I don't know why he did it, but Jeffrey Smith at The New Roving Medievalist posted a picture tour of Europe yesterday. It's great, one of the best assortment of pictures I've ever seen. It made me think: What other area of the world can boast such variety and history and beauty? I know some far East countries have ancient histories, but beauty in the histories? They may have some great architecture, but such variety?
No, Europe is terribly unique. The historical causes are legion, dating back to Rome, probably back as far as Thermopylae. In any event, check out the pictures if you get a chance. It no doubt took Mr. Smith a long time. Hopefully, people will appreciate it.
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I think everyone knows this, but I thought the MSM in large part denies it:
The Republicans are to a large extent the party of married couples with children, while the Democrats are the party of unmarried voters, who tend to be more sensitive to economic risk, and thus more supportive of welfare spending, than members of intact nuclear families. But the nuclear family has been in steady decline for years, pushed along by falling marriage rates and rising out-of-wedlock births, trends that are likely to create an ever-larger base for a left-populist majority.
Atlantic Monthly link.
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I finally figured out how to post Youtube videos to my site ("figured out" isn't quite right; it's shamefully easy). Here's my celebration/inaugural video: Not-often-seen Elvis:
Note: I will make it a habit only to post truly video-worthy clips in the future.
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At the University of Michigan's local campus [in Dearborn], administrators have recently refitted several school bathrooms to include small footbaths in the corner--an accommodation for Muslim students who must perform ritual washing as part of their daily observance. The issue has more than a few of the usual suspects trying to explain their way out of their usual positions on the separation of church and state.
The Detroit chapter of the ACLU has scrambled to find a way to recuse itself from the matter, claiming that the footbaths qualify as secular since they could be used by non-Muslims, and therefore don't cross the group's usual bright church-state line.
Don't get me wrong: The ACLU has valid reasons for its position. The reasons are confusing, but valid. Thing is, First Amendment jurisprudence is so botched up, thanks in large part to the Warren Court and the likes of the ACLU, that any position can be taken on any close call, with the result that the ACLU can continue to cater to its fan base on the multicultural left without abjuring its disingenuous altruism.
