"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly." - John F. Kennedy
What's with the jumbled posts, alluvasudden?
Use a fish, it'll be funnier.
"In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is this: Hit the line hard, don't shirk but hit the line hard."
- Theodore Roosevelt
"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be." VADM James Stockdale, USN
Reality Is An Acquired Taste
by Michael Quinn Sullivan
Most of us don’t like to acknowledge reality. It can be very inconvenient for our carefully crafted ordering of the world.
A friend of mine likes to say that “reality is an acquired taste,” and he’s right. Yet, without a clear-eyed assessment of where we are, we’ll never successfully get where we want to go.
Usually, we paint for ourselves a soothingly false picture of the world—think about the middle-aged dad with a few extra tires around the middle who still sees himself as the high school athlete he was 30 years earlier!
Yet, in the cultural politics of the 21st century, there is a constant push to paint a dismal view that is similarly detached from reality. This is derived, in part, because we have elevated victimhood into a moral achievement. Practically, this has meant that a great many people spend time trying to position themselves as victims. I see it all the time.
It is driven by a misplaced view of success in political activism, where likes and shares have replaced human interaction. And so we find ourselves in the curious position of some grasstop leaders wanting to be seen as perpetually victimized losers.
Mass marketing doesn’t help. A “call to action” is usually most successful when there is an injustice to be righted or a foe to be vanquished. The bigger the injustice, the greater the foe, the more “urgent” the call, the greater the likelihood for participation.
Up to a point, anyway.
Consider the example of the spies who entered the Promised Land, as recounted in the Book of Numbers. God had just miraculously led the people out of captivity in Egypt. They had seen wonders beyond description. As they approached the borders of the land God was giving them, they sent in spies to reconnoiter the territory. So far, so good.
Several of them came back with exaggerated tales of impossible giants who would be impossible to overcome. They oversold their case of doom to the people. Rather than trust God and proceed to take the land, the people went wobbly and refused to move forward. As punishment for their cowardice, they wandered the desert for a generation.
History would reveal those giants weren’t quite so big, and victory was more attainable than those faithless spies reported.
The same is true today. In the rush to claim the status of a victim, there are some who prefer to rhetorically snatch defeat from the jaws of victory—all evidence to the contrary be damned.
Reality is always more nuanced than a social media post. Extreme victimhood might garner clicks and likes on X and Facebook, but it rarely builds a lasting, healthy movement.
For us politically, reality means legislators we don’t like can still pass legislation we do like. Reality means accepting that two things can be true at once: wins can be achieved, with more work still to be done. Acknowledging the one does not negate the reality of the other.
For activism to be successful, we must present arguments and provide evidence based not on emotions, but on a clear-eyed assessment of reality.
Lastly, it’s exhausting being around perpetually whining losers. At some point, people need to see that they are making a difference when they engage in civic activism.
Charting a successful path in our self-governing republic means honestly reporting to each other what has happened: the ugly, the bad, and, yes, even the good.
"Truth carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless."
– Francis Schaeffer
“The point of Economics is to create a language for discussing politics that excludes ordinary people.”
Matthew Stoller
I've been a long-time Debian/Ubuntu/Mint nerd, but yesterday I decided I wanted to learn Arch Linux, so I've installed Garuda Linux on a spare laptop.
Aside from the hassle of having to learn new infrastructure, it looks nice!
⚡️🇺🇸 NEW - Democrat Governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, has officially signed the first climate change tax in the U.S. into law.
Labeled a “green fee,” the tax will target tourists on Hawaii Island, requiring them to contribute for their carbon footprint.
Cruise ship passengers will also be included, paying a prorated tax based on how many days their ship is docked at a Hawaiian port.
Set to take effect in January, the law will impose a 0.75% tax on visitors staying in hotels and short-term rentals.
https://blossom.primal.net/1434c24826605abc5c04764300c9274d05108a9eb0d451f75ffcf6cb8101f18e.mp4
SMDH
Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers, being raised up to glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
1 Cor. 15:43; Matt. 25:23; Matt. 10:32; 1 John 3:2; 1 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 4:17-18.
Today in U. S. History
On May 29, 1765, Patrick Henry delivered a thunderous speech against the Stamp Act in Virginia's House of Burgesses. When the speaker of the House declared the speech to be treasonous, Henry said, "If this be treason, make the most of it."
"Pick up a rifle and you change instantly from a subject to a citizen."
– Col. Jeff Cooper
Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are, at their death, made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves until the resurrection.
Heb. 12:23; 2 Cor. 5:1, 6, 8; Phil. 1:23; Luke 23:43; 1 Thess. 4:14; Isa. 57:2;
Job 19:26-27.
Well, that didn't work out so good.
"It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world."
– George Washington
"The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise."
- Tacitus
Q. 36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
Rom. 5:1-2, 5; Rom. 14:17; Prov. 4:18; 1 John 5:13; 1 Pet. 1:5.
"He begins to die, that quits his desires." - George Herbert
"Better to fight for something than live for nothing."
– George S. Patton
Q. 35. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
2 Thess. 2:13; Eph. 4:23-24; Rom. 6:4, 6; Rom. 8:1.
Q. 34. What is adoption?
A. Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God.
1 John 3:1; John 1:12; Rom. 8:17.
"Set goals so big that unless God helps you, you will be a miserable failure." - Bill Bright
"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it." - Pericles
Seeing how mast people suck so bad at two-dimensional driving, I hope I'm long gone before three-dimensional flying goes live.