Traveling Texas, The Festering Swamp, Tom Kratman, & Some Sobering Thoughts on Academia

I spent most of Thursday on the road, driving down I-35 to Laredo to deliver some old items from my garage to friends, and then later visiting some old stomping grounds and a relative. Thus, I'm a bit late in posting this entry and replying to the latest comments on this blog.

Throughout the day, I had a Shake Russell song on my mind: "Traveling Texas." I was first introduced to Shake Russell's music one year ago by Nancy, and since then his songs have become a staple of my iPod rotation. Here's a video of Shake Russell and Michael Hearne singing "Traveling Texas" at an event in Plano two years ago. The video is of poor quality, but the audio is decent:



That's a mighty pretty song.

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Over at The Festering Swamp, the blog to which I was once a contributor, there has been a change in administration. Bradley J. Fikes is now the sole siteowner and moderator. As a career journalist, Bradley is the ideal person to be running a site dedicated to preserving the memory and legacy of the late Cathy Seipp. I wish him the best of luck and look forward to commenting regularly.

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For any other Tom Kratman fans who may be reading this blog, here's a bit of news that Mr. Kratman posted in the comments yesterday in response to my query about whether there are plans for a sequel to A State of Disobedience:

No sequels planned for ASOD. Probably for Caliphate and certainly for A Desert Called Peace/Carnifex.

Then again, let's see who wins the election.

A few days ago I started reading Watch on the Rhine. In the novel, Kratman and John Ringo are asking readers this question: If the very existence of humanity were on the line against a seemingly unstoppable enemy, just how far might we be willing to go to ensure the survival of the species?

Tough questions rarely have easy answers...

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Finally, yesterday I came across this article from The Atlantic Monthly via Vox Day's blog. I could expound on what the anonymous adjunct English professor says by recounting a few of my own experiences as a History professor over the years, but there is no need to. I agree with every word written in that article. I wish I didn't have to, but the truth is the truth. College is not for everyone.