Saturday, April 21. 2007
 The Met's new Greek and Roman galleries. Multimedia.
A new medical website: Revolution Health, started by Steve Case Hypocrisy: DC burns coal, installs fluorescent bulbs. Utterly meaningless "conspicuous virtue." "Populist authoritarianism." Good phrase. Samizdata wants a new England. Moslems to host countries: You Will Be Assimilated. Protein Speaking of which, Moslem harem wives each get their own welfare check in the UK. SDA. Even though polygamy is illegal. I like this concept for my retirement plan: nice cottage in the Cotswolds, four pretty little fillies to keep me fed, happy, and entertained, and a pile of monthly checks. More on little tiny houses. CSM. Makes sense to me. Hillary is a ho, says Democracy Project. Aren't most politicians? A transgender prom king? Gee, how modern! How progressive! How advanced! But I still can't understand what a transgender is, exactly, other than someone who defines themselves by their identity confusion. Jon Voight: Another sane voice in Hollywood. h/t, Flares Is the Iraqi government doing their part? Maybe not. A Tale of Two Towns. One with a gun ban, and one without. Wizbang. Guns belong in the hands of honest folks. Ivy League Insanity. Yale theater bans fake swords. It apparently has something to do with Virginia Tech. Are these people for real? Feeling safe vs. being safe. This piece by Jack Kelly sounds like Dr. Bliss' piece. Photo: Commercial fishing boats in Wellfleet, MA harbor
Friday, April 20. 2007
 I don't bother checking to see what the Leftist blogosphere is talking about anymore, because it has become so hatefully emotional and juvenile that you cannot learn anything from it.
To find out what the grown-ups of the Left are thinking, you have to go to dreary places like The Nation, which is a magazine, not a blog. In The Nation, Lawrence Goodwyn has The Coming Party Realignment. Life is terrible, he feels. He is certain that we are in the 1930s again. He hates globalization of markets, he hates Bush, and I think he wants to tax financially successful people down to the mean. Well, it was the best example of Lefty thinking I could find today, but I found little fact or truth in it. Very disappointing. (BTW, he uses the word "democracy" for "socialism.") Where is the Leftist Powerline and the Leftist American Thinker? And the Leftist Maggie's Farm? Leftist blogs that are interesting, rational, informative, and fun? I'd read 'em.
There is more violent crime in Europe than in the US. Piece by James Q. Wilson, via Instapundit. Distorted data from the Brady Campaign. Reason
Does Margaret Drabble need an exorcist, medication, or a hormone adjustment? Something seems not quite rational about this. (h/t, No Pasaran)
Dang. I didn't check Snopes. Like Dan Rather, it just felt believable to me! I removed the post - thanks, readers, for the heads up.
 From Leadbelly to Jimmie Rodgers to Kurt Cobain, it's all phony and it's all marketing. So says Jeff Sharlet in New Statesman: Keeping it Unreal.
Who knew that a record producer added "Mississippi" to John Hurt's name to add pizzazz? "Authenticity" is a marketing ploy. One quote: One of the pioneering producers of "old-time" music in the early 20th century, Ralph Peer, later boasted: "I invented the hillbilly and nigger stuff."
Yes, Blues and Country aren't as authentic as we'd like to imagine. Sharlet, however, does not see fake as necessarily leading to bad music: he likes The Monkees, who didn't even try to conceal their fakeness - which I suppose makes them a paragon of authenticity. Read the piece (link above.)
Image: Leadbelly performing. The Lomaxes made him perform in a prison uniform, for the "authenticity" factor.
 Applying reason to the water shortage in the western states. Coyote. It makes you wonder how many problems are govt-created, then "requiring" another layer of govt to fix them. If you chose to live in the desert, then pay market price for your water.
Why should a taxi driver who works two shifts get taxed at a higher rate than a lazier driver who works only one shift? Conspiracy to keep you poor and stupid. The visiting father. Evangelical Outpost. Not good. Roy Spencer is one of the voices crying in the wilderness on global warming. The young guys with academic careers at stake are afraid to speak out. Free markets and globalization: Is it time to re-think it? I doubt it, but it's good populist boob bait. Can America trust the BBC? Video. (h/t, Instapundit) Black-on-white crimes don't make the headlines. A disturbing example at Riehl. And with black-on-black crime, Drudge reports the new code of ethics. A quote: These "rules" are contributing to a much lower percentage of arrests in homicide cases -- a statistic known as the "clearance rate" -- in largely poor, minority neighborhoods throughout the country, according to Prof. David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "I work in communities where the clearance rate for homicides has gone into the single digits," says Kennedy. The national rate for homicide clearance is 60 percent. "In these neighborhoods, we are on the verge of -- or maybe we have already lost -- the rule of law," he tells Cooper.
A Belgian imam: “Soon we will take power in this country. Those who criticize us now, will regret it. They will have to serve us. Prepare, for the hour is near.” The suicide of Europe continues apace, at Gates of Vienna Circuit City is laying off their most experienced. A damn shame, but I think they are trying to fend off bankruptcy, in which case all of the jobs would disappear. Their business model doesn't work anymore. Look at The Wiz - gone. It's the constructive destruction of the wisdom of the marketplace.
The lighthouse-keeper's house stands today, but the light tower has been taken down. Great Island in the distance to the left, Chequessett Neck to the right. Photo is around 1910. 
Thursday, April 19. 2007
 Huge biofuel refinery planned for Alberta. Article does not mention 1) Its effect on food prices or, 2) how much fossil fuel the refinery will require to operate. (h/t, reader)
Thompson getting ready, it would appear. 78% want a path to citizenship for illegals. Harry Reid offers immediate unconditional surrender to Al Quaida in Iraq. Cho was ruled mentally ill before his hospital discharge. You cannot just lock people up because they are ill. Mark Steyn is worried about the testosterone levels of the West: We do our children a disservice to raise them to entrust all to officialdom’s security blanket. Geraldo-like “protection” is a delusion: when something goes awry — whether on a September morning flight out of Logan or on a peaceful college campus — the state won’t be there to protect you. You’ll be the fellow on the scene who has to make the decision. As my distinguished compatriot Kathy Shaidle says: When we say “we don’t know what we’d do under the same circumstances”, we make cowardice the default position.
Besides Brendan Nyhan, who is following Hillary's polling negatives? Obama, Kerry, and Gore, for starters. Berserkers not limited to the USA. Cramer Take a look at these fences Spain uses to keep out illegals. Flares Jason Whitlock calls on Sharpton, Jackson to step down: Rather than inspire us to seize hard-earned opportunities, Jesse and Al have specialized in blackmailing white folks for profit and attention. They were at it again last week, helping to turn radio shock jock Don Imus’ stupidity into a world-wide crisis that reached its crescendo Tuesday afternoon when Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer led a massive pity party/recruiting rally.
Hey, what Imus said, calling the Rutgers players "nappy-headed hos," was ignorant, insensitive and offensive. But so are many of the words that come out of the mouths of radio shock jocks/comedians.
Imus’ words did no real damage. Let me tell you what damaged us this week: the sports cover of Tuesday’s USA Today. This country’s newspaper of record published a story about the NFL and crime and ran a picture of 41 NFL players who were arrested in 2006. By my count, 39 of those players were black.
You want to talk about a damaging, powerful image, an image that went out across the globe?
We’re holding news conferences about Imus when the behavior of NFL players is painting us as lawless and immoral. Come on. We can do better than that. Jesse and Al are smarter than that.
 They say most start-up businesses fail within two years. There are plenty of mistakes you can make, never mind the vagaries of your market, your government, and your personal situation.
So it is with some sadness that I bring to you this report from BusinessWeek of the demise of the oldest continuously operating family business in the world: Kongo Gumi. How old is old? They lasted for two years --700 times!
Kongo Gumi also boasted some internal positives that enabled it to
survive for centuries. Its last president, Masakazu Kongo, was the 40th
member of the family to lead the company. He has cited the company's
flexibility in selecting leaders as a key factor in its longevity.
Specifically, rather than always handing reins to the oldest son, Kongo
Gumi chose the son who best exhibited the health, responsibility, and
talent for the job. Furthermore, it wasn't always a son. The 38th Kongo
to lead the company was Masakazu's grandmother.
Another factor that contributed to Kongo Gumi's extended existence
was the practice of sons-in-law taking the family name when they joined
the family firm. This common Japanese practice allowed the company to
continue under the same name, even when there were no sons in a given
generation.
In America, turning over the keys to your son-in-law is generally a recipe for disaster, but maybe things are different in the Buddhist Temple building business. Farewell, Kongo Gumi. We hardly knew ye.
Freestyle dressage at YouTube. This horse dances far better than I can. I found the intensity of the commenters amusing.
Everyone's heard about John Edwards' $400 haircuts. Edwards is a walking argument for sticking with the $15 haircuts, unless you want to look like a pretty-boy pedophile TV huckster-preacher. But what does Hillary pay for her's? I am waiting to hear.
We dedicate our post of the lyrics of Dylan's 1967 Rainy Day Women to Don Imus.  Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good,
They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to go home.
Then they'll stone ya when you're there all alone.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Well, they'll stone ya when you're walkin' 'long the street.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to keep your seat.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' on the floor.
They'll stone ya when you're walkin' to the door.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
They'll stone ya when you're at the breakfast table.
They'll stone ya when you are young and able.
They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to make a buck.
They'll stone ya and then they'll say, "good luck."
Tell ya what, I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Well, they'll stone you and say that it's the end.
Then they'll stone you and then they'll come back again.
They'll stone you when you're riding in your car.
They'll stone you when you're playing your guitar.
Yes, but I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Well, they'll stone you when you walk all alone.
They'll stone you when you are walking home.
They'll stone you and then say you are brave.
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave.
But I would not feel so all alone,
Everybody must get stoned.
Here's an enjoyable, if low-key, 1998 YouTube performance of the song.
 April 18, 1775. The Battle of Lexington and Concord.
Jules Crittenden linked to the English documents regarding that battle. We owe everything, historically, culturally, and spiritually, to those reckless farmers who were not willing to take any crap from their well-intentioned but ultimately feckless government. Rick Moran remembers Paul Revere and his midnight ride.
Always do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
Mark Twain
 I missed the details of the Supreme Court abortion decision. They upheld a federal law, not a state law as I had supposed. We Americans have abundant God-given rights and freedoms, but perhaps the freedom to commit infanticide was not among them.
Chimp intelligence. NYT Science Times. OK,OK - give them the right to vote. It looks good for Sarkozy. Captain Ed Having it both ways with global scare pollution: Wizbang. More hurricanes or fewer hurricanes - it's still warming that causes it. Guns down, gun crime up in Britain. Riehl And, on the same subject, Dr. Ted Dalrymple on The British Way of Murder at City Journal. A quote: Britain is experiencing a spate of murders that suggests a population increasingly unable, or unwilling, to control itself. A recent survey suggested that the British are now more prone to knife-fights than any other people in Europe. Guns have also become fashionable, despite—or is it because of?—stringent laws against them.
"Let's begin the healing process and move on." Such pseudo-psychobabble. Dr. Sanity agrees with me, of course.
Wednesday, April 18. 2007
 I have written three versions of a short piece on the VT massacre, but was not satisfied with any of them.
My main points were to have been that such events are unpreventable, and so rare as to make planning for them almost absurd. Many college kids act strange, and are quirky; many write Quentin Tarantino-type stuff, and many are angry about one thing or another, but it doesn't mean a thing. And, often enough, sadly, college-age kids have psychotic breaks that can go relatively unnoticed for periods of time. I am not asserting that that is what happened, because often mass murderers are not clinically psychotic, but it seems likely from today's new information. My point is that the often-mentioned "clear warning signs" are always retrospective. Everybody is a genius at connecting dots in retrospect. And no-one, I believe, is an expert on murder sprees: they are too rare, and the inner demons are too variable. Classical Values summarizes the shrink-related thoughts from other bloggers, and SISU has additional summaries. I can refute many of the quoted assertions, but I won't. The overarching psychological issue, I believe, is the notion that terrible things should not occur in life. Random terrible things happen every day to many people all over the globe, and always will. Tsunamis will come, and earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides, and diseases and plagues; people will go berserk, wars will happen, and bombers will plant bombs; multi-car crashes will occur, and roller-coasters will collapse. The idea that random terrible events are preventable, and that life could somehow be made thoroughly safe, sanitary, and secure, is a childish fantasy, or even a delusion. We bubble-wrapped Americans specialize in that fantasy, but most of the rest of the world understands better that life is a dangerous enterprise, and not Disney World.
 A Soros organization, Media Matters, had him targeted.
Why, I wonder? Imus is a moderate Lefty, and always talked like a Dem when he talked politics. Too moderate? Or just a chance to show what sort of power Soros can wield? I think George Soros owns the Dem Party, but he has countless projects which he supports. As a general rule, if Soros is for it, we're agin' it.
The ten-year story of The Sopranos, in Vanity Fair. I did not know that Chase was Italian.
The photo below, taken by our friend Chris in his backyard in Connecticut this week, raised the subject of the opossum. The Virginia opossum, aka possum, is the only marsupial in North America. These strange, nocturnal, tree-climbing, omnivorous critters have been expanding their range north for many years, and seem to find ways to survive even in suburban neighborhoods. I know the Dylanologist has one living in his backyard in Tennessee, because I saw the big fellow scurrying through his tomato plants at twilight. Primitive and adaptable, they are also said to be good to eat by our Southern friends. I have never tried one as a meal. I once saw a female with babies clinging to her back, crossing a road at night. What an odd sight. You can read about their habits here. Yes, they do "play possum." 
He brought his Strad, too, and picked up an easy, tax-free $32. I think it was a delightfully wacky thing to do. Story here. The audio here. (h/t, reader)
 The European press blames Charleton Heston for the VT massacre. Personally, I blame the anonymous 11th century Chinese fellow who invented gunpowder.
The only halfway sane quote I read in there is from Germany's Bild: "Now we will probably begin discussing the overly lax gun laws in the United States. There, buying a machine gun is often easier than getting a driver's license. And a new ban on violent games and killer videos will also be put back on the agenda. But in the end, nothing is likely to happen. And the next killer already lives somewhere among us. But we have little reason to point an accusing finger at the Americans. Despite strict gun legislation, we (in Germany) have experienced the school shootings in Erfurt and Emsdetten. We have to consider the problems in our society. And we have to take care of our fellow humans."
But "buying a machine gun"? Good luck. At least the writer is willing to note that they have school shootings in Germany, too. When people talk about "problems in society," though, my eyes glaze over: these cases are about mental disorders, not "problems in society." The blaming theme is already getting to be too much, and the upsurge of the predictable agenda journalism is macabre. I think it is all just a diversion from the normal human reactions of horror and sadness.
Watch this 1000 hp Bugatti production car reach 250 mph. The driver is certainly enjoying the ride, and evidences no guilt at all about driving such an environmentally fun evil car.
Tuesday, April 17. 2007
 The Intelligence Squared debate on global warming in NYC last month. Pull up a chair, grab a beer, and give it a listen. These guys are scientists, not politicians. Michael Creighton is one of the debaters, and NPR's Brian Lehrer is the moderator. I suggest the longer, unedited audio version.
Unfortunately, it's not set up as a true debate - more like a series of brief talks, but the exchanges get better towards the end. Still, interesting - except for that Brenda, who has nothing to say. It's at The Reference Frame. It left me wondering whether there is an ideal temperature for the earth, whether we can have any effect on it or not (which I doubt). Overall, quite enjoyable.
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