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A “buckler” is a type of small shield which I always assumed you “buckled” to your arm but the internet tells me is often held in the fist. It’s a shield which is only really useful for 1-on-1 sword fighting (as contrasted with eg those big old shields the Romans used to deflect javelins) which is presumably how it got associated with the swashbuckling genre.

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And it’s “swashbuckler” instead of “bucklerswasher” because of the Elizabethan fad for exocentric verb-noun compound agent nouns applied to disreputable professions, such as “cutpurse” and “pickpocket.” Further explanation here:

https://twitter.com/dtmooreeditor/status/1569366666844192769

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1. There was always an irony in Phyllis Schlafly's career spending much of her life outside the home campaigning for traditional marriage. She used to troll feminists at her events saying that her husband gave her permission to be there.

2. The cost of outsourced childcare puts the necessity of two incomes in a new perspective, though it is not inevitable that the burden of childcare fall on the mother vice the father.

3. Canadian writer Donald Kingsbury once wrote that tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Traditional marriage can solve many problems if it is fulfilling for both parties and the implicit trust is justified over time.

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Are the Amish women tradwives? Is there a religious affiliation that is more common among tradwives? Is religion the primary source of inspiration for women to become tradwives or are there other inspirations?

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SO glad to hear a Christmas In Connecticut shoutout! One of the best Christmas movies ever, also just an all-around hilarious comedy.

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In a setting where watching a film, reading a book, or even referencing either aligns you to that content, or more often its author socially and politically, it's not too surprising that more people would be open to the idea of writing about something without being exposed to it.

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The intersection between financial and ideological concerns among underpaid journalists reminds me of the appeal communism once had for many workers, not just intellectuals. It’s easy for a financially stressed person to take a justified concern (business power, police brutality) and let it slide way too far (admiration for the Soviet Union, defense of looting). In my charitable moods toward activists calling for police abolition, de-growth, boycotts of Israel, etc., I find myself thinking, “I don’t blame you for being upset, but you deserve to lose.”

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Will be dialing into this later when I am doing the doodles, but it occurs to me that I have not seen any new doodles from Kat! Are you still doing them and I am just not seeing them because substack is confusing to me?

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I'm not sure which doodles we're talking about!

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This stick people like in the header image of the blog. Maybe I am having some kind of Mandela effect or some such, but if I recall on patreon there was an occasional doodle / comic type thing that would pop up here and there. I think in the emails too. Well I liked them, whether they thing or not. :)

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