Last week sucked; I never get sick so leave it to me to get Swine Flu or whatever it was. Now it's late on what's been a busy, task-filled weekend, with a busy week ahead. My intent was to write an article I'd promised Theo earlier in the week, about the activity in the South Atlantic, but I became overcome by events and lost traction.
Here are three thought-provoking, well-written pieces I encountered on the web this weekend. They are worth reading:
20 February 2010
The Fat Lady Has Sung - by Thomas Friedman
Synopsis: America is broken, out of money and out of gas; only Obama can help us out of the mess we're in - so we better hope he succeeds because if he fails, we all fail.
STORMBRINGER to Friedman: WRONG - You are a typical liberal with a typical liberal loser attitude. America's best days are ahead of us. We better HOPE Obama fails, because if he succeeds at what he's doing, we certainly will all fail.
February 25, 2010
The Hidden Flaw in Greenhouse Theory By Alan Siddons
Synopsis: How NASA altered the Laws of Physics - you heard me right ALTERED THE LAWS OF PHYSICS - to push junk science down the throats of American schoolchildren. All in the name of qualifying for government grants.
STORMBRINGER to NASA: As an engineer this is one I can get my head around: you can't break the laws of physics unless you're in a Disney movie. If NASA had based the Apollo Moon project on bogus, made-up science like this, the Saturn V would still be sitting on the pad at Cape Canaveral and America would be the laughingstock of the world scientific community.
Lastly . . .
The New Fascists, by James Hudnall.
A three part series of short essays, brilliant in its simplicity; I wish I'd written this myself.
James Hudnall
The New Fascists: Part 1 – A Political Primer
“My dear brothers, never forget, when you hear the progress of enlightenment vaunted, that the devil’s best trick is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist!” - Charles Baudelaire, Le Joueur généreux, February 7, 1864
The New Fascists: Foundation – Part 2
This chapter explores the role of religion as a tool of statecraft, how rulers use religion to get what they want; not a comment on the merits of any religion, just on how it’s been used.
The New Fascists: Execution – Part 3
“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
– Alexis de Tocqueville
NOTE TO READERS: I've been doing STORMBRINGER for about ten months now; started contributing to Theo's Last of the Few and David Frum for a bit longer than that. Now I'm trying to figure out how to take it to the next level and what it will look like when it gets there. I don't want to get too serious, that's why I throw in a lot of irreverent humor but at the same time I don't want to be too goofy. I don't want to get sucked into politics but it's almost impossible to be apolitical; I make the claim I'm talking about national security and the international geopolitical situation (today's post excepted). I'm a big fan of Iowahawk and The People's Cube but I can't replicate what it is they do. I'm also a regular reader of Blackfive and Small Wars Journal but I can't do what they do either. Except for the two or three of you out there who send me stuff, I'm a one-man show and I've got a job where I pull ten to twelve hour days, lets put it that way. I'd like to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
- Sean Linnane
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Don't spread yourself too thin fella, or the quality of your messages and thoughts will get diluted.
ReplyDeleteI agree with C. First off you need to re-examine why you want to blog in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt is a commitment that I won't make because I'm raising 2 sweet grand daughters along with the rest of my life (which at my age ain't much anymore) but still, am limited like you in time and energy.
So if your going to continue to blog...fine, but you need to blog about things that you want to, that call you to say something. Forget about what other do. This is about what you want to do.
People will read. If they like it they will come back, if not well screw them and the bandwidth they rode in on.
Life is too short to cowtow to others except the ones you love or work for.
Make your time and effort to please you and screw those that don't like it.
Of course all of the above is just the opinion of an ol' grunt who is just trying to get by and take care of my family.
Others may feel differently.
Papa Ray
BTW, Hudnall knows what he writes about. I am waiting for his next segment. I hope he gets down to the bone on what he really thinks about what is going to happen in the next couple of years.
ReplyDeleteI won't tell my family or even some friends what I think is in our near future, because they would not believe me anyway and I don't want to alarm them.
But be assured that I have been and am preparing for the worst.
BTW, you pick good stuff to blog or post. Trust your instincts. You are doing an excellent job so far.
But even if I thought you were doing a poor job, it should not deter you or make a damn bit of difference.
Remember that.
Papa Ray
Blog what you care about. Write in your own voice.
ReplyDeleteAsk for contributions from readers if you need material.
Quality is always preferable to quantity.
Thanks for sharing those interesting articles. It is quite hard to find well written articles. on line.
ReplyDelete