Wednesday, November 25. 2009
Our ongoing series on Woodstock, CT by guest poster Capt. Tom Francis -
Quasset School
At Town Meeting in 1690, the citizens voted to teach and instruct their children to "read and cipher". At that time, the first "public instruction" was held at a local farmer's barn. Sometime around 1736/1739, the Quasset School was built and began formal classes ending in 1946 when the first Elementary School was built, thus the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating school in the US.
The school was moved from it's original location in 1956 and became a National Historic Landmark. In 1963 the Lt. Ambassador of England representing Woodstock, England
presented Quasset School with a portrait of King George the Second and a replica of the Union Jack that would have flown for the 27 years that the school was under British rule. Two oak trees from the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, England, birthplace of Winston Churchill, were planted near the building (partially seen in the photo).
The Quasset School is still in operation today as part of the Third Grade local history immersion program. The three Third Grade teachers take turns for one week taking the kids back to another time and place. The kids get to dress up and role play leaning arithmetic by rote, spelling by playing Hangman and - this is really amusing - manners which actually were an important part of the education of 18th and 19th century education. They learn about gender roles as the girls learn hand crafts like sewing,
knitting and cross stitch and the boys, under supervision, get to bring in wood, "light" the stove, sweep and clean the blackboard.
Tuesday, November 24. 2009
Putting one of the BD pups and friends on the plane today to Barcelona or Madrid - I forget which - heading to the wedding of a friend since nursery school and a little vacation. I advised them to live on tapas, and, even if it is a boring food, to try paella in Spain once, just to be able to have done it.
Paella in Spain for Thanksgiving? The American yoots of today have it good. We often forget that Squanto had been to Spain - and to England too, before the Pilgrims met the fine dude who doubtless spoke his English with a refined Brit accent.
And we picked up the BD baby at the airport Friday night after the first few eventful months at college (including a grueling hospitalization with Swine Flu pneumonia - she has been otherwise in perfect health and is finally all better now).
After the airport, right to the baby's favorite little Thai place for a late supper. Very hot mango curry. Then home, at which point the likable and polite boyfriend shortly appears, and out they go.
The yoots of today have it good.
Saturday, she slept until 11, then did the big drive down to NYC - If You Can Drive It in NY, You Can Drive it Anywhere - to meet her big sister to see Men of Iron (basically Troilus and Cressida - I saw it the previous weekend with the $10 tix). Then home for supper (steak and string beans with lemon juice and olive oil), then out again with pals. She was out all day Sunday after throwing in a few loads of wash for us to deal with. I have no idea where, but that's fine with me.
The really good news is that she is obeying the "who pays the piper calls the tune" Bird Dog College Rules (which I once posted here): You gotta take the list of courses I require, since colleges these days do not require much real education despite the big $. Thus she is taking the year-long Great Books course (modeled after my Columbia required course), so I can now happily discuss Genesis, Augustine, Hesiod, Boethius, Aquinas, Homer, etc with her. It's about time. Good fun. Can't wait to discuss Calvin and Adam Smith and Locke with her. And later, Chem and Biochem - but especially Geology 1. (I believe if you don't know basic geology, you don't know what the heck you are looking at when you go outdoors just like if you don't take Econ 1 and 2 you don't know how the world works - unless or until you have a real job or two in the real world, of course.)
She said at supper Friday "Everybody I know at school is studious as hell."
She also said "My friends and I can't decide whether we like Augustine or not."
Said I, with the wisdom of age, "What does 'like' have to do with it?"
By 1940, essentially all American Chestnuts, a dominant climax tree (and a major mast-producing tree - once the major food of Turkey, Deer and lots of other critters) of American forests, were killed by the blight. Their wood has a remarkable durability and their somewhat rusty-colored carcasses can still be seen in our woodlands.
That is a bunch of Christmas Fern behind the fallen log.
Monday, November 23. 2009
Gringo made an important point in the comments the other day that deserves to be both repeated and elaborated upon.
Here's the quote:
"Check the net for your stolen ID"
While this purports to be a site that will inform you if your ID has been stolen, it could also be a site constructed with the goal of stealing your ID.
Exactly. I'd even go so far as to change his "also" to "often or "usually". This is becoming a huge problem on the 'Net and is one of the driving forces behind both personal identity theft and 'botnet' attacks.
Most malevolent programs running around these days aren't "viruses" — meaning some program that does something nasty like suddenly delete your C Drive — because viruses don't ultimately do the instigator any good. Outside of the satisfaction of being mean, of course. The worst programs are the 'keyloggers', which send a record of your keystrokes to the bad guy. All he has to do is look for 19 numbers in a row (your credit card number plus the 3-digit number off the back that you just entered in some online order form) and bingo. Now all he has to do is try a few expiration dates and your bank account is toast.
Second-worst is the 'botnet' program that lies dormant in your computer until the bad guys launch an attack on some corporation, usually in the form of blackmail. They'll tell the company to either cough up the dough or the 20,000 computers on their botnet (of which you're one) will 'ping' their web site 10 times a second from now until Doomsday, thereby overloading the server and keeping legitimate customers from getting to the site. Obviously, for an online company, this is serious business.
And you, yourself, will never even know you were part of the attack.
That's why everyone from God on down recommends installing a quality anti-virus/spyware program, and don't forget a good firewall program. You cannot rely on the stock Windows programs, such as Windows Firewall and Windows Defender. I have a post on the subject here.
Back to Gringo's warning, it isn't just web sites and email where the damage is being done. There's an area of the Internet called 'Usenet' which has a large section of programs, pirated and otherwise. I got curious and did a study on this a few months ago and I'd estimate that three-fourths of the anti-virus/spyware programs available for downloading have some spyware buried deep in the install files. That is, it'll actually install the anti-virus program, but it'll have been tweaked so it overlooks the keylogger. While you're thinking your computer is finally safe, your bank account is being drained.
The same is true with P2P (peer-to-peer) file-sharing sites (eDonkey, BitTorrent, etc), and sophisticated chat lines, like the IRC, that allow for file transfers. Some chat buddy says, "Hey, I just downloaded the latest Norton Anti-Virus from Usenet! I installed it and it's working perfectly! Want a copy?" You reply "Sure!", and now both of you are unknowing partners in a gang of Internet blackmailers. Or simultaneously having your bank accounts drained.
So be safe, be cautious, use common sense, don't trust renegade downloads, and please spend the money on quality protection. Some program suggestions are in the above link.
General security rules-of-thumb:
1. Never open a file-attachment in an email unless you're 101% sure of the sender. Remember, one of the ploys of the clever virus or spyware is using the names in a person's address book to send itself on.
2. Never click on a link in (what appears to be) a commercial email, like from a bank or loan agency, much less input anything personal like a password. The reason phishing emails look so real is because they are real. Everything you see is probably coming directly from the bank's actual site. It's when you click on something that the trouble begins.
3. Never click 'OK' in any box that pops up while you're on a web site unless it's something you've initiated, like installing a program. Plus, you know the little click-box in the upper-right corner that closes the intrusive box? Well, if you wanted the person to click the 'OK' button to install your keylogger or netbot file, wouldn't you make the little 'close box' do the same thing? And, for that matter, the 'Cancel' button? When I see one of those things pop up, I open Task Manager and shut it down that way.
4. Always right-click on a download from a possibly suspicious source and have your anti-virus/spyware program scan the file directly. It'll give the file a quick scan when it's downloaded, but often only a deep scan will detect the really nasty stuff.
This doesn't apply to songs, pics and videos, but it definitely applies to compressed files such as Zip and Rar, and you should never, ever, download an EXE file unless you're positive of the source.
The real danger today is spyware, and it's on your shoulders to use a quality program to fend it off. Not only could an easy argument be made that it's the most important money you can spend on your computer, but it could even be argued that it's the only money that you actually need to spend on your computer. One can get by with a lot of great freebie programs in the computer world, but not in this area.
Any specific questions, as always, just ask in the comments.
Should you financially support my mother-in-law or sister-in-law, if they legally immigrated to the US? Both are of very limited financial means. Government benefits here in the US are actually better than in Germany. Is it up to you to pay to offer them a better life? My wife and I don’t have any family to share events with or nearby for our sons to share life’s love-lessons with. And, isn’t that our problem, not yours?
Under pressure of both common-sense, elevated unemployment in the US that is likely to last, and increased opposition to amnesty schemes, the Obama administration speaks a good game about improving enforcement of illegal immigration laws, and with due credit has actually taken some positive steps. But, one of its other goals is to increase what is called “family unification,” or letting in near and extended family members of those legally here and those millions to be made legal if the Obamites have their way. At the same time, laws to require those who bring them in to be responsible for supporting them are eliminated or opposed.
Today’s editorial in my local newspaper speaks of “The New Normal,” where increasing numbers of Americans are looking for jobs abroad, “[A]nd those who are willing to move to a new city – or even a new country – for their next opportunity are the ones who will be the most likely to succeed. It has always been thus. And in a global economy, this is how it will remain for many years to come. It’s the new normal. The sooner Americans accept that, the better off they’ll be.”
It’s not just increased numbers of American citizens looking for jobs abroad. Increased numbers of Indian and Chinese scientists who gained their advanced education in the US and have been major contributors to our entrepreneurial economy are, instead of staying here, returning to India and China for better opportunities. It is these and other educated immigrants who are not a drain upon the US, actually adding more than the average American. It is the uneducated and their uneconomic relatives that are the major drain upon our government budgets. Some in latter generations may rise, but in the meantime our own poorest are most harmed by their wage lowering competition, and our richest helped by their enthusiastic hard work for low wages.
A regular fairly liberal columnist in my local newspaper rightfully bemoans, "One of the sorrows of contemporary life is the broad failure to create paying jobs for preteens and teenagers. We scold children (and childish adults) for being financially illiterate, oblivious to the virtues of thrift. But what do we expect of those forced to live exclusively off the parental dole?... But the idle rate for children — 80 percent? 90 percent? — also signals a sort of cultural distress. Imagine children by the millions, holed up with video games on a sunny day. Or trooping off to soccer practice in the minivan, oblivious that the uniform costs real money. In high school, the closest many come to real labor is community service, light work for the college application. One of the most important jobs of a parent is to be a child’s employment counselor, starting with essential chores around the house. Help them find honest work that hurts so good.”
The new normal needs to be emphasis on raising our children to honor and do honest labor and jobs. Before that, our emphasis – our own new normal -- needs to be on us growing up ourselves and facing up to the impossibility of fewer taxpayers paying more to support the lazy and irresponsible. Enterprise-stifling government expansion and more meddling bureaucrats is not the answer. It’s the problem.
Sunday, November 22. 2009
This is an annual re-post:
You go around the table or car until someone gets stuck. Then they are "out," just like the great game of dodge-ball. You will be surprised by how long it can continue. It goes like this:
My first job was in an orange juice factory, but I couldn't concentrate.
I worked as a lumberjack but I couldn't hack it, so they gave me the ax. (a 3 pointer)
After that, I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it.
Next I tried working in a muffler factory, but this was exhausting.
Then I tried to be a chef, but didn't have the thyme.
I attempted to be a deli worker but any way I sliced it, I just couldn't cut the mustard.
My best job was as a musician, but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.
I studied a long time to be a doctor, but I didn't have any patience.
I became a fisherman, but couldn't live on my net income.
I managed to find work with a pool company, but the work was too draining.
So then I got a job with a health club, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
My last job was at Starbucks, but it was the same old grind.
Eventually, I got a job as a historian, but there was no future in it.
I tried being a house painter, but it didn't stick.
So I tried to be a urologist, but I couldn't get the hang of it.
Then I tried being a cosmologist, but it was all too much for me.
 Among numerous problems, I think the biggest problem with the Dem medical care bill is that there is no national consensus for this.
It is unwise to do things this large without a national consensus, but the Left is intoxicated with their (temporary, cocaine-like) power. With Medicare - for better or worse - there was a consensus. With Medicaid for the very poor, there was too. As it stands now, the Dems are proposing a solution without a problem. Or, a government solution seeking a problem...
It's a manufactured "crisis." There are easy, simple, cheap, non-governmental solutions to medical insurance unfairnesses which do not increase Federal power. (Yes, we have already noted that Federal employees are the only ones exempt from the bill.)
Cui bono?
Well, the Dems think they will benefit with their names on an historic take-over of 1/6th of the American economy by being rewarded with the gratitude and eternal dependency of the voters. Secondarily, the government will benefit by accruing more money and bureaucracies (111 of them by the last count I read, for our enjoyment) - which means jobs to distribute and more power over our lives. Third, unions will benefit - or so they believe. (Just wait until your doc is a de facto government employee treating you the cost-benefit-analyzed-by-experts government way - and his or her nurse is a member of SEIU.)
The 81% of Americans who are satisfied with their medical care will not. Nor will those increasingly-few who actually pay the Federal income and capital gains taxes to pay the bills.
I did get a kick out of Harry Reid's statement yesterday:
Today we vote whether to even discuss one of the greatest issues of our generation - indeed, one of the greatest issues this body has ever faced: whether this nation will finally guarantee its people the right to live free from the fear of illness and death, which can be prevented by decent health care for all.
Yes, we already knew that Government is the Church for the Left. It ain't my religion. And I don't want to work on Maggie's Farm No More.
Friday, November 20. 2009
I always celebrate my birthday on Thanksgiving. Selfishly, at least I’m guaranteed a turkey and good bottle of Beaujolais. When fortunate, I’m able to share it with family and friends, which is the ultimate of what Thanksgiving is: time to give thanks for others sharing theirs and our ability to share our bounty in America.
Aside from the 4th of July, there is no other holiday in America that is in every respect for all Americans. Indeed, I’ve been with recent immigrants from many countries who eagerly look forward to joining in our Thanksgiving rituals and meals, because it is for them an important rite of passage to becoming Americans and showing their feelings of gratitude for being here in our land of opportunities.
Thanksgiving, also, says much about the American character, that we early on officially enshrined a national holiday for giving thanks.
In 1789, George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation with these words: “Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be….” (Read the whole proclamation.)
As you make your plans for Thanksgiving, this early post is to remind you of why we celebrate and dedicate ourselves, in gratitude for all we’re given, achieve, and share, thanks to G-d and each other in America.
They don't build 'em like this anymore. My lousy photo does not do justice to this house, which I assume to have been the parsonage of the First Congregational Church of East Haddam, right across the street.
In the old days, the minister was given a house to use and land to farm as part of his compensation. In the real old days, he was paid via town taxes too: The Congregational Church was the established church of CT. Not that that meant all that much: Congo churches did, and still, vote on everything - including their doctrine and their choice of pastor - within their own congregation. Zero hierarchy, for better or worse. Every person was/is considered to have his own hotline to God.
The wife typically ran the farming business: it paid the bills and kept her out of the pool halls.
Update: I think our reader is right - the addition is the part on the left. The congregation must have felt prosperous at the time.
Wednesday, November 18. 2009
I said good-bye to a fellow I have worked with on and off for over 15 years yesterday.
His wife died last winter, and he has finally decided to move to Florida to live with one of his daughter's families. Lonely. He is in his 80s. Most of his old pals in town that he worked with, grew up with, and worshipped with are dead. A sad farewell for both of us. He gave me a big bear hug. He was never a regular psychotherapy patient, but an irregularly-regular patient when things got tough.
Strong guys are not afraid of getting help when they need it.
I nursed him through panic attacks (cured them easily with medicine), a major depression after his heart attack, a major depression after the death of his wife, the suicide of one of his daughters. In the process, I learned a lot about his life. A lot about life. It is my privilege to learn a lot about life through people's lives. Their stories enrich mine.
Today, he reminisced about his troop ship trip home from England after having been a tail-gunner - a teenager - for a couple of years in WW2 in Italy and France, and finally in Germany. He was based in Dijon for a while. "We got the news about FDR's death on the ship. Some liked him, some hated him, but he was our boss. Ship was half-filled with guys like me headed for furlough, and half-full of POWs. Why, at that point in the war, they were bringing German POWs to the US I have no idea, but the military never makes sense. That's a given when you're in the service. For my furlough, they took me from New York to Massachusetts to Miami to New Jersey before I could get home to Massachusetts. After my month furlough in the local pub, I had to spend three months down in New Jersey to get enough points to qualify for discharge."
"Doing what?" I asked. "Basically, nothing," he said. "They just had to make us wait out our time. The action then was mopping up in the Pacific." He said "It feels so long ago now that it's like another life."
He is a retired mailman who remembers horse-drawn fire trucks, played trumpet in the Volunteer Fire Department marching band for 50 years, and still sings in his RC choir and delivers food to the elderly. "I'm older than most of the people I deliver to." He was the guy who told me that flak on an airplane sounds like "a bucket of gravel being dumped on the fuselage. You get used to it after a while. We all assumed we would die, and got used to that too."
An American fellow to the bone, and one of the finest, humblest, most giving and unselfish people I have ever known. He dedicated his life, and especially his retirement, to being a good companion and to doing unto others in whatever ways he could.
Long life to you, friend, and God bless.
Tuesday, November 17. 2009
Readers know that I am opposed to death taxes - estate taxes. The wealthy find ways around them (how long has it been since a Kennedy or a Rockefeller held a real job as opposed to an optional job?), but merchants, the middle class, and farmers get screwed by them.
My friend in southern CT recently told me about a third-generation (the grandpa was an Italian immigrant) family-owned flower shop in their town which had to close up shop last month when Mom died. Why? They had to sell their small building to pay the estate taxes. Like a family farm, that is generations of dedication, good will, hard work, and a long-established part of a community down the drain.
Furthermore, I like the idea of middle-class families being able to build wealth over generations - and most people who work hard like that too. People like to feel that they are building something for the family's future, and for their family's independence from the kindness of strangers - and the government.
I do advise everyone, even if not wealthy, to do the best that they can to avoid the crushing effects of death taxes by getting the best estate-planning advice you can afford.
Brit Ted Dalrymple takes on the Fabians on the topic, in Let Them Inherit Debt. One quote:
There are many unfairnesses in life that we must learn to put up with, if we are to have any chance of happiness or even of tolerable contentment. For example, I should like to be taller, better-looking and more intelligent and gifted than I am. Every time I meet someone better-looking than I, taller than I, or more talented than I, which I do very regularly, I experience a brief spark of envy. What did they do to be as they are, my superiors? Why did providence, or chance, endow them with characteristics so much more attractive than my own? Needless to say, I never stop to think that, just possibly, some people might ask the same of me when they meet me.
But the differential endowments of nature are unfair, not unjust, because (at least as yet) no human intervention can prevent them. The inheritance of wealth is not like this: it is a human arrangement that could be abrogated if not easily, for political reasons, at least with some effort. And if injustice is unfairness brought about by human means, then inheritance of wealth is unjust. Ergo, inheritance of wealth ought to be forbidden because it is unjust, and we must always seek justice.
The question, then, is whether we should always seek justice to the exclusion of other desiderata. Is it true that justice always and everywhere trumps other considerations? I think the answer is no.
Our ongoing occasional series from Capt. Tom on his home town -
Samuel McClellan House
Built in 1736, the McClellan House is an example of an early American large farm home. Located across from the S. Woodstock Commons and Codfish Flats (Codfish Flats was an area where farm hands lived in homes provided by wealthy farmers). Its basic structure has remained unchanged since 1736 with the exception of electricity and
modern appliances. The roof is still cedar shingles and the frame is post and beam style with massive chestnut beams. The colors are original and were researched extensively by the current owner prior to painting.
Samuel McClellan was a Revolutionary War hero. McClellan raised one of the first Horse Calvary units of the war from Woodstock and the surrounding area. He purchased this home sometime after the French-Indian War - historians believe in 1763.
One point of interest: this home has several examples of Louis XV furniture built into the walls of the home - two dressers and one writing desk.
Editor's comment: I would speculate that the 1736 house is the part on the right, facing the road, and that the later addition off the rear, typical of New England, was cleverly integrated to enhance the original dwelling.
Monday, November 16. 2009
We tried McDonalds' Angus Burgers on our way into the Indian Summer woods and meadows this weekend. Surprisingly tasty. Give them a try. We bagged a few birds, too.
Here's the lawn of the rustic old Fish and Game club we visited, with clubhouse and barn on the left. It was originally an 1830's roadside inn on a stagecoach route:
The look of the areas we hunted. Many of the field edges are woodland marshes:
Sunday, November 15. 2009
Two prominent blogs raise the question of whether President Obama is an “idiot.”
John Hinderaker at PowerLine wonders, “One seriously hesitates to draw the conclusion that Barack Obama is an idiot, no matter how strongly the evidence may point in that direction. But what are we to make of a man who is ignorant of history; who is ignorant of economics; who despises his own country; and who appears to believe that awareness of his own wonderfulness is enough to guide him? Has such a fool ever played a leading role on the world stage? I think it is fair to say, no: not until now.”
At HotAir, Allahpundit’s headline is, “Japan expert to ABC: Yes, Obama’s bow made him look like an idiot.” The post continues: “So much of an idiot, in fact, that according to Tapper’s source, at least one Japanese paper isn’t running the photo out of embarrassment. This tool actually groveled himself into a minor international incident.” Then, adds: “And yet, having said that, I’m not convinced that the “groveling” explanation for the bow is necessarily the correct one. For one thing, his protocol office is famously run by imbeciles. They may very well have simply given him bum advice: 'Be sure to hunch way the hell over and stare at the ground. They all do it that way.' ” Though, they don’t all do it that way. Jim Hoft, at GatewayPundit, brings us the video, “47 World Leaders – 46 Handshakes – 1 Bow.”
One could make a verrrry long list of President Obama’s ignorant statements and actions, and outright lies, apparently believing the MSM will continue to cover for and excuse him and the American people will continue to believe him. But, does that make him an “idiot”?
In strict definition, “idiot” is an outmoded term for someone so mentally retarded that their mental development is less than a 3-year old’s, with an IQ of 25 or less, but connotes an “uneducated, ignorant, ill-informed person.” In more common usage, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “idiot” as “a foolish or stupid person.”
So, this jury holds that, yes, President Obama is an idiot, “a foolish or stupid person” who believes the American people are “uneducated, ignorant, ill-informed” idiots who can be gulled to believe in dangerous foolishness by he and his excusers.
The education provided by President Obama, along with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, in their versions of liberal fixes to our health care, economy, and foreign policies has been a boon to Americans, as polls demonstrate, who are now well-informed about the idiocy of Obama-Reid-Pelosi and their apologists. More and more of the Americans who voted for Obama may have been "foolish and stupid", but are no longer. President Obama is, still, an idiot. A very dangerous one.
P.S.: A professor friend at a leading university, who is learned in exegesis, just emailed me: "It's the kind of idiocy that only great arrogance and hubris can produce." So, maybe the strict definition, above, does apply to President Obama, acting like "less than a 3-year old"!
I moved this poll back up to the top tonight to see if we can squeeze out any more reader responses -
Besides work, what are the five most frequent places you go to in a normal week?
Bank, post office, minimart, a walk outdoors, hardware store, pub, gym, deli, fish market, supermarket, visit friends, visit boyfriend or girlfriend, hairdresser, church, dock, stable, theater, liquor store, places to eat or to get food, massage parlor - where do you all go most often?
My own list is dull as dishwater reflecting my ordinary life: Post office, minimart or Dunkin Donuts, supermarket, bank, places to eat. That's about it, and then there are plenty of places I go to around once a week.
Saturday, November 14. 2009
Neither Russia nor China, nor Iran, nor other hostile countries are comfortable with the dominance of world power held by the United States. They are independently and together working assiduously to neuter the US’ sway in the world. President Obama is helping them.
Russia is reasserting its influence over Eastern Europe, and over Western Europe via controlling its gas supplies. China is vigorously exercising mercantilist capitalism to rapidly build its economy and impoverish the West’s, locking up supplies of vital raw materials resources around the world, while racing ahead to build an ocean navy that includes aircraft carrier extensions of power throughout the globe. Iran is steadfast on attaining nuclear power and weaponry, which can reach Europe and will reach farther. Nuclear knowhow and development aid is shared with and by North Korea and Pakistan, purveyors to other countries. Venezuela, launch pad for subversion in Latin America, is to obtain nuclear assistance from Iran that will increase its sway and threat. Russia and China have used their veto seats on the UN Security Council to hamstring strong measures to slow or stop Iran’s imminent step into the nuclear power ring.
Arab states never really worried about Israel’s nuclear deterrence because Israel may be a convenient whipping boy but is not an aggressive power, so there was no need to build Arab nuclear counters. But, now, Arab states are seeing a need to build their own nuclear deterrence to Iran’s aggressive policies toward them. Nuclear proliferation within unstable nations that themselves may proliferate or where their technologies may fall into the hands of murderous extremists is spreading dangerously and rapidly. The ones to benefit are Russia, China and Iran, as the US’ deterrence is weakened and the US’ political and economic strength directly and relatively reduced.
Investors Daily lays out one scenario, a nuclear attack within the US: “For a superpower to be found so exposed to risk from a small group of fanatics might be too much to bear. And who would fill the vacuum? Which would become the new superpowers? Regimes that have proved unafraid to be ruthless to their own people, never mind their enemies?”
It need not even go that far. The Bush administration was not as stalwart as it could have been in facing these emerging new world orderers, but it tried. The Obama administration, by dangerous contrast, in its dithering, its weakened resolve to confront, its self-abandonment of deterrence and direct counters, is actually encouraging, in result aiding, the hastening of the new hostile, dangerous to the US, world order that will favor international thugs in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, Pyongyang, Caracas, and a lengthening list of other capitals. Obama’s actions harming allies, while favoring or bowing before enemies, are part of this self-isolation, self-neuterization by the US within the world.
It is an interesting subject for debate whether this Obama self-defeat march comes from ideology or from incompetence or from ignorance, or their relative proportions. The consequences are the same: the neutering of the US, and possibly the day when one or more of our cities, and thus our economy, lays in ruins, topped by our bankruptcy from Obama economic policies and legislation.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Be aware, and more determined than ever to slow and halt this self-destruction in the elections of 2010 and 2012. Start by demanding that potential Republican challengers are informed and resolute, and don’t ignore the saner Democrats. We’re all in this together.
Editor's comment: As Kudlow says, this is just one part of the administration's larger defeatist, declinist approach to everything: economics, trade, business, the military, international affairs, American values, American world leadership, etc. A deliberate attempt to downsize, if not damage, America. I think the O believes in himself - but not in us.
Friday, November 13. 2009
 One of the best new features in Vista (it's also in Windows 7) is the Snipping Tool. I only started using Vista a month ago, so it took me a while to blunder my way across it. What a great find.
If you just want a grab a picture from the Web for your own use, you right-click on it and save it. The problem arises when you just want part of a picture, or part of a web page (or program) that's not a picture. The traditional method is to hit the 'Print Scrn' key on the keyboard, which puts a snapshot of the entire screen into memory, then paste it into a paint program and do your cropping. The Snipping Tool eliminates the entire process.
In Vista's Start Menu, the entry is in Programs/Accessories. In Win7, it'll either be on the main Start Menu list or buried somewhere. If you don't see the entry, open Control Panel, 'Programs and Features', click on 'Turn Windows features on and off' over to the left, then checkmark the "Tablet PC" entry and let it load. If it's already checked and you swear you can't find the entry on the Start Menu, uncheck 'Tablet', reboot, then put it back in. (Why it's tied in with the tablet's features is anybody's guess.)
Update: A commenter noted that the 'Tablet' feature isn't offered in his 'Home' edition, so if you don't see a 'Tablet PC' entry in the 'Features' box, check out the couple of free snipping tools available here.
To use Snipping Tool, just fire it up. It automatically goes straight into 'capture mode'. Grab the mouse, hold down the left button and d-r-a-g it over the area you want to snip. When you let go, a box pops open with the sniplet. Do a 'Save As' and there ya go.
There are a couple of other features in the sniplet box you might find useful, such as a 'pen' tool where you can manually write words or circle something, and a yellow 'highlight' tool. If you don't like what you circled or highlighted, click on the 'Eraser' tool and then the area you want erased. You can also send the snip directly to someone via email without even bothering to save it, another time-saver.
There are a couple of Options you might want to change:
— You can add it to the Quick Launch tool bar if you use it.
— The 'ink' color is the color of the border it puts around the snip, so you might prefer black or some dark color over the default red.
Kudos to Microsoft for an excellent time-saving tool that works perfectly.
We have asked our friend Capt. Tom Francis to share some photos and info about his home town of Woodstock, CT. (Maybe in April we'll invite him to write about trout fishing in New England, as he is a fresh and salt-water fishing guide.)
Here's his first offering -
Roseland Cottage.
Built by Henry Chandler Bowen in 1846 - a local resident who made his fortune in New York City - Roseland Cottage, also known as "The Pink House", is located in Woodstock, CT. Designed by Andrew Jackson Dowling whose design concepts stressed the practical as well as the aesthetic. It's exterior design is called Gothic Revival. I wouldn't know Gothic Revival from Greasy Gravy, but that's what I've been told.
Roseland Cottage also has original Lincrusta wall coverings produced by Fredrick Walton of Walton Linoleum fame. The Lincrusta process produces embossed coverings made from linseed oil and wood flour on linen.
Bowen was an ardent abolitionist, Congregationalist, and Republican. He often entertained many of the heavy hitters of the day including Presidents - most notably President U.S. Grant who was enchanted by the in-home bowling alley. Bowen was known for his philanthropy and he had a huge impact on Woodstock and local towns. More on Bowen later in the series.
Thursday, November 12. 2009
While lesbian feminista Democrat Camille Paglia admires Pelosi's "grittiness" and "mettle" (but detests what Pelosi has produced. BTW, we like Paglia a lot. She is the kind of person it is pleasant and interesting to disagree with, and we appreciate grit in women), Dr. Laura has another view of the world at home: The Evolution of ‘Feminism' Saddens Me. One quote:
...it’s pretty easy to make men happy.
It is remarkable that each and every one of the women who has
called my show complaining about her husband, and who was then asked
the question, "Would you want to come home to you?" has said,
haltingly, no. There it is. When women disdain masculinity and their
own femininity, all is lost for the family.
These sorts of discussions, however interesting at times, are a bit off the point. Men need to be gentle sometimes, and women need to be tough sometimes. Both obviously have these capacities. However, I think that if a woman wants to have a happy marriage she would do well to at least give Dr. Laura a listen. She understands men pretty well, and likes them for what they are.
This morning I told a friend I often watch idiotic escapist movies. Those who make the better ones need to be creative wonders. A look behind the scenes at one of the more successful reveals that he needs also to be an idiot.
My local newspaper carries a wire service profile of the director of the upcoming $200-million special effects movie “2012.” This director, Roland Emmerich, from Germany, “has earned the unofficial title of ‘Master of Disaster’” for his prior hits, “Independence Day” (1996), “Godzilla” (1998), and “The Day After Tomorrow.” (2004) They were, indeed, fairly good idiotic escapist movies, to me.
His soon to be released topper will have “a collapse of the Earth’s crust, giant floods and hellish rains of fire (yet not enough to kill the main character, played by John Cusak).”
Wow! Can hardly wait. New York destroyed again. Been there, done that, you say.
Emmerich does more, but notice what he doesn’t do: "In fact, the man who rose to fame as a cinematic escapist is an activist in real life. In Germany, he’s a strong supporter of the environmentalist Green Party. He campaigns for gay rights, and he doesn’t hide his contempt for organized religion.” OK, he does fit in with Hollywood.
As the profile continues: “In 2012, the pope is buried under debris when St. Peter’s dome comes tumbling down, and peace-loving Tibetan monks are not spared by the great floods. No Islamic site is seen perishing, though. ‘We didn’t destroy Mecca because we didn’t want to have to deal with a fatwa,’ Emmerich says.” OK, he does fit in with the PCers who made the Ft. Hood massacre possible and the media community apologists for poor, misunderstood, stressed Hasan. Can’t wait for that Hollywood film version, huh? What courage it takes to trash Western civilization, and make the world safe for its destroyers!
Emmerich puts the idiot cherry on his half-baked cake of a mind with this one, why he “couldn’t make a patriotic feel-good movie like ‘Independence Day’ anymore: ‘These days I have a much more pessimistic outlook for our civilization, despite the good America can do for the world under Barack Obama.” OK, we’re waiting for his film about how Obama’s abandonment of oppressed peoples in Tibet, in Iran, in Honduras, in the growing list to include Afghanistan and maybe Iraq, will cheer shmuck Emmerich up. (Couldn’t resist the alliteration.)
BTW, I’d love to give you, dear reader, the url to see this profile in idiocy for yourself. But, due to the past triumphs of idiocy in media my local newspaper’s falling circulation cannot afford to pay extra anymore for the wire service reports in its dead-tree edition to also appear at its website, and the MCT wire service website – unlike AP's, even – doesn’t even steer the reader to a newspaper that does.
Wednesday, November 11. 2009
The legal costs to individuals and businesses are destroying the American economy. America, the most litigious nation and the most-lawyered nation (per capita) in the world is burdened by a broken, and crushingly expensive system of legal care.
Few Americans can afford high-quality legal care at $500-$2000/hour when needed, and end up in legal clinics or representing themselves. Few, if any, have legal coverage. Legal costs sap profits from business in ways that are entirely unproductive. The poor, minorities, and women are, of course, most hard hit by the difficulty finding justice in a money-driven legal system, while the Mafia, politicians, and Wall Streeters skate and the lawyers drive Lexi and Mercedes in their Valentino and Armani suits.
It costs more to contest a speeding ticket or a routine Maggie's Farm disorderly conduct ticket than to pay it. And when you die - forget it: You are forced to pay lawyers all over the place.
There is no affordable justice in America today, and God knows how many bankruptcies, heartaches, and ruined lives result. It's unfair, unjust and un-American. 10% of American African-American youth rot in jail for lack of legal care while rich white guys like Bill Ayers are walking the street and hosting cocktail parties for politicians.
Meanwhile, hordes of tort lawyers are watching for every time you fail to clear your driveway, and checking the lead levels in the toys and books you produce. Hungry divorce lawyers prowl around your home at night, waiting to hear an argument. They are everywhere, looking to either defend you or to prosecute you.
There are more laws up against you than there are diseases in this world.
Furthermore, unlike medical care, the US Constitution does concern itself with justice more than a little bit.
Just think about your annual direct and indirect legal care costs: they are included in your auto liability insurance, your homeowner's insurance, your tax guy, the guy you paid to get your kid reduced from a DWI to a DUI, the guy who managed the refinancing of your house, the indirect costs to your employer and in your town taxes for having to maintain a legal department, and the legal costs built into everything you buy in America - including doctors' malpractice insurance - which is basically legal insurance. Create a pension: you need a lawyer. Even your lawyer has to buy legal insurance, inflating his charges. And even your investments - every mutual fund has a legal team paid for with your fees. The list goes on and on.
Something must be done immediately to correct this drag on the American economy and on the American spirit. Short of killing all the lawyers (I am quite fond of a number of them), I suggest a government take-over of this broken, unjust system by 111 Federal bureaucracies, and with the help of our politicians, to solve this crisis.
And a 5% Federal tax increase to pay for it all.
This song, “Before You Go,” will be performed today at the National Celebration of Veteran's Day, 2009 at the Vietnam War Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. The song's authors Dr. Sam Bierstock and John Melnick have received the honor.
The "Before You Go" project now has a formal affiliation with "Veterans Helping Today's Returning Heroes", designed to directly benefit our returning heroes. Veterans Helping Today's Returning Heroes (VHH) is a charitable 501(c)3 organization providing support dogs and guide dogs to wounded, blinded and disabled veterans returning from the global war on terror. These dogs cost between $35,000.00 and $50,000.00 to raise and train, and are not funded by the government. To date, VHH has raised over $2,000,000.00 toward this worthy cause which allows our veterans disabled in war to enhance their quality of life with honor and the companionship of one of these wonderful dogs, each of which is trained to support the specific disability of each wounded veteran.
For that reason, Sam and John do not allow websites to post embedded videos of their song, so that purchases will be made at their site, and part of the funds go to VHH.
But, they do allow you to visit their site and see the videos for free that they’ve made to accompany the song.
For the WWII and Korean War version, click here.
For the Vietnam War version, click here.
Here’s some of the national TV features that have been made about this song-writing duo, how they came to do this, and why. As one says, “we’d have nothing without them,” our veterans. “Thank you, before you go.”
Here’s the letter President Bush and wife Barbara sent Sam Bierstock, and the “tears in our eyes.”:
Tuesday, November 10. 2009
I am going to comment on some things our friend TigerHawk said here in his piece on government payment for abortions. Says he:
I do not believe that the Constitution can reasonably be read to confer a "right" to an abortion.
The US Constitution was not designed to "confer" rights: it was designed to circumscribe the power and jurisdiction of the Federal State by a group of independent states who, knowing human nature, were deeply suspicious about any expansion of Federal, centralized power after their experience with Britain. According to our founding documents, human freedom is conferred by God to us as individuals, not by man and not by government.
The "Bill of Rights" Amendments were not designed to confer rights either. They were added, on the insistence of the feisty New York delegation, just to make some of the implied meaning crystal clear (and I suppose they were wise to do so, but it makes it appear that unspecified freedoms - or "rights" - do not exist)... except for Amendments lX and X which were intended to cover almost all human actions:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Thus, in my view, abortion should have been ignored by the Supremes. Not a Federal case. It may be rightly a legal issue on the state level, and is certainly an individual moral issue.
The language of "rights" is tricky, easily abused and distorted, and I do not like it. As an American, I do not and should not need specified "rights" to anything - all I need is a clear delineation of the limit of the powers of government, and I will find a way to get on with it in life.
I can bear arms - and do a million other things that aren't listed. But that doesn't mean that the government should buy me guns. So the question of who pays is another issue entirely. Insurance plans vary widely in the elective things they cover. Most people prefer less expensive plans which do not cover elective procedures, and clearly most people do not want to pay for other peoples' elective abortions.
They don't want to pay for other peoples' IVF either.
Am I right or wrong about all this? Just to be clear, this is not a pro-abortion post...
Monday, November 9. 2009
Quoted in a piece at NYM on homicide:
By the time European states became democracies, the populace had
accepted the authority of the state. But the American Revolution
happened before Americans had got used to the idea of a state monopoly
on force. Americans therefore preserved for themselves not only the
right to bear arms—rather than yielding that right to a strong central
government—but also medieval manners: impulsiveness, crudeness, and
fidelity to a culture of honor. We’re backward, in other words, because
we became free before we learned how to control ourselves.
We Americans are so darned uncivilized. Heck, I shoot people anytime anyone bothers me. Like when somebody tries to sneak into the 15 items or less supermarket line with 16 items. We all shoot jerks like that, here in the back woods of Connecticut.
Europe has a long tradition of feudalism, and they still emotionally cling to it like small children while speaking condescendingly about the messy freedom we have in the US. I'll take our messy freedom anytime over "respecting the authority of the state."
The Euros still seem to think of themselves as serfs, at heart. "L'etat, c'est moi" says me, a proud American.
Sunday, November 8. 2009
Every once in a while a book comes along that reveals a startling gap in our understanding of the world, our passions and desires, and ourselves. Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle is such a book.
The 236-page (plus copious footnotes) book is written in layman’s ease while delving in Harvard case-study depth, based on over 100 interviews of those who made it happen, into the question of how a tiny, imperiled nation with a relatively miniscule population came to be a leader in international hi-tech and a leading prosperous economy.
As I literally devoured the book, heavily highlighting its insights, I kept wondering why I, a student of Israel, hadn’t seen this before. The authors themselves, one an editor of the Jerusalem Post and the other a senior fellow at the US Council on Foreign Relations and member of global investment firms, finally answer: “We assumed there must be some book that explained what made the start-up scene so vibrant and seemingly impervious to the security situation. There wasn’t. So we decided to write one.” Thank you Saul Singer and Dan Senor.
Continue reading "Start-Up Nation"
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