Shakespearean Carols

Not ready for Christmas music yet, but hearing it at every place you go? Just memorize a few of these, and you can sing along until Advent is over and the Christmas season truly upon us.

"The Rare Geppetto Checkmark"

The Washington Post's fact checker, which typically issues one to four Pinocchio marks for political lies and distortions, finds a claim it has no reason to dispute.

What does it matter WHO he supports?

So this story amused me to no end.  Not because the incident is funny, but because of the comments.

Now I know, I know... never read the comments.  But I did this time on a hunch, and that hunch paid off.  So in the story we're presented with a clearly drunk 19 year old who attacks a Muslim woman, yelling racial epithets and such, and when they investigate his social media, they find he is a Bernie Sanders supporter, who has some pretty harsh things to say about people who are anti-LGBT and the Confederate flag.  So in the comments, there's a ton of "What does this have to do with Bernie?"  And "This is just awful that they're trying to say this reflects on Bernie Sanders!"

But now, just imagine for half a second that he was a Trump supporter.  Do you not think (even a little) that this would have made national news?  But I guess it's a nothing story, huh?  Just some random crazy person with no broader implications than that.  Move along.

'It's Not Me, It's You'

Headline: "Modest ISIS Leader Credits Promotion Entirely to Drone Strikes."

From America's finest news source, of course.

Stalking Horse

Isn't it strange how the "no Muslims at all, even US citizens" controversy broke right when it would be most helpful to President Obama's narrative of how Americans are horrid haters of Islam?

Turns out, it's not the first time he's rescued the Democratic narrative at a critical moment. Suspicious, maybe.

For a long time I thought he was just a Clinton Stalking Horse. Now I'm not so sure, but it remains a workable hypothesis.

Not "Viking Age," But Still Pretty Nordic

A recipe for roast duck and caramelized potatoes that are apparently a major dish in Denmark. Potatoes are of course a New World phenomenon, but I suppose the Vikings can claim a connection there (more the Norwegians via Iceland than the Danes, though).

In any event, this aspect of the recipe gives it some legitimate Viking cred:

"Then add the potatoes, holding a pot lid as a shield to prevent the hot caramel from spattering onto you..."

Very festive, and appropriate for a holiday feast in the Mead-Hall.

Speaking of which, I started a batch of Christmas mead not long ago. The yeast is making merry in big steel cauldron even now.

What?

Headline: "Muslims have more DNC delegates than Montana, Utah and Oklahoma put together."

I assume that they actually are delegates from states, but still. Muslims are less than 2% of the population, but they've apparently become deeply involved in the DNC.

Finding a Balance

So, on the one side is the guy who just won't say the words "radical Islam." On the other, the guy who wants to refuse entry to the United States to all Muslims, period -- even US citizens.

In a way replacing the one guy with the other would represent a kind of balance, but is it possible that we could find another way?

Unpossible!

This story is perfect on so many levels. A mass shooting stopped by a concealed carry permit holder. Who was an Uber driver. In Chicago.

Pearl Harbor Day

We have problems of our own this year, but it is important not to forget our ancestors in the American project. They came through hard things, too.

The No-Fly List

If you are unsure about what exactly can cause you to end up on the no-fly list, there's an article on the subject here with links to the official government document. If you just want to read a pithy summary of the problems, one is here.

Of course, that's the standard for when the President is trying to get Islamic terrorists to stay off airplanes. Once the power expands to keeping his political enemies unarmed, I assume that an already-terrible standard will become unimaginably worse.

Also, you have to give up your data to the State. For security. As someone whose every secret was hacked in the OPM data theft, I find that hilarious. But of course, it's not my security they care about.

Medieval Gingerbread

Yes, you can make it.

Before you make this recipe, listen up. This does NOT taste like modern gingerbread. The texture is very different, and it is way spicier.

Duly noted.

What A Deal

In response to the President's speech, the NRA has dropped the price of a lifetime membership from a grand to less than a third of that -- just $300. As a reader of the Hall you may prefer organizations like Gun Owners of America, which is certainly understandable as they take a more hard-core line. Still, it's something to consider if you don't want to invest in a new rifle. Guns & ammo sales will be the best rebuke, but right behind that would be a major increase in NRA numbers.

We Just Shot That Down Yesterday

The President of the United States:

To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semiautomatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.

Oh, it's a matter of national security, is it? I guess we should just yield up our Constitutional rights just because you suspect us, then.

If you had any idea what your office was for, you'd resign just for having said that. Congress ought to impeach you for having said it, as it is at least malfeasance, a recognizable misdemeanor directly relevant to the performance of your duties. The only reason not to do so is that it would excite an ignorant public too much. The only reason not to impeach you, in other words, is that it isn't worth the trouble.

I think I'll go buy an AR-15. I've never had one. The only rifles I've ever owned have been old lever-action cowboy guns. I qualified expert on the M4 carbine, though. Why shouldn't I have one?

Well, stop me if you can. If anyone wants to contribute, to be a part of the Grim's Hall AR-15, let me know. We might build a really nice one.

Friars Are A Late Innovation

Innovation isn't always bad -- consider the humble Friar. Or the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T. Or the Harley Panhead... but I digress.

The word “friar” is from fraire (from the Middle Ages — the fraire Provençal), which means “brother.” The word arose with the creation of the mendicant (traveling/preaching) orders in the late Middle Ages, most predominantly by Saint Francis (Franciscans) of Assisi and Saint Dominic (Order of Preachers, or “Dominicans”). These “new religious” were no longer tied to monasteries and convents but went out among the people, to preach and to pray, to educate and to serve the sick.

We owe a lot to the mendicant orders. Sir Walter Scott explains:

1.
I’ll give thee, good fellow, a twelvemonth or twain,
To search Europe through, from Byzantium to Spain;
But ne’er shall you find, should you search till you tire,
So happy a man as the Barefooted Friar.

2.
Your knight for his lady pricks forth in career,
And is brought home at even-song prick’d through with a spear;
I confess him in haste—for his lady desires
No comfort on earth save the Barefooted Friar’s.

3.
Your monarch?—Pshaw! many a prince has been known
To barter his robes for our cowl and our gown,
But which of us e’er felt the idle desire
To exchange for a crown the grey hood of a Friar!

4.
The Friar has walk’d out, and where’er he has gone,
The land and its fatness is mark’d for his own;
He can roam where he lists, he can stop when he tires,
For every man’s house is the Barefooted Friar’s.

5.
He’s expected at noon, and no wight till he comes
May profane the great chair, or the porridge of plums
For the best of the cheer, and the seat by the fire,
Is the undenied right of the Barefooted Friar.

6.
He’s expected at night, and the pasty’s made hot,
They broach the brown ale, and they fill the black pot,
And the goodwife would wish the goodman in the mire,
Ere he lack’d a soft pillow, the Barefooted Friar.

7.
Long flourish the sandal, the cord, and the cope,
The dread of the devil and trust of the Pope;
For to gather life’s roses, unscathed by the briar,
Is granted alone to the Barefooted Friar.

Dear President Obama: Get Used To Losing

The country has moved beyond you. You're so removed from the reality of this nation that your words are empty. You bring these proposals to the people a day after the Senate rejected them? Had they passed the Senate, they'd have died in the House; had they passed Congress, they'd have died in the courts. The Friday before last, Americans bought enough new guns to equip the Marine Corps. You aren't even connected to the world we live in.

Islamophobia? We should always want to be fair to anyone, as a simple matter of justice. May we not ask, though, whether Islam doesn't embrace a view of women that is incompatible with the American view? If it is not, why not? Is it bigotry to ask about the concept of jihad, or the problematic parts of the Koran? We might thereby come to an Islam we could accept, but perhaps only thereby. Why ban the road that might lead to a compromise we could accept? Do you really think the American people are motivated, this week of recent weeks, by a desire not to ask compromises of Islam?

You live in a distant world. The chief peril now is not that you might win, but that the reaction to you will elect Donald Trump. Your last year is going to be embarrassing to you. I only hope it does not do too much damage to the nation you pretend to lead.

Another Ball Cartoon

Apparently this cartoonist is not an "anarchist" exactly, but something called a "minarchist."

Minarchism (also known as minimal statism) is a political philosophy and a form of libertarianism. It is variously defined by sources. In the strictest sense, it holds that states ought to exist (as opposed to anarchy), that their only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud, and that the only legitimate governmental institutions are the military, police, and courts. In the broadest sense, it also includes fire departments, prisons, the executive, and legislatures as legitimate government functions. Such states are generally called night-watchman states.

That actually sounds pretty plausible. I tend to favor the Jeffersonian/Jacksonian approach that goes further, toward a state that uses its mechanisms to preference situations in which individuals own their own means of production, i.e., yeoman farmers or small businesses. I agree with their analysis, which is Aristotelian, that such a state avoids the chief problems of human politics.

However, I will state that this alternative doesn't sound so bad. Nozick is cited as a source for it, though, and he walked back his commitment to these principles later in life. I gather he felt that such a state didn't provide enough to ensure the protection of genuinely common goods, e.g., air quality or public education.

The NRA Is Coming Out Swinging This Time

The NRA is fairly credible on this point, as they were strong supporters of "Project Exile," which called for felons with guns to be prosecuted in Federal courts under a 1968 law that established a mandatory five year -- and up to ten year -- sentence in Federal prison for gun criminals. It's been their approach for decades: law-abiding citizens should have the full protections of the Second Amendment, but those who abuse their rights by committing crimes should be harshly punished. In that way, the nation has the benefits of the Second Amendment in terms of its protection against political tyranny and the protection of individuals and families against crimes.

These Federal cases are still sometimes brought -- I'm aware of a case in Tennessee right now involving a Federal prosecution on these grounds -- but he's right to say that the law could be applied very sweepingly to those areas in which most violent crime in America occurs. It doesn't have to be Federal police who make the arrest: it could be applied to everyone arrested who turned out to have a felony conviction and a gun. Even without raids or sweeps, you could pull a lot of these people off the streets for five years to a decade in the normal course of business.

Painting the death toll in the President's home town, which the President has the power to stop, is a fairly brutal rhetorical move. I don't mean to suggest that it is unfair. It just darkly underlines how hypocritical the President is on this issue of 'stopping the gun violence in our streets.' He has the tools. The NRA, far from being an opponent, has long supported the robust exercise of these laws. The ball is in his court, but he does nothing.

A Funny Review

I was ordering a copy of Orwell's Animal Farm, and saw this review:

From Library Journal

This 50th-anniversary commemorative edition of Orwell's masterpiece is lavishly illustrated by Ralph Steadman. In addition, it contains Orwell's proposed introduction to the English-language version as well as his preface to the Ukrainian text. Though all editions of Animal Farm are equal, this one is more equal than others.

Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For Cassandra