Spout

This site is full of ideas. Some of them might make you cringe. They may not align with your worldview, perspectives, or experiences. That’s a great thing.

Maybe this is the way to do foreign policy

Today, President Trump announced they had found and killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the now former leader of ISIS. You have to think that his announcement that we were leaving Syria was connected to this operation. What many thought was a horrible, ill-conceived, and poorly thought out decision suddenly isn’t looking all that bad. When I heard about Baghdadi was killed, I could only think about President Bush’s lead up to the Iraq invasion. Unlike Trump’s surprise announcement, President Bush followed all the normal rules of diplomacy. He told everyone there were weapons of mass destruction. He shared the evidence…

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I’m in a recession state of mind

About a month ago, the media was doing its best to convince us all we were in a recession. Suddenly, everyone started hearing the phrase “inverted yield curve,” which was supposed to be some magical chart that showed us, definitively, that we’re headed for a recession. It was almost like the media was rooting for a recession. In fact, it seemed like Democrats were rooting for a recession. This is not the first time we’ve seen this movie. When George W. Bush was President, the media and Democrats spent years trying to convince us all we were in a…

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Education versus instinct

Higher education is held in high esteem. And why not? In college and graduate school, students spend their time studying the great thinkers in human history. They learn popular theories and explore the philosophy behind their discipline. They get exposed to peers with diverse backgrounds and become more learned in the process. Meanwhile, those who don’t spend time in graduate school, or even skip college all together, usually enter right into the workforce. Many will get a job somewhere, while others may start their own business. There is a belief among many of the educated that because of their…

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I think I found my calling

My daughter’s been listening to a lot of rap lately, and, as a consequence, so have I. We had about an hour together recently, and after hearing that much, I realized what job I’d really like to do. I’m not sure how much they make, but I’d like to be a session musician for rap artists. I want to be the guy who says, “yo,” “uh,” “yea,” and “listen up,” as the songs getting underway. I’d then make a few random appearances during the segments between the chorus and verses. If I expand my skills, I might also serve…

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The overt inconsistencies of liberalism

Listening to liberal politicians talk about and make fun of NASCAR fans is extremely illustrative. In fact, it really exemplifies what I consider to be a liberal political strategy – lumping people into groups and then thinking of them in terms of their group affiliations. It’s not that conservatives embrace NASCAR or have some strange genetic predisposition toward car racing. It’s that conservatives see value in all people, and they don’t look down upon someone simply because of what part of the country they’re from or what kind of sports they like. (We don’t even look down on people…

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Which is it? Are conservatives all rich or all poor?

It’s a common refrain that conservatism is for the rich, by the rich and all about preserving the rich – everyone else be damned. Yet, at the same time, I’ve heard many commentators describe the Tea Party members – conservatives – as poor, uneducated, NASCAR loving rubes. They say that Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, Sean Hannity, and others like them are simply taking advantage of the fears and prejudices of these simpleton, rural red-staters. (The funny thing about that claim is the implication that Limbaugh, Drudge, Hannity, and others are all secretly liberals – like the rest of us…

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How can you support a cause and a group that hates your cause?

This is just a sign of where we are as a country right now. How can liberals, who actively (and rightfully) support rights for gays and fair treatment of women, also support the kind of militant Islam where gays are tortured or thrown off buildings and women are subject to Sharia Law (which essentially places women under the complete control of their men)? It sure seems like those to ideas are at odds. The phrase “religion of peace” is often associated with Islam. But when I just searched the phrase, I came up with this site. There’s no disputing…

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When tofu is the foundation of your marketing

There are a lot of reasons to go vegetarian, or vegan. None of them appeal to me, but people are free to choose the paths they choose. That said, I’m not sure of the appeal. When tofu is the best tool in your marketing toolbox, I’m not sure how much success you’ll have getting people to eat tofu as an alternative to meat. I’ve seen tofu as a part of all sorts of dishes, and it always looks the same to me. It looks like the plastic explosives you see in action movies. Always cleanly sliced into cubes with…

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