Blog Heap of Links for the day 14 December 2016

…Yes, ideas do have consequences, and the lousy ideas we have been teaching in our colleges and universities for the past several decades are bearing themselves out daily before our eyes.

But there is an answer to this absurdity. It is found in the historical liberal arts and the premise that there are certain moral and intellectual laws tested by time, defended by reason, validated by experience and endowed to us by our Creator.…

"Wow! A tree all covered with ribbons and kitty toys…"

…After just forty minutes of annoying my wife with intense practice, I finally mastered the skill that had eluded me since I was eight years old. Achievement unlocked!…

Donald (Don) Pleines Shaub was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1923. … He served in the U. S. Army in World War II in the European Theater. On December 24, 1944, Don was serving with the 66th Infantry Division and while being transported from Southampton, UK to Cherbourg, France survived the torpedoing of his transport ship, the SS Leopoldville, by jumping onto the deck of the HMS Brilliant, which had come to the aid of his sinking ship. That night 763 other soldiers on board lost their lives.… As recently as October of this year, he was still using the riding mower on the lawn and helping his daughter move into the home he and Pat vacated this summer to move into Green Country Village in Bartlesville.…

Alistair Urquhart, who has died aged 97, was a prisoner of the Japanese from 1942 to 1945, surviving both the infamous Death Railway and the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki; his memoir, The Forgotten Highlander, became a bestseller in 2009.…

Have you ever wondered what St. Nicholas really looked like? … modern forensic reconstruction of Saint Nicholas' face … St. Nicholas' remains are buried in the crypt of the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy. These bones were temporarily removed when the crypt was repaired during the 1950s. At the Vatican's request, anatomy professor Luigi Martino from the University of Bari, took thousands of minutely-detailed measurements and x-ray photographs (roentgenography) of the skull and other bones.

Professor of forensic pathology at the University of Bari, Francesco Introna, knew advancements in diagnostic technique could yield much more from the data gathered in the 1950s. So in 2004 he engaged expert facial anthropologist, Caroline Wilkinson, then at the University of Manchester in England, to construct a model of the saint's head from the earlier measurements.…

For this episode… the only theme I could really think of was…. “Whew.”…

I’m tellin’ you— Donald Trump is a patriot. I am more impressed than ever. I have NEVER seen a politician sacrifice so much, take so much flack from ALL directions—-and continue to fight harder today, than he did yesterday.…

Of Course McConnell and Ryan Agree with Lying CIA About Russia Hack Hoax…
Ex-SEAL Team 6 Leader Zinke Tapped for Dept. of Interior…
PR Firm Tied Directly to Clinton and SCOAMF Behind "Faithless Electors" Drive…