If you'd written a movie in which the terrorist attempting to assassinate government officials was an Elvis impersonator, you'd have been accused of some heavy-handed, improbable stuff.
Even Quentin Tarantino only went as far as this (Tarantino warning for language and violence):
Oh, well. Here's a lighter video on topic.
Baseball: 65-0 in Three Innings
Apparently it's possible to score 65 runs in three innings, if they last so long that the game has to be called on account of encroaching darkness (because your team can't get any outs!).
I understand this is a video feed from the game:
I understand this is a video feed from the game:
Bad explosion
A fertilizer plant has blown up in Waco. No reason to suggest it was deliberate, but it's very bad--many square blocks "leveled."
The Neuro
That's a New Euro, or perhaps a Northern Euro. They're going to need one soon.
In "The Wreck of the Euro" (hey, that would make a good song), Walter Russell Mead points out:
H/t Maggie's Farm.
In "The Wreck of the Euro" (hey, that would make a good song), Walter Russell Mead points out:
Politicians in Europe thought they were living in a post-historical period in which mistakes didn’t really matter all that much.But mistakes that involve lying to ourselves by diddling a currency always matter eventually. It's very much like Richard Feynman's caution in a different context:
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.A currency has many functions, but its primary one is a credible promise. Lying destroys its value, though the harm sometimes is delayed until enough people are disillusioned.
H/t Maggie's Farm.
Edie Brickell & Steve Martin Collaborate
NPR has a report about, as well as an opportunity to listen to, a new album by the above-named artists. Steve Martin is actually quite a banjo player, as we have known since he turned up to play with Earl Skruggs. Not just anyone could have pulled that off!
As for Edie Brikell, I hadn't thought of her in years. I do remember her, though.
If that is the frame, it sounds like an odd pairing. I've only listened to the first track so far, but it appears they've made it work surprisingly well. I'm always surprised to hear someone from Hollywood reference the South in their songs in a way that shows a kind of feel for the place.
As for Edie Brikell, I hadn't thought of her in years. I do remember her, though.
If that is the frame, it sounds like an odd pairing. I've only listened to the first track so far, but it appears they've made it work surprisingly well. I'm always surprised to hear someone from Hollywood reference the South in their songs in a way that shows a kind of feel for the place.
Emails, I Get Emails
I don't know how I get on so many email lists. I try and try to keep off them, but somehow I keep getting more and more emails from political action groups of all kinds. In a way it's been educational. You learn that all sides to our present conflict tend to think of their supporters as suckers... er, as easily swayed by conspiracy theories. They must be highly effective to be so common as political rhetoric.
Once in a while, though, a real conspiracy is uncovered!
Once in a while, though, a real conspiracy is uncovered!
Is Pope Francis Laying The Groundwork For A One World Religion?It turns out, he really is.
States are Better, Red States Better Still
The most interesting thing here isn't the one showing the abysmal rating for the Federal government, which has more than deserved the current disgust of the American people. It's the state rating charts.
Compare the numbers of satisfied and unsatisfied Democrats living in states controlled by Republican legislatures and governors, and vice versa. It appears clear that satisfaction is higher under Republican leadership right now -- not surprising given that Republican-led states are outperforming others in improving the incomes of their citizens as well as being a good place to start a business.
State budgets in Red states are also beginning to get under control, due to large cuts in public sector payrolls -- which, given that means a reduction of public-sector jobs, increases the degree of admiration you might have for the fact that these states have also been increasing citizens' incomes. I'm not sure that is warranted, though, because Red States also show higher food-stamp usage, which may mean that they are pushing off some of their budgetary concerns onto the Federal taxpayers. Still, insofar as they can foster higher private sector job growth, finding jobs for those formerly-public-sector workers, there's hope that such food stamp usage is merely a symptom of necessary budget cuts, and not a permanent feature of these state-level economies.
Compare the numbers of satisfied and unsatisfied Democrats living in states controlled by Republican legislatures and governors, and vice versa. It appears clear that satisfaction is higher under Republican leadership right now -- not surprising given that Republican-led states are outperforming others in improving the incomes of their citizens as well as being a good place to start a business.
State budgets in Red states are also beginning to get under control, due to large cuts in public sector payrolls -- which, given that means a reduction of public-sector jobs, increases the degree of admiration you might have for the fact that these states have also been increasing citizens' incomes. I'm not sure that is warranted, though, because Red States also show higher food-stamp usage, which may mean that they are pushing off some of their budgetary concerns onto the Federal taxpayers. Still, insofar as they can foster higher private sector job growth, finding jobs for those formerly-public-sector workers, there's hope that such food stamp usage is merely a symptom of necessary budget cuts, and not a permanent feature of these state-level economies.
Things journalists should know
The worm is turning:
My own informal survey yielded a 98% consensus in favor of my views. So I have that going for me.
If climate scientists were credit-rating agencies, climate sensitivity would be on negative watch."Things journalists should know," according to this article, include the useful couplet:
(1) The scary scenarios are based on models; and
(2) The models don't work.Useful fact number three is that the "97%" consensus figure often thrown out in AGW debate resulted from an online survey of 10,257 earth scientists conducted by two researchers, to which 3,146 scientists replied, of which the responses of 77 were considered valid for inclusion.
My own informal survey yielded a 98% consensus in favor of my views. So I have that going for me.
Steyn on Baroness Thatcher
I thought this was a particularly excellent bit from Mr. Steyn's remarks:
On the other hand, then Dr. Hanson has written movingly about how California had once been like Ms. Thatcher's England, and how it is dying from a refusal to maintain the dams and innovations that allowed the state to flourish from Mexico to its northern border. In the Dustbowl regions, man destroyed and man restored, but not by allowing nature to resume: rather, by learning to plant trees in such a way as to allow for farming without the loss of the topsoil. In California today as in the Dustbowl of old, the failure to maintain the gardens leads to a loss of beauty and strength.
The English have a wilderness tradition too, of course. Dr. Corrine J. Saunders wrote an excellent book on the forest in Medieval romance, which she convincingly links to the Biblical desert tradition: the Wild as a place of hermitage, of testing and spiritual renewal. That is also a good thing, and a necessary thing. But perhaps they understood gardens better than we do.
Some years ago, I found myself standing next to her at dusk in the window of a country house in the English East Midlands, not far from where she grew up. We stared through the lead diamond mullions at a perfect scene of ancient rural tranquility — lawns, the “ha-ha” (an English horticultural innovation), and the fields and hedgerows beyond, looking much as it would have done half a millennium earlier. Mrs. T asked me about my corner of New Hampshire (90 percent wooded and semi-wilderness) and then said that what she loved about the English countryside was that man had improved on nature: “England’s green and pleasant land” looked better because the English had been there. For anyone with a sense of history’s sweep, the strike-ridden socialist basket case of the British Seventies was not an economic downturn but a stain on national honor.Americans have a different attitude about this, but possibly because we have failed to improve on nature in so many cases. Georgia was entirely stripped of its forests during the post-Civil War era by the colonial cotton monoculture that was imposed upon it by the banks and politicians who became so important in that era. To have gotten back the 'wooded and semi-wilderness' is an achievement, one that has restored a beauty long lost. From John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt to our love of National Forests and Wilderness areas, in many cases we tend to think of nature as being incapable of improvement by human hands.
On the other hand, then Dr. Hanson has written movingly about how California had once been like Ms. Thatcher's England, and how it is dying from a refusal to maintain the dams and innovations that allowed the state to flourish from Mexico to its northern border. In the Dustbowl regions, man destroyed and man restored, but not by allowing nature to resume: rather, by learning to plant trees in such a way as to allow for farming without the loss of the topsoil. In California today as in the Dustbowl of old, the failure to maintain the gardens leads to a loss of beauty and strength.
The English have a wilderness tradition too, of course. Dr. Corrine J. Saunders wrote an excellent book on the forest in Medieval romance, which she convincingly links to the Biblical desert tradition: the Wild as a place of hermitage, of testing and spiritual renewal. That is also a good thing, and a necessary thing. But perhaps they understood gardens better than we do.
Our Skools
How parents put up with public schools is completely beyond me. I would be tearing my hair out. I hope a lot of parents are getting used to pushing back hard and often.
Wow
Both of my Senators just voted against the NRA. I don't think that's ever happened before.
Of course, it was just to open debate, not to pass a final law. If the Senators come back in the fold before the law passes, the NRA probably comes out ahead because ultimately-loyal votes look less like pets. Still, I'm surprised to see the open defiance by both of Georgia's Senators.
I suppose that opens up a possible slot to the right of Saxby Chambliss. Grim for Senate, 2014?
Of course, it was just to open debate, not to pass a final law. If the Senators come back in the fold before the law passes, the NRA probably comes out ahead because ultimately-loyal votes look less like pets. Still, I'm surprised to see the open defiance by both of Georgia's Senators.
I suppose that opens up a possible slot to the right of Saxby Chambliss. Grim for Senate, 2014?
How to create a famine
It's easy. Just try to ensure affordable food for all with doctrinaire collectivist tools. Venezuela is flirting with it:
(1) Concern for the poor.
(2) Price controls.
(3) Supply crash.
(4) Allegations of hoarding.
(5) Doubling down centralized economic control.
(6) Famine.
Where have we seen this before?
During his 14 years as president, Mr. Chávez nationalized swaths of farmland to form collectives, took control of agriculture supplies, and set limits on food prices as part of his socialist project to ensure affordable food for all.Now, to socialists' amazement, the country imports 70% of its food supply and is increasingly exposed to nutritional disaster. The government naturally blames "widespread supermarket shortages on hoarding by businesses who want to create instability and bring down the government."
(1) Concern for the poor.
(2) Price controls.
(3) Supply crash.
(4) Allegations of hoarding.
(5) Doubling down centralized economic control.
(6) Famine.
Where have we seen this before?
The Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows
So, it turns out that the Mantis Shrimp is a pretty impressive creature.
Lars Walker on Annette Funicello
Mr. Walker makes an interesting point.
Through all her career she was never – so far as I’ve been able to tell – involved in a scandal. The bikini movies were a little risque by the standards of the day, but she never did anything that crossed the line. Her image remained wholesome.... The question occurred to me today – what would have happened to her if she’d been born later, and had come to fame in our own time?
That’s not a hard question to answer. She did appear again, in a sense, in the person of Britney Spears. And Lindsey Lohan. And Miley Cyrus.
Why was Annette able to live a life of dignity, while these younger women, born with the “advantage” of a culture that claims to promote the dignity and rights of women, have quickly made public jokes (and dirty ones) of themselves?
Not to say the younger girls didn’t have lots of “help.” Hollywood is certainly a field well-strewn with pitfalls. Money and fame at an early age are dangerous drugs in themselves, even before you get to the pills and powder.
But Hollywood was no convent school in the 1950s, either. Anybody who worked there in those days will tell you the predators were out in force, and there were ample opportunities for partying.
Annette, I think, benefited from Puritanism. She benefited from a double standard. She benefited from repression, and hypocrisy, and all those awful social constraints we despise the Fifties for today.
A girl in Annette’s position, if she wanted to be a “good girl,” actually had social resources available to her. America was in her corner, back then.
Fruit of the Poisoned Tree Redux
So in a completely bizarre series of redirects, I came across this article from 1997 today:
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/08/03/tec_212367.shtml
In it, there is a discussion of the fact that a widely used set of anatomical illustrations came from Nazi sympathetic sources. And there's even the possibility that the artists who created the medical illustrations may have used cadavers of victims of the Nazis. And the question arises, should their use be spurned.
And I was reminded of the "fruit of the poisoned tree" discussion The Hall had previously entertained. But this is slightly more intriguing for me. Before, the discussion was "should we hold the philosophy of a Nazi sympathizer suspect." And the answer seemed to be pretty unanimous that, indeed those ideas are tainted by his Nazism. But, this is less clear cut. Assuming the cadavers used were not victims of Nazi murder, should these anatomical painting be considered (forgive the word) verboten because of their source? Mind you, the accuracy and scientific nature of the paintings are not in question, just the morality of using diagrams painted by Nazis. Now, the discussion changes (but not necessarily the answers, depending on the individual philosophy) if the cadavers used as models were victims of the Nazis. But either way, I find myself intrigued as to the feelings of The Hall on this.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/08/03/tec_212367.shtml
In it, there is a discussion of the fact that a widely used set of anatomical illustrations came from Nazi sympathetic sources. And there's even the possibility that the artists who created the medical illustrations may have used cadavers of victims of the Nazis. And the question arises, should their use be spurned.
And I was reminded of the "fruit of the poisoned tree" discussion The Hall had previously entertained. But this is slightly more intriguing for me. Before, the discussion was "should we hold the philosophy of a Nazi sympathizer suspect." And the answer seemed to be pretty unanimous that, indeed those ideas are tainted by his Nazism. But, this is less clear cut. Assuming the cadavers used were not victims of Nazi murder, should these anatomical painting be considered (forgive the word) verboten because of their source? Mind you, the accuracy and scientific nature of the paintings are not in question, just the morality of using diagrams painted by Nazis. Now, the discussion changes (but not necessarily the answers, depending on the individual philosophy) if the cadavers used as models were victims of the Nazis. But either way, I find myself intrigued as to the feelings of The Hall on this.
So Apparently This Is Racist...
Well, what isn't now?
If anything, it sounds apologetic to me -- on both sides. A worthy start, or something no one should ever dare say?
It's a good question. I'd like to have a similar conversation, and a similar consensus, with my very great friends from the war who happened to be black. We lived together day and night in those days. I wish I knew how to make a country as good as we were, in a foreign land that hated us all equally.
If anything, it sounds apologetic to me -- on both sides. A worthy start, or something no one should ever dare say?
It's a good question. I'd like to have a similar conversation, and a similar consensus, with my very great friends from the war who happened to be black. We lived together day and night in those days. I wish I knew how to make a country as good as we were, in a foreign land that hated us all equally.
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