Monday, January 21. 2008
...while jousting was popular in medieval Europe, it originated as the curtain-opener to a far more brutal affair.
Read the whole thing - about the "melee" - at BBC
 We enjoy visiting the White Flower Farm in the charming antique village of Litchfield, CT, once or twice a year. Most of their business is mail-order.
They are already taking orders for Spring, and we were interested in their collections for planters. Photo is one of their shade collections. Since they are so good at putting plants together, my theory is just to steal their ideas. A propos gardening, check out the gardens of Pearl Fryar - topiary surrealist.
The untaxed working class. Surber. I believe that everybody with income should pay some taxes as the cost of being a citizen. Hillary Clinton quoted in a piece on her desire to run the US economy, in the NYT: “You try to find common ground, insofar as possible. But if you really believe you have to manage the economy,” she said, “you have to stake a lot of your presidency on it. Because at the beginning is when you’re strongest.”
Sippican, who has several clips to watch, seems to be as much of a Cary Grant fan as I am. Hollywood at its best. From near the beginning of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House:
 We posted this link yesterday from American Thinker: Alinsky's tactics: Hillary and Obama. A quote:
Obama's four-year stint as a political organizer and agitator in Chicago's South Side neighborhoods gave him a hands-on education in Alinsky revolutionary tactics, which he seems adept at using now. His problem, however, may be that he is in direct competition for the ultimate power prize, the Presidency, against another Alinskyite, Hillary Clinton, who studied Alinksy and his rule book and turned down an offer to work for him.
Here's a summary of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. Simon at Classical Values considers The Democrats' Gramscian Problem. Divide and conquer to create the brotherhood of man, without use of arms. Alinksy was indeed a Gramscian Marxist, in my view, although he is often labelled otherwise. We did an introduction to Gramsci here. ("The long march through the culture.")
Simon links to a piece at Armed and Dangerous about ideological warfare and the Gramscian damage to America. He lists the most important Stalinist propaganda memes: - There is no truth, only competing agendas.
- All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West’s history of racism and colonialism.
- There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an evil oppressor.
- The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and miserable.
- Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal. Poor criminals are entitled to what they take. Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it.
- The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are virtuous. Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people can borrow some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.)
- For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself. But ‘oppressed’ people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely reflecting the evil of their oppressors.
- When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist’s point of view, and make concessions.
He observes that these notions would have been considered insane just a generation ago, and comments: The first step to recovery is understanding the problem. Knowing that suicidalist memes were launched at us as war weapons by the espionage apparatus of the most evil despotism in human history is in itself liberating. Liberating, too, it is to realize that the Noam Chomskys and Michael Moores and Robert Fisks of the world (and their thousands of lesser imitators in faculty lounges everywhere) are not brave transgressive forward-thinkers but pathetic memebots running the program of a dead tyrant.
Read the whole thing. Photo: Neo-Marxist tactician Antonio Gramsci
 Obama: None of our hands is clean. Sorry to disagree - mine are. Also, Obama goes after Bill. More from Wizbang. Apparently Obama is beginning to feel that hs is running against Bill, and I can understand why.
The archeology of downtown NYC. Wooden water mains. h/t, Synthstuff Is divorce good for women? The sex life of a polyglot. George Steiner on himself. The twilight of the nation-state in Europe. Bruce Thornton "I have a dream" speech was plagiarized, in part. Gateway. Cannot fault MLK's delivery, though. MSM Propaganda: 1.Definining poverty in America. Half own their own homes, 3/4 own cars. Cramer 2. The fictional horrors of war. Steyn. More on the "soldier as felon" at Small Dead Lemmings The darkest material on earth. Thompson Siberian Light has a new format and a new mission Chavez is a coke-head.
Another view of the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana (more here). That's Ear Mountain. Been there. A.B. Guthrie's The Big Sky took place around there. (thanks, ap) 
Sunday, January 20. 2008
Reading for those considering a career in journalism, via SISU
You can watch the excellent Mira Nair's short film about a love triangle - and AIDS- in India, here. It's a compelling piece of film.
This is a reposting from one year ago: I do not have the provenance of this remarkable photo which came in over the transom, but it is clearly somewhere West. A gold star for the photographer who must have spend many patient hours watching this carcass in the snow. The picture tells the story: a Red Fox and a Magpie were happily dining on a deer carcass when Mr. Golden Eagle passed by. Does he believe that he can take a fox? I doubt that he can, but he can sure rattle his equanimity, and interrupt his luncheon. 
h/t, Theo 
 The USA is still a center-right country.
What's new in diversity at Yale? John Leo Women in Saudi Arabia worse off than prisoners at Gitmo. Jules Cassandra's Dream reviewed in the NYT. I won't be bothering to see it. Ten Commandments "stupid," says Bill Maher. Can't fault him for lack of self-confidence. PC pizzas, kids. (h/t, Theo) Irish emissions bad. Bulgarian emissions good. Obama and Rezko Whither Fred Thompson? NYT Alinsky's tactics: Hillary and Obama. What does success in Iraq look like? Powerline Rudy: Not running as an Italian-American. Photo: Colorado skiing, last year.
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes a brother, 2 To the church of God that is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place of theirs and ours. 3 Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in Christ Jesus: 5 That in all things you are made rich in him, in all utterance and in all knowledge, 6 As the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord jesus Christ. 8 Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the days of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful: by whom you are called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no schisms among you: but that you be perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been signified unto me, my brethren, of you, by them that are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith: I indeed am of Paul; and I am of Apollo; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul then crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I give God thanks, that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Caius: 15 Lest any should say that you were baptised in my name. 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of speech, lest the cross of Christ should be made void. 18 For the word of the cross, to them indeed that perish, is foolishness: but to them that are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise: and the prudence of the prudent I will reject. 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For, seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom, knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save them that believe. 22 For both the Jews require signs: and the Greeks seek after wisdom. 23 But we preach Christ crucified: unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: 24 But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men: and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Yesterday, in CT: 
Saturday, January 19. 2008
The only public expert I pay attention to, Bob Brinker, predicts "no Armageddon" in the markets. If he is wrong, it will be the first time - and he is no youngster. Correction, sure. Corrections are routine, as is hysteria. Corrections are buying opportunities, but, in the long run, it doesn't matter...and but, on the other hand, in the long run we are all dead.
I suspect we have many readers who either live in New York City or who commute to the city daily by train. As an ex-New Yorker, living in Boston and New Hampshire, it is now a special treat for me to hop the train to New York three or four times a year to stay for a few days, usually with the excuse of giving a talk or to attending a medical meeting (which I did this past week and this week-end). I change from Amtrak to a Metro-North express in New Haven, and sometimes spend a day visiting my New Haven friends. I do not shop in NY (well, not very much), but I like to visit my old haunts, and to find new ones. I got up to the front of the train, next to the driver, just after we took the train bridge from the Bronx to Manhattan: 
Coming from Boston, I am greeted by the magnificence of Grand Central Station instead of the execrable Penn Station or the idiotic, government-designed JFK airport. Somehow, this lame snapshot managed to eliminate every bit of the grandeur and scale of Commodore Vanderbilt's creation:  Something new: The Grand Central Market. Wonderful food stalls, and perfect to pick up some stuff on the way home: rare cheeses, imported Italian sausages of every variety, 200 types of olive oil, a bread bakery, a patisserie, pre-cooked goodies and dinners, etc. etc. All of the old, bleak empty spaces of the Station have now been put to good use, and the whole place is like an upscale mall, and busy as can be: 
And something old on the lower level: The good old Oyster Bar, with the best oyster stew in the world, and a larger selection of oysters - and fresh seafood in general - than you can find anywhere in the world. The entire Lower Level is now a food court, and good enough that I think people come in off the street for a snack. No chain restaurants - good stuff. 
Our piece on the strange Salton Sea reminded me of western Montana's not-strange but wonderful 1500-acre Freezeout Lake WMA (Wildlife Management Area) between Great Falls and Choteau, on the Rocky Mountain front. I have visited it twice, birding - not hunting. It's a small WMA, but packed with life. I have only been there in June, but during migration the shallow lake harbors over 300,000 Snow Geese and 10,000 Tundra Swans, not to mention everything else. Here's one guy's report of the geese. When I went, the birds that stood out were the Western Grebes dancing, the Avocets, the Phalaropes, and the Short-Eared Owls. Tons of breeding ducks. This place looks like a good place to stay, near the lake. Nice view of a cute butte. When I have been out that way for a week, I have stayed at the excellent, Nature Conservancy-run Pine Butte Guest Ranch. Photo above: Snow Geese over Freezeout, from this Snow Goose site
Snobbery is so sweet. NY Sun Global warming hysteria fading in Canada. ht/ Junk Science, along with cartoon above Peter Lawler reconsiders the Repub candidates The Top Ten american political speeches. RWNH The Law of Unintended Consequences: AIDS money to Africa Crisis of violence among American Veteran reporters. When will the madness end? Tax rebates will not help the economy. Related: Prepare to be Stimulated The environmentalist case for fascism. Coyote Bill Clinton's anger management problem. NYT Dear Third World Farmer: The West likes you just the way you are. Chertoff: The danger of Europe-based terror
Friday, January 18. 2008
City Journal has a fresh new look and format. In it, Architecture's Rogues Gallery by Kimball, who rips the narcissism of the famous architects of today. A quote: Philip Johnson. Robert Venturi. Hassan Fathy. Peter Eisenman. Charles Jencks. Bernard Tschumi. Rem Koolhaus. Daniel Liebeskind. Norman Foster. Frank Gehry. Sykes has rounded up a rogues’ gallery of brittle egotism in which contempt for the traditional canons of architecture is exceeded only by contempt for the public. “The only important task,” we read in one typical expostulation, “is the vigilant corruption of the chain of causality that begins with ‘client’ and ends in ‘building.’” In other words, please pay for this building, but don’t bother me with any demands about how it looks or functions.
With her venom, sarcasm, and recklessness, Ann Coulter is a lousy poster-child for Conservatism, but she can be entertaining even though she will never persuade anybody: President George W. Bush is evidently the first mentally retarded person to get a Harvard M.B.A., graduate from the U.S. Air Force Flight School, be elected governor of Texas, and then be elected president of the United States twice. I guess this is what they call "mainstreaming." Admittedly, it took Bush two weeks to learn to prounounce "Shiite," but he had higher grades at Yale than John Kerry. Then again, who didn't?
More Coulterisms at Small Dead Meadow Mice
Done with Mirrors quotes from an essay by Peter Saunders: Why Capitalism is Good for the Soul. The problem for those of us who believe that capitalism offers the best chance we have for leading meaningful and worthwhile lives is that in this debate, the devil has always had the best tunes to play. Capitalism lacks romantic appeal. It does not set the pulse racing in the way that opposing ideologies like socialism, fascism, or environmentalism can. It does not stir the blood, for it identifies no dragons to slay. It offers no grand vision for the future, for in an open market system the future is shaped not by the imposition of utopian blueprints, but by billions of individuals pursuing their own preferences. Capitalism can justifiably boast that it is excellent at delivering the goods, but this fails to impress in countries like Australia that have come to take affluence for granted.
and By perpetually raising productivity, capitalism has not only driven down poverty rates and raised life expectancy, it has also released much of humanity from the crushing burden of physical labour, freeing us to pursue ‘higher’ objectives instead. What Clive Hamilton airily dismisses as a ‘growth fetish’ has resulted in one hour of work today delivering twenty-five times more value than it did in 1850. This has freed huge chunks of our time for leisure, art, sport, learning, and other ‘soul-enriching’ pursuits. Despite all the exaggerated talk of an ‘imbalance’ between work and family life, the average Australian today spends a much greater proportion of his or her lifetime free of work than they would had they belonged to any previous generation in history.
There is another sense, too, in which capitalism has freed individuals so they can pursue worthwhile lives, and that lies in its record of undermining tyrannies and dictatorships. As examples like Pinochet’s Chile and Putin’s Russia vividly demonstrate, a free economy does not guarantee a democratic polity or a society governed by the rule of law. But as Milton Friedman once pointed out, these latter conditions are never found in the absence of a free economy.(12) Historically, it was capitalism that delivered humanity from the ‘soul-destroying’ weight of feudalism. Later, it freed millions from the dead hand of totalitarian socialism. While capitalism may not be a sufficient condition of human freedom, it is almost certainly a necessary one.
Read the whole thing.
 Inflation plus recession? Blue Crab. What's a Fed to do? My prediction: A baloney "stimulus package" to maintain the illusion that government can help, a significant rate cut, and slow growth during 2008. Note that most of our inflation is due to oil and ethanol.
The bad news: One in five still trusts the MSM Sex in the "mature" ages
"Does it have to be said? Does it have to be said now? Does it have to be said by me? " An AA aphorism, but useful to everyone
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