Thursday, May 11. 2006
Sowell takes a look at the politics of illegal immigration. Honestly, I have no idea where either party really stands on this. Buy American? A Ford Mustang is 65% American, and a Toyoto Sienna is 90% American. Cafe Hayek All too true-About sex, from Ace: Hold the phone, you're saying heterosexual women are attracted to men? In my personal experience, I have not found that to be the case. What did Ahmadinejab's letter mean? Was it a heart-felt reaching out, or war talk? Dino says that there is no doubt - it was a last chance to convert to Islam. I'd tend to agree with that. Melanie Phillips on the EU: It is astounding that Europe is not merely systematically unravelling the moral settlement at the heart of western civilisation but is using such coercion to do so, riding roughshod over the democratic rights of individual countries to pass laws in accordance with their own religious and moral beliefs and values. It is a clear illustration of the totalitarian impulse at the heart of not just the EU project but the ‘progressive’ universalism which the EU project embodies: the belief that individual nations have no right to express their known particular values through their own laws, because laws and values rooted in the particular are by nature exclusive and discriminatory; that the only legitimate laws and values must be universal and supranational; and that because these are universal, they are by definition unchallengeable and therefore any person or state who defies them must be guilty of prejudice and punished accordingly. This is cultural totalitarianism: a supranational religion of nihilism that is now to be ruthlessly enforced by the Savonarolas of secularism.
I will be seeing an early pre-screening of the movie, and will share my impressions when I do. But I think I already know what they will be: Another solidly-made, tasteful, and very entertaining Ron Howard film, representing no danger either to God or man.
A Nukak tribe from the Colombian bush has arrived in town, and seems to enjoy the free food and shelter. NYT If it were the US, these folks would already be registered to vote.
 Quoted from the French feminist author Phyllis Chesler's new book, in a very entertaining mini-review at No Pasaran:
The kind of closed-minded "political correctness" which I have just described above is typical of groupthink and totalitarian thinking. If someone thinks for herself in an independent and creative way and dares to come up with non-party-line conclusions, she or he is then, in classic Orwellian style, deemed the enemy, a traitor, a non-person. Their work will not be read or discussed. They will not be invited to debate or to debate in a civilized and honorable way. They will be called a "racist" and a "neoconservative." If a feminist dares raise the specter of Jew-hatred and the demonization of the Jewish state among leftists and feminists, she will quickly discover that she has become unwelcome in the mainstream media and among leftists (who actually think of themselves as liberals), and among feminists.
But what is its safety record? 
Brit High Court requires armed hijackers be given refugee status. Unbelievable. I never owned a slave (altho I could use a few), nor did my ancestors, at least in the past 400 years. I am guilt-free, and if this is what the Dems offer, then I am agin it. The Caliphate is becoming a serious goal of Islam. How much denial can the West tolerate? Quite a lot, I guess. CSM What women can see in men's faces. Live Science Via Instapundit, on Europe: LES JONES: "The consequence of Europeans not having children is that their elaborate social welfare system and free healthcare are liable to collapse in a generation or two as a consequence of their birth rate being below replacement level. They obviously know where babies come from, but it's less clear they know where adults come from."
The author of the Iliad is either Homer or, if not Homer, somebody else of the same name. Aldous Huxley
Wednesday, May 10. 2006
From a fishin' song by Woody Guthrie: Well I went down to the fishing hole,
And I set down with my fishing pole;
Somethin' grabb'd my hook and it got my bait
And Jerked me out in the middle of the lake.
Huh it was some jump boy,
I got sunk, kinda baptized on credit. Jumped in the river and went down deep,
There was a hundred pound cat-fish lying there asleep,
Well I jumped on his back and rode him all aroun'
Saddled him up and I came into town.
People came runnin', lookin', dogs a-barkin'
(Kids a-squallin').
Proof that fishing is a fair sport. Fisherman killed by large catfish.
John has better access to the White House than lil' ol' Maggie's Farm has. If they don't read this, and take it to heart, at Powerline, they might be the brain-dead, clueless fools I am afraid they are. Please do not let that be so.
Opie likes to tell me about the thriving Cuban art scene. Not even Fidel and his cops and thought police can destroy the human soul. This from a young Cuban artist: 
At Maggie's Farm, we link things we would like to discuss, had we the time to do so. But what with milkin' the cows, feedin' the chickens, chasin' the bunnies out of the lettuce, poachin' deer, paintin' the shed, bakin' bread, teachin' the goats to speak English, practicin' juggling, shootin' rats at the dump, trainin' the dogs for fall, replacin' the geronificator on the old Ford, arguin' with the neighbor, beatin' the dog, greasin' the snake, and plowin' and plantin', we jes' cannot do it all. Country life. Leatherback sea turtles stage a comeback. That is happy news. All credit to Bush, of course. 
Date Rape. The very notion of date rape seems to be an invitation to injustice - although I am sure it occurs. Here's one guy who really got screwed, at RCP. The un-sayable dirty secret is that gals can get just as out of hand, and excited, as guys. The radical feminists deny that - probably because they don't: they are as sex-less as they are humor-less. What's Wrong with Harvard? Plenty, and the college alums should get on the job and fix the mess. A new book. Newark and School vouchers. Slowly but surely, it's an idea that is coming. The insane rage of the Left. It will not help their case, but it energizes their base. Am. Thinker
A tax on Extraction? Yes, you heard right, Mr. Chavez will be extracting as much money as he can and from whomever he can and he will be extracting it right over to the City of Extraction also known as Geneva. Can you spell Swiss Bank Account? "We are going to create a new oil tax, called the tax on extraction," Mr Chavez told viewers of his marathon six-hour Sunday show. BBC NEWS | Americas | Chavez doubles tax for oil firms
 Kay Hymowitz reviews a new book by Flanagan: To Hell with all that: Loving and Loathing our Inner Housewife. The radical feminists hate her, but they should not: it's the radical feminists who "reinforce stereotypes." Who would want to be the kid of a radical feminist? Not me.
Quote from the excellent review: What Flanagan might have better underscored is that her real subject is not The Question: To Work Or Not To Work. It is love. Flanagan had a fierce devotion to her own mother, whose presence haunts the book. She experienced in her mother’s pot roasts and freshly ironed laundry the embodiment of comfort, safety, and love. Despite Flanagan’s deficiencies in the domestic arts, it’s a feeling she badly wants to bring to her own family. What this talented writer reminds us of are two simple truths that are apostasy to the fundamentalists and, sadly, lost to many young women who never saw them in action: that when working properly, satisfying domestic life can embody a mother’s love for her children, the most powerful love there is; and that no matter how women choose to live, this love will forever be entangled with self-sacrifice. Should this really be the stuff of war without end?
Whole thing at City Journal here - it's good, and funny. Image: A young woman gazing at the ocean at Cahoon's Hollow, wondering about her identity, feminist stereotyping, male oppression, and the meaning of life - and hoping she'll meet the tall, dark and handsome man of her dreams at the bar later on.
Francis Fukayama takes a fresh look at his 1992 book. He remains a neo-Hegelian. Just one quote: The question is, therefore, whether the principles of liberty and equality that we see as the foundation of liberal democracy have a similar universal significance. I believe that this is the case, and I think that there is an overall logic to historical evolution that explains why there should be increasing democracy around the world as our societies evolve. It is not a rigid form of historical determinism like Marxism, but a set of underlying forces that drive human social evolution in a way that tells us that there should be more democracy at the end of this evolutionary process than at the beginning.
Take a few minutes, and read the whole thing.
The safest cars. Talent vs. Hard Work: A new book proclaims hard work to be the winner. Piece at Marginal Rev - read the comments, too/ Ayaan at Harvard. LGF. "What are they learning here?", she asked someone. Do you doubt the tilt of the LA Times? Patterico Barry Bonds is no Babe Ruth. Here are the numbers. A simple solution to illegal immigration. PoliPundit. Sensible, too. From Country to Heavy Metal: The Telecaster. Driscoll A Google Manual: Part-time Pundit. Google can do lots more for us than most of us realize. More on Jane Jacobs. It's great to see the outpouring of essays about her. This from View from 1776: Jane Jacobs and Adam Smith Land of Oz. California judge proclaims a legal right to a dlploma. I Are Educated, at RTLC
Truth is, I know a fair bit about algebra, and trig too, including many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse. I even remember key bits of calc. I have no idea how anyone can consider themselves educated if they do not. And it isn't all that difficult - it's simple logic. I can teach anyone, with an intact brain, the basics of algebra in an hour. After the basics, it's all fun and creative problem-solving. Good for the mind. Is it useful, or necessary? I would say so. There is not much that can be understood in depth without math. Silber at TCS takes on the reporters who "don't get it", (and thus surely cannot understand economics either, or statistics, science, or ...). It is difficult for me to believe that reporters would brag about not knowing basic math, but I guess it explains a lot. But how did the guy Silber mentions graduate from college, not to mention high school, without learning it? Good piece. He also touches on the long history of algebra.
Proverbs are always platitudes until you have personally experienced the truth of them. Aldous Huxley
Tuesday, May 9. 2006
This is the Second Annual Riesling Week. This reminds me - I need to drink more Riesling. Behave yourself, and leave your arrogance at home. Travel tips for Americans. I might add - leave your expectations of efficiency, politeness, and energy at home, too. Bush's best day in office - the day he caught a 7 1/2 lb. bass As the waters warm, it's kite-tubing season. Video. Polish Joke of the Day: A Polish immigrant goes to the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles in Milwaukee to apply for a driver's license and is told he has to take an eye
test. The examiner shows him a card with the letters:
C Z J W I X N O S T A C Z
"Can you read this?" the examiner asks.
"Read it?" the Polish guy replies, "I know the guy."
 A way with words: Who came up with these phrases?
“Let there be light,” “Eat, drink, and be merry,” “The powers that be,” “A prophet has no honor in his own country,” “Ye of little faith,” “Fight the good fight,” “Am I my brother’s keeper,” “The spirit is willing,” “The salt of the earth,” “A law unto themselves,” “Filthy lucre,” “A man after his own heart,” “Signs of the times.”
It was William Tyndale. Read about him at Auster's. Fag weekends? That's what the Brits are coming to. First they came for the cigarettes, then they came for the ice-cream..."Smoked Haggis" at Tangled Web. How can proud Celts and Saxons permit themselves to be ruled by nags and cranks?
Idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power. Aldous Huxley
And it is possibly the best-assimilated illegal alien in the entire country, a white, Anglophile American expatriate speaking perfect British English and living as a faux-English Lord, and who was guilty only of possessing a false passport. Meanwhile, immigrant rapists, terrorists, thieves, murderers and violent offenders of all stripes walk out of British jails and back onto the streets of London, secure from the threat of deportation and free to repeat offend (or just live off public benefits if they prefer). Such is the sad state of affairs in 21st century Britain, where the government hastens to limit personal freedoms while failing to uphold its basic duty to protect the lives of its law-abiding citizens.
Raphael was a contemporary of Michelangelo and DaVinci - the High Renaissance. The early Renaissance art intrigues me more, but Raphael's Madonnas, and his work at the Vatican, had a major impact, despite his short life. He definitely liked to paint cute cherubs. This is Isaiah - definitely a dude to listen to. 
Monday, May 8. 2006
...so it may as well be me. As someone who works in NYC every day, I am g  rowing weary of the 9-11 "families." They are not sacred. There were a lot of folks who were successfully attacked by Jihadists, but that gives their families no special moral status. They are regular people, and it could have been me or you. Their endless, entitled demands on the city have become ridiculous, and it has become some wierd mission or morbid obsession, it appears, on their part. They are wrong to use their loss to control and manipulate the rest of us: that is an abuse of grief. Personally, I think a bronze plaque on a wall of the new building would be perfectly appropriate: "On this site, on September 11, 2001, America was attacked by Islamic Jihadists resulting in the deaths of 2752." We do not need a multi-billion dollar hystrionic thing to remember what was done to us, as a city and as a nation. A self-selected group of "Families" have become professional mourners and wailers, and that is unbecoming - and annoying. Bury your dead, remember them in your hearts, set your spirit against the enemy, and move forward. And quit it with the victim family schtick (sp?). All of us around here had friends and neighbors and family members die in 9-11, but don't make that grief a life-long career. We have also had plenty of death in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are in a war which we did not seek, or want. Not one of us forgets what was done to you and your loved ones, and to us as a nation. We saw it. We are dealing with the enemy. That is what matters, and that will be history's memorial. Mayor Bloomberg seems to be fed up, too.
 Brits want to ban ice cream trucks! Is there anyone as totalitarian as someone who wants to do you good?
Orlando Patterson of Harvard wants to know why black males fail to learn, and he is not afraid to explain that it is cultural. Augean Stables. How come this is obvious to everyone except academics? Adios, police. 200 mph on a motorcyle. Video here. (h/t, RRWH) Hugh Hewitt has this right, I think: I can't seem to find Eleanor Clift's age on the web, or Rutten's, but I suspect both began their media careers in the Vietnam/Watergate era, a time in which media folk became convinced --no matter their particular distribution of talents-- of their collective moral superiority, their obvious intelligence, and the divine right of columnists/pundits.
|
