Question of the Day - 04 July 2026

I knew there had to be a Latin word for "250th," but I couldn't think of what it might be. But of course! Semiquincent...half of five hundred!

Bene dictum et gaudeamus!

Thank you to the Advisor and Kevin Lewis for their special touch!  My thanks to all of you.

Currently traveling overseas (and seeing the differences both good and bad), I'm thankful to have been born in America. Despite our current state of affairs, I'm confident that one day we'll return to the standards that make us all proud to be American.

perfect, all day I'll be walking around trying to remember to drop semiquincentenial on someone and I'll blank every time.  I'll blame the heat the beer and the hotdogs!

With all the taverns, bars, speak-easies, and dives in Vegas, this little gem should resonate:

https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/03/the-american-revolution-was-fought-and-won-in-neighborhood-bars/

Certain voices want us to feel guilt and shame rather than gratitude for the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy thanks to the men who risked everything two and a half centuries ago.  The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were unlike anything before them, declaring that rights come from God,not from the state.  Every nation has dark chapters; ours are well documented because of free speech and free press.  Slavery ended, sufferage expanded, civil rights advanced.  Globally, we helped defeat communism. Still tweaking the "more perfect union" I suppose, but we have the means to do it.

Candy

We didn't "defeat communism," because the nations that repudiated the label in 1987-1989 were never communist in the first place. They were dictatorships that used "communist" as a moniker, not a governmental system. And communism continued and continues in Cuba and in China, the most populous nation on earth. And the transitions in Russia and Eastern Europe were of their own doing; we didn't "defeat" them. So yeah, other than all that...and losing a war with a communist nation in 1975...we dadgum defeated them all, yes sirree.

What I like to be proud of is that for a few years, post-1945, we were untouched by the war, had the most powerful army on Earth, and were the world's only nuclear power. Any other nation would have seized that opportunity to take over the world. We didn't.

Kevin is right.  Socialism and Communism always defeat themselves and turn into a dictatorship.  These self proclaimed socialists in America have no idea.  Everyone I know that left such a country is so happy to be here, and look at all the visitors we have for the World Cup.  Most all cannot believe how much we have, what we can do, all without having to bribe some official, or wait for shelves to be stocked a the grocery store.  One cannot understand how bad socialism and communism can be unless they were born into it.  Socialism and communism are both vehicles for a few people to control populations and force them to bend to their will.  Want to feed your kids, do as I say.  Neither has ever been sucessful, and both are death traps.