La Casa in December 2016 began issuing the community resident card, branded as “SB ID,” to undocumented immigrants to help them conduct routine daily activities, such as picking up children from school or day care, providing identification to police, obtaining college transcripts, library cards and prescriptions, and clearing background checks needed to volunteer at schools....It’s like hosting otherwise official emails on a private server.
...the request for a South Bend card first came to Common Council members from parishioners at St. Adalbert Catholic Church. Buttigieg embraced the idea and the council approved $18,000 in the 2016 city budget to pay for the program.
But by the end of 2016, the city’s legal team had decided that cardholders’ identities might be disclosable under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act if the city, a public entity, issued the cards, so La Casa agreed to do it instead, Centellas said.
“The program is run, operated and maintained by La Casa, so the data is all ours and there’s been no government dollars used in this,” Centellas said.
Public/Private Partnership
South Bend has one.
Unexpectedly
I was shocked to learn that price controls in the New York rental housing market depressed supply.
“A big majority of our housing stock of stabilized units have been occupied between 40 and 50 years. These units require up to $100,000 and sometimes more, to complete a gut rehabilitation. You don’t need to be a genius to understand it makes no sense to invest that much only to get an $83.00 rent increase,” one survey respondent told CHIP.
* * *
The Commercial Observer reports that the new rent laws are encouraging small- and mid-sized landlords to exit the market entirely, writing that “many property owners have woken up to a world where their buildings are worth 30 to 50 percent less than they were a year ago.”Stephen Green's take at Instapundit, because crony capitalists love them some crony capitalism:
Easy prediction: Big, connected players will snap up these properties at a steep discount, at which point the city will grant relief and exemptions from the new regulations.
Germpocalypse
Like many people, I'm keeping an eye on the Wu Flu news. It's not a nice bug, but so far it's not looking like a truly horrible one. Here is a fairly dispassionate report. The spread has been showing an extremely stable pattern of doubling the reported cases every 48 hours like clockwork. The mortality rate looks close to 2%, scary but not utterly shocking, especially when you consider that it's a rate applicable only to cases severe enough to warrant going to a doctor. There is good reason to think that's the tip of the iceberg, with most cases appearing in such a mild form that people simply experience cold symptoms or perhaps no symptoms at all. Nor is the transmission rate particularly amazing: far less than measles, for instance. We're not, in other words, looking at an epidemic that will kill 2% of the world's population.
Still, it's a nasty bug, particularly for people with pre-existing conditions and those in countries with inadequate heroic medical intervention in case of respiratory collapse.
Still, it's a nasty bug, particularly for people with pre-existing conditions and those in countries with inadequate heroic medical intervention in case of respiratory collapse.
"The Attraction of Thor"- on Why the Catholic Church is Losing Men.
Fr. Brad Sweet has penned a rather interesting article on his thoughts on why we see some men drawn to neo-paganism and away from the Catholic church, and how that might be related to the feminization of both our societies and the church itself. It's an interesting read, and as a chaplain to the Royal Canadian Navy, he has a rather interesting perspective on this.
It was also interesting to find out that the Canadian military has allowed beards in all branches of service.
Fr. Sweet is also on twitter as @BradBradSweet
Men need to be challenged, need to prove themselves worthy. The church used to make that more present."And there we have the attraction of Thor. These and many other men are not going to identify with Catholic "lite". Their lives are hard, and full of risk. They are fathers and soldiers or sailors or aviators. They seek not comfort but fortitude and a priest and Church that can be of help to maintain this duty and purpose in life as fathers and warriors."
It was also interesting to find out that the Canadian military has allowed beards in all branches of service.
Fr. Sweet is also on twitter as @BradBradSweet
“The Western” in Saudi Arabia
Good gracious.
It reminds me of this old post, except the Saudis are less obvious about using us as fertility gods. Less obvious: note all the women are unveiled.
UPDATE: Per Douglas in the comments, this event was actually held in Bahrain.
It reminds me of this old post, except the Saudis are less obvious about using us as fertility gods. Less obvious: note all the women are unveiled.
UPDATE: Per Douglas in the comments, this event was actually held in Bahrain.
Remoaning
Project Gutenberg, where I spend so much time online, is apolitical except on one designated "Political" forum. The politics there have a marked leftist tinge, which shouldn't be surprising given the academic focus and the fact that members come from many countries.
Today one of the few conservatives posted a cheerful note of congratulations for Brexit Day, which naturally drew a number of cheerless responses. I posted brief responses to the first few, adopting what I consider the moderate view: without presuming to dictate to my British brethren what they should want for themselves, I merely observe that this is what they in fact chose.
That got a handful of sour notes about how difficult it is to divine what the "people really want." I suppose so, but I'd rather go with the popular vote as a reasonable barometer than indulge in mindreading or the imposition of what's best for them by someone else's lights. What then surprised me most was a series of posts arguing that Brexit was unfair because of its impact on British expats. Expats in France, for instance, no longer can expect to be eligible to run for local office in the French villages they have chosen for themselves. So Brexit's anti-choice, see? One fellow is unhappy that he let his British passport expire so his kids could never drag him back to Britain "except in a box," but now he expects his free EU health benefits to be discontinued.
Maybe I'm hard-hearted, but I'd say the right solution in both cases would be to apply for citizenship in the countries these people have chosen to live in. Why blame Great Britain or Brexit? They can perfectly well go on as EU citizens if they like.
Today one of the few conservatives posted a cheerful note of congratulations for Brexit Day, which naturally drew a number of cheerless responses. I posted brief responses to the first few, adopting what I consider the moderate view: without presuming to dictate to my British brethren what they should want for themselves, I merely observe that this is what they in fact chose.
That got a handful of sour notes about how difficult it is to divine what the "people really want." I suppose so, but I'd rather go with the popular vote as a reasonable barometer than indulge in mindreading or the imposition of what's best for them by someone else's lights. What then surprised me most was a series of posts arguing that Brexit was unfair because of its impact on British expats. Expats in France, for instance, no longer can expect to be eligible to run for local office in the French villages they have chosen for themselves. So Brexit's anti-choice, see? One fellow is unhappy that he let his British passport expire so his kids could never drag him back to Britain "except in a box," but now he expects his free EU health benefits to be discontinued.
Maybe I'm hard-hearted, but I'd say the right solution in both cases would be to apply for citizenship in the countries these people have chosen to live in. Why blame Great Britain or Brexit? They can perfectly well go on as EU citizens if they like.
Ride On
Corb covers AC/DC:
Ian Tyson was a Canadian Country musician from the '50s on. Neil Young, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan all recorded songs he wrote. Here's his most famous song:
Corb's new album is Cover Your Tracks.
Anyone going to see him in Dallas?
Ian Tyson was a Canadian Country musician from the '50s on. Neil Young, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan all recorded songs he wrote. Here's his most famous song:
Corb's new album is Cover Your Tracks.
Anyone going to see him in Dallas?
Crazy Politics? Check Out France
How's this for a headline? "French firefighters set themselves alight and start fighting against police."
The pictures are kind of amazing. Even among the impeachment spectacle and Brexit marching out of the European Parliament, France has managed to top us all.
The pictures are kind of amazing. Even among the impeachment spectacle and Brexit marching out of the European Parliament, France has managed to top us all.
Nobody Cares if Nobody Likes You
A study on likeability, especially in politics but with ramifications for the workplace and in general.
I don't know if this is true or not, but maybe it is. It's hard for me to decide if my own experience is telling. Certainly I like Tulsi Gabbard, in many respects; I'm still not going to vote for her, because her opinions frequently suggest to me that she's dangerously disqualified for the position. Certainly I did not like Hillary Clinton, but I also didn't think she was qualified -- chiefly disqualified on ethics!
Perhaps it doesn't matter as much as the report suggests, since we often find ways to like people who are useful to us. Kamala Harris is well-liked by those who would vote for her, in spite of some very unlikable ethical lapses as a prosecutor and a Senator. If you were opposed to her anyway, it's easy to find something not to like; if you were inclined to support her anyway, maybe that means you'll find a way to like her.
I think perhaps the experience of Sarah Palin points that up. When she stood on the stage and winked, the shockwave of her likability ran through the nation. But by the end of the campaign, she was one of the most disliked people in the nation. People decided to dislike her, I infer, because they were afraid she would otherwise win. And so, even as she palled around with the Saturday Night Live crew that was mocking her, even as she offered them free babysitting (even as she said "there is much to admire about our opponent," a sentiment that it is hard to imagine hearing expressed today), they decided to despise her and worked hard at it.
It still may be unfair that women depend so much more on being liked, but if the results are right it is also women who are bringing the biggest weight on liking you (or not). Men at least give each other a break; women could do the same. Maybe men could learn to give women a break, but would women learn to give one to men? Equality is parity, is it not? (No; sometimes, but not always.)
According to a study published in The Economic Journal, likability matters among women and among mixed-gender groups but not among men alone. In other words, women want both sexes to be likable, and men want women to be likable, but they don’t care so much about other men.... In short, women always need to be likable, and men only have to worry about it half the time....What he said was actually much better than that: he said, "On a good day, my wife likes me."
For men, it can even pay to be unlikable. The fact that Trump is a pompous blowhard has somehow become a point in his favor. Sanders actually benefits from having the unlikable Clinton say, as she did last week, “Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him.” (Cleverly, Sanders shot back, “My wife likes me.”)
I don't know if this is true or not, but maybe it is. It's hard for me to decide if my own experience is telling. Certainly I like Tulsi Gabbard, in many respects; I'm still not going to vote for her, because her opinions frequently suggest to me that she's dangerously disqualified for the position. Certainly I did not like Hillary Clinton, but I also didn't think she was qualified -- chiefly disqualified on ethics!
Perhaps it doesn't matter as much as the report suggests, since we often find ways to like people who are useful to us. Kamala Harris is well-liked by those who would vote for her, in spite of some very unlikable ethical lapses as a prosecutor and a Senator. If you were opposed to her anyway, it's easy to find something not to like; if you were inclined to support her anyway, maybe that means you'll find a way to like her.
I think perhaps the experience of Sarah Palin points that up. When she stood on the stage and winked, the shockwave of her likability ran through the nation. But by the end of the campaign, she was one of the most disliked people in the nation. People decided to dislike her, I infer, because they were afraid she would otherwise win. And so, even as she palled around with the Saturday Night Live crew that was mocking her, even as she offered them free babysitting (even as she said "there is much to admire about our opponent," a sentiment that it is hard to imagine hearing expressed today), they decided to despise her and worked hard at it.
It still may be unfair that women depend so much more on being liked, but if the results are right it is also women who are bringing the biggest weight on liking you (or not). Men at least give each other a break; women could do the same. Maybe men could learn to give women a break, but would women learn to give one to men? Equality is parity, is it not? (No; sometimes, but not always.)
World Ending, Women and Children Hardest Hit
The Guardian may have set a record for closeness of approximation to that famous satirical headline.
Farage Rides Again
One last time at the EU Parliament, Nigel Farage makes his point about why the EU project is bad.
Then, just at the end, the chairwoman makes his point for him. Loud and clear.
Then, just at the end, the chairwoman makes his point for him. Loud and clear.
Corrupt research
Too much "research" is tax-funded resume-buffing and policy-bolstering.
This dilemma reminds me of the "government is the word for the things we do together" thinking. Government is also the word for ways to break all sensible links between the source of money and the reasonableness of the uses to which the money will be put. You think it's bad when tobacco manufacturers crank out research on lung cancer, or fossil fuel companies produce research on climate change? Just get unelected federal bureaucrats into the mix. There are no real brakes on that car. Nothing we've ever tried works better than decentralizing the decisions and leaving each contributor as much as possible in charge of his own decision whether to keep pointing his own resources at a particular goal.
As Richard Feynman said, "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."
Related: with interesting tie-ins to Wuhan medical research and what appears to be the standard-issue $50K/month corrupt international gig, available only to those with appropriate access to the tax-and-influence machine.
This dilemma reminds me of the "government is the word for the things we do together" thinking. Government is also the word for ways to break all sensible links between the source of money and the reasonableness of the uses to which the money will be put. You think it's bad when tobacco manufacturers crank out research on lung cancer, or fossil fuel companies produce research on climate change? Just get unelected federal bureaucrats into the mix. There are no real brakes on that car. Nothing we've ever tried works better than decentralizing the decisions and leaving each contributor as much as possible in charge of his own decision whether to keep pointing his own resources at a particular goal.
As Richard Feynman said, "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."
Related: with interesting tie-ins to Wuhan medical research and what appears to be the standard-issue $50K/month corrupt international gig, available only to those with appropriate access to the tax-and-influence machine.
Scots Wha Hae
A genetic map of the Scottish population, superimposed upon a set of maps of Dark Age kingdoms, shows that the population has changed little in a millennium and a half.
Warning Order: Þorrablót
If you want an experience less Scottish and more Icelandic, enjoy this video.
Be sure to watch the parts about the cuisine. I don't want to hear any more complaints about the haggis.
Be sure to watch the parts about the cuisine. I don't want to hear any more complaints about the haggis.
Progress in Indonesia
Women are overcoming their shyness and taking up positions of power in Aceh province:
Whether and how to address our objections with them is a difficult question.
Here, public whipping remains a common punishment for scores of offenders for a range of charges including gambling, adultery, drinking alcohol, and having gay or pre-marital sex. But the job has always been done by men. Until now....Aceh is interesting because it's intensely Islamic, but has proven highly resistant to terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda. Aceh's particular take on Islam is so deeply held that these foreign groups find their different orthodoxies around Islam aren't acceptable there. They're more successful in the urbane regions of Indonesia, where people are persuadable about what Islam is supposed to mean. Non-Muslims who happen to be there have the option of not being tried under the religious law, too, so to some degree this is inside baseball from a culture that is policing itself. Those standards aren't ours (in particular we object to rape victims being punished for the extramarital sex!), but they are theirs, and they enforce them in a way that holds down on extremism that threatens us. If we were to go and try to interfere with their practices, they'd become enemies rather than somewhat queer and very distant 'neighbors.'
But convincing women to participate has been no easy task, and it's taken years to assemble the first female squad, according to Safriadi, who heads provincial capital Banda Aceh's Sharia Implementation Unit.
Eight women -- all Sharia officers -- agreed to be floggers and were trained in the appropriate technique and advised how to limit injury.
Whether and how to address our objections with them is a difficult question.
Masks Selling Out
There's a news story that surgical masks are selling out across the US as people prepare for a feared incursion by the Chinese coronavirus. I'm not sure how helpful a mask really is in preventing transmission -- perhaps it does more to prevent you from infecting someone else than otherwise.
Still, surgical masks aren't your only option. You can also hit the hardware store. N-type masks are supposedly good against at least some biologicals, I don't know how well it works against this particular virus, of course, but if you're concerned and you can't get a surgical mask, try one that's made for particle filtration.
Still, surgical masks aren't your only option. You can also hit the hardware store. N-type masks are supposedly good against at least some biologicals, I don't know how well it works against this particular virus, of course, but if you're concerned and you can't get a surgical mask, try one that's made for particle filtration.
Endorsement: Bernie Sanders for Democratic Nominee
As longtime readers know, I am a life-long Democrat. The part of the party to which I was attached was the oldest part, but it has largely ceased to exist in the current generation. It was Jefferson's part, in other words, and Jackson's; lately it was Sam Nunn's and Zell Miller's. Jim Webb (war hero Marine, former Senator, former Secretary of the Navy, former Assistant Secretary of Defense, diplomat, scholar, author) made a run at the nomination in 2016 and failed, to the sorrow of the nation whether it knows it or not. His departure from the field led us into the contest in which our options were Clinton and, well, you know the rest.
At this time the Democratic contest has narrowed to Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, with the other candidates seeming to be also-rans. I could hardly agree less with Bernie Sanders on public policy or political philosophy. Nevertheless, he is the better man.
He is the better man because he is a man of his convictions; Biden, as far as I can tell, has no lasting ones. Bernie was arrested with the Civil Rights marchers in the 1960s, visited with the Soviets on his honeymoon, and has been a self-declared Socialist since the era when most Americans viewed that as a synonym for both "Communist" and "Satanist." Bernie really believes what he claims to believe.
You may not be impressed by his convictions insofar as you think that the convictions are bad, since it will reliably mean that he will attempt bad things. That is a strategic error. Even if you are unalterably opposed to his convictions, an enemy of conviction is to be preferred. A man of conviction can be predicted; on the principle of 'know thy enemy as thyself,' per Sun Tzu, he is the better choice of an opponent.
But also, he is the better man because he does not seem to despise anyone. Jim Webb and he became friends, and supported each other at the first debate in 2016. Bernie took fire in that debate and elsewhere for being willing to avoid gun control; he said, rightly, that coming from Vermont he had to respect the wishes of the rural population. That sentiment will serve him and the nation well should he happen to be elected.
Finally, he is the right man to lead the Democratic field in 2020 because he is the purest advocate for their animating vision. They need to know now whether or not that vision can in fact take root in America; we all need to know it. The answer to that question will determine a very great deal of future history.
For all of these reasons, then, I endorse Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.
At this time the Democratic contest has narrowed to Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, with the other candidates seeming to be also-rans. I could hardly agree less with Bernie Sanders on public policy or political philosophy. Nevertheless, he is the better man.
He is the better man because he is a man of his convictions; Biden, as far as I can tell, has no lasting ones. Bernie was arrested with the Civil Rights marchers in the 1960s, visited with the Soviets on his honeymoon, and has been a self-declared Socialist since the era when most Americans viewed that as a synonym for both "Communist" and "Satanist." Bernie really believes what he claims to believe.
You may not be impressed by his convictions insofar as you think that the convictions are bad, since it will reliably mean that he will attempt bad things. That is a strategic error. Even if you are unalterably opposed to his convictions, an enemy of conviction is to be preferred. A man of conviction can be predicted; on the principle of 'know thy enemy as thyself,' per Sun Tzu, he is the better choice of an opponent.
But also, he is the better man because he does not seem to despise anyone. Jim Webb and he became friends, and supported each other at the first debate in 2016. Bernie took fire in that debate and elsewhere for being willing to avoid gun control; he said, rightly, that coming from Vermont he had to respect the wishes of the rural population. That sentiment will serve him and the nation well should he happen to be elected.
Finally, he is the right man to lead the Democratic field in 2020 because he is the purest advocate for their animating vision. They need to know now whether or not that vision can in fact take root in America; we all need to know it. The answer to that question will determine a very great deal of future history.
For all of these reasons, then, I endorse Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.
Sorting out the front-runners
People are beginning to suggest this week that it's a race between Sanders and Biden to oppose Trump. There are signs the D establishment will pull out all the stops to kneecap Sanders in favor of Biden, the theory being that they're comfortable with Biden's crony capitalism but terrified of Sanders heartfelt (though reckless) anti-capitalism.
Here's how I frame the approach of the three candidates: Biden is a true-blue crony capitalist. Sanders despises the "capitalist" part of that equation, while Trump is at least skeptical of the "crony" part.
To adopt a different spectrum of organization: on a scale of enthusiasm for centralized command-and-control economies, Bernie is all in for control by an enlightened socialist elite, Biden favors control by cronies, and Trump genuinely prefers a more free market with distributed control in the hands of as many ordinary Americans as possible.
Here's how I frame the approach of the three candidates: Biden is a true-blue crony capitalist. Sanders despises the "capitalist" part of that equation, while Trump is at least skeptical of the "crony" part.
To adopt a different spectrum of organization: on a scale of enthusiasm for centralized command-and-control economies, Bernie is all in for control by an enlightened socialist elite, Biden favors control by cronies, and Trump genuinely prefers a more free market with distributed control in the hands of as many ordinary Americans as possible.
To the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns
We attended a Burns Night supper this evening.
Robbie Burns
That’s a haggis, in case you’ve never actually seen one. Note that the supper did not serve a choice of beer or wine or whisky. All three were served together.
To Fight Discrimination, Discrimination
On race and sex, but also national origin.
Wall Street's biggest underwriter of initial public offerings in the U.S. will no longer take a company public in the U.S. and Europe if it lacks a director who is either female or diverse. Asia is not yet included in the firm’s new policy.Soft bigotry of low expectations, that last.
Le quatrième pouvoir, c'est moi
Lots of good links from Maggie's Farm this morning. Here's one about Laura Ingraham's report that the New York Times quashed a story about a White House meeting on the eve of Trump's inauguration, involving Eric Ciaramella and Ukrainian officials, and addressing the problem of Hunter Biden's Burisma connections.
Ingraham asked the NYT why they quashed the story. The answer was, in effect, we did it because it's what we do.
Ingraham asked the NYT why they quashed the story. The answer was, in effect, we did it because it's what we do.
That's me, "fringe thinker"
Somebody better shut me down.
I like the term "anti-establishment conservative content." These days it turns out I get to be conservative and anti-establishment at the same time, a childhood dream fulfilled. This one's good, too:
“YouTube, Reddit and Facebook have allowed fringe thinkers to bypass traditional gatekeepers and reach millions of people directly.”I'm shocked to learn that conservative argument "gets clicks by generating fear and outrage, not by appealing to reason." That would never happen on the left.
I like the term "anti-establishment conservative content." These days it turns out I get to be conservative and anti-establishment at the same time, a childhood dream fulfilled. This one's good, too:
Senior CNN Reporter Oliver Darcy says citizens resist his reporting because they “just won’t digest facts.”You can believe me, because I never lie, and I'm always right!
A monopoly on charity
The usual response by command-and-control monopolists to the anxiety that they'll be outcompeted by the private sector:
The same journalist who wrote the recent Time cover story also authored a book savaging philanthropy as “an elite charade” that does more harm than good, a tool of injustice in a rigged system, a means of suppressing dissent, a way of disguising merciless taking by appearing to give back. He attributes to donors every imaginable motive -- vanity, cynical reputation laundering, undemocratic manipulation, drop-in-the-bucket cheapness -- except altruism and good faith. For these fashionable arguments the work was anointed a “book of the year” by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and NPR.
Other critics make the same arguments. Philanthropic giving is “an undemocratic exercise of power” which should be wielded only by the state, says Stanford’s resident philanthropy academic. Even well-intentioned charitable efforts must be shut down, say the new activists, because they undercut the revenue and authority of the federal government. Powerful interests ranging from elite media to Democrats running for president insist that only government officials should be allowed to improve public welfare and reform society.
Sky Eyes
It is a surprising fact that, if you go up to the right height, roads and human construction become obviously visible though they may be thousands of years old. Though they may, in fact, be completely invisible if you are walking the land, from above you can see clearly where once men scarred the earth.
For example, spy satellites have recently discovered an older city than any on record — a city long forgotten. Robert E. Howard was right.
For example, spy satellites have recently discovered an older city than any on record — a city long forgotten. Robert E. Howard was right.
The buzz
The Bee reports on Schiff anxiety:
"When the Founders wrote that founding document thing, they never imagined there would be electoral outcomes that Democrats did not agree with."
Democrats also said they even have hard evidence that the 2016 election was compromised by Republicans voting for Trump.
That's something you don't hear very often
Something described as a "grinding" facility in NW Houston blew up early this morning, damaging houses in a surprisingly large radius. Two deaths have been reported, apparently from right at the blast site.
Watching the local news coverage, I was struck by three things. First, police and firefighter representatives are completely comfortable switching back and forth between fluent English and Spanish. Second, the warning to potential looters was fierce and completely believable, including the advice to consider what happened to Harvey looters (a 20-year sentence, in one case). Finally, residents were gently encouraged to search their yards and roofs for body parts. That's a first for me.
The blast showed up clearly on weather radar, a signal covering several square miles. Here's a shot from a front-porch security camera that was far enough away to require a couple of seconds for the shock wave to hit.
Watching the local news coverage, I was struck by three things. First, police and firefighter representatives are completely comfortable switching back and forth between fluent English and Spanish. Second, the warning to potential looters was fierce and completely believable, including the advice to consider what happened to Harvey looters (a 20-year sentence, in one case). Finally, residents were gently encouraged to search their yards and roofs for body parts. That's a first for me.
The blast showed up clearly on weather radar, a signal covering several square miles. Here's a shot from a front-porch security camera that was far enough away to require a couple of seconds for the shock wave to hit.
"I dreamed I saw Kurt Schlichter last night...."
Organize!
[T]urn your anger into votes. The gunfascists got into power because far too many of you thought, “Oh, we’ve had Democrats in power in Virginia before and it’s no big deal.” Okay, wrong. The Democrats today are not the Democrats of yesterday.And, as he advises, watch out for wusses in the Republican primaries, too.
Paid your own loans back? You're a chump
PowerLine reports candidate Warren's "Joe the Plumber" moment.
The Hill notes that the man cited his friend who makes more money than he does and, instead of paying off his loans, bought a car and went on expensive vacations.
“I saved my money,” the man said. “He made more than I did. I worked a double shift, worked extra … so you’re laughing at me.”Warren's riposte was devastating:
“No I’m not,” Warren responded.
Iran's Failure
Jim Hanson (formerly "Uncle Jimbo" of BLACKFIVE fame) has a piece on the failure of Iran to extend itself across the Levant. Their strategic situation has become much worse thanks to the Trump administration, even apart from the Suleimani killing.
Hail, RE Howard!
Today was his birthday. Let’s re-up Joel’s essay on his Conan stories as American mythology.
ANTIFA Did Make it Out to the VA March
And they were doing good work there, even. Recognizing a famous Holocaust denier, they challenged him and kept him from blending in and seeming acceptable.
I think it’s nice that we can come together on opposing tyrants like this dude, and that other dude in blackface or the Klan outfit.
I think it’s nice that we can come together on opposing tyrants like this dude, and that other dude in blackface or the Klan outfit.
The Definition of Tyranny
D29 left an interesting article in the comments below. It's an argument that much of what the regulatory state does is beyond unconstitutional, it's anti-constitutional. This is because it undoes the constitutional design of separation of powers, instead concentrating the three functions of government in the hands of unelected agencies like the Federal Trade Commission.
It's worth a read.
It's worth a read.
No More Peaceful Transfers of Power
Rep. Schiff confesses that there will be no acceptance that Trump "fairly" won the election later this year by members of his party.
What's stopping them from nominating someone besides Biden, if this Ukraine stuff is really such a big damage to Biden? There are plenty of other candidates, and no votes have yet been cast. There's no reason any of this Biden/Ukraine stuff should affect the November election at all. Run Bernie instead. Run Tulsi. Heck, run Yang. At least if he's called upon to defend America as President, he knows how to throw a fair axe.
Speaking of Tulsi, be sure to read her complaint suing Hillary Clinton for defamation. I suppose they won't be able to run her in November because of her questionable suicide.
What's stopping them from nominating someone besides Biden, if this Ukraine stuff is really such a big damage to Biden? There are plenty of other candidates, and no votes have yet been cast. There's no reason any of this Biden/Ukraine stuff should affect the November election at all. Run Bernie instead. Run Tulsi. Heck, run Yang. At least if he's called upon to defend America as President, he knows how to throw a fair axe.
Speaking of Tulsi, be sure to read her complaint suing Hillary Clinton for defamation. I suppose they won't be able to run her in November because of her questionable suicide.
Top vs. Bottom
A review.
That exposes Levin’s deep misunderstanding of today’s populism. It is not antinomian, it just wants laws to be made by legislatures, not executives, judges, or (worst of all) unaccountable bureaucrats. It is not mistrustful of all authority, just those authorities that have made themselves unaccountable to the very laws and bylaws they wield against others.
And it is not fundamentally cynical, just distrustful of elites with overgrown senses of entitlement and superiority.
Levin also misunderstands the culture war to which he frequently refers. He views the culture war as an epic struggle between partisans of the Left and Right that has knocked valuable institutions off the rails. Journalism, politics, academia, professional societies, religions: these institutions and others have been “deformed...into the contours of the broader culture war” to their detriment, and ours.
But institutions are not innocent bystanders in this war. They are the warriors. It is political parties, the media, corporations, and universities that have created, expanded, and sustained the culture war against tradition, evolved practice, received wisdom, and common sense. Today’s culture war is less a struggle between Left and Right than a war of Top against Bottom.
From the endless annals of weakly based scientific truisms
Radiation exposure is the worst thing that ever happened, only apparently not really. Wildlife near the truly awful Chernobyl disaster does surprisingly well, as does wildlife near the Fukushima evacuation zone.
A sidenote on the subject of anti-science: the level of public debate on vaccines is discouraging. No wonder we have Michael Mann and Greta Thunberg.
What should we take from all this? That humans are more detrimental to animals' survival than nuclear radiation?Not to mention human abandonment of their own pet animals. And let me put in a word for the devastating impact of human poverty on both wild and domestic animals and, indeed, nature in general. We're focusing on the wrong enemy here, as we so often do.
A sidenote on the subject of anti-science: the level of public debate on vaccines is discouraging. No wonder we have Michael Mann and Greta Thunberg.
Woke schtick?
Now, is this fair? Freddy Gray argues in the Spectator that the super-trendy progressives he encounters in public life turn out to be reasonable people in private interactions--in fact, that they are exploiting a persona for gig income, as an outrageous comic might do.
I have no doubt that there's a lot of this going around, the PC version of televangelist Jim Bakker, no more real than Chewbacca. But is it really true of most coworkers who obsessively share woke memes on social media? Are they only adopting protective coloration to avoid being pecked to death at the office, or do they believe that stuff?
Whether the beliefs are thoroughly examined at held at the deepest level I can't say, but I'd guess people in general--people outside show biz, at least--mean a good bit of what they say. To suggest that they're all faking, and congratulating them for being sensible in their private views, seems more of a gratuitous insult.
I have no doubt that there's a lot of this going around, the PC version of televangelist Jim Bakker, no more real than Chewbacca. But is it really true of most coworkers who obsessively share woke memes on social media? Are they only adopting protective coloration to avoid being pecked to death at the office, or do they believe that stuff?
Whether the beliefs are thoroughly examined at held at the deepest level I can't say, but I'd guess people in general--people outside show biz, at least--mean a good bit of what they say. To suggest that they're all faking, and congratulating them for being sensible in their private views, seems more of a gratuitous insult.
That must have ruffled some feathers
The President's non-impeachment speech yesterday to the Davoisie:
This is not a time for pessimism, this is a time for optimism. Fear and doubt is not a good process...to embrace the possibilities of tomorrow we must reject the perennial profits of doom and their warnings about the apocalypse. They are the heirs of yesterday's foolish fortune tellers...they want to see us do badly, but we won't let that happen. They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the 70s and the end of oil in the 1990s. These alarmists always demand the same thing - absolute power to dominate transform and control every aspect of our lives. We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country or eradicate our liberty. America will always be the proud, strong and unyielding bastion of freedom.
Cowboy Poetics
Colorado's having a Cowboy Poetry festival. The one older lady is singing a tune that was ironic even when Georgia native Johnny Mercer wrote it in the 1930s. It's all about how he's 'an old cowhand' in a world in which that's lost at least its original meaning: a cowboy who never saw a cow, who learned his cowboy songs from the radio, where the old Bar-X is a barbecue.
Roy Rogers made it famous, though, while rescuing all that for the next generation. It was huge in the 1950s, and still going in the 1970s. Time may come again.
Warning Order: Time to Prepare for Burns Night
It's the 25th, which is Saturday.
If you'd like that in less accented English, try this one.
My favorite of his works is, of course, Scots Wha Hae.
It's a terrible movie in so many ways. It knows nothing about the customs or costumes, tactics or weapons; the Battle of Stirling Bridge lacks a bridge, and the Battle of Bannockburn lacks the Bannockburn. They got everything wrong, except the one thing that matters most.
If you'd like that in less accented English, try this one.
My favorite of his works is, of course, Scots Wha Hae.
'Scots, wha hae wi Wallace bled,This is the moment that ends Braveheart, with Robert the Bruce giving an appeal to a poem not yet written.
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led,
Welcome tae yer gory bed,
Or tae victorie.
'Now's the day, an now's the hour:
See the front o battle lour,
See approach proud Edward's power –
Chains and Slaverie.
'Wha will be a traitor knave?
Wha will fill a coward's grave?
Wha sae base as be a slave?
Let him turn an flee.
'Wha, for Scotland's king and law,
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand, or Freeman fa,
Let him on wi me.
'By Oppression's woes and pains,
By your sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be free.
'Lay the proud usurpers low,
Tyrants fall in every foe,
Liberty's in every blow! –
Let us do or dee.
It's a terrible movie in so many ways. It knows nothing about the customs or costumes, tactics or weapons; the Battle of Stirling Bridge lacks a bridge, and the Battle of Bannockburn lacks the Bannockburn. They got everything wrong, except the one thing that matters most.
“Criminal-Like Behavior”?
Don’t give them any ideas, Dershowitz.
I don’t find the argument strong. Treason and bribery aren’t “criminal-like,” they are crimes. The law is too complex and all-entwining as it is. If they’d been patient and careful, they would have found some crime. As their own manager admitted today, however, they were worried it wouldn’t happen before the election.
Congress makes the law. If they didn’t get around to making a law against whatever it is they don’t like, that’s on them. Goodness knows they have made enough other frivolous laws, in addition to the perfectly good ones we inherited.
UPDATE: The Devil you say!
I don’t find the argument strong. Treason and bribery aren’t “criminal-like,” they are crimes. The law is too complex and all-entwining as it is. If they’d been patient and careful, they would have found some crime. As their own manager admitted today, however, they were worried it wouldn’t happen before the election.
Congress makes the law. If they didn’t get around to making a law against whatever it is they don’t like, that’s on them. Goodness knows they have made enough other frivolous laws, in addition to the perfectly good ones we inherited.
UPDATE: The Devil you say!
If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure not to leave anything in your car. "Inside Edition" journalists left bait on back seats with surveillance devices:
The “Inside Edition” crew used its tracker to find the thieves. They confronted the duo as they entered a train station.
* * *
Eventually, the man abandoned the [tracking] speaker. “Inside Edition” then tracked the stolen purse to a garbage can.
But while all of this was going on, thieves broke into the crew’s car and stole the camera equipment. As a result, five million people won’t see either theft, and “Inside Edition” is out thousands of dollars worth of equipment.
San Francisco has a new prosecutor, Chesa Boudin. His parents are murderers and he was raised by the notorious radicals (and criminals) Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
Price Controls: Good or Bad?
Bernie Sanders was just today renewing his call for 'nationwide rent control,' but for some reason it was a negative for Mayor Pete.
Pressed by Times editorial board member Binyamin Appelbaum about his work for a Canadian grocery chain that was fixing bread prices, Buttigieg was defensive in a way he hasn’t been for much of the campaign, uttering a swear (“bullshit”). Appelbaum’s dead-voiced rejoinder—“You worked for a company that was fixing bread prices”—forced Buttigieg to make the distinction that he merely consulted for the company and never, you know, actually fixed the prices.I understand why I think it's a bad idea to fix the prices of bread, exceptis excipiendis, but what's the issue for the New York Times? The price was fixed too high? Above zero?
Good Job, Virginia
Today's "Lobby Day" rally by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, joined by at least ten thousand others, was peaceful and patriotic.
Hopefully the message was received.
UPDATE: BB: Tragedy when no violence in occurs at rally.
Hopefully the message was received.
UPDATE: BB: Tragedy when no violence in occurs at rally.
I hope they've got food-tasters
The Bee is getting a little too close for comfort.
We must look to socialism, where wealth isn't created just to be distributed unevenly, but rather isn't created at all.
Bad Day for Warren
NYT endorses her... and also fourth-tier Klobuchar.
UPDATE: New Republic says it's a 'charade' that was 'undermined' by the dual endorsement. Don't you make things better if you undermine a charade? Apparently not.
UPDATE: New Republic says it's a 'charade' that was 'undermined' by the dual endorsement. Don't you make things better if you undermine a charade? Apparently not.
Tasks for the next generation of biologists
I wish I'd had this guy for a college professor.
I often tout his books, and wish he'd write more of them. He's a very talented popularizer.
I often tout his books, and wish he'd write more of them. He's a very talented popularizer.
Economic raving
Everything would be great if only the government could take over the economy and make it rational:
Last year, the S+P 500 rose by 29%, the NASDAQ by 35%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 22%. Middle-class Americans are increasingly reliant on their 401(k)s and pensions to live comfortably during retirement. Millions of other Americans depend on college-savings funds to help pay for their kids' educations. And even those without a stock portfolio benefit from a vibrant market, which generates profits that are invested in hiring, innovation and salaries while helping move money from unprofitable sectors to more profitable ones.
This chaotic churning of money turns off technocrats. Rather than taking the view that the growing economy is a messy but neutral marketplace where ingenuity and opportunity can create comfort and wealth, they see it as a giant pile of money that should be "invested" in massive, state-mandated social engineering projects. As far as I can tell, both Sanders and Warren are interested in effectively nationalizing large chunks of the health care and energy sectors.
And yet the media continue to cover the Democratic primary debates where such ideas are the currency of the realm as if they were completely normal.
Ouch
Stings:
Northam reminded everyone that Virginia is his state, his choice, and that it's not a state full of American citizens with God-given rights unless he declares it to be so.
He was frightened, however, to learn that Virginians own guns and can defend themselves if threatened by callous governments, unlike unborn babies.
Impersonal warfare
From Daniel McCarthy at the Spectator:
The outrage was hypocritical: drone strikes aerosolize wedding parties full of innocent people on a semi-regular basis, but the minute one takes out a general who had masterminded insurgency operations against US troops in a war zone, Congress suddenly has an attack of conscience. Like impeachment, this reveals more about the real character of the institution than a wise legislator would want known. Killing Soleimani, a man who deserved to die, was more controversial than ‘collateral damage’ in the form of civilian lives lost because Congress does not have the courage to question the underlying morality of the wars and prolonged occupations that are now a permanent feature of American foreign policy. What made Soleimani’s death so objectionable was that it was so unusual — so personal — when our political class likes to believe that war is now a science, to be conducted only as approved by the experts.
Impeachment all the way down
Matthew Continetti thinks this will be the first president to be impeached multiple times, a constant background noise.
Maybe Nancy Pelosi waited to send impeachment to the Senate because she was waiting for her pens to arrive....“Nothing says seriousness and sobriety like handing out souvenirs,” said Mitch McConnell.
Your Vote is Unconstitutional
Originally I posted this as an update to something below, but it's really worthy of its own post. From NBC News, an argument that Trump voters are violating the law and voting for Trump is probably unconstitutional.
Steppe-in Up
Here's about 40 minutes of traditional Mongolian music from the Altai Band. I enjoy this more than The Hu, although "Wolf Totem" and "Yuve Yuve Yu" are on my regular playlist now.
Dalia al-Aqidi
This is quite a video.
She's running against Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is in the Democrat +26 5th District of Minnesota. You might think her appeal to patriotism as herself also a Muslim female refugee might be wise, as Omar is frequently criticized for her open disdain for the culture and nation that took her in and raised her to power. However, you probably wouldn't expect her to tie herself so visibly to the American military, nor to repeatedly praise "my President."
It's an interesting strategy given the terrain. We'll see if it pays off for her. In any case, you should learn her name. My guess is she'll be around.
She's running against Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is in the Democrat +26 5th District of Minnesota. You might think her appeal to patriotism as herself also a Muslim female refugee might be wise, as Omar is frequently criticized for her open disdain for the culture and nation that took her in and raised her to power. However, you probably wouldn't expect her to tie herself so visibly to the American military, nor to repeatedly praise "my President."
It's an interesting strategy given the terrain. We'll see if it pays off for her. In any case, you should learn her name. My guess is she'll be around.
Medieval Metal
So, listening to The Hu on YouTube brings a lot of interesting recommendations. Apocalypse Orchestra was one of them. Not sure what I think, but it seemed appropriate to share here.
Getting It Wrong
Apparently we've been mistaken about the name of a building for thousands of years.
Dutch scholars claim that the name “Parthenon” – popularised in the Roman period - originally belonged to an entirely different building, not the vast stone temple that looms over Athens and attracts millions of tourists a year.It's hard to correct an error that old.
The real Parthenon was in fact an ancient Greek treasury which contained offerings to the goddess Athena, according to the research by Utrecht University.
Today known as the Erechtheion, it is located about 100 yards from the main temple on the Acropolis, the massive rocky escarpment that rises from central Athens.
Rather than being known as the Parthenon, the big temple should be known by its original ancient Greek name, the tongue-twisting Hekatompedon.
So That's How It Is, Eh?
Alan Dershowitz, noted scholar at Harvard Law and civil libertarian, has been demoted to "Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer" by CNBC thanks to his willingness to speak against the impeachment process.
West Virginia Swings for Fences
I read earlier this week that some West Virginia politicians were inviting most of Virginia to secede and join them. (Well, that's how we got West Virginia to start with, actually: it was the one act of secession from the Civil War that was allowed to stand.) Now I see that their legislature is considering a state sanctuary bill that is really pretty aggressive:
A bill introduced in the West Virginia House would set the foundation to create a gun sanctuary state by prohibiting enforcement of past, present and future federal gun control.... The bills include a detailed definition of actions that qualify as “infringement,” including but not limited to:My guess is that the Feds might have let you get away with anything except the refusal to accept taxes.
* taxes and fees on firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition that would have a chilling effect on firearms ownership;
* registration and tracking schemes applied to firearms, firearm accessories or ammunition that would have a chilling effect;
* any act forbidding the possession, ownership, or use or transfer of a firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition by law-abiding citizens;
* any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.
Bach on the Banjo
I'd never thought of it, but it turns out it's a match made in heaven. There are a lot of videos out there of Bach on the Banjo, but these are quite nice- Enjoy.
A Trade Deal with Mexico & Canada
This one is bigger. Axios says it’s a great deal for Democrats and organized labor and a complete rejection of Republican ideas; well, but mostly Democrats voted against it. With the China deal, this is about $2 Trillion in estimated benefit to American workers and farmers.
Interesting times.
Interesting times.
A Trade Deal with China
Some say it’s a watershed, and others that it’s just one phase that leaves the bigger issues unsolved. Still, one would think a deal of such consequence would garner more attention and discussion.
Remain in Mexico
A simple shift in policy made a huge difference at the Mexican border. Only a tiny fraction of "asylum seekers" were being granted asylum; the rest were being allowed to cross the border, fade into the landscape, and never appear at another hearing. President Trump negotiated deals with Mexico and Guatemala to hold the asylum seekers until the U.S. could process their claims. This amounts to a virtual wall that's even more effective in some ways that a physical one: a psychological barrier to crashing the gate and hoping for the best, with the odds overwhelmingly in your favor.
From the beginning, the unstoppable pressure at the border was from people who'd learned that the important thing was not following asylum procedures, but simply getting through physically in any way possible, including putting children at risk. Once they were through, they knew they were highly unlikely ever to have to worry about the asylum rules--or any immigration procedures--again. Not only did that encourage illegal border crossings, it encouraged them in overwhelming floods, for the strategic power of numbers.
Now, arrests at the border are so low that the detention facilities are under capacity, and nearly a thousand border patrol agents who'd been pulled off the border to administer the detention cells have been returned to the border.
Should we grant asylum to more people? Very possibly, but Congress should do it. Kicking down the gate and helplessly watching the incoming flood wasn't working.
From the beginning, the unstoppable pressure at the border was from people who'd learned that the important thing was not following asylum procedures, but simply getting through physically in any way possible, including putting children at risk. Once they were through, they knew they were highly unlikely ever to have to worry about the asylum rules--or any immigration procedures--again. Not only did that encourage illegal border crossings, it encouraged them in overwhelming floods, for the strategic power of numbers.
Now, arrests at the border are so low that the detention facilities are under capacity, and nearly a thousand border patrol agents who'd been pulled off the border to administer the detention cells have been returned to the border.
Should we grant asylum to more people? Very possibly, but Congress should do it. Kicking down the gate and helplessly watching the incoming flood wasn't working.
Sweet Caroline
People who hate the song also hate this moment very, very much.
I bought a motorcycle once from a Neil Diamond impersonator near St. Petersburg. I was incredulous when he told me that’s what he did, but you know what they say: everybody’s grandma retires to Tampa, and St. Pete is where her mother lives.
I bought a motorcycle once from a Neil Diamond impersonator near St. Petersburg. I was incredulous when he told me that’s what he did, but you know what they say: everybody’s grandma retires to Tampa, and St. Pete is where her mother lives.
Good Luck, Mike
Flynn withdraws guilty plea. It’s been obvious for a while he was subject to major prosecutorial misconduct. Plus, he drew fire from the beginning for the same reason Obama hired him for DIA: he called the intelligence community on its misconduct regarding Afghanistan.
For whatever he did do wrong, he’s been more than adequately punished. Also for much he did right.
For whatever he did do wrong, he’s been more than adequately punished. Also for much he did right.
Obviously Correct
Kansas man proposes trial by combat to resolve divorce. In accord with ancient female privilege, he offers to permit his wife to send her lawyer as champion, so that of the two of them only his life would really be at stake.
Her lawyer might consider a new profession, but hey: I’m pretty sure the legal profession would be improved by having more skin in the game!
Her lawyer might consider a new profession, but hey: I’m pretty sure the legal profession would be improved by having more skin in the game!
Quid pro quo
It wasn't just the $1.7 billion in cash on pallets.
In January 2017, Obama greenlighted the shipment of 130 tons of uranium to Iran.
If this all seems unbelievable, it’s because it is—and also because you’re probably still imagining that Obama’s goal was to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. But once you understand the real purpose, these moves become much clearer. To wit: Why did Obama give the regime enough uranium to make 10 nuclear bombs? To pressure the incoming Trump administration to stick with the nuclear deal. If Trump chose to leave the JCPOA, he’d have to deal with the fact that with 130 tons of uranium already on hand Iran had an easier path to the bomb. In effect, the last president handed the Iranians a loaded gun to be pointed at his successor.
Propaganda, For and Against
A study in simple contrasts. I didn't realize Hitler was so well-known in Iran.
A Protest in Iran
The Iranian government painted the US and Israeli flags on one of the streets where the citizenry are protesting that government (this time openly demanding the Ayatollah resign).
The protestors are actively avoiding walking on those flags (I don't speak enough Farsi--which is to say not a single syllable--to understand what they're chanting).
Eric Hines
The protestors are actively avoiding walking on those flags (I don't speak enough Farsi--which is to say not a single syllable--to understand what they're chanting).
Eric Hines
The Rök Stone
Jackson Crawford explains the news that you may have seen this week about an alleged Viking climate prophecy.
What is food?
I have to wonder sometimes what most people think "nutrients" are. This peculiar Guardian article tries to discuss the thorny question whether eating meat is a good nutritional strategy, but can't resist the impulse to quote bizarre statements about what kind of nutrition we might expect to find in fruits and vegetables. Supposedly they've somehow been "drained of 50% of their nutrients" in recent decades. It has something to do with selecting for uniform shape and color, and the resulting loss of vitamins and "electrolytes" (which, as we know, are what plants crave).
If you spend any time reading popular literature about diet strategies (I recommend against this), you'll find people trying to argue that a healthy diet requires eliminating carbs, fats, and proteins. They honestly seem to believe there's some other source of calories, or that calories have become optional in the post-modern world. This is what happens when we forget what famine is and start telling each other, "It doesn't matter what I eat, I still put on weight!"--as if the process were magical.
Soon we will be reduced to blood-letting and cupping to counteract the Man's destruction of our precious bodily nutrients.
If you spend any time reading popular literature about diet strategies (I recommend against this), you'll find people trying to argue that a healthy diet requires eliminating carbs, fats, and proteins. They honestly seem to believe there's some other source of calories, or that calories have become optional in the post-modern world. This is what happens when we forget what famine is and start telling each other, "It doesn't matter what I eat, I still put on weight!"--as if the process were magical.
Soon we will be reduced to blood-letting and cupping to counteract the Man's destruction of our precious bodily nutrients.
Hans Jonas, Call Your Office
Scientists could use some advice from a philosopher this time. Jonas (see first comment) has written great work on what it means for something to ‘be alive’ or not; to be an animal, or not; and how the development of these capacities drives what he thinks of as a rising consciousness. We have also discussed older traditions here.
How would you distinguish “lifelike materials” with these characteristics from “life”? Purely because they were artificially created? What are the downstream consequences of that standard? Why would you assume them to be non-conscious, once they can seek light and food, and self-organize what they eat into themselves?
How would you distinguish “lifelike materials” with these characteristics from “life”? Purely because they were artificially created? What are the downstream consequences of that standard? Why would you assume them to be non-conscious, once they can seek light and food, and self-organize what they eat into themselves?
Credit
Life in Iran must be unimaginably hard right now. I give the Iranian government and people credit for reversing course on their denial of responsibility for the airliner their security forces shot down. Speaking the truth can be deadly at any time, but in that tinderbox it takes tremendous courage.
The other Middle East revolution
As Legal Insurrection says, "while you were focused on Soleimani, Israel became an energy superpower." And Turkey is torqued.
“Let A Hundred Flowers Bloom”
Nancy Pelosi channels Mao.
‘Absolutely total cooperation,’ Pelosi told reporters Friday when asked about the support she’s received from Democrats for withholding the articles. ‘We have 1,000 flowers blossoming beautifully in our caucus.’Given what Mao did to the flowers after they blossomed, if I were one of her caucus I’d be reaching for my Buck knife.
Starting to Get Right in Russia
Russian journals retract hundreds of scientific papers. Sure, it's easy to mock them and talk about all the ways in which they got so wrong; but the point is that they're trying to get right. Are American academics in our mock disciplines -- sociology, say, or political science, or that most popular of all majors psychology -- trying anything similar?
Smiles, tears
Are you wondering why we should care about the New York Times endorsement for president? Jim Geraghty explains the appeal:
Elizabeth Warren was more or less engineered in a laboratory to appeal to the Times editorial board. If she doesn’t get the endorsement, it’s a bad day for her.
And no matter what the editorial actually says, people will read certain meanings into the choice. If the Times endorses Joe Biden, it will be seen as a sign that the Times editorial board doesn’t have faith that the rest of the field can beat Trump. If the Times endorses Buttigieg, it will be seen as a sign that the Times editorial board wants the formula that worked for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — the young, smart, well-spoken rising star. If the Times endorses Bernie Sanders, it will be seen as a sign that the Times editorial board wants to lead the Socialist Revolution from the offices of a skyscraper in midtown Manhattan.
As for me, I hope that the process begins with each candidate first individually pouring his or her heart out, directly to a camera, talking about their hopes and dreams and what they feel they can offer the editors of the Times that the other candidates can’t. I hope they say what the endorsement means to them, and how it could be the start of something life-changing and unforgettable. I want to see an edited montage of each candidate talking with the editors, hopefully showcasing a wide range of moments showcasing their entire personality — impassioned, laughing, solemn. Then I want all of the candidates to come out in a group, dressed in their finest, and then deputy editor Kathleen Kingsbury comes out with a single rose, and they sort this out like on ABC’s The Bachelor — lots of heated competition, crying, and broken hearts.
When gentrification isn't the worst threat
A Guardian article moans that San Francisco residents don't have gentrification to kick around any more. Instead they have something more like Detroit.
In 2017, about one in every eight storefronts here was empty, and more businesses seem to have vacated since then. The diner was first to go: in 2015 rent suddenly went up, the diner’s owner refused to pay, and Sparky’s was no more. Our usual ideas about gentrification suggest neighborhood standbys get replaced by fancy boutiques and brunch-centric eateries. Instead, after Sparky’s came … nothing. Elsewhere, too, long-term leases timed out, rents increased, and the old neighborhood hangouts disappeared. Aardvark Books, which stood on Church Street for nearly 40 years, until 2018, is now a hollow storefront.The culprit? If you guessed the insane public policy common to deep-blue bastions like San Francisco and Detroit, the Guardian assures you you are mistaken. It's actually capitalism's fault.
Enter the Stone Age
What I find interesting about this claim is that, if it’s right, survival plays no apparent role in the change. In this way it is more like Chesterton’s view of cultural evolution — that the sacred comes first, and alters our physical culture — than like the standard account of natural selection as driven by survival. It’s compatible with a random change that may or may not prove to survive if it doesn’t add to survivability, though; except that it isn’t ‘random’ in the sense of mutations. It is a thing they somehow decided to do together, in a socially-specific way.
UPDATE: This is the passage I was thinking of, from Orthodoxy; Chesterton was talking about social contract theory rather than evolution, but the idea that the sacred came first holds in spite of the move from critiquing the one theory to the other.
UPDATE: This is the passage I was thinking of, from Orthodoxy; Chesterton was talking about social contract theory rather than evolution, but the idea that the sacred came first holds in spite of the move from critiquing the one theory to the other.
The eighteenth-century theories of the social contract have beenNow we do not know how this will turn out, and it may take longer than any of us are around to find out. We can readily imagine, though -- with Robert E. Howard as much as with Chesterton, as Howard describes this occurring over and over in his Conan stories -- these apes on the road to a rise to civilization, having found the necessary first step.
exposed to much clumsy criticism in our time; in so far as they meant
that there is at the back of all historic government an idea of
content and co-operation, they were demonstrably right. But they really
were wrong, in so far as they suggested that men had ever aimed at
order or ethics directly by a conscious exchange of interests.
Morality did not begin by one man saying to another, "I will not hit you
if you do not hit me"; there is no trace of such a transaction.
There IS a trace of both men having said, "We must not hit each other
in the holy place." They gained their morality by guarding their religion.
They did not cultivate courage. They fought for the shrine, and found
they had become courageous. They did not cultivate cleanliness.
They purified themselves for the altar, and found that they were clean.
Harsh but fair
Speaking of the Tim Cook of terror--the best shorthand I've heard in a long time for second-rate pseudolegacies--here is Kurt Schlichter's assessment of the Democrat presidential field. He thinks the nod definitely goes to Biden, but is less sure of the VP slot.
[M]aybe Biden will pick him for VP – if so, I’ve got $10 that says Smart Joe will get caught on tape at a rally explaining to disappointed feminists that, “Well, a gay guy counts as a woman, right?” You know that will totally happen.
Understudies
John Podhoretz ponders whether killing Soleimani is a fundamental change, or only the usual opportunity for a leadership rotation in terrorist circles. He comes down on the side of change:
As Podhoretz argues, deterrence isn't peace, and deterred enemies aren't friends. By the same token, enemies don't become friends when you cozy up to them and offer appeasement. Trump seems adept at using the carrot and the stick, which makes his foreign policy more coherent than the usual run of American deep-thinkers.
It may be true that if you kill one terrorist mastermind, another will rise in his place. But the fact is that masterminds like Soleimani do not grow on trees. If you think of him as the Steve Jobs of state-sponsored terror, then it seems plausible to likely that he will be followed by a less creative type — the Tim Cook of terror, say.I hope he's right. There's no doubt Soleimani had stiff competition in the eel-brain department, but as an effective leader maybe not.
As Podhoretz argues, deterrence isn't peace, and deterred enemies aren't friends. By the same token, enemies don't become friends when you cozy up to them and offer appeasement. Trump seems adept at using the carrot and the stick, which makes his foreign policy more coherent than the usual run of American deep-thinkers.
Thinking Too Much of Ourselves
A criticism of criticism. The fellow is from Brookings, which is institutionally suspect on Middle Eastern issues because it receives vast funding from Qatar; however, I see little wrong with the major point he's making on this occasion.
Maybe Major General Solemani was higher profile than most of Obama's victims -- though he was a Major General out of uniform, operating in a foreign country while under UN travel sanctions and US State and Treasury designation as the terrorist head of a terrorist organization that is itself a subset of a terrorist organization. He wasn't a higher profile victim than Qaddafi, though; and President Trump didn't overthrow a whole country just to get at him.
Speaking of which, Turkey is apparently moving forces into Libya to try to quell the remaining fires of the civil war Obama kicked off nine years ago. They have, of course, chosen to back the wrong side; but it's also the side Obama had picked, quite a few of whom were al Qaeda affiliates in the grand days of that movement. The Trump administration doesn't seem to care about Libya one way or the other, and will likely let the Turks decide the issue if they are able. Trump, at least, doesn't share the opinion that America is indispensable to these conflicts.
Those who said there will be war may not have realized there already was war.... Iran... may find new ways to escalate, but Iran had already been escalating. The regime of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, with its Iranian patrons, led by Soleimani, has been waging a brutal assault on Syrians for more than eight years. War, in short, has been happening—costing hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians their lives—since long before Donald Trump ordered the drone strike against Soleimani.Actually, his minor point is pretty good too.
In the aftermath of the strike, critics of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, particularly on the left, have described the move as one more rash American intervention that’s sure to further destabilize the region. Yet this formulation gives U.S. policy, for all its flaws, too much credit. Not everything is America’s fault; others are sometimes to blame; and no one, not even the weaker parties, are devoid of agency or freed of responsibility. The burden of de-escalation does not fall entirely on the United States; Iran, too, can choose to de-escalate.
There is also the problem of Trump himself. Because killing Soleimani was very much his decision—reflecting the impulsiveness and disarray a decision by him implies—it seems fair to assume that one’s view of the president will affect how one interprets the fallout from Soleimani’s killing. Correcting for subconscious bias isn’t easy, but at the very least, observers should be aware of the Trump effect.Well, indeed. One might begin trying to correct for this particular one by examining how one responded to President Obama's very regular targeted killings -- or whether you felt like the War Powers Act was being openly flaunted by Team Obama in its decision to overthrow Libya for no apparent reason.
Maybe Major General Solemani was higher profile than most of Obama's victims -- though he was a Major General out of uniform, operating in a foreign country while under UN travel sanctions and US State and Treasury designation as the terrorist head of a terrorist organization that is itself a subset of a terrorist organization. He wasn't a higher profile victim than Qaddafi, though; and President Trump didn't overthrow a whole country just to get at him.
Speaking of which, Turkey is apparently moving forces into Libya to try to quell the remaining fires of the civil war Obama kicked off nine years ago. They have, of course, chosen to back the wrong side; but it's also the side Obama had picked, quite a few of whom were al Qaeda affiliates in the grand days of that movement. The Trump administration doesn't seem to care about Libya one way or the other, and will likely let the Turks decide the issue if they are able. Trump, at least, doesn't share the opinion that America is indispensable to these conflicts.
Stuck in the last war
Jim Geraghty chronicles the state of the MSM reportage on who exactly it was that bombed the Saudi oil facilities several months ago. The early reporting included hostile suspicion of all Trump administration attempts to pin the responsibility on Iran. That went on for several months, until a magically quiet revolution reversed the story without any acknowledgement that the early reports were flat wrong.
Yesterday, Reuters: “Yemen’s Houthi group did not launch an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities in September, according to a confidential report by U.N. sanctions monitors seen by Reuters on Wednesday, bolstering a U.S. accusation that Iran was responsible.”
Also yesterday, a New York Times article declared: “with tensions between the United States and Iran at the highest level in four decades, the unexpected success of the September strike on the Saudi oil facilities is a stark reminder that Tehran has an array of stealthier weapons in its arsenal that could pose far greater threats if the hostilities escalate.”
Somewhere along the line, the American national news media either decided or realized that Secretary Pompeo and the U.S. government were not lying, were not making this up, and were not using shoddy intelligence to hype a threat from an authoritarian Middle Eastern regime. The declaration that Iran was responsible stopped being controversial, disputed, or unproven. It just became a fact, one that can be cited in an article about how dangerous the current moment is and the high risks of the president’s actions.
This is all leftover guilt about the Iraq War, isn’t it? So many of the people in foreign affairs journalism imbibed the “Bush lied us into war” rhetoric so deeply that they’ve concluded that American officials must be treated with way more skepticism than officials in secretive and serially dishonest authoritarian regimes. They say generals are always fighting the last war; apparently journalists are always covering the last one, too.
On Marriage
Or at least, on my marriage. Yesterday was a special day for me. January 7th wasn't a birthday, or anniversary, or indeed any particular date of note in and of itself. But January 7th, 2020 marked the day where I had been married to my wife longer than I had ever been single. Yes, I counted.
And while on one hand it represents just a statistical oddity, and was marked by no great fanfare, it was nonetheless important to me. And it struck me as the sort of thing that Cass would have marked on VC back in the day. And moreso, she would have some valuable insight into the institution of marriage, or time, or the relationship between men and women that would have sparked an interesting discussion. As I said, I've been reading my way through the archives (currently I'm on September of 2013), and I decided that since she's not posting about this sort of thing at the moment, I'll do my best to channel the inner Cassandra and find something interesting to observe. I can't promise I'll be successful.
And while on one hand it represents just a statistical oddity, and was marked by no great fanfare, it was nonetheless important to me. And it struck me as the sort of thing that Cass would have marked on VC back in the day. And moreso, she would have some valuable insight into the institution of marriage, or time, or the relationship between men and women that would have sparked an interesting discussion. As I said, I've been reading my way through the archives (currently I'm on September of 2013), and I decided that since she's not posting about this sort of thing at the moment, I'll do my best to channel the inner Cassandra and find something interesting to observe. I can't promise I'll be successful.
Official fictions
I am as usual very confused about international military strategy; the American people can count themselves lucky that I'm not their chief executive. Still, I've been impressed with Lee Smith's reporting on the appalling Russian collusion story to have some confidence in his ability to sift through propaganda and outright lies, so I thought I'd give his Iranian analysis a try:
The Iranian revolution was evidence to our ruling class of how much their fathers had gotten wrong—and thus proof of their own virtue.
* * *
U.S. policymakers preferred the fiction that Hezbollah was a homegrown product because it supported both their emotional needs and their policy goals: The West had earned the righteous anger of the natives, and there was nothing to be done except atone by way of offering human sacrifices.
* * *
Six U.S. administrations were complicit in turning Iran into a regional power. In that context, the Obama administration’s decision to flood Iranian war chests with cash and recognize its right to build a nuclear bomb was the logical culmination of the rot eating away at the Beltway for four decades. It was perhaps to be expected that an outsider who often doesn’t know when to keep quiet, and can’t stay off Twitter, would be the one to sing out like the boy in the fairy tale. It’s true, the emperor has no clothes. The rules have changed but that doesn’t mean the Iranians won’t be looking for revenge.
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