SubscribeStar Saturday: Concealed Weapons Permit Course

21 August 202118 August 2021 The Portly Politico7 Comments

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive. To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more. For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

Last Saturday my younger brother and I woke up very early to attend an all-day concealed weapons permit (CWP) course. We’d both been meaning to get our CWP for some time, and he stumbled upon an instructor in his area on Next Door. Wanting to knock it out before college football season begins, we decided it was the perfect time to learn to be certified killing machines.

In all seriousness, the course was extremely informative—and sobering. Owning any firearm is a huge responsibility, as misuse of the weapon can result in injury and death—including to yourself!

I’d always understood that in the abstract, but taking the course and handling a firearm really drove that home. Our instructor really pounded into us two things: situational awareness and practice.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

Supporting Friends Friday: photog

20 August 202116 August 2021 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

After honoring Mogadishu Matt last Friday, I figured I should pay tribute to my staunchest blogging ally, the venerable photog, proprietor of Orion’s Cold Fire.

I discovered photog after he ran ads on The Drudge Report, back before Matt Drudge sold out to the Bidenistas (photog is now a WhatFinger News man). I’m still blown away that he had the cash on hand to buy ads on Drudge, which I think he told me was the result of having money to burn on his hobby. Hey, more power to you, photog.

photog gets his lower-cased, e. e. cummings-esque nom de plume from his love of photography. If you’re a shutterbug, he writes a number of technical articles about various pieces of high-end camera equipment that he tests out. If you’re like me and just want to see the pretty pictures, he has plenty of those, too.

In addition to photography, photog writes some hilarious and detailed reviews of everything from episodes of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek to classic movies, as well as science-fiction novels and country music. He’s even written a review of a cheesy sci-fi flick for this blog. My attempt at offering a little bit of something for every interest is inspired, in part, by his generalist approach to blogging.

But where photog really shines is his political commentary (I will hasten to add that his photography really is great; I hope he publishes a book of his nature photography soon). He writes broadly on everything from the importance of family to Deep State perfidy to what conservatives should do in a world that wants us destroyed. I often find myself agreeing with his conclusions.

TBT: First Week of School in The Age of The Virus

19 August 202116 August 2021 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

School is back, and while I’d like to think The Age of The Virus is in its twilight death throes, the powers-that-be seem intent on foisting fearmongering variants upon us, no doubt as a pretext to strip us of more of our civil liberties.

Regardless, we’re starting back normally this year—as normally as possible—with a whopping 408 (and counting) students. Considering we had fewer than 100 students a decade ago, that’s a pretty huge change.

Hopefully we won’t have any major outbreaks this year, as we largely avoided last school year. We managed to get through with only a few isolated cases among students and faculty, and finished up with life largely back to normal in the final two months of the year.

It’s interesting looking back to the beginning of last school year and seeing how the year progressed. The fiasco of using Loom lasted about two weeks for yours portly; I quickly reverted to using the desktop version of Google Meet to record my lectures.

I’m also relieved that I won’t be livestreaming classes anymore. I don’t have anything to hide; it’s just a huge hassle getting online kids logged in, much less engaged. There’d frequently be times when I was ten minutes into class and a student would log in after being marked absent; sometimes I wouldn’t catch that the student had entered class, and the student would then complain about the absence.

More frequently, students would log in the moment I’d sent the attendance e-mail to the registrar, so I’d have to resend the e-mail. Sometimes the registrar wouldn’t see that second e-mail, and I’d get a call in the middle of class asking if the “missing” student had logged into class.

Those were minor issues when compared to bigger problems with the online platform—students suddenly switching to distance learning on test days, for example—but still headaches. It probably cost a good five-to-ten minutes of class time just to take attendance.

Well, here’s to the normal amount of craziness and bureaucratic overreach of the typical school year. With that, here is 28 August 2020’s “First Week of School in The Age of The Virus“:

Back to School 2021

18 August 202117 August 2021 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Well, after starting back to work Monday a week ago, we’re finally back at school today. We’re one of the latest schools to start back in our area—my county’s school district started back classes last Monday, and Florence County schools resumed on 2 August 2021—but it still seems too soon. The Florence start date seems insanely early as far as I am concerned, but they’re transitioning to a semi-year-round model, in which the students will get a week off in October and February, as well as some other juicy breaks.

Of course, any time off is never quite enough, is it? I often find myself thinking, “if I only had one more weekend to finish this up” or “I really need another week of break so I can work on writing.” That said, during the peak of The Age of The Virus in 2020, when I had virtually limitless free time, I didn’t complete any of the big projects I had set aside for myself. That puts to the lie the idea that more time necessarily means getting more done.

Indeed, I often find that I am more productive when working against a deadline. As I’ve gotten older and more experienced—albeit not much wiser—I’ve learned to plan ahead, and to churn out a great deal of work in long stretches of focus, in order to save me some time later. That’s a necessity with my crazy schedule, and helps keep me from getting caught flat-footed by some unanticipated deadline or task too often.

Regardless, school is starting back today, and things are (mostly) back to normal—no more remote learning, no students tuning in from their cars or bedrooms to class, no more mandatory masks (again, mostly) [update: we have received word that we are starting the year with masks—nooooo!]. I’m hoping it’s going to be a normal-ish academic year.

Let’s Get Biblical: Elijah and the 7000

17 August 202115 August 2021 The Portly Politico15 Comments

It’s easy to get discouraged in the face of all the insanity and absurdity of the wokesters, who aren’t just unwashed Antifa thugs picking fights in the streets. Woke-ism, Cultural Marxism, CRT, progressivism, etc.—whatever name we give it, the ideology dominates our institutions, our ruling class, and our popular culture.

In the face of such totality, it’s little wonder that conservatives and traditionalists grow pessimistic about the future. Despair is seductive, and misery loves company.

As Christians, however, despair is profoundly sinful. When we give into despair—into hopelessness—we are denying God’s Sovereignty, His Power and His Plan to guide us through the present storm.

During my pastor’s sermon this past Sunday, he mentioned in passing the passages from 1 Kings 19 in which Elijah curls up under a broom tree and prays for death. Despite defeating the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the previous chapter, Elijah despairs, for he knows that Jezebel has put a price on his head—and he feels utterly alone.

Monday Morning Movie Review: The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018)

16 August 202115 August 2021 The Portly Politico7 Comments

This week’s Monday Morning Movie Review is by special request—sort of: Audre Myers of Nebraska Energy Observer asked me if I’d seen The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018), and encouraged me to write a review of it. She’s also asked me to write a review of 1999’s Bicentennial Man, but I haven’t seen the flick since… well, 1999. I’ll get around to that one, too, eventually.

But The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot has the kind of exploitation title I love. When I first heard about the film (on RedBox), I became obsessed with seeing it. I remember making a special trip to a distant RedBox kiosk to rent the DVD.

I mean, clearly this flick had to be the greatest movie ever made, right? What kind of crazy, evil genius cooked up the concept of a man assassinating Hitler and Bigfoot?

Well, it’s not quite the greatest movie ever made—far from it—and the film is way different than what the ridiculous title implies, but it’s still quite good. Just temper your expectations.

Lazy Sunday CXXVI: Joy, Part I

15 August 202112 August 2021 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It occurred to me that I have written a great number of posts with “the joy of” in the title. As such, why not go back and explore these joyful posts?

I kicked around the idea of doing a Lazy Sunday about the seasons, but apparently I have never written “The Joy of Summer” and “The Joy of Winter.” Summer in South Carolina is a brutal hellscape of humidity and venomous insects, so there’s not much joyful other than two months off. I much prefer winter—the bugs are dead—so I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten around to that one yet.

So I got in the two “glamor” seasons, spring and autumn, and tossed in one about coffee:

“The Joy of Autumn” (and “TBT: The Joy of Autumn“) – Autumn is great: candy apples, Halloween, festivals. There’s a lot of joy to go around.
“The Joy of Spring” – Spring is like autumn, but with more bees and flowers. I wrote this post during the lovely, long spring of 2020, which I took to be a God-given reprieve from The Age of The Virus, especially given that everything remotely sociable had to be done outdoors.
“The Joy of Coffee” – This post was a surprise hit. Apparently, there is a huge overlap between blog readers (and bloggers) and coffee consumption, based on the likes and views this one received. Also, what’s better than a hot cup of coffee on a frosty winter’s morn?

Here’s hoping these posts bring you some joy. And, remember: winter is coming. Much like a George R. R. Martin novel, it’s going to be awhile before it arrives.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Tip The Portly Politico: Support quality commentary on politics, education, culture, and the arts with your one-time donation.

***NOTE: This link is NOT a subscription to my SubscribeStar Page; it is for a one-time donation/tip via PayPal. To subscribe to my SubscribeStar page, use this URL: https://subscribestar.com/the-portly-politico***

SubscribeStar Saturday: Schedule Roulette

14 August 202113 August 2021 The Portly Politico5 Comments

With school starting back in just a few days, I’ve been hammering away at schedules of all sorts. The school schedule itself seems to be in flux, with an ebb of last-minute changes and adjustments to the all-powerful Master Schedule. Surprise personnel changes and a surge in enrollment have seen quite a bit of shuffling taking place, though it doesn’t seem quite as chaotic as it has been in past years.

The new academic year also means that I’m scheduling students for private music lessons. In a normal year, it can be a little difficult to put together a consistent weekly schedule. This year, I have so many students, it’s been a Sisyphean task, although I think I nearly have the boulder pushed to the top of the hill.

Or, like Sisyphus, I’m only fooling myself, and the boulder is about to roll backwards, flattening me in the process.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

Supporting Friends Friday: Mogadishu Matt

13 August 202112 August 2021 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

As I’ve noted before, one of the joys of blogging is discovering and interacting with other bloggers. Regular readers know that I maintain a strong alliance with photog over at Orion’s Cold Fire, as we tend to take the same approach on the pressing issues of our times. His analysis is thoughtful but accessible, and his whimsical photography and pithy quotations make for a delightful experience.

This week I’d like to spotlight another blogger buddy, Mogadishu Matt at Free Matt Podcast. When I first started reading Double M’s blog, I thought it was dedicated to getting some guy named “Matt” out of prison (“Free Matt!“). Now I think it’s just because he’s a Matt livin’ free.

Matt calls himself the “#1 Somalian libertarian voice,” which I suppose is a distinction. He’s likely the only Somalian libertarian, though he’s a bit hirsute and pale to be from that trouble nation. Regardless, his posts are often in a libertarian vein, and he frequently reblogs essays from the Mises Institute.

TBT: Back to the Grind 2020

12 August 202112 August 2021 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

This past Monday, teachers at my small private school resumed work, sitting through our annual OSHA blood-borne pathogens training and another sales pitch from the AFLAC representative (start offering long-term disability insurance, AFLAC, and I’ll buy a policy). Registration for new and returning students is now in full swing.

Last year was a unique school year, with its own challenges and opportunities. As I detailed in this post, we had a host of new sanitation procedures, as well as the odious masks. This year, the masks are optional, but we’re still sanitizing desks and checking temperatures at the door.

Unlike last year, we’ll have all the fun stuff again: pep rallies, chapel, etc. I know the students will be excited for some fun events to return to campus.

Of course, that means yours portly will be back to hustling to satisfy the bottomless appetite for audio-visual production values the students (and my administration) crave. One silver lining of last school year was the vast reduction in constant events and activities, which allowed me the time to focus on teaching and grading.

Oh, well—here’s to another year! And here’s 10 August 2020’s “Back to the Grind 2020“:

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Month: August 2021