We're going to Medieval Times on Sunday for some sword-swangin' horse-ridin' combat action. Not really my jam, but my kid is eight, so what're ya gonna do?
Preparing final exams. I'm happy I have a real job now (I've taught two classes this autumn, and I'm teaching another one in winter) but boy, I'm glad this term is almost over. I haven't worked this hard since grad school.
I'm doing the usual - lesson plans, laundry, exercise, and trying to get back into practicing guitar. I kinda stopped playing for a while. Maybe I'll find a movie to watch. Basically, a lot of alone time.
Practicing guitar is probably on of the things that keeps me together. I've been learning travis picking and fingerstyle. Mostly online classes. It's not easy, but I've stuck to it and I've been improving quickly.
I downloaded one of Happy Traum's fingerpicking videos. My time's been limited, but I've been trying for an honest 30 a night of practice. Wish I could do more. Right now it seems to take forever just to get down the most basic of shit.
Finishing my school work, hopefully. Still distracted by the news. Trump's recognition of Jerusalem couldn't be more transparent.
He has nothing constructive to offer, he has no integrity. He certainly has no vision for America, just a grab bag of contradictory promises and lies that he made while pandering to the lowest common denominator.
He is not a statesman, he knows only how to further divide. He came into office with less than half the vote yet his first year has been marked by day upon day of him thumbing his nose at his detractors. He has made no effort whatsoever to bring the country together. The worse things get for him, the harder he trolls (ex. his retweeting of Britain First). The would be monarch uses the animosity of his opponents to tighten his grip on his followers and, more simply, to pass the time. Each tweet and offensive comment gets him a little farther down the road.
Trump, either oblivious to the word's meaning or, more disturbingly, aware of its meaning, repeatedly self-identified as a "militarist" when he was running for office. He is keenly aware that pandering to the slavish "Thank You For Your Service" post-9/11 mentality of Americans is the one front you expect the least resistance. The easy ride promised by being a War President no doubt gets stronger every day. The over-the-top sword rattling with North Korea ultimately yielded little except that we saw the development of a nuclear deterrent.
The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel not only deepens an already bleak situation and increases the likelihood of violence (Muslims and Jews now living have only days or weeks to live because of this action. People are going to die.) but it serves as a rejection of international law (which prohibits countries recognizing the annexation of land seized by force, a prohibition which contributed greatly to the end of wars of conquest (most wars today are civil or civil/proxy wars).
But the reason I believe Trump has done this now is that he hopes to trigger violence against the US, either against American embassies/holdings/businesses/tourists or a domestic terror attack of significant scale. It would be surest way for him to sweep away most of his problems, at least temporarily.
That said, the capabilities of these groups are in question. Do they have the capacity to strike in the U.S. beyond random assholes running over people with their cars? Highly doubtful that they could achieve anything on the scale of 9/11 again, but then they wouldn't really need to. Groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS are not in particularly good shape these days. But it is hard to imagine they would not want to capitalize on this gift. I certainly wouldn't want to be working in that embassy.
Comments
He has nothing constructive to offer, he has no integrity. He certainly has no vision for America, just a grab bag of contradictory promises and lies that he made while pandering to the lowest common denominator.
He is not a statesman, he knows only how to further divide. He came into office with less than half the vote yet his first year has been marked by day upon day of him thumbing his nose at his detractors. He has made no effort whatsoever to bring the country together. The worse things get for him, the harder he trolls (ex. his retweeting of Britain First). The would be monarch uses the animosity of his opponents to tighten his grip on his followers and, more simply, to pass the time. Each tweet and offensive comment gets him a little farther down the road.
Trump, either oblivious to the word's meaning or, more disturbingly, aware of its meaning, repeatedly self-identified as a "militarist" when he was running for office. He is keenly aware that pandering to the slavish "Thank You For Your Service" post-9/11 mentality of Americans is the one front you expect the least resistance. The easy ride promised by being a War President no doubt gets stronger every day. The over-the-top sword rattling with North Korea ultimately yielded little except that we saw the development of a nuclear deterrent.
The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel not only deepens an already bleak situation and increases the likelihood of violence (Muslims and Jews now living have only days or weeks to live because of this action. People are going to die.) but it serves as a rejection of international law (which prohibits countries recognizing the annexation of land seized by force, a prohibition which contributed greatly to the end of wars of conquest (most wars today are civil or civil/proxy wars).
But the reason I believe Trump has done this now is that he hopes to trigger violence against the US, either against American embassies/holdings/businesses/tourists or a domestic terror attack of significant scale. It would be surest way for him to sweep away most of his problems, at least temporarily.
That said, the capabilities of these groups are in question. Do they have the capacity to strike in the U.S. beyond random assholes running over people with their cars? Highly doubtful that they could achieve anything on the scale of 9/11 again, but then they wouldn't really need to. Groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS are not in particularly good shape these days. But it is hard to imagine they would not want to capitalize on this gift. I certainly wouldn't want to be working in that embassy.