of Work Today - Open Thread

Doing lawyer stuff all day, but I wanted to give y'all an open thread.

To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high!

In Flanders fields the poppies blow 
Between the crosses, row on row, 
That mark our place, and in the sky, 
The larks, still bravely singing, fly, 
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.


-John McCrae

Veterans Day 2016

On this morning 98 years ago, The Great War finally came to a halt. The guns that had first roared in August of 1914 finally fell silent. Although Veterans Day first commemorated this occasion, it is now a day when we recognize all veterans for their service in uniform, whether in combat or peace, and over all branches.

To everyone who has worn our nation's uniform or continues to wear it today, this day is your day for recognition. We all collectively thank you for your service to our country.

United States Marines at Belleau Wood - WWI

November 11, 1918

There's No Crying In Baseball

This morning, I had to take an exam. Well, I didn't have to take it - I chose to take it. For a long while, I'd been procrastinating becoming a title insurance agent, and since my law firm has other agents, it wasn't a big priority. However, I wanted to get certified and it was time.

About two weeks ago, I scheduled the exam for 8:30AM on 11/8 since that was the best time for my schedule this week. I didn't even really think about the fact that I was scheduling an early morning exam the day after the election.

In any event, I wasn't overly worried about the exam. It was essentially an exam about an area of law that I've been practicing in for ten years, so I felt my practical experience was mostly sufficient, combined with a bit of studying while watching returns and drinking wine.

I showed up at 8:00AM as instructed. I didn't know what to expect, and I discovered that there were a bunch of other people there to take various types of state licencing tests. Mostly people were there to take exams for things like general contractors, plumbers, cosmetology, electricians. There were about fifteen other people there for the early exam time. Of those fifteen, I was the only lawyer, and one of two white guys. The average age for everyone was probably about 30. Our group was in good cheer, and we helped each other with the check-in procedures, explaining the line and the forms, and we were all generally happy to be there.

We all had to wait awhile because there was only one proctor, and she checked each person in one at a time. While waiting together in our little room for check-in we all were a bit nervous, but everyone was upbeat, happy, and the general mood was that everyone was taking an exam that was going to improve their career. Everyone was looking forward to making themselves better. Even the proctor was upbeat and wished everyone good luck in a sincere way that made you feel like she had seen lots of people come through there but still cared about seeing people succeed.

By contrast, I saw (via Twitter) a Purdue college student's letter to a professor today, which made me embarrassed for the person who wrote it. Here's the letter:

First, I am profoundly embarrassed for whomever wrote this letter. It's an election and your preferred candidate lost. However, you're in college, not in daycare, so you don't get to cry about the fact that your preference wasn't met. The real world doesn't give you time for yourself when your feelings get hurt.

College is where you're supposed to be challenged. It's not supposed to be a place where you push off your responsibilities because you're sad.

By comparison, the people waiting with me to take exams didn't use an election to ask for an extension. They were ready to improve themselves and move their lives forward. They weren't looking for excuses to avoid hard work. They wanted to work. They wanted to succeed. I was proud to be with them and not with the students at Purdue.

Last Night's Election Results Were Surreal

Wow. Last night's result was surprising.

It now appears that the GOP is going to control the White House and Congress. I hope that the Republicans have learned from the mistakes that Obama and the Democrats made early on - namely, don't overreach. The pendulum always swings back. Remember when everyone was saying that the Republican party was a thing of the past back in 2008?

Let's start small. Maybe with passing a budget. You know, the budget? The thing that the federal government hasn't had for years and years because everyone on both sides has been really stubborn? Yeah, let's do a budget and then go from there. That would be nice.

Yeah. The Democratic party isn't going away. The Republicans can't act like they won't ever have to deal with the Democrats. Hopefully, those years in the wilderness were instructive on how to handle being in charge. The GOP needs to be humble, keep their heads down, govern responsibly, and avoid the hubris that the Democrats couldn't.

All glory is fleeting.

My Election Prediction

Because why not?

Now that I've voted, I thought I would make a prediction. My map is above.

I think it's going to be a late night counting votes in Florida, but I think it will be blue at the end. South Carolina won't be very close, and will easily go red. I also think NC will be very close, but ultimately it will go blue.

After all the surprises in this election, I think the last surprise is that election night is going to be relatively boring.

What do you think? If you want to do your own prediction, you can make one at 270 to win.

My prediction for the next four years?

Election Day 2016 - Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down

Jasper Johns Flag, 1954-55

Either way, this long campaign will be over and half of America is going to be upset. If your preferred candidate loses, try to remember that the Office of the President is not the sole factor in your happiness as a person. We all have our families, friends, and interests outside of politics for that.

Ideally, we would live in a country where the chief magistrate of federal government doesn't affect our lives too directly, but the President has now become an avatar of sorts for our country, and the federal government has its hands in everything. It's easy to be dispirited and go to Negative Town when you get too caught up in politics, so maybe it will be a good thing for the entire country to take a step back from politics so deeply for awhile.

In any event, be of good cheer, you live in the greatest country in the world, no matter who the President is.

Tomorrow Is Election Day - Let's Not Think About It, Shall We?

Let's not think about it, shall we? Here are a few distractions:

JRR Tolkien's WWI Revolver. Pretty cool. I didn't know he was at the Somme.

Sights and sounds from the Missouri/USC game. This Bentley kid is starting to look like the real deal.

A nice reading room. Forget "man caves". You need a library.

There’s been a potential breach of Hillary Clinton’s firewall.

No, not the firewall protecting her private server, I'm talking about the metaphorical one in the electoral college map.

There’s been a potential breach of Hillary Clinton’s electoral firewall. And it’s come in New Hampshire, a state that we said a couple of weeks agocould be a good indicator of a Donald Trump comeback because of its large number of swing voters. Three new polls of New Hampshire released today showed a tied race, Trump ahead by 1 percentage point and Trump up by 5. There are some qualifications here: The poll showing Trump with a 5-point lead is from American Research Group, a pollster that’s had its issues over the years. And other recent polls of New Hampshire still show a Clinton ahead. But the race has clearly tightened in New Hampshire, with Clinton leading by only 2 to 3 percentage points in our forecast. 

If Clinton lost New Hampshire but won her other firewall states, each candidate would finish with 269 electoral votes, taking the election to the House of Representatives. Or maybe not — if Clinton also lost the 2nd Congressional District of Maine, where polls show a tight race and where the demographics are unfavorable to her, Trump would win the Electoral College 270-268, probably despite losing the popular vote.

So there's that. It's amazing that Trump is in a better position to win than either McCain or Romney was at this point, but in all fairness Obama was way tougher competition.

But who knows? Polling is like the point spread in sports. It's sort of a predictor, but you gotta go out and play the game.

Harvard announced on Thursday that it was canceling the rest of the season for its men’s soccer team...

...after Harvard officials discovered that the men's team was rating the female team players on a 1-10 scale based on their looks.

I hate to break it to Harvard, but college-age guys can be...how can I put this? Yeah, we can be juvenile idiots.

But simply being juvenile idiots isn't really a good reason to cancel the team's season. I just don't think the punishment fits the crime here. I'm guessing the real punishment will be that maybe the guys on the soccer team won't have dates for awhile.

That's hitting them where it hurts.

Predictions of Cubs and Trump from FiveThirtyEight

Now, in all fairness, Trump doesn't have the same depth of left-handed pitching that the Cubs do. Accordingly, I still think Hillary is going to win the election.

84% of Americans Have Lost Their Damn Minds

I know because you told me so:

Poll: 46% say @realDonaldTrump is honest and trustworthy, while just 38% say the same of @HillaryClinton. pic.twitter.com/wPMUVZ7HY1

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 2, 2016

I don't care who you vote for. But no matter who you're voting for, don't sit there and tell me your preferred candidate is honest and trustworthy. If you do, you're either lying or you've lost your damn mind.

Halloween 2016

Pictured from left to right: Optimus Prime, Anna, Bumblebee, Elsa

This year, our five year old son decided that he wanted to be Optimus Prime, since he's really into Transformers these days. Our two year old desperately wanted to be Elsa from Frozen, and Mrs. Permanent Press and I decided to let it happen.

The kids are young enough where Halloween is a really fun holiday. I know that eventually, they'll be teenagers and say things like "Dad, dressing up for Halloween is so stupid!". Accordingly, we decided to seize the day and came up with the idea to dress up as our children's characters' sidekicks. 

For our son, since Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots, we found an amazing Bumblebee costume, and Anna was the natural choice for Mrs. Permanent Press. I have to say, it was totally worth it to blow our kids' minds.

A great time was had by all.

Thoughts on the Election

“If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures.” 

-Alexander Hamilton


That pretty much sums up where I am on this whole thing.

Top Five Expressions from the Aubrey-Maturin Series

I am into the eighth book of the series, The Ionian Mission, and I am enjoying the series far more than I expected, and my hopes had been high. Accordingly, I am trying to balance how fast I read the books. One on hand I am trying to go slowly enough to really enjoy the language and the subtleties, while on the other, I am wanting to spread all canvas and fly onward to the next adventure.

One of the best things about these books are the subtle expressions that recur through the characters. For instance, one of Jack's standbys is that he often declaims "There's not a moment to lose!" And often, there isn't. The expressions are a interesting sort of blend of standard English from the early 1800s and the esoteric language of the British Navy in the age of fighting sail. Accordingly, I thought I would rank my top five favorite expressions, with the caveat that I am only slightly more than a third of the way through the entire series.

So here they are, a top five list, High Fidelity style, in order:

Charleston School of Law Has 50% Bar Passage Rate This Year

Technically, it's 50.94%, but whatever. That's abysmal. I don't know what's going on at the Charleston School of Law, but they need to get this number up. I don't know if it's because the school is admitting marginal students, or if the school isn't teaching well, or whatever.

Bottom line, this is bad.

Get it together, Charleston, you're making Columbia look bad.

"The greatest pilot I ever saw" according to Chuck Yeager passed away Tuesday

"Bob Hoover, a pilot who escaped Nazi captivity in a stolen plane, tested supersonic jets with his friend Chuck Yeager, barnstormed the world as a breathtaking stunt performer and became, by wide consensus, an American aviation legend, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 94."

You can't ask for a higher praise than having Chuck Yeager saying you're the greatest pilot he's ever seen. In case you want a second opinion, Jimmy Doolittle said Hoover was “the greatest stick-and-rudder man that ever lived.”

Letting Boys be Boys

A good essay on raising boys.

Parenting used to be a push-pull between husband and wife, finding the right balance between protectiveness and the freedom to explore, learn, test limits and sometimes get injured in doing so. Somewhere in the last 30 years or so, this balance shifted radically to the feminine side.

He's not wrong. When I was growing up, I used to get on my bike and ride around the neighborhood, ride up to the local pharmacy and buy baseball cards, and generally ride around as far as my bike would take me. I went "adventuring" through swampy parts of Gills Creek, built tree-houses with saws, hammers, and nails, and generally did things that would horrify lots of parents these days as being too dangerous.

And I turned out pretty much okay. Go read the whole thing.

Monday Sports Recap

Lots of stuff going on in the world of sports over the weekend, that merit mentioning. Let's start with the local stuff.

Jake Bentley hands off to David Williams in the Gamecocks' defeat of UMass.

The Jake Bentley era of Gamecock football is upon us. Yes, I know it was just UMass. Yes, I know that Bentley had a full compliment of receivers. Guess what?

Don't care. 

Bentley made some beautiful throws on Saturday that neither Perry Orth nor Brandon McIlwain have made in game situations. I think the Perry Orth moment is over. My guess is that we'll still see McIlwain in the specific situations like we did yesterday where his athleticism can stress a defense when the Gamecocks need to move the chains on third and short.

The fact of the matter is that Bentley is a very mature football player in that he knows how to run the offense, he takes care of the football, and he has poise. You can tell that the game is already "slowed down for him" more than almost any other freshman QB I can remember. He looked like a real leader out there on Saturday, and I am looking forward to seeing what he can do against a very solid SEC defense in Tennessee.

In less local news, the Chicago Cubs are going to the World Series for the first time in seventy one years. The World Series should be a great one, as the Indians have a great lineup. By the way, the Indians' right fielder, Lonnie Chisenhall briefly played baseball at South Carolina before being dismissed due to an off-the-field incident.

Oh, and Ohio State lost on Saturday, which is always a good thing.

Friday Open Thread - Second Trailer out for Rogue One

This is supposed to take place right before the events of the first original Star Wars (A New Hope) movie.

Looks pretty good.

Top Five Sports Movies Ever (With Iconic Scenes)

You were expecting a post about last night's debate? Sorry campers, if you want to get post-game analysis on the two bozos running for President, you'll have to go elsewhere. Neither of them really merit discussion beyond the fact that they're both unqualified to be President.

So, on to things that really merit good faith argument and debate: The top five sports movies of All-Time

First of all, there are a lot of great sports movies out there, so it's hard to come up with a top five list, as is normally done, High Fidelity style. But as they say, this is not 'Nam, there are rules. Otherwise, mark it zero, dude.

So here are the top five. Rules are only one movie per sport. Place them in any order you like, and I'd be happy, but you've got to go with some kind of order. If I'm looking for something to watch, and I come across one of these movies, I stop. And yeah, all these movies are sentimental feel-good movies, because that's what good sports movies are. As always, if you disagree, let me know.

Today in History - Whupping the British at Yorktown

Hopelessly trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, effectively bringing an end to the American Revolution.

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, 1820

Thanks to our French allies in keeping the British from escaping by sea.

"Running such an historical event was a bucket list item, and I bought the perfect car to see my dream to fruition: a 1968 Porsche 911."

Interested in racing through Mexico in a vintage car for seven days? Read this.

Good. It's not a park for your personal recreation.

Cycling will no longer be allowed at Arlington National Cemetery for anyone except families and their guests who are visiting loved ones' graves, the Army announced Monday.


The fact that some people think it's acceptable to casually bike through Arlington National Cemetery amazes me.

You want to ride your bike? Fine. Go somewhere else.

"Duces tecum, that's the stuff."

Today's excerpt is from The Surgeon's Mate had our intrepid hero (Jack Aubrey) singing the praises of his lawyer, who has been helping to extricate him from a ponzi scheme.

     'I am very pleased with him. A capital man of business, clear-headed, and as brisk as a bee. He is carrying the war into their camp, the infernal dogs: that is what I like to see. Says a writ of duces tecum will compel them to show the paper I signed, and put an end to the uncertainty; and he has already sued one out. Duces tecum: that's the stuff.'
     'What does it mean?' asked Sophie.
     'I never was much of a fist at Latin,' said Jack. 'Not like Philip Broke. But I do remember dux, a leader, an admiral as you might say: and the plural is duces. So you could construe duces tecum as the admirals are with thee; and I don't ask better than that. Excellent Mr Skinner.'

I sent out a few subpoenas myself today. It's not as exciting as Jack thinks, but we can't all be Post-Captains, can we?

"Vast Majority" of Comey's FBI Team Investigating Hillary "Felt she should be prosecuted"

“No trial level attorney agreed, no agent working the case agreed, with the decision not to prosecute -- it was a top-down decision,” said the source, whose identity and role in the case has been verified by FoxNews.com. A high-ranking FBI official told Fox News that while it might not have been a unanimous decision, “It was unanimous that we all wanted her [Clinton’s] security clearance yanked.” “It is safe to say the vast majority felt she should be prosecuted,” the senior FBI official told Fox News. “We were floored while listening to the FBI briefing because Comey laid it all out, and then said ‘but we are doing nothing,’ which made no sense to us.”

As we all suspected.

Eh, you could get all these people to say "Hillary is guilty, and here's the proof" but it wouldn't matter. People just don't care or would rather have her than Trump, no matter what she's done. It's all so depressing.

The GOP is Starting to Figure Out Who Trump Really Is

That's the good news. The bad news is that it's too late.

Who is Keyser Soze?

Like I've said here, here, here, and here, Trump isn't the answer the GOP is looking for. I'm not on Team Trump. He's a con man. He's a charlatan. He's a New York liberal who's pretending to be a conservative politician. He's successfully fooled lots of people. And don't try to tell me I'm being some kind of traitor by not supporting him.

I support ideas, not parties, and certainly not personalities. Trump supporters aren't supporting him because of his ideas, they're supporting him because of his personality. That's why his ideas (which are insane) don't matter to them.

You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into to begin with.

But Trump going to destroy the entire GOP for at least this cycle, and possibly beyond. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

This election is now the part of The Usual Suspects where Agent Kujan finally figured out that Verbal Kent was Keyser Soze, the GOP is starting to figure out that Trump is not who they thought he was. I'm not sure who people thought he was, but whatever. And just like Agent Kujan, the GOP is putting it together too late to make any difference.

Trump is going down. That's for sure. The question is now whether he takes the GOP down with him. Given what we know about Trump, he's going to take everyone down with him that he can.

So we're now at a point where Paul Ryan's main goal is to try and protect Congress from going Democratic, and I wish him good luck on that. That's now really the question we're down to.

Sen. Katrina Shealy Standing By Her Man

"We all know Donald Trump was not my first choice but Hillary Clinton was not a choice at all for me," Shealy said. "Has Donald Trump said things I don't approve of, things I think are crass, racist, degrading, down right ridiculous? Yes but I believe if elected President he will put the right people in place to run this country."

People always talk about Hillary "standing by her man" in regards to Bill's issues. It seems Sen. Katrina Shealy is doing the same. Is this the same or different? Will it be used against her later?

Shelters in the Midlands for Coastal Evacuees

WIS has a list of the shelters in the midlands (and pet-friendly lodging) for anyone coming in from the coast.

Stay safe.

Trump's Taxes and The Otter Defense

I didn't post anything yesterday about the piece in the NYT over the weekend that detailed Trump taking a $916 million dollar loss on his taxes in 1995, which he could carry forward into future years to offset income earned then. But everyone seems to be talking about it, and some people seem to think it's a "bombshell", so I guess I need to write about it.

Is this a big deal? I don't really think so.

Our federal income tax system is a tax on income a/k/a the money you earn. It's not a tax on the money you already have, or your wealth. If you've got a billion dollar net worth and don't earn any money in a given year, then you don't pay any income taxes, because you don't have any income. The income tax has nothing to do with what you have, it taxes your income.

Accordingly, the federal government is sort of like your partner in business. If you make a lot of money in a given year and have a large income then you pay a larger amount, in the form of an income tax, to the Feds. If you do well, the Feds do well.

Therefore, it makes sense on a policy basis to have the Federal government, as your "partner" also share in your losses. If your business does poorly, then the Federal government has decided that you're entitled to take that loss as an offset against future taxes.

For example: If you lose $5 million dollars in year 1, and then earn $5 million dollars in year 2, how much taxes should you pay over the two year period? Well, you've effectively earned nothing, since your entire second year just got you back to even after losing the same amount in year 1. Accordingly, our tax system reflects that reality and allows business owners to offset losses.

That's what we're dealing with here. In 1995, Trump declared to the IRS that he lost a lot of money. I'm sure the IRS audited that to double check him. As long as he's telling the truth about his loss, then he's legally entitled take the deduction and offset any future gains.

If you don't like this system, then that's fine. Make an argument why the net operating loss deduction should be eliminated from our tax code. See if you can get Congress to pass that. Go for it. But it's a longstanding deduction, makes policy sense, and is fairly commonly known. We're not talking about some weird tax voodoo here,

So yeah, Trump may have had a lot of money in wealth when he took the loss, and it may be the case that he had money to fall back on anyway. But a loss is a loss, and it's deductible.

The issue isn't whether Trump took a tax deduction. He did. But you can't hold a taxpayer responsible for the entire tax code. For if you do...

Blue Cross Blue Shield Giving Up on ACA

"Despite getting approval on an eye-popping rate hike of nearly 60% for 2017, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee announced that it was quitting three of the largest ObamaCare markets in the state, which will leave 100,000 enrollees to scramble for an alternative coverage next year."

It doesn't look like anyone will need to repeal the ACA after all. It's just going to die a natural death.