01.31.07
More global warming refutation
This is a really great resource for marshalling your facts when taking on Al Gore’s minions.
Well, now ,that’s a great attitude to come back to the table with
North Korea says a second nuke test is in the offing if things don’t go its way at the next round of the six-way talks. The big sticking point now is the financial shenanigans – counterfeiting U.S. money and also keeping offshore bank accounts that can’t be monitored. NorKor says the U.S. is making all this up.
I understand that in a delicate situation like this we can’t give in to the temptation to be hotheaded, but there’s something really weird about seeing the most powerful, righteous nation on Earth (that would be us, for all you lefty trolls out there) going out of its way to hold this evil, failed state’s hand.
File under: you couldn’t make this up
A few days ago, it was the UK’s public-school curriculum. Now it’s Albion’s prison toilets.
My first heave-ho
I have just undertaken my first banishing of a Bent Notes comment-thread poster. It’s someone to whom I gave wide leeway for several weeks. I busted my tail end to accord him some respect and engage him in conversation in order to see more clearly how he came about his views. However, it became obvious that he went beyond even customary moonbat levels of hysteria. His problems with Israel make Jimmy Carter’s viewpoint look positively Zionist by comparison. Every time I would make the most concise assertions, with the implicit willingness to go into them more fully, he would launch into rants of the most strident and overheated kind. (Example: I’m a “devil with darkness in my heart.”) He had no curiosity as to how I came about my views on Israel or anything else.
We get a fairly wide array of viewpoints here at BN. Folks who hang out here to any degree know I have no problem with folks posting lefty views in the comment threads. I will respond with facts where that seems approproate, or an invitation to the other person to consider a wider perspective, or just some reflection. But I have neither the time nor the inclination to respond to pages-long litanies of allegations, put forth with no sense of a broad historical perspective, on a point-by-point basis. It proves nothing.
And, I will add, I really have no use for rock lyrics in a polemical exchange. The Billy Jack theme song? Puh – leeze.
01.29.07
Death of the West – today’s installment
From Britain – a revamping of their entire public-school curriculum. This is so pathetic and disturbing I could spit nails.
01.28.07
Conyers to finish the work begun at the Minneapolis airport
Little Green Footablls has the scoop.
They think it’s an epic struggle for artistic freedom, but it’s really pretty much quibbling about terms for body parts
Doug Elfman, the television critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, has a piece today that shows the meaningless of the debates that go on in the insular world of network television (but how those engaged in the debates think they have great import) and how the end result is more garbage floating around in our culture. Specifically, it’s about the writers of ABC shows like Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, and Brothers and Sisters contending with network censors. Over at Free Republic.com, a commenter in the thread under the post about it tickled me when he said “ABC has become the Estrogen Network.” It’s true. I can’t stand it when, at the end of an episode of Grey’s Anatomy they trot our some sensitively-strummed, sung-in-a-contrived-manner piece of goop by some oh-so-deep singer-songwriter, as the deeply hurt intern goes trudging across the hospital parking lot.
UPDATE: The link to the Freeper post doesn’t work.
Of croissants, discernment and reflection
I’ve just had the occasion to think about the magazine industry and the concepts of lifestyle and branding.
Last evening I was at a Borders, looking through the magazine rack and glancing at the cover of the latest issue of Everyday With Rachel Ray. The photo showed her sitting up in bed wearing PJs, minimal makeup, her hair tousled as if she were freshly awakened. A tray at the foor of the bed sported a glass of juice and a croissant. The article titles along the side were things like, “Breakfast in Bed,” “Lazy Weekends,” Cozy Get-Togethers.”
Now, no one really needs a magazine article to tell her how to have breakfast in bed or a lazy weekend. It’s fine with the readers of Everyday w/ RR that the content is not really of the groundbreaking-highly-specific variety. That’s not what they’re looking for. They’re looking for atmsophere, a certain vibe, some perky girly-girl chattiness, affirmation of their lives having some style.
As a freelance magazine writer, I thought about what it must be like to gear a pitch to the Everyday editor. You’d have to keep your the thrust of your proposal from being too unique. You’d actually want to cover the same ground you’ve seen covered in back issues and in dozens of other lifestyle magazines.
It’s the same for various niche magazines. Is there anything really earth-shatteringly new to say in each issue of Dog Fancy or Guns & Ammo?
No, what’s being sold is brand and attitude.
Then I got to thinking about my staunch devotion to capitalism. Sometimes lefties like to attempt a “gotcha” by saying, “You conservatives love your free market, but you’re also perfectly willing to admit that lots of practitioners of capitalism foist meaningless crap on the consuming public just because they know that public will part with its bucks.”
Fair enough. Makes me put on my thinking cap. So here goes: This situation demonstrates marvelously why I’m a conservative and not a libertarian. Yes, the morally neutral free market generates a lot of stuff that does nothing for – and, in some cases, great harm to – the sum total of human nobility. That’s why there must be another, deeper component. Our culture must have as its foundation a supreme regard for rigorous intellect, decorum in all human interaction, and, most importantly, the spiritual guidance we get from the Holy Bible. Once such a foundation erodes, it becomes hard for us to discern between that which serves us and that which wastes our time or even harms us. Eventually we al become deconstructionists, unable to glean meaning from anything about our experience.
Now, am I picking on poor Rache? Heavens, no. As lifestyle-hustling goes, she’s probably one of the more genuine and sparkly figures in the field. She has some good recipes, too.
I’m just saying that it’s important to think about the implications of the things that come across our radar screens as the participants in this culture.
Oh, and by the way, I also took a glance at the new Grammy issue of Rolling Stone. Man, what a sewer the popular-music world has become.
01.27.07
And meanwhile, over in Swizerland . . .
And to think this stool sample posing as a human being nearly became our president.
The makers of sense are also in our capital
The moonbats in Washington are getting all the media attention, but there’s another gathering there that is really pointing the way toward hope for this civilization of ours. Man, I wish I were there.
Random thoughts on a Friday evening
What percentage of supermarket shoppers actually prefer those flimsy-ass little plastic bags the industry has gone to in the last few years? Do very many people really like them more than the structurally sound good old paper sacks that stores will provide if you ask? If you go the plastic route with round objects like citrus fruit or small jars of stuff, your merchandise will roll around the floor of your car on the way home. You can, of course, tie the top of the bag into a knot, but that’s a bother I shouldn’t have to fool with.
I know that the percentage of people earning their livings in the arts, journalism and education who are conservative is under five. Has any polling group ever collected data on an exact figure?
Small talk absolutely drives me up the wall. Bank tellers who say “Did you order up this weather?” or guys at the gym who say, “That’s a nice car. How many miles to the gallon do you get?” set my teeth on edge. Can you imagine how much more imaginative, inventive, efficient and attentive we’d be as a human race if we didn’t make each other run that crap though our heads?
Nutrition-speak likewise gets to me. I don’t eat “portions” measured in ounces. I eat slabs, racks, bowlsful, scoops and dollops. I think nutritionists are joyless creatures posing as sages holding the keys to unforeseen vistas of human fulfillment. They don’t hold it. The chef at my favorite place to get prime rib does.
How prominent a role should music play in a human life?
01.26.07
Honing our dance-floor chops
The dance studio where we take instruction has changed its name to Dance Street, moved to a new location and revamped its website.
We’re still going on a weekly basis. Also attending their weekly parties when possible. I’m getting more fluid with my tango promenades, my rhumba New Yorks, my waltz change-steps. Swing and hustle seem to come the easiest.
01.25.07
Some thoughts on blogging and policy-and-culture discourse in general
I was taken to task by a commenter in a recent discussion thread for lowering the quality of debate at BN by implying that yet another commenter was an unserious person. I’ll try to clarify things: Yes, it’s the civil thing to do to remark upon the comment and not the commenter. Still, a question remains in such a case: Is the maker of the comment indeed a serious person? We don’t emit things from our mouths or our keyboards untethered to our core self, with its values system and sense of how this world is ordered.
What I’m trying to do in the posts on this blog that deal with the deadly serious issues of the day is -
a.) state my case so that what I believe with all my heart and mind gets expressed in this world
b.) set an example of rigorous thinking, thorough reflection and clear expression
c.) occasionally inject appropriate levity, like a pun where it’s called for, or some mild sarcasm
d.) invite a wide range of viewpoints to converse with me about the issue at hand
Longtime participants in the comment threads here at BN know I don’t have a lot of ground rules. I let people get a little crude and silly. (On one or two occasions I have have said that it was time to let up on the ripe language.) In fact, the language commenters employ seems to me to be an indicator of the seriousness with which they’ve thought out their positions. So I’m really more inclined to say, “Let ‘er rip. Let’s see what ya got.”
And I’m not equating viewpoints with which I disagree with sloppy expression or thinking per se. In fact, I often cringe when I scroll through the comment threads at Free Republic.com, a website that speaks for my overall worldview on anything I can think of. Your run across some really dumb posts there. Conversely, sometimes in various places on the Net or in various magazines, I run across lefty viewpoints that are so well-expressed that I have to be on my toes as I formulate my response, even if it’s just inside my own head.
What I’m saying is that it’s just a lot more fun when we all really put on our thinking caps. This blog attracts keen minds; that’s clear from what I know of those of you who speak up here. I guess I’m just saying that I invite you all anew to bring out your best stuff.
And on one of the other fronts . . .
This story illustrates two things:
1.) It doesn’t pay to get too excited over seemingly positive developments regarding Noth Korea
2.) The United Nations is, to employ a bit of diplo-speak, “unhelpful” in this world war.
The Senate panel resolution
I’ve waited a couple of days to chime in on this. I don’t know that my thoughts are so different from what you’d find put forth by those with whom I’m known to generally agree. I think I will go ahead and jot down a few thoughts about it, in the hopes that I contribute something that fans the tiny, dying flame of hope for this very threatened thing we call Western civilization.
- There’s something really vulgar about the fact that it’s non-binding. Why don’t these Freedom-Haters and the Republicans who have joined them back up their nihilistic bluster with a threat to cut off funding?
- What does it say about the state of our country that, outside of talk radio, the blogosphere and the think tanks, it’s not much of a topic of conversation among Americans?
- How is General Petraeus suppose to inject a fresh dose of morale into the newly arriving troops in Iraq after the reception he got before the Senate Armed Services Committee?
- This really is a historic moment. It’s not just a case of “another week, another bunch of bombings.” There will either be a solution in Iraq or this world war will gather apocalyptic momentum. One or the other will happen very soon.
- I see both of our major political parties fragmenting over this. Watch the H-word creature try to find a positon that neither alienates the moonbats nor raises doubts about her ability to lead America on the world stage. Watch the Republican base’s disgust with the likes of Hagel and Snowe turn into apathy. As in no more checks to the RNC.
- Should we fail to bring some kind of stability to Iraq’s on-life-support representative democracy, it won’t take two weeks for that country to turn into the most horrific scene we’ve witnesses perhaps ever.
- Back to the vulgarity of this resolution’s non-binding nature, the most offensive thing is the way all those voting yes assume the luxury of not having to offer an alternative solution. (See above point re: consequences of no solution.)
01.24.07
Two utterances from the big dog among our enemies
A guy from Iran’s “Expediency Council” says that we’re in for “a slap in the face” that will knock us down and leave us unable to stand back up, and Ahmadinejad, while visiting with the Syrian foreign minister, not only reiterates his vow that the U.S. and Israel are about to be destroyed, but explicitly links the Hizbollah destabilization of Lebanon to this.
Now, at least one commenter here at BN has remarked that “They all can blow themselves up over there,as far as I’m concerned” a casual dismissal of Mideast dynamics that has been tossed around in various forms for many years, the most common being “Those people have been at each other’s throats for thousands of years. We’re not gonna be able to stop them.” We can no longer afford such uninformed generalizations. Human freedom is in grave peril, and we’d better be attentive as to how best to deal with that grim fact.
Why it’s a world war
I wonder if Christopher Hill, in his excitement over the progress he expects at the next round of the six-way talks, has considered this.
And by the way, how secure should we feel having China in on those talks after their little satellite-shooting test?
The SOTU
About what I’d anticipated. I figured he’d put that laundry-list-y domestic agenda first so he could impart the requisite seriousness to the half dealing with the uregency of world affairs.
I like the way his health-care reform proposal moves toward a market-based solution. Of course, Charlie Rangel has already started squawking about how it makes the employee have to go out and get his or her own insurance. Like consumer choice is a bad thing? We don’t call ‘em Freedom-Haters here at BN for nothing.
He gave a good, clear assessment of the array of our enemies and how they’ve maneuvered over the past couple of years, and what we have to do in response. He still invites us to hold a vision of democracy germinating and flowering in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, not justbecause those folks ought to have it, but because it makes us safer, too.
W’s no conservative, but he’s a man of faith, integrity and courage. He also gets a threat assessment from his security advisors every morning. I’ll bet those would make our hair stand on end. He’s truly doing all he can think of to keep this current world war from returningto our soil.
Best line (and apparently Hugh Hewitt thinks so, too): “Let us find our resolve and turn events toward victory.”
01.23.07
The big things that vex me
There’s a comment thread going on at another post on this site (the subject of which is sex and sexuality; strange how these things morph) that I might as well make into a full-blown thought process in its own right.
I have some real sticky yet crucial questions that drive me nuts about Christianity – the supernatural nature of so much about Jesus’s life and resurrection (and so many phenomena throughout the Bible, for that matter), the business about no one coming to the Father except through Jesus (sub-questions within that one: What does “through” mean? Do you ask Jesus to be your intermediator, and how do you ask someone you can’t see?) In what sense did Jesus “pay” for our sins? After all these years of pondering the matter, it still looks like a rigged game to me for God to have constructed a universe in which the consequences for our making immoral decisions is eternal torment unless we thank Jesus for having died on the cross. (Maybe I’m still too influenced by all the years I subscribed to the notion that all sentient beings are evolving to a state of absolute oneness in which forgiveness is no longer a relevant concept.)
But the one we’re kicking around on that other thread is this: in what sense did God breathe divine inspiration into those human beings who jotted down what we’ve come to know as the books, chapters and verses of the Bible? When I posed the question of whether any branch of science – say, physics or biology – had looked into the specifics of how this might have occurred, a regular visitor / commentor – a highly intelligent, devout Christian – said someting to the effect that science probably can’t address such a phenomenon.
I replied that my ability to sign on to any worldview / doctrine of faith hinges on my having all my questions answered in an intellectually satisfactory way.
I want to state for the record that I’m not being out-of-hand dismissive about anything here. I just have questions. And I peruse works of serious theology when time permits. But nothing I’ve ever come across – from St. Augustine to Aquinas to C.S. Lewis to John Paul II – satisfactorily addresses this.
Now, having said all the aforegoing, dig this: I’m very moved by the basic thrust of Christianity. Probably the biggest reason something in me feels like I’ll probably go the whole hog someday and sign on to the Big C is that, as an academically trained historian, it’s apparent to me that Christianity has been the thing that brought together the previous elements of Western civilization – Judaism, Hellenistic philosophy – and forged a path for humankind that has led to the greatest blessings our species has known. (That, plus the fact that there’s something that kind of slugs you in the gut and then makes your heart soar about the whole way the first Easter weekend unfolded, according to the basic outline of four gospel accounts, from Thursday night through Sunday morning.)
I might add that, as we move away from our Christian moorings, it’s pretty apparent that civilizational decline – and vulnerability – is setting in. (See my post on America’s screaming need for a conservative presidential candidate for verification that I do indeed think Judeo-Christian values are essential to our survival with any kind of dignity, comfort and freedom.)
Kind of a brainful for one post, but I do hope I get some takers on kicking this around.
