Mattie Muses

Long week -- work, life, other things -- and there is the prospect of a busy weekend.  This is good in that I like to be active, but bad in that it would be nice if I could stay home, read, and do things.  I finished book 25 tonight -- a biography of Andrew Foote, one of the first naval heroes of the Civil War -- and it was interesting; the author took pains, I think, to stress the "conventional" message of the war -- Grant (and Foote) wanted to be aggressive, Halleck did not, and it was bad for the war effort.  I think it is largely correct, to be sure, but... on the other hand, the evidence is not totally there.  To be sure, for Foote, the naval issue was that you had to be careful with the ships; they could be damaged, and you could NOT let them get disabled, drift down the Mississippi, and be captured by the Rebs.  I think we tend to forget that -- they didn't want to do anything to alter that advantage they had on the water.  Anyways, one downside of this is that my reading and going through stuff meant that house cleaning will be delayed until tomorrow.  Alas.

Justices’ nerves fray in Supreme Court’s final stretch - POLITICO
Well, no one will be complaining about ACB anytime soon.  :)  OK, maybe not, but you get my drift.

Supreme Court OKs opt-out for LGBTQ+ materials in school - Live Updates - POLITICO
I don't know; this could be me, but I think the Marylanders went too far -- too young, too much -- in letting this content in, and that didn't help.  And, when you start talking about respecting tolerance and diversity, you then have to recognize the religious views of people who might not want their kids to be exposed to this.  Indeed, they already put out a release saying... the exact opposite.  One could argue that this is an extension of the "Trump is for you, Kamala is for they" argument, and I think they are correct.

Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy: The ‘Trump Doctrine’ Remains Elusive After Iran Strikes, Scuttled Trade Talks - WSJ
Much as if you have four fifth starters you have no fifth starter...does he have one?  Ok, I think that is a bit unfair.  While I am not sure that anyone will ever truly know what he is feeling and doing, the man -- when he does commit -- really commits, as the Iranians (or, today, the Canadians) found out to their detriment.