12/26/2016

Thoughts On A Sunday - Monday After Christmas Edition

Now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas has passed (and the hustle and bustle of gift returns and post-Christmas sales starts), I actually have a few minutes to put together this somewhat abbreviated Day-After-Christmas Thoughts On A Sunday.

While I didn’t have to travel, much of the rest of the WP Clan did. At this point it appears everyone got to where they were going and back home again without incident. I hope that is true for you half-dozen or so regular readers of this humble blog.

****************


While being ensconced on the recliner and watching Fox News this morning, I found it interesting, though not unsurprising claim by the White House press secretary that the Obama Administration has been one of the most open and transparent administrations in American history.

The video clip with that pronouncement had barely concluded when a number of Fox commentators and liberal media pundits blasted the claim, with more than a few stating the Obama Administration had been one of the most closed, opaque, and obstructive administrations ever, with one or two stating the Nixon Administration was transparent in comparison to this one.

This also makes one wonder just how many last minute “Eff You” actions Obama will take prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration next month.

****************


China has taken the next step in building its navy’s reputation, in this case having its new aircraft carrier steaming through the South China Sea.

Influential state-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times said the exercise showed how the carrier was improving its combat capabilities and that it should now sail even further afield.

“The Chinese fleet will cruise to the Eastern Pacific sooner or later. When China’s aircraft carrier fleet appears in offshore areas of the U.S. one day, it will trigger intense thinking about maritime rules,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

I would expect that when that day comes China will find it being shadowed by at least one US carrier group (the US Navy presently has 11 carrier groups), and more than one Los Angeles or Virginia class submarine.

****************


Could the reason the Left are so fearful of the resurgence of the Deplorables is because they expect us to treat them the way they had planned to treat us?

I believe that is the case, something psychiatrists call projection. Too bad they don’t understand (or don’t care) that most of us just want to be left alone and not bothered by their utopian idea of Nanny State Socialism.

****************


As Glenn Reynolds headlines a number of education posts, this is yet another example of the Higher Education Bubble.

When a high level college student with a 4.0 average at Kansas State University is dropping out because his belief that college is a scam and that he can learn more by starting his own business than wasting 4 years at college, that’s a danger signal to the institutions of higher learning that they aren’t providing what it is our kids need to make it in the real world.

It doesn’t help that we’ve been sold the lie that the only way we can get ahead is with a college education, and that the Uncle Sam has flooded the country with so much money to finance student loans. Between those two factors is it any wonder the higher education system is breaking down?

****************


And that’s the abbreviated news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’re recovering from the pre-Christmas shopping fatigue, the snow is falling now and then, and where there are still plenty of Christmas treats to eat.