San Diego Local Order of Bloggers

We remember Eric Carmen (1949-2024)

Silvio Canto, Jr.
8/11/2026 12:30:00 AM

    We remember Eric Carmen who was born in Cleveland on this day in 1949.  He died in 2024.        According to his website, it started when he bought a guitar at age 16.In the early 1970's, Eric was the lead vocalist for The Raspberries.  In the mid-1970's, he charted several solo hits.I liked both phases of his career, the group and solo efforts.  By the way, I have not heard a word about Carmen in years.  Hope that he is doing well      P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for Donate on the right column of the blog page.                   [...]

We remember Vada Pinson (1938-1995)

Silvio Canto, Jr.
8/11/2026 12:00:00 AM

            Vada Pinson was born on this day in 1938.   He died in 1995.    Pinson broke into the majors when he was 19 and played much of his career with the Reds.        His career totals were rather amazing:   .286 lifetime average, 256 HRs, 2,757 hits & 1,170 RBI.        Should he be in the Hall of Fame?   His numbers are rather good, although he did not get to 3,000 hits.        No matter what Pinson was a great player.     P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for Donate on the right column of the blog page.   [...]

Gay? Arday? No Way

K T Cat
8/10/2026 11:45:34 AM

By now, you've probably heard about Cambridge's very own Baron Munchausen, Jason Arday. His meteoric rise through the ranks of academia was originally assumed to be due to his brilliant achievements, but in the end, it was discovered it was due to his possession of one crucial characteristic that all upper-echelon universities crave: he's black.    If you haven't been following the story, it's really simple. He is a pathological liar and fabulist as well as a plagiarist. The leadership at one university after another fell over themselves to recruit and promote him until he ended up the youngest black full professor in the history of Cambridge.If you haven't been following the story, it's worth some digging. I'm not[...]

Ugh

K T Cat
8/9/2026 4:30:21 PM

It's been quite the adventure here in Alabama. I'm working full time while getting a fairly long list of tasks accomplished to get our river house ready to be a vacation rental. It's all going rather well and I'll be done in a week with the place ship shape. However, these endless 11 and 12 hour days are a grind.I celebrated rather freely last night, having completed one of the most important tasks a bit ahead of schedule. A potent mix of alcohol and tobacco, you know. The results this morning have been dreadful. Naturally, I found just enough energy this morning to sit in front of the computer and type out some doggerel with the help of ChatGPT.I could just hear Basil Fitzallen now in full Terry Thomas mode nursing a similar[...]

Why does America keep winning?

W.C. Varones
12/12/2025 8:48:00 AM

X:          Yes. But also, America's abundance of natural resources and history of fortuitous developments kinda seems like God shed His grace on thee.        Capitalism and divine providence are like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 

Inflation is always and everywhere a progressive phenomenon

W.C. Varones
11/13/2025 9:31:17 AM
Excerpt from a text conversation with a young "democratic socialist":DS: Every time the US has become progressive, the right wing and the centrists said the policies were too unrealistic, but the civil rights movement still passed, and FDR is currently looked at as one of the best presidents of the past hundred yearsWC: Some times the right wing and the centrists are right. LBJ's Great Society has trapped millions in multigenerational welfare dependency. Obamacare has made health care unaffordable and is bankrupting both families and the US governmentLBJ's Great Society (and the Vietnam War) was what forced the US government to break the gold standard under Nixon, leading to all subsequent inflation crises. Inflation and all[...]

What Ails Us - But First Some Background

B-Daddy
4/6/2025 5:10:10 PM
Someone close to me asked me to give an overall take on the current state of politics and the prospects for our future. I thought to answer, but first want to explain how I analyze the political landscape.Here are some key principles that are worth repeating because we seem to forget them.1. A chicken is an eggs way of making another egg.      To influence the the size and numbers of your chickens, manage egg production and consumption. Demographics are destiny.2. Eggs are rare, sperm is plentiful.      Combined with 1 above, the most important variable component of demographic destiny is female reproductive behavior and strategies.3. Testosterone confers greater strength and aggression[...]

Bezos vs Burnham - Robber Baron vs Managers

B-Daddy
1/26/2022 8:32:44 PM
 Well not really; and not just because Burnham isn't a household name. James Burnham authored key insights on "managerialism" and predicted its eventual triumph over capitalism in his 1941 book "The Managerial Revolution," summarized here, but skip ahead 5 minutes (this is a great podcast). George Orwell provided this summary in 1943.Capitalism is disappearing, but Socialism is not replacing it. What is now arising is a new kind of planned, centralized society which will be neither capitalist nor, in any accepted sense of the word, democratic. The rulers of this new society will be the people who effectively control the means of production: that is, business executives, technicians, bureaucrats and soldiers,[...]

And Where a Salon Scribe Gets a Tad Out of His Swim Lane

Dean
11/11/2015 9:22:09 AM
Over the weekend, Salon writer, DAVID MASCIOTRA, caused quite a dust-up on social media with his own salute to the troops ahead of Veterans Day . Here is the headline, followed by the sub-headline and then followed by the first paragraph of the piece:You dont protect my freedom: Our childish insistence on calling soldiers heroes deadens real democracyIt's been 70 years since we fought a war about freedom. Forced troop worship and compulsory patriotism must endPut a man in uniform, preferably a white man, give him a gun, and Americans will worship him. It is a particularly childish trait, of a childlike culture, that insists on anointing all active military members and police officers as heroes.If you desire, you can read it[...]

Football rules changes...? You've come to the right place

Dean
1/31/2015 2:04:56 PM

    Theres no denying that over the last few decades most all on-field rules changes made by the NFL have been exercises in increasing offense and scoring. This has created an arms race in a sense where the pendulum swings back and forth between the NFL offenses and NFL defenses whereby the offenses get aided by rules changes and the defenses counter with a combination of innovative schemes and superior athletes. To wit, for years, its been conventional wisdom that the best athletes in the world were in the NBA. Now days, we would add NFL defensive backs and possibly outside linebackers/rush ends into that mix (you dont think dudes like Richard Sherman, Darrelle Revis and J.J. Watt can ball a little?).But[...]

7.4-Magnitude Earthquake Devastates Western Colombia, Killing More Than 100 

Leslie Eastman

Meanwhile, there are signs of Increased activity at the nation's Purac volcano.The post 7.4-Magnitude Earthquake Devastates Western Colombia, Killing More Than 100 first appeared on Legal Insurrection.

Nevada Discovery Could Rebuild Americas Tungsten Supply Chain 

Leslie Eastman

However, potential development of Railroad Valley has hit a NASA roadblock.The post Nevada Discovery Could Rebuild Americas Tungsten Supply Chain first appeared on Legal Insurrection.