Thursday, March 24. 2005
Another fraudulent document? Power Line is tracking those "talking points" about the Schiavo case. If it's a trick - let's find out. Go Powerline ! Click here: Power Line: March 2005 Archives
Standing on the waters casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing.
Distant ships sail into the mist.
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing.
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do? Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune
Bird fly high by the light of the moon.
Oh, oh oh, Jokerman. Dylan, from Jokerman
Wednesday, March 23. 2005
40th Anniversary Today, of the release of Bringing it all Back Home, Click here: Amazon.com: Music: Bringing It All Back Home [HYBRID SACD] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] , one of Dylans' first great records, with the original recording of - what else? - Maggie's Farm.
More on Euristan I seem to be chasing our Barrister in posting on this issue today. Pete Du Pont here echoes what Steyn has been saying. Title says it all: Will EU chose collectivism over individualism? Will we? "But now (Czech) President Klaus sees an unsettling new challenge: the zeal of Old Europe--France, Germany, Brussels--to impose collective choices on New Europe--Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Ireland. "Ten years ago," Mr. Klaus writes, "the dominant slogan was: 'deregulate, liberalize, privatize.' Now the slogan is different; 'regulate . . . get rid of your sovereignty and put it in the hands of international institutions and organizations.' " Read entire: Click here: OpinionJournal - Outside the Box These folks will live to regret that they ever conceived of an EU.
We have been following the EU/Europe large-picture story, relying heavily on Mark Steyn's and VDH's relentless insights. Here's more on England's search for yet another "third way" that they hope will work...but I wonder why they bother, when there's a model that works right in front of them - the US. Irwin Stelzer in The Daily Standard: "NOW THAT THE SOVIET UNION is no more, there are two economic models on offer in the world--three, if you count Cuba and North Korea, which there is no reason to do since imitators are hardly lining up for that short-cut to impoverishment. The American model can broadly be described as one that emphasizes individual initiative, flexible labor markets, low taxes, and minimal regulation. The European model, which explicitly sees itself as an alternative to the red-in-tooth-and-claw capitalism of the United States, emphasizes collective responsibility, regulated labor and product markets, and high taxes to fund a generous safety net. Then we have Great Britain, in which Tony Blair's Labour party is attempting to find a "third way" between the U.S. and European models. When it comes to economic policy, it is Labour chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown who has taken on the task of finding that third way." Read entire: Click here: What Can Brown Do For Them?
Adventure Travel Adventure travel is all the rage, right? Here's the real thing. How about another tsunami in the Pacific and Indian Ocean? Click here: http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000033/003387-p.htm Or, if you prefer death by bullets instead of by water, terrorism in elegant Qatar: Click here: http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000033/003389-p.htm
Latin America - NYT: "THE left is in power in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. With this month's inauguration of Tabaré Vázquez as president of Uruguay, this trend will likely continue." Click here: The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: The Return of Latin America's Left Left or right, the reasons things never work down there are corruption, dictatorial tendencies, and cronyism. Not ideology. The US cannot save them from themselves, at least in any public way.
In response to The Chairman's frustration expressed yesterday re illegal immigration, here is a somewhat calmer and maybe more realistic view. After all, those 10 million are not going to be bussed home: Click here: The Hedgehog Blog: Illegal Immigration: The Issue The GOP Simply Must Get Right
Half Moon, by Federico Garcia Lorca (Trans. by W.S. Merwin) The moon goes over the water.
How tranquil the sky is!
She goes scything slowly
the old shimmer from the river;
meanwhile a young frog
takes her for a little mirror.
"I can assure you my intentions are strictly dishonorable." James Bond in Dr No
Tuesday, March 22. 2005
Illegal immigration 500,000 per year and 10 million already here. I do not want to hear another word about terrorists crossing the Rio Grande, about "jobs Americans won't take", or about that phony euphemism "undocumented." It is called ILLEGAL. I suggest calling them "unarrested aliens." Hey, Washington - wake up - this is a PROBLEM, and surely Mr. Tancredo is not the only one who cares. This defies our borders, our sovereignty, the wishes of the people, and it laughs at American law. Is there another country on the planet that would stand for this nonsense? Just try moving to Canada (unless you're a Moslem). Anywhere else, this would be called an invasion. Guess what - it's not racist. It wouldn't matter if these folks were Canadians or French or whatever. Click here: AOL News - U.S. Undocumented Population Surges Also, check their poll. And if this bugs you as much as me, let your reps know: Click here: FirstGov: Federal Legislative Branch And let Bush know how you feel too, however you feel about it.
Excellent review of the real 1960s, by Bruce Bawer in the Wilson Quarterly. I was there then, and he got it right. Useful for those of you all who are too young, or can't remember... "To those on the right, the 1950s were the last good time, an era of sanity and maturity, order and discipline, of adults behaving like adults and children knowing their place. To those on the left, the 1950s were a time of fatuous complacency, mindless materialism, and stultifying conformism—not to mention racism, sexism, and other ugly prejudices. By contrast, “The Sixties,” for conservatives, were an explosion of puerile irresponsibility and fashionable rebellion, the wellspring of today’s ubiquitous identity politics, debased high culture, sexual permissiveness, and censorious political correctness. For liberals, the period was a desperately needed corrective that drew attention to America’s injustices and started us down the road toward greater fairness and equality for all."
On the Latin America beat, the dead-tree media beginning to notice - now it's Bolivia: Washington Post, 3/20: "The populists ride a leftist wave of momentum in Latin America and have the rhetorical, and possibly material, support of the region's self-styled "Bolivarian" revolutionary, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The democrats could use some outside help, from their neighbors and the United States." And really big news - Bob Herbert is right about something: Click here: The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Keeping Sgt. Lazo Out of Cuba
Pick a country - any country. The CIA's country Fact Book is online. You can learn, for example, that Uganda now has 70% literacy, universal suffrage, uses an English Common Law legal system, a population growth rate of 2.9%, and lots more. Click here: Foreign Policy: Country Intelligence
Christmas now, in Beirut, from the NY Sun: "Above a busy shopping street where a bomb blew out the front walls of a building Friday night, injuring nine people, there now stretches a long row of glittering lights. Local authorities have rekindled the decorations left over from Christmas. "They want to show the bombers that they are building," a policeman guarding the site said." Click here: In the Media I like reading the great Andrew Sullivan (the only other "greats" I use in my lexicon apply to Krauthammer and Mark Steyn), but only sometimes agree with him. He predicts "The Great Conservative Crack-up"...wishful thinking, perhaps? "Beneath the surface, however, American conservatism is in increasing trouble. The Republican coalition, always fragile, now depends as much on the haplessness of the Democrats as on its own internal logic. On foreign and domestic policy alike the American right is splintering. With no obvious successor to George W Bush that splintering will deepen." Click here: Comment: Andrew Sullivan: Bush’s triumph conceals the great conservative crack-up - Sunday Times - Times Online
Freezer packed full of game? Cook it before it all gets freezer-burned and useless. Don't dishonor the wild game. Click here: Wild Game Recipes from Rumela's Web Had a fine venison stew last night from Rumela at a pal's "27th" birthday party.
Snarks for the snarky: Funny, critical piece re Maureen Dowd, "The Queen of Mean" :Click here: Maureen, Queen of Mean by Kay S. Hymowitz
We have been following this story. It's a major scoop for the NY Post. The truth about campaign finance "reform." Cute title - The Stench from Pew: Click here: New York Post Online Edition: postopinion Do not try to hold your breath until the NYT and LAT cover this story.
"God doesn't play dice with the universe." Albert Einstein
Monday, March 21. 2005
Sent this piece Click here: Attention Deficit Disorder ADD and ADDH and Ritalin - Consider the Alternatives to Doc Higgins, who sent it back with these comments: I do not endorse this kind of "alternative medicine" website. However, stimulants are over-used. I read somewhere that one exclusive private boy's school in New York has 60% of its kids on stimulants. I know that the good Lord did not build boys to sit in classrooms, but c'mon! The fact is that these things help everyone concentrate better. I'm skeptical about a lot of these ADD diagnoses, but not about ADHD, which is a real diagnosis and a brain-wiring problem, I suspect.
Private organizations can restrict speech and create speech codes. Still, this kind of PC thing reeks of Mao and Stalin and Castro: Click here: FIRE - Student Files Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Against Occidental College After College Censored Speech and Dis
The Bacevitch Piece Just read the excellent piece linked by The Chairman on Friday. Herein lies a great debate about oil and prosperity and the expectations of the American voter, but the American voter has made his/her decision several times already, right or wrong. Debate's over, for the moment. Personally, I vote for nuclear power, and we'll be free of the oil obsession. But it's so SCARY to folks. Shouldn't be. It's a heck of a gift to us all - almost a freebie.
Tuition, etc. We of the oppressed tuition-paying community feel upset whenever reminded that colleges have become propaganda mills. Finally, a movie on the subject - not out yet. Brainwashing 101. Click here: Brainwashing 101 :: AcademicBias.com
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