Should Blacks be paid slavery reparations in the form of homelands?

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Many Black activists are agitating for two things.

One, they want reparations for the enslavement of some of their ancestors centuries ago, a small fraction of which is to be paid by the people whose ancestors were the enslavers, and a large fraction of which is to be paid by people like me whose ancestors back then were raiding rival clans in the Scottish Highlands without ever setting eyes on a Black person in their entire poor, nasty, brutish and short lives.

Two, they want to reinstitute racial segregation. They want Black dorm buildings in college, Black classes, Black this and Black that, all because the White man is not to be trusted. Who knows when he’ll break out a noose?

I do not think slavery reparations, standing alone, would do much good in elevating Black achievement. Trillions spent on Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, three generations of welfare, and 40 years of Black favoritism in job applications and college admissions have done little good for Blacks, and arguably a lot of harm.

And I think segregation, standing alone, is an equally bad idea. If the races are ever to get along and start to trust one another, they need to spend time together.

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They’re coming for your houseplants

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First, they came for the gas stoves,

And I did not speak out

Because mine is electric.

Then they came for the dishwashers,

And I did not speak out

Because I use paper plates.

Then they came for the furnaces,

And I did not speak out

Because I keep the heat at 60.

Then they came for the houseplants,

And I did not speak out

Because I’m not a houseplant.*

Even though I’m not one, some of my best and oldest friends are. I have a jade plant that is a cutting of a cutting of a cutting of a cutting of a cutting that I bought as a sophomore in college over ten years ago. I have an eight-foot cactus that looks like it came right out of the Jurassic Age. I bought it many years ago for a six-figure sum. Fortunately, the seller of that houseplant threw in a house to sweeten the deal.

I was therefore distressed to see an article in the “news” paper owned by Jeff Bozo warning us that houseplants contribute to global warming. I wondered how that was possible, since plants don’t spew carbon; they instead absorb it, and spew oxygen.

This “reporter” admits that houseplants, like all plants, do absorb a bit of carbon. But he says the amount they absorb is very small, given that they themselves are relatively small. OK, I’ll give him that.

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Hunter seems to think the fix is in at dad’s Department of Justice

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Hunter Biden is the gift that keeps on giving. And I’m not talking about the STDs he’s probably given and received from his “lady” friends.

This president’s son, who has absolutely no business skills and typically is not even sober, has collected tens of millions from foreign governments and businessmen. Some of that money has found its way through labyrinth shell corporations and into the hands of the “Big Guy.” Some of it has not found its way into the hands of the Internal Revenue Service, though it should have.

Republicans want to learn more about this. Or as the New York Times would put it, “Republicans pounced.” That’s because the media which back in the days of journalism would itself pounce to investigate such suspicious activity was instead still navel-gazing about the laptop computer aka “Russian disinformation.”

The Republicans used the tool available: a Congressional subpoena to Hunter requiring him to give sworn testimony in a deposition on the subject. What he gave them instead was the finger.

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Aspen in the Early Days

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Book excerpt from “High Attitude”

Here’s a free excerpt from my recent book, “High Attitude – How Woke Liberals Ruined Aspen.” It’s Chapter One, about the early mining days. This chapter is mostly non-political, but of course I couldn’t resist a political observation or three.

The link is at the download below.

The full book is also available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Current reviews average 4.5 stars out of 5. If you like the book, feel free to leave your own online review!

high-attitude-ch-1-1Download

Aspen locals excoriate wealthy visitors, even as they fleece them

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The favorite parlor game of Aspen locals is to bash the wealthy visitors who over the last half century turned this dilapidated near-ghost town into a renowned place of beauty, recreation and money.

The gist of the bashing is that the visitors are “greedy.” Utterly lacking any self-awareness, those same locals simultaneously demand that the “greedy” visitors give them ever-more money, especially in the form of taxpayer-subsidized housing which the local insiders get for dimes on the dollar.

This hypocrisy reached a peak when a local wrote a column last year in the Aspen Daily News suggesting that the visitors should stop visiting. He apparently wants them to just mail their money in.

That same local has now written another column decrying a $17 million donation by a wealthy visitor to the Aspen Music School, which is graciously thanking the donor by putting his name on the music tent. That gesture of thanks, says the local, amounts to Aspen selling its soul.

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Aspen Daily News about this. Here it is. (The local’s original column is at the link in my letter).

Trump’s brief to the Supreme Court is solid, well-written, persuasive, and underreported

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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows

Six days ago, Donald Trump’s lawyers filed a 34-page brief in the Supreme Court. In legal-speak, their brief is called a “petition for certiorari.” It asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 4-3 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court banning Trump from the Colorado ballot. (The brief is available, in full, at the Supreme Court website.) 

This case presents one of the most important legal and political issues of this century: Whether a state can exclude a national candidate from the state’s ballot on the grounds that he committed a federal crime that he was never convicted of or even charged with.

But the media has largely ignored Trump’s brief. I have not seen a single news report about it. Reporters embarked on crazy endzone dancing when the Colorado decision came out last month, which has apparently left them too woozy and hungover to report on a particular salient fact – namely, that this play is almost certainly under review1 by the real Supreme Court. And initial indications point to the on-field ruling being overturned.

Trump’s brief cites and quotes extensively from the well-reasoned three-justice dissenting opinion in Colorado – another piece of news that was little-reported.

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Why are Joe Biden’s dogs so bad?

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After Joe Biden was purportedly elected president of the United States, he moved into the White House and still spends a good – some would say bad – 60% of his time living and “working” there. It’s convenient because it’s also the preferred residence of his make-shift physician, make-shift policy advisor, make-shift stair-assister and make-shift stage-navigator, “doctor” Jill.

The White House has also been the dog house of several canine companions of Joe. The first First Dog went by the name of Champ, until he lost his title. He died and went to the White Dog House in the sky.

It was the best thing any Biden dog has ever done.

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Jesus is not our mom

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Note: I first wrote and published this years ago. I occasionally revise and republish it.

Two thousand years ago, a carpenter lived a conventional life for 30 years in a tiny village in the Middle East. Then something got into him. He became, as they might say today, “radicalized” for the last three years of his short life.

Historians agree that Jesus did exist. There are reliable ancient records of him. But most of what we know are opaque and contradictory accounts written decades after his death in what we now call the Gospel of the New Testament.

In one sense, those Gospel accounts are profoundly simple. They say Jesus was the Messiah prophesized in the Hebrew Bible. As such, he performed miracles to save those needing saving. He came back from the dead. That’s the word.

But in a personal sense, the Gospels present a more complicated man than the one presented in Sunday School or even adult church services.

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High Attitude — How Woke Liberals Ruined Aspen

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Dear Readers,

My gift to you is an excerpt from my book published this year, “High Attitude — How Woke Liberals Ruined Aspen.” The excerpt is the Preface of about 19 pages, and is in the PDF below. I may publish additional excepts in the coming months.

The book was well-received, with an average review of 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon. If you like it, or think someone for whom you need a last-minute gift might, the whole book is still available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for $17.99 in the print version and $7.99 on Kindle.

Merry Christmas! Glenn

High Attitude preface CLICK HERE