Conservative US father and independent businessman. I retweet things I wish to share and/or discuss with family. Retweeting doesn't constitute endorsement.
English is the only language where you drive on parkways and park in driveways.
It’s also the only language where you recite in a play and play in a recital.
Your fingers have fingertips, but your toes don’t have toetips.
Yet you can tiptoe, but not tipfinger.
The word queue is just a “Q” followed by four silent letters.
“Jail” and “prison” are synonyms, but “jailer” and “prisoner” are antonyms.
When you transport something by car, it’s called a shipment.
When you transport something by ship, it’s called cargo.
English is fun.
The debate over the Cambrian Explosion is all wrong. Everyone is arguing about the "sudden appearance of life." The Cambrian isn't evidence of the "explosion of life", it's evidence of massive, rapid death.
If you start with the right perspective, the evidence starts making a lot more sense.
A return to intergenerational living could solve a lot of our affordability issues. So many young couples can't afford homes and are struggling just to keep up with rent, but their empty-nester parents often have large homes. Why not live together? Childcare is also very expensive and impersonal, so why not have grandma and grandpa help out with the grandkids? Elderly Americans often spend over $100K to live in a retirement home, so why not live with their adult children and keep that money in the family?
When I was the Air Force Military Aide to Bill Clinton (and again, that was not a political appointee position, it was a military assignment), I served daily with very young staffers who were appointed because of their efforts in the campaign or who their parents were.
I really enjoyed interacting with most of them. Bright kids from Ivy League school. But their naïveté and lack of experience showed. Dramatically.
One day I was walking across the White House “campus,” the “18 acres,” and I encountered one of the young female staffers. We chatted for a bit, and she asked me, “So, why did you join the military? Were your career options limited or were you forced to by a judge?”
I wanted to throat punch her, but I said, “No, ma’am, I volunteered.”
She asked, “But why? Lack of education? No other options?”
“No, ma’am, I volunteered. Really. Not only do I have a Bachelor’s but also an MBA.”
She asked again, “Then why?”
I shook my head and walked away. They simply can’t understand a higher calling. They are incapable of understanding that another human who would selflessly serve.
Therein lies much of the Democrat vs. military disconnect. They’re missing the patriotism chip.