Tag: analysis

SubscribeStar Saturday: Conviction

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

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.

Yours portly sometimes gets a bit strident when sharing his views, particularly when it comes to immigration.  I do believe that immigration—both legal and illegal—is one of the major problems facing the United States and Europe today.  I also believe that not all cultures are created equal, and that Western Civilization is, broadly speaking, the best and highest form of cultural and civilizational expression ever achieved.

A great deal of that greatness—indeed, so much so that, like a fish in water, we don’t even realize how subsumed in it we are—comes from Christianity.  So much of the morality we take for granted in the West comes from Jesus Christ’s Teachings:  charity, patience, love, and—perhaps most importantly—forgiveness.  Christ Died on the Cross to pay for our sins—not His.  He Is the Spotless Lamb, Sacrificed to take on the burden of our sin once and for all.  He Was Resurrected and will Return.

That idea of forgiveness—merely ask and believe, and Christ Will Cleanse you of your sins and Welcome you into His everlasting Kingdom—is hugely powerful, and often cuts against human nature.  “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31) is probably the hardest teaching in Christianity, especially when “your neighbor” includes loving your enemies (Matthew 5:44).  And, boy, do enemies abound in these blasphemous times.

I struggle mightily with the injunction to love my enemies.  Indeed, I’ve been feeling a great deal of conviction about it lately.  The enemies of Goodness and Righteousness and Truth are many, and they are cruel.  But as Nietzsche put it (proving, too, that Truth can emanate even from those who are lost), “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”  Gulp!

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

SubscribeStar Saturday: The Bare Minimum

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

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.

The recent crackdown on crime, spearheaded by President Trump, in Washington, D.C.—as well as its incredible effectiveness—put to my mind the function of government at any level.  The most basic function—the bare minimum—that any government should perform is to protect the rights of its citizens from a.) foreign threats (invasion, violent illegal immigrants, etc.) and b.) domestic ones (crime).  Beyond that, governments should maintain and provide basic infrastructure that is conducive to commerce and mobility (roads, water, sewage) and should respond to the needs of their citizens as much as possible without infringing on the rights of the numeric minority.

That’s pretty much it.  Yet governments in the United States and Britain still fail to provide even those three simple functions—protection of people’s rights; provision of their basic infrastructural needs; and concern for their interests.

Case in point:  if the two nations’ leaders had really been paying attention to and cared about their constituents and their basic rights and needs, they never would have flooded their lands with illegal (and many legal) immigrants from foreign cultures.  Instead of conducting forever wars in distant lands, they would have paved the roads.  Instead of funneling money to Trojan Horse organizations designed to undermine our institutions with men in sundresses and mandatory DIE training, they would have invested in light rail or new water systems.

Instead, there’s been a sort of callous indifference to what normal—by which I mean average—people want.  It is abundantly clear that, had they been asked, most Americans and Britons would not have wanted endless streams of migration from the Third World.  They would not have accepted never-ending meddling in a part of the world that has been mired in conflict and authoritarianism since the Sumerian civilization first emerged around 4500 B.C.

It seems, however, that the tide is turning at last.

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

“American” Trucking

The Portly Politico8 Comments

It seems that lately there is an endless parade of evidence showing illegal immigrants behaving badly—or, at the very least, with lethal incompetence.  The latest example is the infamous Indian Sikh truck driver who made an unsignaled, last-minute U-turn, causing a family of three to crash into his trailer, killing them instantly.

An ex-girlfriend’s dad was a trucker for many years, and I remember him telling me that the state of the industry has really declined.  Instead of unionized drivers with rigorous training and employment protections, there are loads of young, hastily-trained, immigrant men driving recklessly.  As we saw with the Indian driver, many of these immigrants are here illegally, and come from cultures that do not hold human life sacred to the same extent as Western cultures.

Read More »

Lazy Sunday CCCXXXII: The 1920s

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It’s remarkable to me how history rhymes.  The 1920s and the 2020s have an awful lot in common:  a more socially permissive climate coupled with a growing immigration restrictionist mentality; a massive respiratory disease epidemic at the start; a growing economy; and a simultaneous sense that times were/are changing and that we should try to get back to “normal.”  I will note with some encouragement that, rather than sliding further into our depraved social progressivism, Americans seem to be experiencing something of religious revival, rippling just below the surface of our troubled cultural waters.

To quote myself from 4 January 2020:

In many ways, the 1920s presaged the coming social and cultural upheaval of the 1960s—also a peacetime, post-war boom period of rapid economic growth and social turbulence.  Indeed, it seems likely that it was only the catastrophe of the Great Depression, with the struggles of the Second World War following on its heels, that prevented 1960s-style social breakdown forty years “early.”

For context, when 1920 dawned, the United States was in the midst of a post-war (this being the First World War) recession, one that was so deep that around one million Americans voted for Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist candidate for president, in the 1920 election.  Americans had a profound sense that entering the Great War, as it was then called, was a serious mistake—an error the nation would not repeat (thus the feet-dragging when it came to entering the Second World War).  The rise of Italian Fascism in the 1920s only seemed to confirm America’s error:  the war to make the world safe for democracy, as Democratic President Woodrow Wilson framed it, demonstrated further the failed idealism of the war.

We are certainly rethinking years of open immigration and disastrous foreign wars of choice.  Socialists seem on the rise in the most progressive areas (like New York City), while everyone else is getting more conservative (I hope!).  Trump is a better president than Harding, but he shares Coolidge’s pro-business outlook, if not his stoic quietness.  Heck, even tariffs are back!

So I though it’d be worthwhile to look back at some posts on the 1920s:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

  1. Lazy Sunday – APR Pieces
  2. Lazy Sunday II – Lincoln Posts
  3. Lazy Sunday III – Historical Moments
  4. Lazy Sunday IV – Christianity
  5. Lazy Sunday V – Progressivism, Part I
  6. Lazy Sunday VI – Progressivism, Part II
  7. Lazy Sunday VII – Deep State
  8. Lazy Sunday VIII – Conservatism
  9. Lazy Sunday IX – Economics, Part I
  10. Lazy Sunday X – Economics, Part II
  11. Lazy Sunday XI – Walls
  12. Lazy Sunday XII – Space
  13. Lazy Sunday XIII – Immigration
  14. Lazy Sunday XIV – Gay Stuff
  15. Lazy Sunday XV – Work
  16. Lazy Sunday XVI – #MAGAWeek2018
  17. Lazy Sunday XVII – #MAGAWeek2019
  18. Lazy Sunday XVIII – SubscribeStar Posts
  19. Lazy Sunday XIX – Music
  20. Lazy Sunday XX – The Laziest Sunday
  21. Lazy Sunday XXI – Travel
  22. Lazy Sunday XXII – Reading
  23. Lazy Sunday XXIII – Richard Weaver
  24. Lazy Sunday XXIV – Education
  25. Lazy Sunday XXV – Techno-Weirdos
  26. Lazy Sunday XXVI – Small Town Living
  27. Lazy Sunday XXVII – Bric-a-Brac
  28. Lazy Sunday XXVIII – World History
  29. Lazy Sunday XXIX – The New Criterion
  30. Lazy Sunday XXX – Trump, Part I
  31. Lazy Sunday XXXI – Trump, Part II
  32. Lazy Sunday XXXII – Festivals
  33. Lazy Sunday XXXIII – Virtue Signalling
  34. Lazy Sunday XXXIV – The Desperate Search for Meaning Series
  35. Lazy Sunday XXXV – Corporate Grind
  36. Lazy Sunday XXXVI – Best of the Reblogs, Part I
  37. Lazy Sunday XXXVII – Best of the Reblogs, Part II
  38. Lazy Sunday XXXVIII – Best of the Reblogs, Part III
  39. Lazy Sunday XXXIX – A Very Dokken Christmas Series
  40. Lazy Sunday XL – Christmas Carols
  41. Lazy Sunday XLI – Food
  42. Lazy Sunday XLII – 2019’s Top Five Posts
  43. Lazy Sunday XLIII – Music, Part II: More Music
  44. Lazy Sunday XLIV – SubscribeStar Saturday Posts, Part II: The Search for More Money
  45. Lazy Sunday XLV – Techno-Weirdos II
  46. Lazy Sunday XLVI – Man Time
  47. Lazy Sunday XLVII – Winning
  48. Lazy Sunday XLVIII – Culture
  49. Lazy Sunday XLIX – Family
  50. Lazy Sunday L – The Best of Lazy Sunday
  51. Lazy Sunday LI – Just for Fun
  52. Lazy Sunday LII – Democratic Candidates, Part I
  53. Lazy Sunday LIII – Democratic Candidates, Part II
  54. Lazy Sunday LIV – Coronavirus
  55. Lazy Sunday LV – Animals
  56. Lazy Sunday LVI – Movies
  57. Lazy Sunday LVII – Christianity, Part II
  58. Lazy Sunday LVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap
  59. Lazy Sunday LIX – The God Pill Series
  60. Lazy Sunday LX – Music, Part II: Gigging
  61. Lazy Sunday LXI – The Tuck
  62. Lazy Sunday LXII – The South
  63. Lazy Sunday LXIII – Holidays
  64. Lazy Sunday LXIV – Grab Bag
  65. Lazy Sunday LXV – Rioting
  66. Lazy Sunday LXVI – Video Games
  67. Lazy Sunday LXVII – Phone it in Fridays, Part I
  68. Lazy Sunday LXVIII – Phone it in Fridays, Part II
  69. Lazy Sunday LXIX – Phone it in Fridays, Part III
  70. Lazy Sunday LXX – Phone it in Friday, Part IV
  71. Lazy Sunday LXXI – Road Trips
  72. Lazy Sunday LXXII – Forgotten Posts, Volume I
  73. Lazy Sunday LXXIII – Forgotten Posts, Volume II
  74. Lazy Sunday LXXIV – Forgotten Posts, Volume III
  75. Lazy Sunday LXXV – Forgotten Posts, Volume IV
  76. Lazy Sunday LXXVI – Forgotten Posts, Volume V
  77. Lazy Sunday LXXVII – Rural America
  78. Lazy Sunday LXXVIII – Space, Part II
  79. Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – SCOTUS
  80. Lazy Sunday LXXX – Big Ideas
  81. Lazy Sunday LXXXI – Education, Part II
  82. Lazy Sunday LXXXII – Universal Studios
  83. Lazy Sunday LXXXIII – The Mountains
  84. Lazy Sunday LXXXIV – Halloween Hijinks
  85. Lazy Sunday LXXXV – Elections
  86. Lazy Sunday LXXXVI – Questions, Part I
  87. Lazy Sunday LXXXVII – Questions, Part II
  88. Lazy Sunday LXXXVIII – Questions, Part III
  89. Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – 100 Week Review
  90. Lazy Sunday XC – Questions, Part IV
  91. Lazy Sunday XCI – Questions, Part V
  92. Lazy Sunday XCII – Christmas
  93. Lazy Sunday XCIII – 2020’s Top Five Posts
  94. Lazy Sunday XCIV – My Favorite Things
  95. Lazy Sunday XCV – The Best of Lazy Sunday
  96. Lazy Sunday XCVI – More Movies: Movie Reviews, Part I
  97. Lazy Sunday XCVII – More Movies II: Movie Reviews, Part II
  98. Lazy Sunday XCVIII – More Movies III: Movie Reviews, Part III
  99. Lazy Sunday XCIX – Romantic Music
  100. Lazy Sunday C – Valentine’s Day
  101. Lazy Sunday CI – Obituaries, Part I
  102. Lazy Sunday CII – Obituaries, Part II
  103. Lazy Sunday CIII – Begging
  104. Lazy Sunday CIV – Time
  105. Lazy Sunday CV – Grab Bag II
  106. Lazy Sunday CVI – Adventures
  107. Lazy Sunday CVII – Easter
  108. Lazy Sunday CVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2021 Recap
  109. Lazy Sunday CIX – Pillow Talk
  110. Lazy Sunday CX – Inspector Gerard Reviews
  111. Lazy Sunday CXI – Bric-a-Brac II
  112. Lazy Sunday CXII – Responsibility
  113. Lazy Sunday CXIII – Short Stories
  114. Lazy Sunday CXIV – More Movies IV: Movie Reviews, Part IV
  115. Lazy Sunday CXV – Memorable Mondays
  116. Lazy Sunday CXVI – Delays
  117. Lazy Sunday CXVII – More Movies V – Movie Reviews, Part V
  118. Lazy Sunday CXVIII – More Movies VI – Movie Reviews, Part VI
  119. Lazy Sunday CXIX – Summer Camps
  120. Lazy Sunday CXX – Animals, Part II
  121. Lazy Sunday CXXI – MAGAWeek2021 Posts
  122. Lazy Sunday CXXII – MAGAWeek2020 Posts
  123. Lazy Sunday CXXIII – Murphy
  124. Lazy Sunday CXXIV – Bible Posts
  125. Lazy Sunday CXXV – More Movies VII – Movie Reviews, Part VII
  126. Lazy Sunday CXXVI – Joy, Part I
  127. Lazy Sunday CXXVII – Joy, Part II – Music
  128. Lazy Sunday CXXVIII – Civilization
  129. Lazy Sunday CXXIX – Friends, Part I
  130. Lazy Sunday CXXX – Friends, Part II
  131. Lazy Sunday CXXXI – Friends, Part III
  132. Lazy Sunday CXXXII – Milestones
  133. Lazy Sunday CXXXIII – Inspector Gerard
  134. Lazy Sunday CXXXIV – Friends, Part IV
  135. Lazy Sunday CXXXV – More Movies VIII – Movie Reviews, Part VIII
  136. Lazy Sunday CXXXVI – More Movies IX – Movie Reviews, Part IX
  137. Lazy Sunday CXXXVII – More Halloween Hijinks
  138. Lazy Sunday CXXXVIII – Friends, Part V
  139. Lazy Sunday CXXXIX – More Movies, Part X – Movie Reviews, Part X
  140. Lazy Sunday CXL – More Movies, Part XI – Movie Reviews, Part XI
  141. Lazy Sunday CXLI – Thanksgiving Stuff(ing)
  142. Lazy Sunday CXLII – More Movies, Part XII – Movie Reviews, Part XII
  143. Lazy Sunday CXLIII – More Movies, Part XIII – Movie Reviews, Part XIII
  144. Lazy Sunday CXLIV – More Christmas Carols
  145. Lazy Sunday CXLV – Christmas Cheer
  146. Lazy Sunday CXLVI – 2021’s Top Five Posts
  147. Lazy Sunday CXLVII – More Movies, Part XIV – Movie Reviews, Part XIV
  148. Lazy Sunday CXLVIII – The Gemini Sonnets #1 and #2
  149. Lazy Sunday CXLIX – The Gemini Sonnets #3 and #4
  150. Lazy Sunday CL – The Gemini Sonnets #5 and #6
  151. Lazy Sunday CLI – More Movies, Part XV – Movies Reviews, Part XV
  152. Lazy Sunday CLII – Romance
  153. Lazy Sunday CLIII – Behind the Songs, Part I
  154. Lazy Sunday CLIV – Behind the Songs, Part II
  155. Lazy Sunday CLV – Péchés d’âge moyen Posts
  156. Lazy Sunday CLVI – More Son of Sonnet
  157. Lazy Sunday CLVII – Ponty’s Posts, Part I
  158. Lazy Sunday CLVIII – Ponty’s Posts, Part II
  159. Lazy Sunday CLIX – Scrambie Eggs
  160. Lazy Sunday CLX: Fine Arts Festival
  161. Lazy Sunday CLXI: Easter II
  162. Lazy Sunday CLXII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap 2022
  163. Lazy Sunday CLXIII: Friends, Part VI
  164. Lazy Sunday CLXIV: Friends, Part VII
  165. Lazy Sunday CLXV: Friends, Part VIII
  166. Lazy Sunday CLXVI: Friends, Part IX
  167. Lazy Sunday CLXVII: Friends, Part X
  168. Lazy Sunday CLXVIII: More Movies, Part XVI: Movie Reviews, Part XVI
  169. Lazy Sunday CLXIX: More Movies, Part XVII: Movie Reviews, Part XVII
  170. Lazy Sunday CLXX: More Movies, Part XVIII: Movie Reviews, Part XVIII
  171. Lazy Sunday CLXXI: Frederick Ingram, Part I
  172. Lazy Sunday CLXXII: Frederick Ingram, Part II
  173. Lazy Sunday CLXXIII: MAGAWeek2022
  174. Lazy Sunday CLXXIV: More Movies, Part XIX: Movie Reviews, Part XIX
  175. Lazy Sunday CLXXV: More Movies, Part XX: Movie Reviews, Part XX
  176. Lazy Sunday CLXXVI: More Movies, Part XXI: Movie Reviews, Part XXI
  177. Lazy Sunday CLXXVII: School, Part I
  178. Lazy Sunday CLXXVIII: School, Part II
  179. Lazy Sunday CLXXIX: More Movies, Part XXII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part I
  180. Lazy Sunday CLXXX: More Movies, Part XXIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part I
  181. Lazy Sunday CLXXXI: More Movies, Part XXIV: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part II
  182. Lazy Sunday CLXXXII: More Movies, Part XXV: Portly’s Worst Films, Part II
  183. Lazy Sunday CLXXXIII: More Movies, Part XXVII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part III
  184. Lazy Sunday CLXXXIV: More Movies, Part XXVIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part III
  185. Lazy Sunday CLXXXV: More Movies, Part XXIX: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Worst Films
  186. Lazy Sunday CLXXXVI: More Movies, Part XXX: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part I
  187. Lazy Sunday CLXXXVII: More Movies, Part XXXI: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part II
  188. Lazy Sunday CLXXXVIII: Video Games II: Ponty’s Picks
  189. Lazy Sunday CLXXXIX: Even More Halloween Hijinks: The Musical
  190. Lazy Sunday CXC: Cozy Time
  191. Lazy Sunday CXCI: Veterans Day Posts
  192. Lazy Sunday CXCII: Myersvision, Part I
  193. Lazy Sunday CXCIII: Thanksgiving Week Posts
  194. Lazy Sunday CXCIV: Solo Cover EP, Part I
  195. Lazy Sunday CXCV: Solo Cover EP, Part II
  196. Lazy Sunday CLXXVI: 2022’s Top Three
  197. Lazy Sunday CXCVII: Review[s] of A Christmas Carol (1951)
  198. Lazy Sunday CXCVIII: The Worst of 2022
  199. Lazy Sunday CXCIX: More Movies XXXII: Portly’s Best Films, Part I
  200. Lazy Sunday CC: More Movies XXXIII: Ponty’s Best Films, Part I
  201. Lazy Sunday CCI: More Movies XXXIV: Portly’s Best Films, Part II
  202. Lazy Sunday CCII: More Movies XXXV: Ponty’s Best Films, Part II
  203. Lazy Sunday CCIII: P​é​ch​é​s d​’​â​ge moyen Picks
  204. Lazy Sunday CCIV: Arizonan Sojourn, Part I
  205. Lazy Sunday CCV: Portly’s Best Films, Part III
  206. Lazy Sunday CCVI: Ponty’s Best Films, Part III
  207. Lazy Sunday CCVII: The Beach
  208. Lazy Sunday CCVIII: Walks
  209. Lazy Sunday CCXIX: Paintings
  210. Lazy Sunday CCX: Arizonan Sojourn, Part II
  211. Lazy Sunday CCXI: Hono[u]rable Mentions
  212. Lazy Sunday CCXII: Easter III
  213. Lazy Sunday CCXIII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2023
  214. Lazy Sunday CCXIV: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Picks
  215. Lazy Sunday CCXV: Myersvision, Part II
  216. Lazy Sunday CCXVI: Myersvision, Part III
  217. Lazy Sunday CCXVII: Myersvision, Part IV
  218. Lazy Sunday CCXVIII: Myersvision, Part V
  219. Lazy Sunday CCXIX: Myersvision, Part VI
  220. Lazy Sunday CCXX: Myersvision, Part VII
  221. Lazy Sunday CCXXI: Intergalactic Nonsense
  222. Lazy Sunday CCXXII: Stories
  223. Lazy Sunday CCXXIII: Original Music, Part I
  224. Lazy Sunday CCXXIV: Original Music, Part II
  225. Lazy Sunday CCXXV: MAGAWeek2023 Posts
  226. Lazy Sunday CCXXVI: Greatest Hits Recap
  227. Lazy Sunday CCXXVII: Ponty Week 2023
  228. Lazy Sunday CCXXVIII: D.C., Part I
  229. Lazy Sunday CCXXIX: D.C., Part II
  230. Lazy Sunday CCXXX: TJC Deep Cuts
  231. Lazy Sunday CCXXXI: Weird Piano Music
  232. Lazy Sunday CCXXXII: Cinema
  233. Lazy Sunday CCXXXIII: Monarchy
  234. Lazy Sunday CCXXXIV: Sandwiches
  235. Lazy Sunday CCXXXV: Skeletons
  236. Lazy Sunday CCXXXVI: Myersvision, Part VIII
  237. Lazy Sunday CCXXXVII: Myersvision, Part IX
  238. Lazy Sunday CCXXXVIII: Festivals II
  239. Lazy Sunday CCXXXIX: Two Cryptid Tunes
  240. Lazy Sunday CCXL: Ghostly Doings
  241. Lazy Sunday CCXLI: Veterans Day Posts II
  242. Lazy Sunday CCXLII: Indie Musician Rants
  243. Lazy Sunday CCXLIII: 2023 Releases
  244. Lazy Sunday CCXLIV: Civilization Series
  245. Lazy Sunday CCXLV: Chapel Lessons, Part I
  246. Lazy Sunday CCXLVI: Chapel Lessons, Part II
  247. Lazy Sunday CCXLVII: Christmas Concert Reviews
  248. Lazy Sunday CCXLVIII: The Best of 2023
  249. Lazy Sunday CCXLIX: Best Ponty Posts of 2023
  250. Lazy Sunday CCL: Best Myersvision Posts of 2023
  251. Lazy Sunday CCLI: YouTube Roundup Roundup I
  252. Lazy Sunday CCLII: YouTube Roundup Roundup II
  253. Lazy Sunday CCLIII: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part I
  254. Lazy Sunday CCLIV: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part II
  255. Lazy Sunday CCLV: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part III
  256. Lazy Sunday CCLVI: Days Off
  257. Lazy Sunday CCLVII: Murphy Vids, Part I
  258. Lazy Sunday CCLVIII: Food II
  259. Lazy Sunday CCLIX: Four Mages, Part I
  260. Lazy Sunday CCLX: Murphy Vids, Part II
  261. Lazy Sunday CCLXI: Ultra Laziness
  262. Lazy Sunday CCLXII: Mothers
  263. Lazy Sunday CCLXIII: Four Mages, Part II
  264. Lazy Sunday CCLXIV: End of School Events
  265. Lazy Sunday CCLXV: Disco Elysium Reviews
  266. Lazy Sunday CCLXVI: Political Stuff, Part I
  267. Lazy Sunday CCLXVII: Political Stuff, Part II
  268. Lazy Sunday CCLXVIII: Milestones II
  269. Lazy Sunday CCLXIX: Cryptid Epistemology Mini-Series
  270. Lazy Sunday CCLXX: TJC Deep Cuts II
  271. Lazy Sunday CCLXXI: Trump Stuff
  272. Lazy Sunday CCLXXII: Harris Stuff
  273. Lazy Sunday CCLXXIII: Heptadic Structure Tracks, Part I
  274. Lazy Sunday CCLXXIV: More Movies XXXVI: Movie Reviews, Part XXII: Reviews for Audre
  275. Lazy Sunday CCLXXV: Singing to Murphy
  276. Lazy Sunday CCLXXVI: Music Stuff
  277. Lazy Sunday CCLXXVII: Reviews of Video Games After Only Playing a Tiny Bit of Them
  278. Lazy Sunday CCLXXVIII: Composing Antiquity
  279. Lazy Sunday CCLXXIX: Ancient History
  280. Lazy Sunday CCLXXX: Mel Brooks Films
  281. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXI: Smooth Brass Tunes
  282. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXII: Spooky Season Prep
  283. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXIII: Spooky Season Prep II
  284. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXIV: Spooky Season Prep III
  285. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXV: Post-Spooky Season Blues
  286. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXVI: GEOTUS
  287. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXVII: Vague Updates
  288. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXVIII: Thanksgiving Follies
  289. Lazy Sunday CCLXXXIX: Christmas Cheer
  290. Lazy Sunday CCXC: Christmas Cheer II
  291. Lazy Sunday CCXCI: Christmas Cheer III
  292. Lazy Sunday CCXCII: The Best of 2024
  293. Lazy Sunday CCXCIII: Life Stuff
  294. Lazy Sunday CCXCIV: Stop Motion Animation
  295. Lazy Sunday CCXCV: The Bitter, Wretched Cold
  296. Lazy Sunday CCXCVI: Golden Age
  297. Lazy Sunday CCXCVII: Golden Age II
  298. Lazy Sunday CCXCVIII: Civilization VII Posts
  299. Lazy Sunday CCXCIX: Civilization VII Posts II
  300. Lazy Sunday CCC: Cosmic Critters
  301. Lazy Sunday CCCI: Saxophone Sunday
  302. Lazy Sunday CCCII: Culture II
  303. Lazy Sunday CCCIII: Cold Stuff
  304. Lazy Sunday CCCIV: Springtime Musical Follies
  305. Lazy Sunday CCCV: Mostly Mediocre Horror Movies
  306. Lazy Sunday CCCVI: Old Tech
  307. Lazy Sunday CCCVII: Churchy Vibes
  308. Lazy Sunday CCCVIII: Clarinets!
  309. Lazy Sunday CCCIX: Analog Horror
  310. Lazy Sunday CCCX: MP3 Players
  311. Lazy Sunday CCCXI: Retro Games
  312. Lazy Sunday CCCXII: Scandinavians
  313. Lazy Sunday CCCXIII: The French
  314. Lazy Sunday CCCXIV: More Murphy
  315. Lazy Sunday CCCXV: LEGO Craft
  316. Lazy Sunday CCCXVI: Australians
  317. Lazy Sunday CCCXVII: Musical Reflections
  318. Lazy Sunday CCCXVIII: Jeffrey Epstein
  319. Lazy Sunday CCCXIX: July 2018 Deep Cuts
  320. Lazy Sunday CCCXXX: Minor Inconveniences
  321. Lazy Sunday CCCXXXI: Food III

TBT^65,536: Back to School with Richard Weaver

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

The 2025-2026 school year kicks off on Monday, 18 August 2025.  That means it’s time for my annual reflection on the works of Richard Weaver, the legendary academic who did more than anyone (that I know of) to defend a more traditional, quasi-medieval way of life.  He was also a major champion of the South.

Weaver catches a lot of flack from edgier fringes of the Right because his book Ideas Have Consequences (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link, as is the “South” link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through those links, at no additional cost to you) places a large emphasis on ideas as the source of our various social maladies, overlooking more fundamental influences like biology.  While I do believe that genetics play a fairly significant role in how we interact with and perceive the world, I am not a biological determinist by any stretch of the imagination.  Humans are animals to an extent, yes, but we are more.  We have souls that endure beyond our body.  We also have minds with which to think.

The HBD crowd among the online Right has some interesting insights to bring to the table, and their critiques of blank slatism are worth considering (for example, it is clear that black Americans and Africans are far more likely to develop sickle cell anemia than other races, as sickle cell anemia developed as an adaptation to resist malaria in sub-Saharan Africa), but plenty of people with the same genetic constitution believe and practice vastly different things.  Ideas, experienced and encountered at the right times and/or under the right conditions, can have a massive influence on how an individual develops.  Sure, we might see certain ideas taking hold more among a group of people, but that doesn’t mean every person in that group must come to believe those things.  The HBD folks also downplay the importance of cultural reinforcement of certain ideas.

For example, do I think Southerners are more conservative and traditional and religious than other Americans because so many of our ancestors were part of the pro-monarchy Cavaliers in the English Civil War?  Sure.  But none of us are sitting around talking about the Cavaliers outside of University of Virginia football (and, honestly, we’re not talking about that much, either).  Centuries of cultural reinforcement have played a huge role in keeping our institutions and our churches relatively traditional.

Dr. Fiancée’s family, for example, are of German Lutheran extraction from Michigan.  She was raised in the Lutheran tradition.  I can definitely see the German genetic influence in her family’s more taciturn, logical nature.  But her family moved South when she was still a child, and she is very Southern.  Her religious journey ultimately brought her to the Southern Baptist tradition.  She speaks with a Southern accent.  She is incredibly reflective and thoughtful, and came to her conclusions about religion through rigorous reading and reflection (and, of course, through the power of the Holy Spirit).

So, no, I don’t think Richard Weaver is the secret source of all of our modern ills, because he thought that ideas matter.  That’s rather myopic.  Indeed, Weaver’s work demonstrates how even the grain of idea can grow into a huge worldview.  Christopher Nolan explored the very same concept in his film Inception (2010).

With that, here is 15 August 2024’s “TBT^256: Back to School with Richard Weaver“:

Read More »

Ponty Praises: Typoman

The Portly Politico4 Comments

Good old Ponty is back with a video game review, and one with a particular relevance to blogging:  Typoman.

Anyone who writes daily will tell you that you will have typos.  If you’re not taking time to proofread, revise, and edit your writing (which I rarely do for these posts), you’re guaranteed to have them, no matter how fluidly and clearly you wrote.  Some lone word, some misapplied apostrophe, some stray letter, is going to sneak its way in.

Also, a game about spelling words is perfect for a blog, one that possesses pretenses of featuring literary non-fiction on rare occasions.  Words that must be spelled in a dangerous video game environment are even better.

But let me wrap up, lest I commit a dreaded typo.  Ponty delivers a great review of what sounds like an amazing game.

With that, here is Ponty’s review of Typoman (let me know if he—or I!—have committed any crimes against spelling and grammar):

Read More »

Monday Morning Movie Review: My Dinner with Andre (1981)

The Portly Politico2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago my older brother texted me this classic clip from The Simpsons, which he dubbed one of his favorite throwaway gags from the show:

The Simpsons largely accounts for my love of absurdist humor (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you), but also for my vastly encyclopedic knowledge of twentieth-century pop culture and politics.  It is solely because of that clip that I know of My Dinner with Andre (1981).

Even knowing nothing about the movie when I saw the clip above as a kid, the joke landed because the idea of playing an arcade game about two guys having a conversation was just so absurd, my brothers and laughed our butts off.

But, as The Simpsons often did, it planted the name of that film in my mind.  When my brother sent me that link the other day, it got me thinking that I really needed to see the movie.

I’m so glad I did.

Read More »

Monday Morning Movie Review: The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

The Portly Politico2 Comments

The excellent horror host Joe Bob Briggs opened the current season of The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs with a screening of the 1925 silent film The Phantom of the Opera (1925), the classic starring Lon Cheney in the title role.  I had never seen the film, and I can see why it has stood up to the test of time.

It’s also wild to consider that this movie is 100 years old.  It released the year my paternal grandfather was born, between the World Wars, before the Great Depression.  The 1920s and the 2020s share more than we realize, but it was also a fundamentally different world.  That the movie is still enjoyable is a testament to the strength of the story.

There is no original print of The Phantom that survives today (according to Joe Bob), and the score to the film has, it seems, been lost to time.  The version Joe Bob presented seems to track closely with the plot on Wikipedia, and featured a score composed and recorded in 2011.  The version he presented also featured colored tinting, an early version of Technicolor.

Based on the music credit after the film, this version is not the one Joe Bob presented, but it’s a reasonable facsimile and worth your time:

Read More »

TBT: VP Vance: A Worthy Successor

The Portly Politico2 Comments

It’s hard to believe that a year ago, we were gearing up for a presidential election.  Now Trump is back in office—woooooot!—and he has a worthy successor in the wings.

It’s going to be tough sledding in the years ahead, but it’s reassuring to know that we have a legitimate successor ready to roll in 2028.  Vance’s incredible speech to the various heads of Europe’s governments earlier this year was a call to government accountability—and for Europe to wake up.  It was not an attack on Europe, per se, but a powerful plea for its leaders to do something to improve the lives of their people.

I’m excited to see more from Vance in the years to come.

With that, here is 17 July 2024’s “VP Vance: A Worthy Successor“:

Read More »

Monday Morning Movie Review: The Strain (2014-2017)

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Today I’m taking a bit of a departure from my usual reviews.  Instead, I’m going to review a television series, although one with a cinematic quality and a Hollywood director attached:  The Strain (2014-2017).

The Strain is about a group of creatures that resemble a zombie-vampire hybrid called the strigoi (also called “strigs” and “munchers” in the show).  These creatures are filled with parasitic worms that they pass onto their victims.  Even one worm will multiply rapidly inside a host body, although the full transformation into a strigoi takes a few days.

The strigoi in the show are under the control of The Master, an ancient, powerful strigoi who has almost limitless power over his minions:  he can see through their eyes; he can speak through their mouths; he can command them to attack (or not to do so); and he can give some strigoi greater or lesser degrees of autonomy and/or their original personalities.  The Master can also transfer himself (in the form of a red parasitic worm among thousands of white ones) to other bodies, and can give humans “The White”—a white substance that, in the right doses, grants humans incredibly renewed health and an extended lifespan.

There are strigoi not under The Master’s control, but the show never clearly explains why.  One strigoi, The Born, is the vengeful offspring of The Master and a human.  There are also The Ancients, a set of which reside in New York City (the “New World Ancients”), and a set that reside in the Old World.  The New World Ancients are portrayed as vampiric husks, existing in a state of stasis and complacency.  All of these strigoi are at odds with The Master.

A plucky band of humans, led by the elderly Jewish pawnbroker Abraham Setrakian, also fight against The Master, to degrees that grow increasingly desperate as the show progresses and their numbers dwindle.  Setrakian is a Holocaust survivor, and his archnemesis is Thomas Eichhorst, the chief lieutenant of The Master.  Eichhorst was the commander of the concentration camp where Setrakian was held captive, and the two share a lethal bond that, I would argue, is the best part of the show.  The decades-long duel between them is fascinating viewing.

So, what of the show itself?  I have mixed feelings about it, to be sure.  Over the course of its four seasons, I found much about the show that I found tedious and boring.  Season 3, particularly, got bogged down in side stories, but the finale almost made the ride worth it.

Read More »