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.