Past performance is no guarantee of future results, I guess.
Oddly Enough, The Answer Proves to Be "Yes!"
Past performance is no guarantee of future results, I guess.
Odd, I Haven't Heard Much About That
A school shooter in Colorado turns out to be a "juvenile female, transitioning to male." Or, as the UK Metro puts it, a "schoolboy."
Sources told the station that the unnamed boy’s motive went ‘beyond bullying and involved revenge and anger towards others at the school,’ adding ‘that at least one of the suspects was involved in legal and illegal drug use and had been in therapy.’Yes, well, the legal drugs will have been hormone injections -- testosterone, especially. What might be the psychological effects of injecting lots and lots of testosterone into someone who is already unstable enough to feel they need "therapy," and who also uses illegal drugs?
The Harms of Immigration to Migrants
A piece on the hardships it creates for migrants themselves begins with an admonition.
Of course, some of that bleeds over into areas where they are assigning the name of 'decadence' to things like allowing women to walk around with their hair showing. You'd think there would be a happy middle ground between purdah and public grotesques, but perhaps there is not. Free individuals may choose to do right, which is the blessing of liberty; but they may also choose to do wrong, which is part of the price.
In any case, I'm glad to hear a Cardinal point out that this is a misuse of the gospels.
In a recent interview with a French magazine, Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said it is wrong to use the gospel to defend illegal immigration. The reason many priests, bishops, and cardinals will not say so is because they are “afraid of being frowned upon, of being seen as reactionaries.”In Europe, a lot of immigrants are from the Islamic world. I've spent a lot of time listening to Muslims talk about all this, and they are keenly aware of that decadence. It is their most legitimate complaint against the West, the degree to which the decadent parts of our culture corrupt their own.
Sarah is not afraid of that. “It is better to help people flourish in their culture than to encourage them to come to a Europe in full decadence,” he said. “It is a false exegesis to use the word of God to promote migration. God never wanted these heartbreaks.”
Of course, some of that bleeds over into areas where they are assigning the name of 'decadence' to things like allowing women to walk around with their hair showing. You'd think there would be a happy middle ground between purdah and public grotesques, but perhaps there is not. Free individuals may choose to do right, which is the blessing of liberty; but they may also choose to do wrong, which is part of the price.
In any case, I'm glad to hear a Cardinal point out that this is a misuse of the gospels.
Contempt versus Contempt
Attorney General Barr was held in contempt today by the House Judiciary Committee for not doing something he is legally forbidden from doing, according to a law passed by Congress. The law states that knowingly violating the rules pertaining to grand jury secrecy may be "punished as contempt of court."
There's a rock and a hard place for you: choose either contempt of Congress or contempt of court. Barr made the right decision, though, because Congress in the current moment merits contempt. My former Congressman says as much himself.
There's a rock and a hard place for you: choose either contempt of Congress or contempt of court. Barr made the right decision, though, because Congress in the current moment merits contempt. My former Congressman says as much himself.
Battle Axes and Boat Axes
A fun article on the history of the axe in Scandinavia. They still do a great job. The best axes I've ever owned are made by Gränsfors Bruk. They take an edge so sharp that you're liable to cut yourself by looking at it.
One I don't have but might like to own is the "Gränsfors Outdoor Axe," whose description I find amusing. "The Gränsfors Outdoor Axe was developed with the help of survival expert Lars Fält, and is ideal for those who want to use an axe in different ways when out and about in the countryside." Why yes, I can think of "different ways" I might use such an axe "while out and about in the countryside."
One I don't have but might like to own is the "Gränsfors Outdoor Axe," whose description I find amusing. "The Gränsfors Outdoor Axe was developed with the help of survival expert Lars Fält, and is ideal for those who want to use an axe in different ways when out and about in the countryside." Why yes, I can think of "different ways" I might use such an axe "while out and about in the countryside."
Flaming madness
I knew I was in trouble when I read this summary of the Fed's reluctance to transform the U.S. monetary policy in preparedness for possible future climate-change shocks:
Fed Chairman Powell doesn't actually adopt the bare-knuckled rhetorical style of the Hawaiian senator's summary. Instead, he seems to be trying to smooth this panic over rather than talking plain sense to spooked, irrational people who probably would only become more hysterical in the presence of declarative statements in plain English. He makes some friendly noise about how severe weather events sometimes have an impact on the economy, and the Fed stands ready to take them into account, as usual, if they happen at some point. He also "played down climate-change issues as a high-priority issue for monetary policy." What criminal lassitude! Doesn't he know that
But . . . but . . . what about preparedness? Really, if these guys must engage in preparedness, I'd rather they geared up to combat the known, predictable, and even currently tangible effects of redistributivist socialist nonsense in aid of further nonsense.
[A]ccording to the Fed, severe weather isn’t new and climate change isn’t their responsibility. The American agencies that oversee the financial system have decided to ignore climate change. . . .nodded in relieved agreement, then noticed that it was the furious summary of a Hawaii senator who pronounced it "garbage." And noticed that it was featured in a Wall Street Journal article that seemed to agree with the honorable senator, in part because:
Research from some regional Fed banks has pointed to considerable disruption in coming years if nothing is done to mitigate rising global temperatures, which scientists broadly agree are driven by human activity.The devil you say! Research points to a future problem if nothing is done? Do these awful conservatives want us to ignore research about the future now? I realize the existing climate data don't yet support the catastrophic predictions placed before a breathless public over the last two decades, but if you research the future instead of letting yourself be distracted by the boring present and past, you can see there is some very alarming news out there. Something's got to be done. Each federal agency must stand by to do its part.
Fed Chairman Powell doesn't actually adopt the bare-knuckled rhetorical style of the Hawaiian senator's summary. Instead, he seems to be trying to smooth this panic over rather than talking plain sense to spooked, irrational people who probably would only become more hysterical in the presence of declarative statements in plain English. He makes some friendly noise about how severe weather events sometimes have an impact on the economy, and the Fed stands ready to take them into account, as usual, if they happen at some point. He also "played down climate-change issues as a high-priority issue for monetary policy." What criminal lassitude! Doesn't he know that
Some regional Fed leaders have said the central bank may need to take on the issue more aggressively, as some central banks in Europe are doing. Philadelphia Fed leader Patrick Harker said last November that “there is no question we’re going to have to start factoring this more and more” into how the central bank thinks about the future of the economy.Well, I'm second to none in my admiration for European economic policy, and I'm all for factoring things into how we think about the future of stuff, and aggressive action is always best even if you don't know quite what to do. Nevertheless, I found the following foot-dragging approach a bit easier to understand:
Others at the Fed believe climate change isn’t something that matters much for monetary policy. “It’s hard for me to imagine the climate changing sufficiently to affect the next three to five years and how we look at the potential growth rate of the U.S. economy,” Minneapolis Fed leader Neel Kashkari said in a March interview.It looks like we've got some virtuous, caring people who find it easy to imagine how something might have an effect on something else, even if they find it hard to let us know what they're imagining about it these days and why we should care. Then we have some bad people who are finding whatever it is rather harder to imagine, and who in any case can't see that anyone has entrusted them with the task of letting their minds wander in those regions, lost, let alone jacking with the nation's monetary policy in an effort to have an effect on something that may or may not happen according to predictive models that have failed abjectly over the last 20 years.
But . . . but . . . what about preparedness? Really, if these guys must engage in preparedness, I'd rather they geared up to combat the known, predictable, and even currently tangible effects of redistributivist socialist nonsense in aid of further nonsense.
So Much To Do
This one is about the passing of time, and the weight of it amid so many things to do. The song is a kind of miracle, because it conveys all that in just three minutes.
I think the effect comes from the subtle hinge in the music that begins at 1:27, in which there is an orchestral swell in what has heretofore been a very simple song about very ordinary things. It's brief, but the effect is transformative. The song is suddenly not the same, not at all.
The Irish punk band Flogging Molly achieved a similar effect in "Death Valley Queen," this time at 2:29 into a four-minute song. They are less subtle, but they're a punk rock band. In this case, they do it through a simplicity, followed by a swell.
Both songs, in their way, convey emotion with power through these alterations and contrasts.
I think the effect comes from the subtle hinge in the music that begins at 1:27, in which there is an orchestral swell in what has heretofore been a very simple song about very ordinary things. It's brief, but the effect is transformative. The song is suddenly not the same, not at all.
The Irish punk band Flogging Molly achieved a similar effect in "Death Valley Queen," this time at 2:29 into a four-minute song. They are less subtle, but they're a punk rock band. In this case, they do it through a simplicity, followed by a swell.
Both songs, in their way, convey emotion with power through these alterations and contrasts.
Income Inequality Falling Without Getting Poor
The usual way that those concerned about 'income inequality' try to reduce it is by raising taxes on the prosperous, thus forcibly lowering the ceiling. The current economic growth is showing a better way: raising the floor.
No More Bans on Ancient Technology
A New Jersey politician wants to ban bags. Paper, plastic, whatever. Plastic straws of course, too. The UK is strongly considering banning knives with points, including the most common chef knives in the world. Pretty much every kitchen has an 8 to 11 inch chef's knife with a point. There's a good reason for that. These knives are extremely useful for a broad range of daily cooking tasks.
The plastic bans at least point at something novel. You could plausibly argue that plastic poses a unique technological risk that we are only now beginning to appreciate. But societies somehow managed to co-exist with the near-universal possession of knives for thousands of years. You can surely figure this out without banning the things.
Maybe we should have a ban on politicians. At least the ones who want more bans.
The plastic bans at least point at something novel. You could plausibly argue that plastic poses a unique technological risk that we are only now beginning to appreciate. But societies somehow managed to co-exist with the near-universal possession of knives for thousands of years. You can surely figure this out without banning the things.
Maybe we should have a ban on politicians. At least the ones who want more bans.
Georgia to Enact "Heartbeat" Bill
Governor Kemp has decided to sign the "Heartbeat" legislation passed by the Georgia legislature. He'll sign it tomorrow, though it won't go into effect right away due to the way Georgia law operates. The law intends to ban abortion once a heartbeat is detected in the child; it will of course immediately be challenged in court once it comes into effect, and we'll see what becomes of that.
Planned Parenthood is protesting tomorrow, also of course. I notice that their new banner features a hijabi as the central figure, which is remarkable. Islamic opinions on abortion are generally moderate compared to American positions, holding neither that abortion should be always forbidden nor, as Planned Parenthood would have it, permissable to the moment of birth (or even after). But this is just left-leaning virtue signalling, not theology; Planned Parenthood wants to signal support for diversity as well as abortion.
Planned Parenthood is protesting tomorrow, also of course. I notice that their new banner features a hijabi as the central figure, which is remarkable. Islamic opinions on abortion are generally moderate compared to American positions, holding neither that abortion should be always forbidden nor, as Planned Parenthood would have it, permissable to the moment of birth (or even after). But this is just left-leaning virtue signalling, not theology; Planned Parenthood wants to signal support for diversity as well as abortion.
Defend / Defeat
If you didn't read the essay "Defend America -- Defeat Multiculturalism" when I linked it a week or so ago, you might want to before it's gone. Google has demanded the essay's removal from the internet.
Don't Boss Him, Don't Cross Him
This was the album that Willie Nelson put out when he finally got full creative control of his work.
The studio didn't like it, but it was a blockbuster success. It's one of the core albums of the inception of Outlaw Country. If you've never given it a half an hour, you might want to do.
The studio didn't like it, but it was a blockbuster success. It's one of the core albums of the inception of Outlaw Country. If you've never given it a half an hour, you might want to do.
Welcome to Cinco de Drinko
Be sure to avoid cultural appropriation during any festivities today. Remember that your own culture is already a festival of conviviality!
Actually, I guess the buccaneers were also busily appropriating stuff from the Spanish... who had been appropriating it from the Incas and the Aztecs... who had been appropriating it from weaker tribe nations... hmm. Perhaps a 'festival of appropriation' is what's been going on all along.
UPDATE:
A Clancy Brother trying on a North Carolina accent. He gets it about right, for the mountain folk.
It's funny about the mountain folk, because they diverge from the typical Southern accent quite a bit. In the valley they say "Ya'll," like anywhere in the South; but in the mountains, they say "You'uns" for the same purpose.
Actually, I guess the buccaneers were also busily appropriating stuff from the Spanish... who had been appropriating it from the Incas and the Aztecs... who had been appropriating it from weaker tribe nations... hmm. Perhaps a 'festival of appropriation' is what's been going on all along.
UPDATE:
A Clancy Brother trying on a North Carolina accent. He gets it about right, for the mountain folk.
It's funny about the mountain folk, because they diverge from the typical Southern accent quite a bit. In the valley they say "Ya'll," like anywhere in the South; but in the mountains, they say "You'uns" for the same purpose.
More Toxicity
Instapundit responds to an article on how toxic manhood means that women are worn out from doing all the 'emotional labor' in their relationships. "ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT WOMEN DO ALL THE “EMOTIONAL LABOR” has never been married to an actual woman."
Boy, that's the truth. No woman who's been married for any length of time is likely even to take offense at the suggestion. We all know how much weight we've had to put on our partners at times.
There's less to this issue than it seems even where it bears weight. It's definitely true that I'm not always in touch with my feelings, and that my upbringing is partly responsible for that. The major inflictors of 'you should be less sensitive; you should not be emotional' were women, in especial my schoolteachers. I'm not even mad about it. Sometimes the best we can do in life still involves hurting other people. Life is like that. Sometimes, we have to hurt them a little to help them in other ways.
This is one of those cases. Frankly, emotional children are more work, and these ladies had 27 kids to handle and try to teach something too. It was in their interests to suppress emotions in whatever way they could, and for that matter it was in our interests that they should succeed. Otherwise, we wouldn't learn as much -- possibly nearly nothing, if they were unable to convince any of the 27 little heathens they were saddled with to please just let it go, sit down, shut up, and pay attention.
Nor is it all bad to be able to do that. Just to give one clear example, the day my father died I sat right next to him while he died. Half an hour later I needed to drive my mother, my wife, and a child through rush hour traffic in Atlanta. I could do that safely because of this very capacity to suppress emotions. Not only their safety depended on it, but the safety of everyone driving a car around the one I was driving.
In any case, the article may be right that men have fewer friends than they used to do; I think of "Bowling Alone" as a model of that. But it's not true for me; I have some very good friends. Some of them are even men, so those men have at least one good male friend too.
Boy, that's the truth. No woman who's been married for any length of time is likely even to take offense at the suggestion. We all know how much weight we've had to put on our partners at times.
There's less to this issue than it seems even where it bears weight. It's definitely true that I'm not always in touch with my feelings, and that my upbringing is partly responsible for that. The major inflictors of 'you should be less sensitive; you should not be emotional' were women, in especial my schoolteachers. I'm not even mad about it. Sometimes the best we can do in life still involves hurting other people. Life is like that. Sometimes, we have to hurt them a little to help them in other ways.
This is one of those cases. Frankly, emotional children are more work, and these ladies had 27 kids to handle and try to teach something too. It was in their interests to suppress emotions in whatever way they could, and for that matter it was in our interests that they should succeed. Otherwise, we wouldn't learn as much -- possibly nearly nothing, if they were unable to convince any of the 27 little heathens they were saddled with to please just let it go, sit down, shut up, and pay attention.
Nor is it all bad to be able to do that. Just to give one clear example, the day my father died I sat right next to him while he died. Half an hour later I needed to drive my mother, my wife, and a child through rush hour traffic in Atlanta. I could do that safely because of this very capacity to suppress emotions. Not only their safety depended on it, but the safety of everyone driving a car around the one I was driving.
In any case, the article may be right that men have fewer friends than they used to do; I think of "Bowling Alone" as a model of that. But it's not true for me; I have some very good friends. Some of them are even men, so those men have at least one good male friend too.
War for Profit
This is a strange cast of characters. Erik Prince makes sense; but Steve Bannon? James O'Keefe in Qatar, working against the impoverished and enslaved Bangladeshis and Pakistani workers?
Of course, it's The Intercept, and their quality is a mixed bag. Some of their stuff is really solid, but this may not prove to be.
Of course, it's The Intercept, and their quality is a mixed bag. Some of their stuff is really solid, but this may not prove to be.
Spygate and Anti-Democracy
A few links that go together in my mind.
One: A summary of yesterday's NYT story about spies being deployed against Trump campaign figures; and another, separate story about Ukraine admitting that they were asked for damaging information about Trump's campaign.
Two: Both California and Washington state have bills aimed at forcing Trump either to release his tax returns, or not appear on the ballot. California tried this once before, but the bill was vetoed as unconstitutional. Since it was declared so by the governor rather than a court, however, they're free to try again.
Three: Facebook and its allied platforms banned a host of conservative voices, as well as Louis Farrakhan. While the latter is far from my favorite person, defending his freedom of speech is important just because it is how you defend the principle that speech should be free. Loathsome speech has to be defended in order to secure the whole.
Four: Anti-populism as anti-democracy. This last really should be read in full.
One: A summary of yesterday's NYT story about spies being deployed against Trump campaign figures; and another, separate story about Ukraine admitting that they were asked for damaging information about Trump's campaign.
Two: Both California and Washington state have bills aimed at forcing Trump either to release his tax returns, or not appear on the ballot. California tried this once before, but the bill was vetoed as unconstitutional. Since it was declared so by the governor rather than a court, however, they're free to try again.
Three: Facebook and its allied platforms banned a host of conservative voices, as well as Louis Farrakhan. While the latter is far from my favorite person, defending his freedom of speech is important just because it is how you defend the principle that speech should be free. Loathsome speech has to be defended in order to secure the whole.
Four: Anti-populism as anti-democracy. This last really should be read in full.
From the Rooftops
Colonel Kurt.
Our first responders are awesome, but it takes nothing away from their heroism to point out that the title “first responder” is a misnomer. The citizens on site are the first responders. And they should be ready to respond. We all should. Personally.That's it. That's right.
Some duties of citizen should never be outsourced. If you are an able-bodied adult, it’s your duty to know how to stop the bleeding and give CPR until the pros who do it for a living arrive. And it’s your duty (and right) to defend yourself, your family, your community and your Constitution. With guns – effective guns, which sometimes means your concealed pistol and sometimes means the guns that those who want you defenseless call “assault weapons.”...
It’s your duty to be prepared to defend our community. Your duty. Yes, being a citizen of a free country is sometimes hard. Too bad. Tighten up and be ready and able to pick up a weapon. Whether it’s a riots and disaster, or whether it’s some scumbag who decides to shoot up your house of worship or a shopping mall, it’s on you.
Two Very Unpopular Ideas From the Federalist
The Federalist has two pieces today forwarding ideas that are explosively unpopular with the campus left, and the activist left in general.
1) "The Moral Case for Israel Annexing the West Bank -- And Beyond."
2) Christina Hoff Summers facing off with a popular #MeToo activist in front of an activist crowd.
1) "The Moral Case for Israel Annexing the West Bank -- And Beyond."
2) Christina Hoff Summers facing off with a popular #MeToo activist in front of an activist crowd.
Venezuelans Regret Gun Ban
After Brazil elected a new president partially on his promise to restore gun rights to a people oppressed by criminals, Venezuela may do so once it gets rid of the oppression of its dictator. This article was written in December, before the current chaos, but it captures the popular sentiment that the ban was a mistake.
Eli Lake writes, today, about the right of the people to overthrow a dictatorship and restore lawful government.
Eli Lake writes, today, about the right of the people to overthrow a dictatorship and restore lawful government.
Antifa Buying Cartel Guns
Why? According to the left, you can buy legal guns more easily than birth control.
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