The Digger

Good ideas can be found on the left and the right.  Victor Davis Hanson is one of those conservative thinkers that I pay attention to because he has an interesting take on various issues and some good ideas as well. Universities Breed Anger,  Ignorance, and Ingratitude By   VICTOR DAVIS HANSON October 22, 2019 6:30 AM (Pixabay) In turning out woke and broke graduates, they have a lot to answer for.   W hat do widely diverse crises such as declining demography, increasing indebtedness, Generation Z’s indifference to religion and patriotism, static rates of home ownership, and a national epidemic of ignorance about American history and traditions all have in common? In a word, 21st-century higher education. A pernicious cycle begins even before a student enrolls. A typical college-admission application is loaded with questions to the high-school applicant about gender, equality, and bias rather than about math, ...

There is a growing tendency for progressive writers and pundits to attack their conceptualizations of the right or alt-right instead of the actual opposition. At some point even well-meaning political commentators start believing the propaganda and stop observing their existing political counterparts. At what point are they screaming at a straw man alone in an abandoned corn field? What progressives are missing is that the political right has been rapidly evolving such that the iconography of twenty, ten and even five years ago has become politically irrelevant. Sure progressives do not understand the fundamental difference between Christian Populism and Neo-conservatism but it is much more than that. So how can you be politically germane if you have no conception of the reality of who you appose? So what are you missing? Take a few moments with the linked Kanye West interview below. So is your old political rhetoric going to still be meaningful to the walk-aways follow...

I tried posting this yesterday but it didn't take. This is long, nearly three hours, but well worth watching and discussing, so here it is. Holy fuck, just like yesterday, this blog mechanism says "no video found." No matter. The URL is  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=efs3QRr8LWw

This was originally published at  MR Online  and updated by The Grayzone American taxpayers are now paying the salaries and expenses of dozens of Venezuelan opposition figures who have created a “shadow government” inside Venezuela and abroad. On October 8, USAID signed a bilateral agreement with the faction of the Venezuelan opposition led by National Assembly president Juan Guaidó (whom the Trump administration recognizes as the “interim president” of Venezuela) that includes $98 million in assistance for Venezuelans. A  memo obtained by the L.A. Times reveals  that USAID is diverting $41.9 million from aid for Central America and instead sending it “to Guaidó and his faction… to pay for their salaries, airfare, ‘good governance’ training, propaganda, technical assistance for holding elections and other ‘democracy-building’ projects.” Elliott Abrams, the White House’s special envoy to Venezuela,  said in an interview  that the Trump administrat...

Saint Jimmy posted a link to this article on another thread.  Thought it deserved its own thread.  Russian Pride and US Exceptionalism October 23, 2019 Riva Enteen reports on a  recent  citizens’ delegation to Russia and the  chance to consider the country and its recent turbulent history from the vantage point of people living there.  By  Riva Enteen Dissident Voice  I  just came home to California from a 50-person citizen diplomacy delegation to Russia to ponder my neighbor’s bumper sticker that says “Just pretend it’s all OK.” That’s the American state of mind, but it doesn’t extend to Russians, who are painfully aware of war and its death and destruction. The still pervasive images of wheat in the cities and towns reflect the necessity of feeding the people. The U.S. unapologetically operates on the principle that war is good for business. Russians know war too deeply to accept that premise. Russians call WWII the Great ...