Tuesday, August 28. 2007
Thus asks Firedoglake. Definitely - twisted as a pretzel, every last one of 'em. You can just tell by how often they talk about values and Jesus and families and guns and war and all that: it's a cover-up, of course, so their lace undergarments don't show. To prove my point, use the "Sen. Larry Craig Test": When next in the presence of a suspected Republican, stamp your foot twice on the ground. If the suspect turns and looks, it's proof that you have a twisted perv in your vicinity. (Apparently that is the highway and airport men's room signal that you are looking for fun. Barney Frank can fill you in.) To be serious for a moment, though, I feel sorry for folks like Larry Craig. Leading a divided, furtive life as he appears to have been doing must be a terrible way to live, and it should not be necessary in 2007. The moral of the story remains this: if you want to be in public life, decide how you want to deal with your personal stuff first... unless you happen to be a Dem, in which case you are immunized.
 All your children are belong to us. The Brit Big Brother child registry. How soon before they stick a GPS monitoring device in each one of them?
Keep your kid out of kindergarten: At NRO Lots of good guest bloggers at Jules this week. Hello, Sailor. It's about Napoleon Mother Theresa's struggles with faith (plus a word about Princess Diana). More thoughts on her "blessing of struggle" at S,C and A. Is Middle Eastern Studies an academic discipline or a political movement? Winfield Myers (h/t, a piece at Augean Stables) Do you have a Melissa Theuriau obsession? Apparently, many do. She is cute for sure, but lacks the edgy, reckless dangerousness one might prefer in fantasy females. Johns Hopkins is rethinking sex assignment surgery. Small Dead Pangolins. Glad to hear it. I like the quote from Dr. McHugh. Why some Dems are completely wrong about subprime loan remedies. Reason The Borderline Sociopathic Book for Boys. Sippican Illegals moving out. Polipundit. It isn't really very complicated. How black law students can get screwed by affirmative action. Ace Think you are horny? Meet Lurch: get a load of this beast. It's about the feedback loop. Climate, by Coyote, our reality-checker. Tell me again - what is Hillary Clinton's experience? Wizbang. In my opinion, she is a press-invented celeb candidate, and nothing more. Crafty? Yes. Wise? I don't see it. Healthy fear. It is healthy and normal to fear Moslems, says Dr. Sanity How do snakes live 6 months without food? They can keep growing too.
Thanks, reader, for another photo from Saint-Gaudens' summer home in Cornish, NH. 
Monday, August 27. 2007
Don't miss it. It begins in the early morning here in the East, so it will be too late to see the full effect. I'll be up at 5 to watch, and to milk the cows.
Over the past several months, we have posted quite a bit on poverty in America, noting that government has little further power over it because it is usually the product of bad choices (eg drugs, no fathers, and the like), bad luck (catastrophe, mental illness), laziness, or immigration (1/4 of our poor are recent legal or illegal immigrants), and it has been more than adequately demonstrated that the average caring government program only damages people in the end. Now we have new data on American "poverty". If you leave out the illegals (who are included), it looks like the American poor are doing pretty well. Better than I would have thought, and good news for America. Furthermore, our census data on income do not include government benefits such as housing subsidies, food stamps, Medicaid, Medicare, welfare and the like. We are doing well by our people, and we should recognize that.
A big h/t to Confederate Yank for finding this astonishing video by Hans Rosling about the "developing world." He animates the data in a cool way. I wish it were longer.
If you, like me, are not accustomed to pricing risk or pricing tail risk, then you will find this piece at Just One Minute an entertaining little math puzzle. Tom picks a nit with Michael Lewis, but I find this sort of thing fascinating. I'm sure it's just routine in the biz.
We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come. Prime Minister John Howard, as quoted at Blair.
 Born in Dublin, raised in New York City, Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) epitomizes beaux-arts sculpture.
The subject arises because a friend was banging around the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site (his summer home) in Cornish, NH last week. This place was news to me, and my knowledge of Saint-Gaudens was minimal. His summer home has hosted artists like Winston Churchill and Maxfield Parrish, and was Woodrow Wilson's Summer White House. Photo is his sculpture of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, a mean, tough SOB - and it shows (Apologies to our Georgia readers, but don't blame Sherman. Blame Lincoln and Grant. Sherman was following orders when he fought and burned his way through Georgia).
 Morgan Meis reviews 1001 Paintings You Should See Before You Die in a piece entitled A Dilettante's Guide to Art.
"1001 Paintings You Should See Before You Die acknowledges the question "What is Painting?" The answer: "Who cares?""
What I found especially useful about the review is that it puts Modernism in perspective - not as the End of Art, but just as another phase in a long, ongoing story of "what painters do." Here's a quote: A weird thing happened to painting during the 20th century. In the eyes of many painters and critics, the little problems of painting became the big problem of “Painting” itself. People suddenly became motivated to paint by asking themselves, “What Is Painting?” The attitude of 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die is to collapse this problem back into the history of little problems, to flatten out 20th century artistic practice and put it back into the ongoing history of “things painters do.” The way our woman in black from Brown looks at it, Malevich is a worthy painter and we want to include his paintings in our book. But in doing so we are also implicitly if not explicitly punching a hole in the metaphysics that motivated him to paint as he painted. We're implicitly denying that there could have been a definitive final act in painting or that painting could ever have achieved its own end. We are rejecting the idea that painting was ever really in crisis at all. We are disproving Malevich even as we laud him.
An excellent essay. Read the whole thing. Image: Kasimir Malevich's Black Circle
 Britain in meltdown. Theo, at Jules
Real America: The Grange Fair Government-driven urbanization in China. Amazing. Dino Excellent handgun ID chart. h/t, Theo Iraq gov't agrees to benchmarks. That's a good start. De-fund the mullahs. Barone on Iran, in the NY Sun Can Western aid help African poverty? I doubt it. What we call poverty is often the subsistence way of life they have lived forever. They need trade, home-grown industry, and sane, stable governments if they wish to enter the modern world, and that entails a major cultural change. Good debate on the subject at the CSM. Hitler was a socialist, by John Ray. Indeed. "Nazi" was short for the National Socialist German Worker's Party, but the American Left never warmed up to him the way they did to Stalin. Interesting read. h/t, Reader. Also - a comment on Ray's essay by Lifson at American Thinker. Re Vick and the photo below: I am a dog guy, but I believe that any dog owner is free to put down their own dog for any reason, assuming they do it in a humane manner (and obey the law). It is commonplace, I am told, for hunting dog breeders to put a bullet in their hound pups who don't show enough "hunt," and I see nothing wrong with that. We must be humane, but also not fall for the pathetic fallacy.
Sunday, August 26. 2007
I have no doubt that we are fortunate to live in the best of times. Tigerhawk considers Goklany's book on the subject.
I could not resist taking a couple of photos. The 16 year-old pup baked some cakes and stuff last night, and threw a Victorian tea party for her pals for after church. Croquet to follow. It's proof to me that there is hope for the American youth. And hats are fine things on ladies, are they not? 
 Who "owns" the "Vietnam narrative"? Classical Values. My Vietnam narrative is as follows: We were there as part of a world power chess game. We were slowly winning the game, but the "Amerika must lose" Left knocked our King off the board. Why does it matter now? It matters because it's a legacy of defeatism, which is not encouraging to our allies and which is encouraging to those who wish to harm us. Was it wise to be there in the first place? I don't know, but once you decide to do something, you have to stick with it.
Iraqis protest terror at Saudi Embassy. Good. How is this as an invitation for a discrimination lawsuit? Riehl A housing bailout? What sense does this make? Michelle Fruits and vegetables don't do anything for your health. Surber. Yes, we do know that. They taste good though, when you're in the mood for them. The Gospel according to my dog. Wizbang Slavery made illegal in Mauretania. Atlas It would be a dull world without people like Fisk. However, I am sick of conspiracy theorists of all sorts. They are insane, 99.9% of the time. It's that .1% that gets ya to entertain their psychoses. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, but you get no points for being right if you are a malevolent nutjob like Robert Fisk. Plus he has never been right about anything - he just tries to feed public psychosis. Bible banned in schools. Moonbattery. Indeed, the Bible does contain dangerous, spiritually-subversive teachings. I guess the ACLU recognizes the power of that book. Journalism, pomo style: Write your story first, then try to collect some quotes. Flopping. I always thought that grousing and griping was part of being a soldier at war: it is not a comfortable life style. They do the discomfort for the rest of us. More on spinning troop morale at Burkean. From Pam, via Right Wing Prof: The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post "Thou Shall Not Steal, "Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery", and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment.
There's a hole in it. The universe. Does it leak? Record poppy crop in Afghanistan this year. Does anything else grow there? Probably nothing as profitable. Poppies are their oil, I guess.
I have my tix to see Bob at the Ryman. He will be banging around the Northeast and Southeast this fall. He has raised his ticket prices, I see. Why not?
A birthday with an "0" in it, down on the coast last night. Nice views from the place, with some good-looking duck hunting spots to bear in mind for November:  Water toys ready to go: 
View from the driveway: 
Luke 13: 21-30 22Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, 24“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 25When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ 28There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. 29Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Saturday, August 25. 2007
It sounds like Luciano has terminal cancer - pancreatic. How did he get to be 70 so fast? He has provided joy to millions in his life, including to me. God bless him.
 Photo on right: Vanessa Dobos, from Women in Combat at Reasoned Audacity (the photo comes and goes - I don't know why but you can see her at the link).
Lt. Pitts visits an Iraqi home. Totten. Man, that tea is dark. Multiculturalism in St. Paul. LGF. Some cultures just don't give a damn how they treat women, but we are supposed to be understanding, aren't we? Middlebrow with Ruskin on art and seeing, with a charming example. Moros y Cristianos. Yum. Babalu, who notes elsewhere that rumors of Castro's demise are premature: at this point, it hardly matters. Tu-95s over Guam. Just stopping by to say hello. Putin is flexing his muscles, but that is what Russians do. I think it's harmless. 100 million blogs? It's remarkable that we have so many readers. Talk about competition... h/t, Insty More on Sacco and Vanzetti, at Attack Machine Tony Blair's legacy: 10,000 rules and regulations. Kim. How can anyone remember all of this crap? Looks like they found the Grunion. Blue Crab "The poor" as pawns of the Left. Dr. Sanity on Thomas Sowell O'Sullivan's First Law, and Amnesty International update. EU Referendum Hurt feelings on campus. Dust my Broom. These kids aren't sensitive: they are manipulators. From Prof Pat, What I saw in Europe. Far outside the cities, the Old Europe persists, with the old values and the old ways. If you screw the American pharmaceutical companies, who in the world will come up with new meds? The Post Office? Dr. Helen If I lived in Zimbabwe, I would grab my spears and my family and head for the jungle for the duration. Update at Captain Ed. Or, if I had the nerve and a few machine guns, form a rebellion. Torture and abuse at Parris Island? Gimme a break. And Rightly So. No drill sergeant is going to be 1/1000th the threat of a bad guy trying to kill you. Toughen up, weenies. Repubs are racists, says Krugman. Moderate Voice. I guess it's proof that you have no argument when you resort to name-calling. I had no idea that Horsefeathers was a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst. He considers the low value placed on the ability to use words. I suppose he is right: the talent to use words is widely-distributed, just as is the talent to make music. Market forces: wordsmiths and musicians are generally not paid well. You must list the race of your employees? This is nuts. Just put me down as a Samoan: I share lots of DNA with them. A little basic education for the AP on the difference between a cartridge and a bullet. Funny video, via Mr. Free Market Jim Webb (D-VA) blames Dems for Vietnam genocide. He's right. Some people conveniently forget the real story. The Martyrs of Otranto. Gay Patriot.
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