CJ Box (and me) at Lone Tree Arts Center on 3/1!
I'm so excited to tell you that I'll be moderating a talk and book signing with the fantastic CJ Box whose Wyoming-based crime-thrillers are some of the most entertaining books you'll ever read.
You can buy tickets here. The higher priced ticket comes with a hardcover copy of the book and the ability to get the book signed by CJ after the presentation and Q&A. The less expensive ticket is for a second person attending as a companion who does not need a copy of the book.
Ticket Detail (lonetreeartscenter.org)
Hope to see you there!!!
Just One Thing: Ron DeSantis defeats woke College Board
Another huge win for Governor Ron DeSantis. The Florida governor told the College Board, the group in charge of AP courses and exams that can give more intensive education and college credit to high school students, that their new African-American Studies course would not be approved in Florida because it was full of woke ahistorical anti-American nonsense. The College Board, with barely a whimper, announced yesterday that they will remove topics including critical race theory, black feminism, the Black Lives Matter movement/scam, and the queer experience. If you’re wondering what “the queer experience” means or has to do with African-American studies, well, I think that’s exactly the point. And, apparently the college board added as a research project idea “black conservatism.” The college board is saying the changes didn’t come from political pressure. But we know it’s a huge win for DeSantis.
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Today's Guests
Rep Nancy Mace (R-SC) is one of the few members of Congress whom I really respect. Doesn't mean we agree on everything but she's smart and she's tough and she doesn't just go along to get along (either with the squishy middle or with the Trumpy populist right.) Very happy to welcome her back to the show for what I hope will be a wide-ranging, albeit brief, conversation.
Some biographical stuff: Nancy Mace - The Citadel - Charleston, SC
A few topics:
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace keeps getting “called to the principal’s office” (msn.com)
This was heroic: Coalition of 7 conservative House Republicans says they won’t challenge election results | The Hill
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Richard Haass is a world-renowned foreign policy expert and president of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org).
He's decide to write a book about domestic politics, more specifically about citizenship, and most specifically about what he believes are the obligations of citizenship that do or should accompany our rights as citizens. Thus the title, mirroring "The Bill of Rights": The Bill of Obligations by Richard Haass
I'll say here and now that I agree with probably 30% of what he writes, am unconvinced by 40% and disagree, sometimes very strongly, with 30%. Much of what he writes strikes me as what you would expect from the living archetype of "the establishment" and I say that as someone who typically doesn't hate, or even much dislike, "the establishment", at least not as much as populists do. I hope this will be an interesting and spirited conversation and I'll be quite interested to see how he reacts when challenged on some fundamental principles.
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Other Stuff
This is an enormous geopolitical story: US secures deal on Philippines bases to complete arc around China - BBC News
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I think Kinzinger's take is about right, and personally I used to have Nikki Haley at the top of my list but she's been such a flip-flopper on Trump and other things, just seeming to pander all the time, that I'm a lot less interested than I used to be. I would certainly vote for her for president if she were the Republican nominee. I might even be convinced to vote for her in the primary. But I'm not nearly as enthusiastic as I was shortly after she left the Trump administration (which seemed like a brilliant political move at the time and still does in retrospect.)
Nikki Haley is about to answer the first big question of the 2024 White House race | CNN Politics
More: Nikki Haley poised to enter 2024 presidential race - BBC News
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Separate from any opinion about whether I think Donald Trump is correct, I think this does separate him on a policy basis from probably every other potentially credible Republican candidate. And I give Trump credit for having been consistently anti-war since well before he ran for president in 2016 and campaigning on getting us out of Afghanistan and Iraq in 2016. He's stuck to his guns, if you'll pardon the obvious bad pun.
https://dailycaller.com/2023/01/31/ukraine-trump-set-himself-apart-2024-rivals-peace-deal
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Surprised to learn that the dolphins may get something out of this too: Dolphins, humans both benefit from fishing collaboration (nypost.com)
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I like this: Plan B Vending Machine Now at George Washington University In DC – NBC4 Washington (nbcwashington.com)
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You're either doing this or you know someone who is: Netflix password sharing crackdown: FAQ updates, what we know so far (cnbc.com)
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DO NOT COMPLY:
Similarly, wow: Get Your Grubby Complexes Off My Art - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
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Why do we still do this, or why did we ever do it? Groundhog Day 2023: Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow and more winter : NPR
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I owe you these from yesterday:
Some welcome good news for the gun industry. There will be a LOT of lawsuits about new gun laws in Colorado, I expect.
Court blocks New Jersey law that allows state to sue gun industry (yahoo.com)
Biden judge delivers gun industry huge win in NJ (msn.com)
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I'd sure like this better if I weren't so down on everything else about Frontier, but I gotta say this seems like an incredible deal: Frontier Airlines launches all-you-can-fly summer pass for $399 (nypost.com)
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Anybody who ever served in the military will find this abhorrent: Why you shouldn't make the bed in the morning (nypost.com)
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Uh oh...I like almost all these things: 15 Foods That Make You Fart and How To Minimize Gas (menshealth.com)
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Doesn't this seem like they buried the lede? I mean, aren't the focusing on the wrong misdeed? Dad loses custody of his daughter after leaving an Alexa on to babysit while he was at the pub (ladbible.com)
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Today's Video
Wow, that dude has a good arm...and a very bad temper
And note in the video that the chimp has a reputation for throwing things at visitors. One wonders why he's put in a spot where he can hurt people...and I note that the person who deserved to get hurt, the guy who threw the water bottle into the enclosure, is NOT the person who got hurt.
Unlike that last one, this is one of the cutest animal videos ever:
I don't know if this means he'll always eat fish or never eat fish when he grows up
This seems impossible, but I think I believe her. Do NOT hang out with this woman