What did Hilary Clinton say in her speech at the DNC

Distilled to its essential meaning, her speech can be given in one sentence,

Everyone has won and all must have prizes.

Everyone has won and all must have prizes-The education crisis continues

Over at Drudge there was a link to an article entitled, Oberlin students want to abolish midterms and any grades below C.

Moi, I was born too soon. I admit to being four years of goofing off other than in my major subject. The agitation that would have made me do even less work would have seen me play my part. Well no, I would have just enjoyed the fruits of other peoples' labors.

At Oberlin (where else?) the little Social Justice Warriors are so tired from their labors, they want a pass from they are actually there for because it pales in comparison to the mission of not hanging out with white people and other important stuff.

My desire to be at the opening of any keg or some other diversion meant that I was not learning something else. Was that a good idea? From my immediate post college employment prospects, no. Did I miss anything important? I found philosophy classes interesting, but not even to make effort and regret that. My brush with sociology is such that though there were some earnest and honest practioners, it is of little worth to the society and there are many, many snake oil salesmen in that non-discipline.

The truth of the matter is, yeah I could pull it together to get the C average, but the school would have been within reason if they had tossed me out as wasted space.

Now are the Social Justice kids doing something so vital that grades should not be awarded for the successful completion of the course of study. The young lady or young man may be doing important work

If that is so, why go to college at all if it means so little?

There has got to be somewhere else they can be coddled so they can get on with the real work of societal improvement.

Pittsfield-The place to be young, liberal, politically correct and...white.

Boston's WCVB has an evening show called Chronicle.  It is well done and the subjects are wide ranging, but always something to do with New England. Sometimes it's new business or medical advances pioneered regionally.

Often, it is a destination that one from their metro Boston coverage area might want to visit. Last evening, it was Pittsfield.

Pittsfield was a one industry small city in the Massachusetts Berkshires. General Electric dominated the town until they bugged out.  As usual, when the big employer left, hard times ensued.

Chambers of commerce and civic boosters always try different tactics to bring about a hoped for renaissance. Sometimes it works, as when a community college satellite campus can be brought in. No one in Massachusetts ever calls for a state prison as the new job provider, but in a few places there is the call for a casino.

Sometimes it just happens. It helps if there is a surplus of low cost real estate that is not derelict and in a beautiful spot.

And, it happened in Pittsfield.

The co-hosts waxed poetic about all the new shops and eateries that have opened up, and they are all attractive venues. The food prepared at Eat on North looked looked to be a pleasant dining experience.

All the residents and entrepreneurs and artists featured look youngish or at least well preserved and, shall we say it hip. Oh, and shall we say it, white

Should that matter. As a live and let live type, not to me. The folks on the Chronicle episode all appear to be people who could be trustafarians. They may not be, but the meticulous casualness of their bad clothes seems to betray that.

There is one other aspect of all these cool folks, I don't think there was one African-American among them. Usually, that seems to bother people. There was not a peep of protest from anyone on the staff or townspeople.

It would cause an emergency insertion of a pacemaker if Pittsfield were a hotbed Trumpism.

It would be the perfect place for black brunch to show up. Ain't happening in that whitopia.

Prince is gone world goes into mourning-moi, not so much

The period of mourning for David Bowie ends and almost immediately another rocker says au revoir.

What is there to say?  For the voice of humility, not all that much.

Unlike Mr. Bowie (our sparse commentary here) I was much older when our good man came on the scene and cannot even hum a few bars to save my life.

Yet I, along with the rest of the public, am being told I must celebrate his life and regret his passing.

Suffice it to say, from what little I've read, he wasn't a bad guy and his end was unpleasant enough that it is sad even to someone who knows so little of his oeuvre.  If there is another dimension, one hopes he is succored there, preferably without his guitar.

There is one of his songs, sung by the girl group, the Bangles, that I do know of.  Though not a big fan, it was a catchy tune.  When apprised of the provenance, I realized who was dreaming of "kissin' Valentino By a crystal blue Italian stream."  

The Sanders Campaign wins the Goebbels Prize for best propaganda

During the current pre-primary campaign season, we have been bombarded by the ads for the candidates who are fighting it out in our sister state to the north.  They bleed into each other.  Hilary and Jeb and Chris and Kasich and whatever, all the same.  They almost seem to suggest the Holy Father should be opening a case for canonization as the subjects are too good for earthly office.

If the pope sees them, of course, he will have to fight to stay awake.  The commercials are boring.

One ad has broken out and is inspiring or at least enjoyable.

I am old enough to remember when Simon and Garfunkel came on the scene.  Enjoyable enough and a bit more than elevator music.  their music has probably not crossed my mind in decades.  Simon, occasionally I'll think, "Hop on the bus Gus" but seldom is that.  His South African stuff, interesting but passé.

So another tv spot comes on.  The background music is America by S & G.  My first thought is what are they selling, Middle America.  No, they are selling Bernie to MA and they are doing it well.

If Goebbels could see this from hell, he'd be saying, "Perfect, Not the Horst Wessel Lied, but time and place, it works.  It got the jaded guy writing a blog to stir, at least a little.  They might not be yelling "Ein Reich, ein volk, ein Bernie" but it works."

And it does.

Don't get me wrong, Bernie is one of the better candidates even if I don't buy his socialism.  He is less likely than Christie or Hilary to start a war and he was and is right on the banks.

My problem is direct election of the president is the search for a führer   Actually, the would be führers are searching for a volk.

As to Bowie, David was no Jim

The English writer, Theodore Dalrymple, has an article about the end of David Bowie that is excellent.  I urge you to read it.

Anyway, the man died and the encomia seemed unending, which leaves me at a loss.  From what i have gleaned, he wasn't a bad guy.

Like Dalrymple, I'm not a fan.  I've been aware of popular music for longer than most people alive today as I remember Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Eventually, I sort of moved on.  Every new band came along and at best I could say that's interesting and then would forget about it.  I wondered about myself.  My contemporaries were all obsessed with something and I didn't get it.

So along comes Bowie and he does not move the needle for me.  People I knew were excited and he was big and I yawned.

I am not sure when it was I heard Changes, but it was on the car radio.  I remember listening a few more times to make sure I got it and then forgot about it.

Ground Control to Major Tom may have been deep, but that voice was horrible, I hardly got through "Take your protein pills and put your helmet on."  Maybe I missed something profound and my life has been a desert and I don't know it.  So what.

I am stuck with the knowledge that either I am a buffoon who does not get it, or everyone I knew and grew up with is a dolt.  I'm not sure which I hope is true.

No matter what FiveThirtyEight says, Pre-K is great, Just ask mom and dad

On January 5, Andrew Flowers posted Is Pre-K All It's Cracked Up To Be on the FiveThirtyEight quant website.Like any FiveThirtyEight article, it is well written and looks at both sides thoughtfully and does not get the big picture.  I mean the really big picture.

The best thing for mom and dad when considering education, is how much free time it gives them.  This does not mean they do not love their kids, it's that interacting with them is a lot of work.  Parents love the children.  They oft work long hours and move to boring places so the offspring will have a better chance.

No matter how much love they might have, the system works.  If it could be proved that the current system is harmful to the kids, and a regime of home instruction an hour a day would make them smarter, there would be no groundswell for closing the schools.

All that extra time spent with the juniors and juniorettes by the stay at home mom or dad, would not be welcome.  My parents loved me, but I drove my mom crazy.

The national mania for education is such that candidates have to talk about it, but they're not really talking about education.

Wishing everyone a politically incorrect 2016 A.D.

From the voice of humility.