I think the only cases you can make for "systemic racism" are public schools and teacher unions so this is great, great news. https://t.co/WmMuv6dYdy — Paul Epps (@paulepps) September 28, 2022 Read more →
Author Archive: Paul Epps
Republican Extremists
Shannon Brandt, 41, struck and killed [18-year-old Cayler Ellingson] with his Ford Explorer SUV early Sunday in an alley. His mother said Ellingson called and asked her if she knew Brandt (she did). The boy called again a short time later and said that “‘he’ or ‘they’ were chasing him.” The mother could no longer reach him after that. Court documents said, “Brandt admitted to striking the pedestrian with his car because he had a political argument with the pedestrian and believed the pedestrian was calling people “to come get him.” He claimed the teen was part of an unspecified Republican “extremist group.” Brandt was released on bond. — dailysignal.com He was a MAGA Republican, a threat to the country like Joe Biden said. So I crushed him with my truck. To make America safe for democracy. Read more →
Evil is Burning
Iran has yearned for this glorious dance for over 40 years.Evil is burning — Woman is rising pic.twitter.com/CjGFNESH91 — Mariam Memarsadeghi (@memarsadeghi) September 20, 2022 Read more →
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. — Napoleon Bonaparte
Having perfected our disguise, we spend our lives searching for someone we don’t fool. — Robert Brault
The Management of the Life of the People
Even in [1931] the Macmillan Report could already speak of “the change of outlook of the government of [England] in recent times, its growing preoccupation, irrespective of party, with the management of the life of the people” and add that “Parliament finds itself increasingly engaged in legislation which has for its conscious aim the regulation of the day-to-day affairs of the community and now intervenes in matters formerly thought to be entirely outside its scope.” — F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom Read more →
The Unknown Millionaire
I’m buying a soda at a local convenience store, waiting while the guy in front of me buys about 50 dollars worth of scratcher tickets. After I pay for my soda and head out the door, I see the same guy leaning against the wall and he asks me for spare change. “For what?” I ask. “More scratchers? You haven’t even scratched the ones you have. You might be a millionaire and not even know it.” Read more →
Dark Eyes
They tell me to be discreet for all intended purposes They tell me revenge is sweet and from where they stand, I’m sure it is But I feel nothing for their game where beauty goes unrecognized All I feel is heat and flame and all I see are dark eyes — Bob Dylan, “Dark Eyes” Read more →
It Wasn’t Much Good for Reading, But . . .
I recently read Omon Ra, a Russian novel that I’d heard good things about. I didn’t really like it at all. This afternoon, I saw some kind of a large black pincher bug on the living room carpet. My copy of Omon Ra was lying nearby and I picked it up and smashed the bug with it. So I can’t say that the book was a complete waste of money . . . Read more →
I should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times but in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it. — A. de Tocqueville
It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once. — D. Hume
Next, Please
Always too eager for the future, we Pick up bad habits of expectancy. Something is always approaching; every day Till then we say, Watching from a bluff the tiny, clear Sparkling armada of promises draw near. How slow they are! And how much time they waste, Refusing to make haste! Yet still they leave us holding wretched stalks Of disappointment, for, though nothing balks Each big approach, leaning with brasswork prinked, Each rope distinct, Flagged, and the figurehead with golden tits Arching our way, it never anchors; it’s No sooner present than it turns to past. Right to the last We think each one will heave to and unload All good into our lives, all we are owed For waiting so devoutly and so long. But we are wrong: Only one ship is seeking us, a black- Sailed unfamiliar, towing at her back A huge and birdless silence. In her… Read more →
The Final Slur
Reports indicate that Her Majesty has bestowed a great honor upon Meghan Markle by requesting her to be the recipient of the “Final Slur:” a traditional rite whereby the British Monarch utters their final racist remark before death. Markle will be the first non-Irish beneficiary. https://t.co/Z9PmuG7X1M — American Gaeltep (@Carlists4Pete) September 8, 2022 Read more →
What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist. — Salman Rushdie
Bye, Serena
Please please please let Serena Williams retire from tennis. Never cared for her at all. She’s a sore loser, ungracious . . . best example of this, go back and watch the 2018 US Open final where Naomi Osaka beats Serena’s ass, during which Serena’s conduct is so appalling that Osaka, rather than being able to jubilantly celebrate her first major title, ends the match sitting in a sideline chair crying with a towel over her head. Remember the time Serena verbally assaulted a linesperson (an older Asian woman, if I remember right) by threatening to “shove this fucking tennis ball down your throat”? Or watch any press conference after she lost a match. It’s all excuses, alibis, justifications. If she ever in her life said the other player played better than she did, I can’t remember hearing it. Contrast this with top male players — Nadal, Djokovic, Federer —… Read more →
Going
There is an evening coming in Across the fields, one never seen before, That lights no lamps. Silken it seems at a distance, yet When it is drawn up over the knees and breast It brings no comfort. Where has the tree gone, that locked Earth to the sky? What is under my hands, That I cannot feel? What loads my hands down? — Philip Larkin, “Going” Read more →
Private Eyes
Well, it’s time for another background check. The current background check company, Private Eyes, is not as bad as HireRight — yet! — but they still have time to catch up. To start with, they asked me to fill out and submit forms with all information regarding my education and previous employers, which I did. Annnnd here comes their first communication: Hello Paul, My name is Tiffany with Private Eyes, a pre-employment background screening company. We are currently working on your employment background check. We are having trouble reaching someone who can help us verify your employment and education. If you can, please assist us by providing a copy of your check stub or W-2 form for Company A, a pay stub or W2 form from Company B and your diploma/degree/certificate/ or transcripts from your school Harvard University [school name changed – PE]. Doing so will help us speed up… Read more →
Chess Game of the Day: French Defense Mangled
One of my online chess games. Some annotations below . . . 2. Nc3 A typical French Defense would go 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3. I like to play 2. Nc3 first just to see what happens. Usually Black plays 2. …d5 3. d4 and everything is back to normal. 3. …f5? Have not seen this but it doesn’t look promising. 6. …c6? Black may not have a really appealing move here. White is about to make hash of the Black kingside. 9. …c5 It might be in Black’s interest to avoid the check at h5 with 9. …h5 or 9. …Kf1 but this move need not have turned out as badly as it did. 11. …Bxf5?? Capturing the queen must have been tempting but leads to an immediate loss. 11. …Nc6 avoids the upcoming check at a5, and 12. dxc6?? does allow the bishop to capture the queen as… Read more →
Frolicking in the Rain
Maybe black creators invented "frolicking"? Is it different from dancing and singing in the rain? I saw Gene Kelly doing that in the 1950s. It looked a lot like frolicking to me. Granted, Gene Kelly didn't post to TikTok. Maybe black creators invented the TikTok part. https://t.co/FnjXU2ohtp — Paul Epps (@paulepps) August 28, 2022 Read more →
A Couple of Thoughts on Student Loan Debt
I’ve taken out mortgage loans, auto loans, acquired some credit card debt . . . am I forgetting anything? But I’ve never acquired debt and not paid it back. It never occurred to me to do that. Transferring student loan debt seems like subsidizing irresponsibility. What happens when you subsidize something? You get more of it. I saw the Secretary of Education being interviewed and although I don’t remember his exact words, he seemed to blame the whole thing on the COVID pandemic. He said it was his job (or the government’s job) to make sure that people can bounce back from that and not be crushed by their student loan payments. I’d like to ask him where he got the idea that it’s the job of the federal government to make sure that citizens don’t suffer financial hardships. In the early days of our country, many people… Read more →