Language Log: Political Correctness and the Use/Mention Distinction

Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker”The distinction between use and mention is too often ignored and worth a detailed look. Language Log has an excellent article on the topic that begins with this.

Professor Donald Hindley was recently found guilty of racial harassment by Brandeis University for statements that he made in his Fall 2007 Latin American Studies course. The case is discussed in this report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and in a number of blog posts, including this one by Margaret Soltan and this one by Eugene Volokh. Criticism of Brandeis is based in part on what appears to have been an egregiously unfair process, and in part on the nature of the charges against him.

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The Skilled Labor Shortage: Cause and Solutions

Trade school vs collegeBy Sam Costanzo

The labor shortage in general construction and such skilled trades as plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work has been well-documented throughout the country, with older generations of skilled tradesmen entering retirement much faster than they can be replaced.

According to a survey by the Associated General Contractors of America, some 70 percent of U.S. construction firms report difficulty finding qualified workers. And the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the nation’s need for workers in the skilled trades is increasing much faster than the growth of employment overall.  This can be surprising to the average American that may consistently require the efforts of skilled laborers for their home or car. Common sense would tell you there’d be a lot of demand to become a welder or painter or even offer residential estimating services.

Among those sounding the alarm is television personality Mike Rowe, former host of “Dirty Jobs,” who has appeared before a Congressional panel to call attention to the “skills gap.”

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Blogline of the Day – it isn’t just “unfit for Office”

Gentle Reminder: Anyone Democrats Don’t Like is Unfit for Office. C’mon, it’s “unfit for ANYTHING” that is the correct phrase – unfit for public office, unfit for public service, unfit to be a teacher, unfit to be a professor, unfit to be a union member, unfit to be in the Media, unfit to be in … Read more

Palate Cleanser – pure baby joy

“Borrowed” straight from Instapundit: I LOVE THIS PICTURE SO MUCH: A sailor meets his child for the first time following the guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf’s (CG 72) return to homeport. Dunno if I would be considered a baby but when TMEW and I met both of our boys coming home from long deployments (Afghanistan, Iraq) at … Read more

Democrats show their decision between Moral Outrage and Pure Power

SHOT:  “If Democrats care about the future of Kirsten Gillibrand, they need Franken to shut up and go away.”

I’ve already posted today on the topic of the potential for Franken to “un-resign.” He’d always only said he would resign in the coming weeks, so I presume it would be procedurally easy to decline to follow through on his earlier statement. What I’m putting up this post to discuss is the political future of Kirsten Gillibrand, who I think wants to run for President. She chose to elevate her profile over the Franken scandal and she succeeded dramatically — getting an “avalanche of Democratic senators” to join her in calling for Franken’s resignation, which seemed to force him into abruptly acceding to her imperious demand.

CHASER: Dem Senators: On Second Thought, Maybe Franken Should Stay

Over the weekend, it seems that some Democrats in the upper chamber have had second thoughts about calling for Al Franken’s resignation in the wake of sexual assault allegations made against him. Too little, too late? Or could Franken actually use this as an opportunity to at least “postpone” his departure and give the Ethics Committee another shot at his case as he’d originally intended? That might depend on how influential his colleagues are, now that they’re suggesting there’s a path to redemption which allows him to keep his job.

Yep, 

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Hottest Day Recorded By State Refutes Climate Cult’s Mann-Made Global Warming

Hot WeatherTampering with the temperature record is one of many ways the rent-seekers in the Climate Cult keep the gravy flowing, but there are a lot of records. Here’s one, compiled at infoplease.com sourced from the National Climate Data Center in Ashville, NC, showing the hottest recorded day in every U.S. state by year.

If the doomsayers are correct, we should see a frightening number of states with their hottest days ever recorded in recent decades. But we don’t.

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Blogline of the Day – Either you accept ALL of the Constitution or none of it

And so on — ignoring the fact that the same progressives who’ve got their knickers in a twist about national concealed carry reciprocity fully support the Supreme Court decision forcing all 50 states to recognize gay marriage. Not to mention ignoring the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision “incorporating” the Second Amendment (ruling that the protection trumps local and state law). Anyway, here comes … Read more

Quick Thought: So when will Obama’s “tingle up my pants” resign over “tingle in his pants”?

Straight outta Instapundit: AND ANOTHER ONE: NBC Made Payment To Staffer After Sexual Harassment Claim Against Chris Matthews. So basically, all the people on the teevee going on about “have you no decency, sir?” are predators and pervs. Our media crowd is just one big Harper Valley PTA. UPDATE: “MSNBC refused to say whether or not this … Read more

Climate Change Removed as “National Threat”

Image: weather demons 2 by lun-art.devianart.com
Image: weather demons 2 by lun-art.devianart.com

President Trump’s National Security strategy will not include the weather as a threat to the nation.

“Climate change is not identified as a national security threat,” an official said, adding that the position is consistent with Mr. Trump’s decision earlier this year to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord that was signed by President Obama. The official said the importance of “climate and environmental stewardship are discussed” in the plan.

Nazi Trump is one of the worlds staunchest supporters of the Jewish State, so it only makes sense that racist Trump would advance a global security strategy that actually helps brown people.

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Quick Thought – how far have the police moral standards fallen?

From The Telegraph: Four recruits accused of cheating during the 172nd New Hampshire Police Academy were later allowed to graduate and become certified police officers. So the Academy knew about it and then condoned it by graduating the cheaters.  Nice to know. Blue lives matter but cheating?  Standards matter? Meh…another public institution destroying itself from … Read more

Heh! That’s some colorful display there….

Hmm, without all of the gaudiness, the colored lights, tinsel, massive crowds, it does kind of make you think a bit more of the real reason for the season, doesn’t it? A more simple life allows one to contemplate on the more serious things in life. (H/T: Powerline)

Evergreen Headline – always seems that with a Republican President…

… we see headlines like this: Report: Numbers of homeless people in NH on the rise Put in your own State or city name for “NH” and it will fit.  I wonder when we’ll start seeing the anti-war / peace protesters coming out of the woodwork?  I know in Laconia, the peaceniks that were downtown … Read more

Who is Peter Strzok?

peter-strzok-and-lisa-page
Peter Strzok / Lisa Page

By now, everyone knows the name. He’s the senior FBI agent who played a pivotal role in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal and was later assigned to Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia. He’s the one ultimately removed from that team because of his own email scandal.

Recently exposed email correspondence between Strzok and his mistress, Lisa Page, another FBI employee, revealed a seething hatred of Donald Trump. The messages so far obtained contain mostly the same kind of contemptuous words found on most anti-Trump websites.

But some of it was especially troubling and potentially problematic.

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Trump’s Many Accomplishments in his First Year

Executor
Executor

It seems like just fifteen minutes ago people were saying that Trump’s first year in office is going to be a bust because he would not have accomplished signing any piece of major legislation into law. And in light of how repealing ObamaCare was handled with all the cunning and deft maneuvers we’ve come to expect from a beleaguered Republican lead Congress, one could reasonably expect that the same band of foot-stomping, droolers couldn’t get tax reform passed either. Well, they did. And it includes a major blow to ObamaCare. So the passage of this tax bill will change that perception. But even without it, he has done a lot of repair to the damage Obama inflicted on the country. Below is Hugh Hewitt’s list (reformatted with my notes in italics):

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Don’t Let The Title Fool You – NH HB1566 is “AN ACT Prohibiting Firearms”

guns, pistols, rifle, revolvers, and ammunitionDelmar Burridge is the lone sponsor of HB1566. And act prohibiting open carry of a firearm in certain public places. But the title is misleading because the language of the bill suggests a different goal entirely.

The trouble begins right out of the gate.

159:27 Firearms Prohibited in Certain Public Places.
I.  No person shall knowingly and openly carry a loaded or unloaded pistol, revolver, firearm, or other deadly weapon as defined in RSA 625:11, V, whether licensed or unlicensed, upon the person or within any of the person’s possessions owned or within the person’s control in the following places:

Correct me if I’m wrong but wouldn’t ‘or within any of the person’s possessions owned‘ also prohibit carrying concealed?

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