Wednesday, July 13. 2005
The Population Bust The world has come a long way from the "population bomb" that we have been warned about for 50 years. We have already begun to see the effects of population declines in Europe, but the entire world is facing dramatic demographic changes, for better or worse. The subject deserves more attention. Krikorian at Claremont Inst: Although the birthrate decline has begun to have significant effects in the U.S., it is in Europe and East Asia that the consequences will be most dramatic. In demographic terms, a "total fertility rate" (TFR) of 2.1 is necessary to keep a population from declining—the average woman needs to have two children (plus the 0.1 for girls who die before reaching reproductive age) to replace herself and the father. The TFR in the U.S. is just a hair below that benchmark, having bounced back from its nadir in the 1970s. But in every other developed nation it is lower, and falling: Ireland, 1.9; Australia, 1.7; Canada, 1.5; Germany, 1.35; Japan, 1.32; Italy, 1.23; Spain, 1.15. Birthrates this low are unprecedented in peacetime societies. As Wattenberg writes, "never have birth and fertility rates fallen so far, so fast, so low, for so long, in so many places, so surprisingly." Not only is this causing an increase in the median age of these populations, as in the U.S., but many of these countries will soon see declines in total population. By the middle of this century, we could find a Europe home to 100 million fewer people than today, and a Japan shrinking by one-fourth. Despite their huge and growing populations, the most rapid birthrate declines (and thus the most rapid rates of population aging) are taking place in the Third World. The total fertility rate in less-developed countries as a whole, as defined by the U.N., has fallen by half since the 1960s, to 2.9 children per woman, a much faster drop than anything experienced in the developed world. This is happening almost everywhere: China and India, Mexico and South Africa, Iran and Egypt. Population "momentum" will cause continued increases in these countries for a time, as large numbers of girls have babies, albeit fewer than their mothers, and the Third World will potentially add another 2.5 billion people before population growth stops. This is still a very large increase, but it will come to an end in the foreseeable future (in some countries surprisingly soon). After that, their populations will also start to fall. Read entire.
Tuesday, July 12. 2005
MODERN AMERICA AND THE RELIGION OF DEMOCRACY
Loren J. Samons II teaches in the department of Classical Studies at Boston University and has published a book entitled "What's Wrong With Democracy?" The following is an excerpt and he presents an interesting outlook on the condition of America's supposed democratic ideals. He makes a sound argument on the separation between church and state being moot since Democracy has replaced religion. From Civic Arts Review: "The idealization of freedom through democracy has led modern America to a precipitous position. Implicitly denying man's desire for a society based on beliefs and duties that lie beyond a system of government and the rights this government (democracy) is designed to protect, we have replaced society's extra political goals with the potentially antisocial political doctrines of freedom, choice, and diversity. These words have been made to resonate in the citizens' hearts in a way that God, family, and country once did in America (or gods, family, and polis in Athens). At the turn of the twenty-first century, freedom, choice, and diversity represent America's absolute "moral" goods and have become the would-be unifying principles of American society. They cannot be questioned in polite company, while God, family, and country are fair game. What could more clearly demonstrate America's apparent conversion to this new religion than the fact that basic elements of traditional American society-such as the Pledge of Allegiance or the prayers opening Congress-seem to cause embarrassment to many intellectuals, media figures, and even politicians, who seem at most other times to be virtually incapable of embarrassment (much less shame)? In stark contrast, the classical Athenians never lost the ability to pronounce or enforce their collective standards of morality and thus to produce shame in individuals. Even the democratic icon Pericles spoke of those "laws which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowledged disgrace" (Thuc. 2.37). The negative and positive requirements for Athens's citizens analyzed in chapter a show that the Athenians placed real strictures on one another and could not have endorsed modern Americans' idealization of freedom, choice, and diversity. Respect for the laws, obedience to magistrates, and shame or disgrace for those who violated society's written and unwritten codes always formed a central part of Athenian life, which exhibited significant amounts of freedom, choice, and diversity as a result. In the United States today, the anti-values of freedom, choice, and diversity have become so powerful (and dangerous) in part because-note the supreme irony-they admit of no philosophical opposition. One simply cannot oppose treating these ideas as society's appropriate goals without risking being labeled a reactionary, heretic, or worse, as if it had been empirically proven that only peoples or regimes that worship these deities can produce justice or happiness. Has America seen the amount of social justice and personal happiness increase proportionately with its rising estimation of this trinity? Read entire: Click here: MODERN AMERICA AND THE RELIGION OF DEMOCRACY
Thursday, July 7. 2005
Comment on our McCay Piece Wilfred McCay wrote “But it was not enough for the constraints of this order to be applied externally, like so many fences and leashes. Control, which led to a kind of moral self-sufficiency, needed to be internalized, with the help of institutions like the family, the church, the neighborhood—and the polity. Indeed, in the literature of the era, the relationship between the self-governing soul and the self-governing polity appears as a recurring motif.” This notion was not invented by 19th Century evangelicals; Gwynnie wants to remind you that it is a Biblical promise made by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah and realized through Jesus: (Jeremiah 31:31-34, NLT) "The day will come," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the Lord. "But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the Lord. "I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, `You should know the Lord.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me," says the Lord. "And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins." Throughout our culture, we are being encouraged to break that new covenant as well as the old.
Wednesday, July 6. 2005
Gabriel Garcia Marquez If you have not read 100 Years of Solitude, your brain is experiencing a Garcia Marquez deficiency syndrome, even though you may not be aware of it. However, I want to mention a very short book of his, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Knowing the outcome in advance adds to the suspense of this tale about Latin vengeance: On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on. He'd dreamed he was going through a grove of timber trees where a gentle drizzle was falling, and for an instant he was happy in his dream, but when he awoke he felt completely spattered with bird shit.
Garcia Marquez I may not agree with his politics but as a writer, he may be one of the best. Like the rumba and the merengue, the murals of Rivera and the poetry of Neruda, Latin Americans give the world so much pleasure. Read the interview here:
An interview with Gabriel García Márquez
| GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
GENE H. BELL-VILLADA, Translator | TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The following interview was conducted in 1977 for publication in El Manifiesto—a now-defunct Colombian leftist journal. Chatting with the magazine’s staff writers, García Márquez opens up remarkably and bares his most nostalgic and personal side, even swearing on occasion. (The author can be surprisingly, spontaneously foul-mouthed when in the right company.) And he's unusually frank about his spotty education, his days of poverty, his youthful days residing in brothels, and his having been accidentally cured of boils by putting No One Writes to the Colonel to paper. Naturally the conversation brims with Hispanic references: the Romancero (Spain's medieval ballad tradition), the vallenato (a native music genre from Valledupar, consisting of narrative songs with accompanying accordion, percussion, and bass), Rafael Escalona (the most celebrated writer and singer of vallenatos), Caribbean crooners such as Daniel Santos, and the Colombian literary classic El carnero (literally "The Ram"—a fanciful mock-chronicle from the Colonial era). He reflects on the decisive impact that Kafka had on his development, and admits to how much he needed to work at not being like Faulkner when he drafted Leaf Storm. Finally, he notes the colloquial, Caribbean flavor of The Autumn of the Patriarch—a trait much valued and savored by Hispanic readers of that book. The interview appears here for the first time in English and will be included in my edition of Conversations with Gabriel García Márquez, forthcoming from the University Press of Mississippi in December 2005. — Gene H. Bell-Villada
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Read the interview: lick here: The Virginia Quarterly Review - Journey Back to the SourceAn interview with Gabriel García Márquez
Tuesday, July 5. 2005
 Back to Work
Weekend is over. Drag your lazy butt and your hang-over out of the old hammock, and get back to earning your keep like a good citizen of a free republic. Hop on board this fine 2005 Massey-Ferguson 492 4-WD machine and you will be able to handle any job that comes your way.
Nobody ever said freedom came easy - ya gotta work. It's yours for around $70,000. Perfectly classy and appropriate for showing up at the golf club too - put your golf bags on the loader and drive straight across the patio and the lawn to the pro shop. Not to worry - whatever reactions you get will all be inspired by envy. And if the Membership Committee makes a stink, tell 'em Bird Dog said it was OK.
Friday, July 1. 2005
The New  Pop Art A good review of the current state of pop art by David Pagel in the LA Times: Pop art has evolved, creating an ever more fertile fusion of high spirits and purposefully lowbrow aesthetic...Popularity was never a problem for Pop. Success is still Pop's stock in trade, its modus operandi and raison d'être. Having changed the way the world looks, its influence extends across all levels of culture. Read the whole thing:Click here: calendarlive.com: A critique of stinginess
Thursday, June 30. 2005
Space Fireworks The Deep Impact spacecraft will collide with comet Tempel 1, a comet about the size of Manhattan, on July 4th. Sadly, most of us will not be able to see the big show. Story in NYT. Space Lake And, for other news from around the solar system, it looks like a lake of liquid methane on Titan. BBC. Be careful with your matches if you have a smoke while fishing for walleye, or duck-hunting, on Titan.
Farming Update A "diversified portfolio of crops"? "Dynamic agriculture"? "No-till dryland crops"? A good update on how farming on the Great Plains is changing, and becoming both more productive and more profitable, in Science Daily
Wednesday, June 29. 2005
Dear Editor: I can see through your game at this blog. You want to dupe the people into thinking your blog is reasonable and intelligent and fun, while you sneak in extreme Right Wing propaganda and Christian mind-tricks to confuse their thinking. I know that the Right Wing game is to fool the people into thinking that there are things in life more important than their material comfort, which only can be secured by a caring government which understands the needs of the little people far better than they do themselves - a government which is not the agent of business. Sincerely, Smarter than You, in Boston Dear Smarter, Gee, I guess you just blew our cover. We were hoping no-one would notice our tin-foil hats to protect us from the government mind-rays, and our stash of AK-47s to fend off the government mind-control agents and Thought Police. But on a serious note, What qualifies as Right Wing? All I see on this blog is everyday normal American conversation. It is true that we feel that Freedom is a big deal, but is that extreme? Or do you folks just, out of habit, label anything extreme if it fails to advance international socialism? And, by the way, quit walking around Cambridge and sitting in Starbucks with that volume of Kierkegaard's Either/Or in your hand - it won't get you babes. Trust me - I've tried it. Sincerely, The dumb (but still learning) Bird Dog PS: Are you sure you just don't want some of my money?
The Rogue Court, More A Souter quote in the McCreary County (Ten Commandments) case, in NERepub: “The divisiveness of religion in current public life is inescapable,” he said. “This is no time to deny the prudence of understanding the Establishment Clause (of the First Amendment) to require the Government to stay neutral on religious belief….”
Historically, this is nonsense. As one blogger pointed out yesterday - I forget who - during the early years of the nation several states had specific religious criteria for candidates for office. This is pure legislating from the bench, and it is insidious and wrong. In the end, as NERepub notes, public religious behavior and symbols become relegated to a similar status as pornography. Furthermore, if "divisiveness" is ample justification for a ruling, why not ban the Democratic Party? They are very "divisive" too. Heck, ban the NYYankees too - always creating angry division with the Red Sox.
1968 Farmall, Model 656.  A sonnet in steel and rubber.
Tuesday, June 28. 2005
Memories of Childhood Children's memories are famously unreliable, as are adult's memories of the past. Memory is distorted in hundreds of ways for hundreds of reasons for which there is no space here. But there is a truly "dark age" of birth through about age 6 in which children have what Freud termed "infantile amnesia." Nothing from that period seems to be retrievable, at least not in the usual ways. Cognitive Daily speculates, and provides an excellent thumbnail summary, on the subject of infantile amnesia here. But I'd like to add a psychoanalytic dimension to the subject, despite the Munger's discomfort with analytic theorizing - some of which is surely deserved and some of which has to do with different disciplines. The realm of "meaning" crosses many discipline boundaries, and is a strange and baffling subject. Several points of interest: 1. Memories from birth through 6 may not be retrievable in the sense of "I remember my 4th birthday party," but emotional reactions, and states of mind - neither of which are readily expressible, may be solidly engraved in the old hippocampus - and why not? Deep memories can be visceral, not just visual and verbal. 2. People create things which psychoanalysis terms "screen memories." These are not literally accurate memories, but they are mental constructions which may capture something meaningful from the past - an issue, a conflict, a fear, a joy, a wish, etc., in a similar way in which dreams do. Thus in analysis, we tend to be more interested in the psychological meaning of memories and recollections than in their objective truth. We psychiatrists and psychoanalysts are not historians of truth, we are historians of meaning. When we have a spontaneous memory, it probably carries a telegram, from ourself to ourself, relevant to the present. 3. Memory distortion - I said I would say nothing about this, but just one superficial comment. We all re-write our histories, especially to protect ourselves from pain, or to protect our self-respect, or to create a story we can feel good about, or to portray ourselves as virtuous victims, or to justify ourselves or to rationalize things (meaning an effort to justify, or to make sense out of something we have done or thought, that we are not comfortable with), etc. etc. We do not do this consciously or willfully - our devious, self-deceiving brains do it for us. Humans are forever at battle with their consciences...those that have one. One of the most interesting things we observe in patients in analysis is how the "narrative" of their life changes over time. Thus anyone's autobiography is a momentary story, a construction of reality, usually with a self-serving psychological purpose - and the most common is to preserve an illusion of self-regard - something which darn few of us hominid critters deserve to hold, but which we must fake to survive. There is nothing easy about being an animal with a soul. (Just ask any hunting poodle - they will tell you all about it.)
Monday, June 27. 2005
Tsunami Update Show me the money. It has been a few months since the tragic Tsunami hit the shores but just because the MSM isn't covering it, doesn't mean we should forget those poor victims. Pray for them and let's hope the donors make good on their pledges. Travelwire:Critics say that much of the pledged funds has not reached survivors, due partly to unfulfilled promises by donors. The Institute for Human Development, an independent Indian research group, said in an April report that only 39 percent of the $6.7 billion pledged by governments, agencies, and private donors for the entire tsunami region had been released. Lag times after pledges are common in most international efforts, and the good news is that $2.6 billion has already gone out. The Indonesian government says it has received $1.8 billion of the $7 billion pledged to it.
What's with Google? CSM covers Google's hopes and dreams.
The Noble Savage The romantic sentimentalizing of "the noble savage" has been a bugaboo of the Bird Dog for a long time - despite his own Indian blood (lots more of it than Ward Churchill). Margaret Mead in her later years had shed all of her illusions about primitive peoples - Sandall in Commentary: “All primitive peoples,” Margaret Mead had said to her young Oxford visitor, “lead miserable, unhappy, cruel lives, most of which are spent trying to kill each other.” She was overdoing it, but she had a point—a point largely lost sight of in today’s systematic sentimentalizing of the Stone Age. Nevertheless, some people insist on the version of the simple savage living in harmony etc etc. - it's a Garden of Eden fantasy. The story of the Brazilian indians, and their modern-day explorer-admirers, and the discovery of diamonds on their reservation, is fascinating.
Tuesday, June 21. 2005
It's...the Arts Counterfeiters, in Art News:Click here: Full Editorial from Current Issue The art price bubble, including $18,000 for a pound of Belusconis' flesh.
 Junior Wells
The Godfather of the Modern Blues, Wells (1934-1998) brought his harp and his voice from the South to Chicago in 1948 where he played with The Muddy Waters Band until he went out on his own. Whatever country flavor he might have had rapidly disappeared in a unique funky urban sound, with unmistakable harp and unpolished voice. Close your eyes, and imagine yourself in a smoky 1950s Chicago dance club, if you can. (I am listening to his sensual Take Your Shoes Off as I write, from his final live recording, Live Around the World.) He is considered to be the heir of my favorite old-time bluesman, Sonny Boy Williamson, and of Little Walter Jacobs, who he replaced in the Muddy Waters Band. Since his association with Muddy Waters, he had been especially associated with the great and seemingly ageless Buddy Guy, with whom he did several recordings including the live Drinkin TNT and Smokin Dynamite. (Now I am on his great Messin with the Kid.) HooDoo Man, with Buddy Guy on guitar, was his first widely-known album, in 1960. He was known to produce handguns from his skin-tight suits and shotguns from his cars, whenever appropriate. A couple of reminiscences here and here. From an old review by Kelton: The terrific thing about Junior Wells is that he's an unqualified bluesman, stylistically a direct descendant of the Chicago greats and personally an eccentric whose unpredictable singing and harp playing distinguish him from everyone else alive. "Comin' Right at Ya" was the title of one his breakthrough albums in the 1960's and it still describes the Wells oeuvre. In short, he takes no prisoners. Recording to legend, Wells shoplifted his first blues harp and got caught. The judge who heard his case was so impressed with Wells' story that he just wanted to make music that he paid for the instrument himself and set Wells free on the condition that, if he ever made a record, he send one to him. Wells did, years later. The album was called "Blues Hit Big Town."
Monday, June 20. 2005
 Massachusetts Weekend Plans
For this coming weekend: Catch Dylan in Pittsfield Thurs nite, home of Gwynnie's grandfather's Pittsfield Eagle, now the Berkshire Eagle. Well, the Tractor is up and going again after our fiasco. Finish clearing out that field, including the trees downed by beavers and the giant white pine trunks downed by brother, and finally mow it cleanly. More big mulch piles for the box turtle habitat. Then clear out the north side of the river the way it used to be. Chain saws, clippers, and the brushwacker-mower. Bring lotsa gasoline and raw middle-aged muscle.
The Gitmo Torturous Muzak Ya gotta love Steyn: "Well, readers had plenty of suggestions of their own, and so the Tribune’s website put together a list of “Interro-Tunes” — the most effective songs for aural intimidation, mood music for jolting your jihadi. A lot were the usual suspects - like the Captain and Tennille’s blamelessly goofy “Muskrat Love”, which, as I recall, put the Queen to sleep at a White House gala, though the Duke of Edinburgh sat agog all the way to the end. Someone suggested Bob Dylan’s “Everybody Must Get Stoned”, which even on a single hearing sounds like it’s being played over and over. I don’t know what Mr Kass has against “Ballerina”, which is very pleasant in the Nat “King” Cole version. But he seems to think one burst of “Dance, ballerina, dance/And do your pirouette in rhythm with your aching heart” will have the Islamists howling for the off-switch and singing like canaries to the Feds. Who knows? I sang “Ballerina” myself once on the radio long ago, and, if it will discombobulate the inmates, I’m willing to dust off my arrangement and fly down to Guantanamo, if necessary dressed liked Christina Aguilera. If they want an encore, I’ll do my special culturally sensitive version of that Stevie Wonder classic, “My Sharia Amour”. ' What vitamin or drug or homeopathic stimulant or herb or steroid does Steyn take? And where can we get some? Read entire hilarous piece.
Non-Stop Cartoons from the New Yorker's archives. Just leave it on your screen. It changes every 30 seconds. You will never leave your seat. You will just waste time, like the rest of us.
Those Evil Boy Scouts The Left, not just the ACLU, has been in a fit about the Boy Scouts for years. I can only assume it is because they represent "honorable values," which are anathema to the Termites. Heck, the word "honor" itself seems to have disappeared from the lexicon of the Left, has it not?... if not from the lexicon of our culture. I am hanging on to it, although it ain't easy to do. Is the concept of the Boy Scouts innocent? Yes. Is it old-fashioned? Yes. Is it religion-based? Yes. Does it represent the traditional core of our nation? Yes. Does it represent a love of nature and wilderness? Yes. Does every American lad of today -urban, suburban, or rural - need this? Yes. Ernest Thompson Seton, of Connecticut, has been a life-long hero of ours. His books on the outdoors and natural history here. His "Woodcraft Indians League" has been an aspect of Traditional Scouting since the beginning. How evil is this: Campfires? Woodcraft? Arm-wrestling? Seamanship? Duty? Honor? Or is it all just too masculine? | Scout Oath | | Scout Law |
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On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
| | A Scout is:
Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind | | Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean
Reverent |
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Friday, June 17. 2005
 What's This?
A Full-Rigged Ship, a Bark, a Barkentine, a Brig, a Brigantine, or a Schooner? Well, you know she's not a schooner because of the square sails. Not a Full-Rigged or a Bark because she only has two masts. But what's the difference between a Full-Rigged and a Bark? Learn your Tall Ships here. They are among the most majestic, yet lovely, of all of man's creations. (She's a Brigantine, the UK's 132-foot Eye of the Wind)
Gentleman and Gentlewoman Farmers I know Dr. Joy Bliss gets Yankee Magazine, but does she know about Progressive Farmer? Fine site and fine magazine. No, it's not politically progressive.
The recent release of Crash is worthy of a Saturday night at the movies. Ebert: "Crash" was directed by Paul Haggis, whose screenplay for "Million Dollar Baby" led to Academy Awards. It connects stories based on coincidence, serendipity, and luck, as the lives of the characters crash against one another other like pinballs. The movie presumes that most people feel prejudice and resentment against members of other groups, and observes the consequences of those feelings.
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