Ten Most Influential Books

 I’ll try to limit to 10

 Steinbeck:

The Red Pony. (My first gift book. 5 yr. birthday)

Grapes of Wrath

East of Eden

 Heinlein:

Have Space Suit Will Travel

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Stranger in a Strange Land 

 Jefferson:

The Jefferson Bible

 Asimov:

I Robot

 Pirsig:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

 Hofstadter:

Gödel, Escher, Bach

I just read my bookshelves to see what I missed.

None displace any of the 10 but deserve a place on the list:

 Niven, Pournelle:

The Mote in God’s Eye.

Oath of Fielty 

 Heinlein:

Most of the Juveniles

The Number of the Beast

Time Enough For Love

 Card:

Ender’s Game

 Jeffers:

Not Man Apart (Sierra Club/Ballantine Collection)

 Church:

The Cathedral of the World

 Fulghum:

All I Really Need To Know I learned in Kindergarten 

 Steinbeck:

Cannery Row

On RePUBliC!!1

Nyah Wynne

https://www.facebook.com/nyah.wynne/posts/2681680871905784

"We don't have a democracy, we have a RePUBliC!!1"

All democracies are republics. [Edit: this is not strictly true, what I should have said is any 'pure' democracy would be, but constitutional monarchies aren't republics]. Not all republics are democracies. These are not things that are in opposition. The only alternatives to democracy are oligarchy and monarchy(and in practice, monarchies are primarily oligarchic).

Our sainted Founding Fathers didn't oppose democracy in order to defend oppressed minorities. They were slavers. They were rich and powerful men whose families gained their hereditary wealth and power from service to the kings of Europe, who they'd just convinced the public were illegitimate. There was a very reasonable fear that putting the systems that legitimized and enforced their wealth and power up to a vote would result in them being rescinded. So they designed the system to insulate them from the public will.

The only minority they cared about in the slightest was the group James Madison referred to as "The Opulent Minority". Ie: themselves. The oligarchs.

I have always liked a truly democratic voting system where every candidate gets a yea or nay vote and the candidates with the least nays win.* Candidacy by petition so backing still would count whether corporate or grass roots. All regions use the same system to elect all candidates at all levels. in other words the nay votes filter up to the highest level the candidate represents.
*This not a misprint, the aye votes come with the petitions, so they don't count.

More later

 

Pete Seeger vs HUAC

I have sung for Americans of every political persuasion, and I am proud that I never refuse to sing to an audience, no matter what religion or color of their skin, or situation in life. I have sung in hobo jungles, and I have sung for the Rockefellers, and I am proud that I have never refused to sing for anybody. That is the only answer I can give along that line. 

Transcript

Making Undergraduate Neighborhoods Work

 The idea of neighborhoods might be an opportunity for Greeks to provide the seed for the social center of the neighborhood. I am assuming each neighborhood would be all classes with Frosh assigned a neighborhood at random to "grow up in". A Greek house and I still think a co-ed house is preferred, would be the social center of the neighborhood.  The hook is that the Greek house would be a three class house and freshmen from the whole campus would rush as usual and move as sophomores.  It is a axiom of Urban Planning that successful neighborhoods need placemaking. The Greek house social areas could be that placemaking center.

 The selectivity of the Greeks would provide the social contunity and traditions essential for good parties as they would select for party people, and conformance with Greek traditions.  A side benefit for freshmen is those that find themselves stuck in the wrong kind of neighborhood could opt out.  I am relatively certain that some neighborhoods will evolve into PhD tracks and others will be more well-rounded due to the Greek influence. It could be pointed out that many successful non-academic track alumni came from tight social organizations on campus like Rams Head, The Band, the Daily and Fraternities.

 Greeks that like the PhD neighborhoods can opt out of living in a Greek house as with co-ed housing not all members of the Chapters will fit.  Nevertheless the Greeks will have a place for chapter meetings etc. so that all will be included, even those living elsewhere. 

 SAEs might show the way for Ms. Cole to make her neighborhoods work.

Carlin Black '62
Two Year Social Chair.

Bringing Up Men Properly.

 It has been done for many decades even before Feminism introduced some of its idiocies that made it harder.  It helps if there are at least a couple of strong, competent females in the family, and the men, if any, do not preach the toxic masculinity dogma by example and word.  Note that the above combination was extremely rare prior to the 21st Century as toxic males were unable to deal with strong, competent females and therefore seldom had one as a co-parent. In the 21st century the option is generally dealing with strong competent women as partners or become an incel.  Note that the latter is still a common choice.

 The essence of the technique is taking notice of each example of toxic masculinity and pointing out, usually satirically, how bad a particular behavior is: 

• A couple of teens peeled away from a corner then slowed down for the attractive woman and the manchild with her to notice.  She did. "God! Am I ever impressed." dripping with satire. It should be noted that both the manchild and the showoffs got the message clearly. 
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   Such behavior will not get a desired response from a strong, competent woman.  If the manchild is being socialized to admire strong competent women the lesson will be remembered for life.

 The other component of the technique is the socialization of the manchild to admire strong competent women by example and pointing out the unattractive attributes of the traditional family next door.  Not to the extent of making the family next door lesser or unworthy of respect and neighborliness but pointing out the role disequilibrium of the parents and how each compensates.  

• A young woman was a concert quality pianist in her early teens.  Her much younger brother learned about practice, and dedication to an art by playing in the room as she practiced.  The two of them went to a major city department store where a Grand Piano was roped off for display in the lobby.  She went under the rope, and started playing drawing a crowd.  The rent-a-cop sarcastically asked her if she saw the rope, and she said it was roped off for her recital.  The rent-a-cop got the manager of the piano department, who saw the crowd and said she was right.
• A woman activist mother took on the city to light up a major playground so children could play safely after dark long before women were allowed to be politically active.  The city said no way it was too expensive but nevertheless she persisted.  And won.  Her manchild could recite the killowats needed to just turn the lights on, and the kWhs to keep them on.   

City Park Lighting

 Lighting city parkways is critical for the people using the park; however it can be harmful to the fish, wildlife, and vegetation that make the park attractive to those users.  Modern LED lighting can be directed to specifically light certain areas and avoid spillover to other areas.  Modern auto headlights can light the lane ahead of the vehicle without spillover to an adjacent oncoming lane, and with just enough vertical spillover to illuminate overhead reflective signs.  Any lighting design for a city park should be used to control usage to public use areas of the park.  An additional virtue of this kind of lighting plan is that any person not in the lighted areas could be considered suspicious and treated accordingly.