Due to the tireless work of the Virginia Citizens Defense League and the patriots among the citizenry of the Old Dominion, the flagship “assault weapons” ban has been sent to die in committee.
Unfortunately it will be back next year, but some breathing room has been won.
Asheville Celtic Festival
"Cimmerian" is a word that Howard borrowed from the Odyssey, a cognate to "Cymric" which led him to write that "the Gaels, ancestors of the Irish and Highland Scots, descended from pure-blooded Cimmerian clans." So it is appropriate that these oft-grey and misty mountains, similar to his poetic description of Cimmeria, hosted a festival of which Conan would have been proud.
There were fighting demonstrations, a small-scale Scottish Highland Games heavy athletics competition, cattle and dogs -- a great number of Irish wolfhounds were present -- beer and mead, and a lot of music and dancing. One of the bands in attendance was Albannach, on tour of the United States from their Scottish homeland.
There were fighting demonstrations, a small-scale Scottish Highland Games heavy athletics competition, cattle and dogs -- a great number of Irish wolfhounds were present -- beer and mead, and a lot of music and dancing. One of the bands in attendance was Albannach, on tour of the United States from their Scottish homeland.
Glory in the Pictish Wilderness
A “life of feasting, drinking, gaming, and riches” in an ancient hilltop fort.
Oppressing the 0.02%
The WSJ publishes a controversial opinion on sex, to whit, that it is real.
To characterize [the argument that human sex/gender is 'on a spectrum'] as having no basis in reality would be an egregious understatement. It is false at every conceivable scale of resolution....It's actually a little stronger than the pull quote, for those who can get past the WSJ paywall. That's the heart of it, though.
In humans, reproductive anatomy is unambiguously male or female at birth 99.98% of the time. The evolutionary function of these two anatomies is to aid in reproduction via the fusion of sperm and ova....
Sex is binary.
A Younger View of Conan
Ehsan Knopf is an Australian filmmaker who was diagnosed late with Asperger's, who also made a short film about discovering Robert E. Howard. I think he must be a decade or so younger than me, and is definitely younger than some of you; this is suggested by the age of his childhood favorite TV show (1992), and also by the fact that he thinks that Game of Thrones is the thing that proves that the Fantasy genre can handle deeper themes and more complex characters than it always does.
It's interesting to see how the next generation encounters something like Howard and Conan. You may also learn some things about Robert Howard, and about L. Sprague de Camp's stewardship (or plundering, as some think) of Howard's legacy.
Of course I will also take the opportunity to remind everyone of our comrade Joel Leggett's piece on Conan as an American mythology (somewhat mis-headlined by the publisher, as sometimes happens, but it's the focus of that particular journal).
It's interesting to see how the next generation encounters something like Howard and Conan. You may also learn some things about Robert Howard, and about L. Sprague de Camp's stewardship (or plundering, as some think) of Howard's legacy.
Of course I will also take the opportunity to remind everyone of our comrade Joel Leggett's piece on Conan as an American mythology (somewhat mis-headlined by the publisher, as sometimes happens, but it's the focus of that particular journal).
Meanwhile in NYC...
Mike Bloomberg is also making public appearances.
I've been kind of waiting to see what Bloomberg would come up with that was his explanation of what he wanted to accomplish by running. Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" explained with simple clarity exactly what the point of his candidacy was. Barack Obama's "Change you can believe in" -- usually with "CHANGE" in big letters and the rest in much smaller print -- was likewise a simple and easy to grasp explanation of the logic of his candidacy. After eight years of George W. Bush, people had an appetite for something different. He promised change, and in fairness he delivered more of it than I'd have liked.
Bloomberg I think gives his message in this clip:
"Maybe I can get the whole country to behave!"
He is the candidate of government limits on what size sodas you can buy and mandatory stop-and-frisk searches by police without probable cause. He's the candidate who thinks he knows better than you, and wants to be the nanny for all of America. He wants you to behave.
I don't think he knows much about America. But I know about people like him.
I've been kind of waiting to see what Bloomberg would come up with that was his explanation of what he wanted to accomplish by running. Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" explained with simple clarity exactly what the point of his candidacy was. Barack Obama's "Change you can believe in" -- usually with "CHANGE" in big letters and the rest in much smaller print -- was likewise a simple and easy to grasp explanation of the logic of his candidacy. After eight years of George W. Bush, people had an appetite for something different. He promised change, and in fairness he delivered more of it than I'd have liked.
Bloomberg I think gives his message in this clip:
"Maybe I can get the whole country to behave!"
He is the candidate of government limits on what size sodas you can buy and mandatory stop-and-frisk searches by police without probable cause. He's the candidate who thinks he knows better than you, and wants to be the nanny for all of America. He wants you to behave.
I don't think he knows much about America. But I know about people like him.
"The Beast" at the Daytona 500
I haven't watched a NASCAR race since Dad died, but when I was young it was on most every weekend. I was watching when Dale Earnhardt slammed the black #3 car into the wall at Daytona and died as he'd lived. I was watching when Mike Rich was crushed between Bill Elliot's car and another that lost control in the pits. Those moments stand out because of the fatalities; I've seen more car crashes than I could count, but none of them stand out as much as those two.
Today, Donald Trump decided to take the Presidential limo out for a ride.
I have a feeling Dad would have had mixed feelings about Trump, but not entirely negative ones. He would have liked this, I think.
UPDATE: I'm pretty sure Dad would have loved the speech. Dad was a God and Country man. And apparently our friend Dave Bellavia was there.
UPDATE: On the subject of stock car racing, congratulations to the boys at Black Rifle Coffee for having the car they co-sponsor with Bass Pro Shops come in first in yesterday's race.
Today, Donald Trump decided to take the Presidential limo out for a ride.
I have a feeling Dad would have had mixed feelings about Trump, but not entirely negative ones. He would have liked this, I think.
UPDATE: I'm pretty sure Dad would have loved the speech. Dad was a God and Country man. And apparently our friend Dave Bellavia was there.
UPDATE: On the subject of stock car racing, congratulations to the boys at Black Rifle Coffee for having the car they co-sponsor with Bass Pro Shops come in first in yesterday's race.
He's not a "socialist" socialist
As Sanders continues to dominate the polls, progressive commentators and Never Trumpers (assuming those are genuinely different) increasingly try to explain that Sanders isn't really all that radical. You know, he spouts off about stuff, but what he really wants is a few non-radical gestures towards being nice and sharing stuff, because he's realistic enough to know he can't get his real priorities through Congress. As David Harsanyi puts it: “Vote Bernie: He’s got tremendously unpopular positions that will never pass!”
Harsanyi points out that "Enacting massive regulatory schemes that dictate what you can buy and what you can sell and how much you can sell it for is as good as controlling the means of production." It might be a good idea to take the guy at his word.
Guess the Line of Business: Noble Victory, Tom
The answer was of course that most hipster of all businesses: the craft brewery with ironic symbolism.
If you’re ever again asked to guess about a business in Asheville, pick brewery or brew pub first. Asheville has more breweries per capita than any other American city.
DSSOLVR distinguishes itself not only by demonic imagery, but also by breeding a full range of brews: not just beer but also mead, cider, and wine. I stopped in to see if any eldritch terrors needed slaying. The beer is not bad.
The artwork is Tolkien themed, with an eye for the Sauronic. Apparently my wife knows the artist.
If you’re ever again asked to guess about a business in Asheville, pick brewery or brew pub first. Asheville has more breweries per capita than any other American city.
DSSOLVR distinguishes itself not only by demonic imagery, but also by breeding a full range of brews: not just beer but also mead, cider, and wine. I stopped in to see if any eldritch terrors needed slaying. The beer is not bad.
The artwork is Tolkien themed, with an eye for the Sauronic. Apparently my wife knows the artist.
“The Dragon”
Sleipnir
In addition to the bike, I also have a Jeep for those times when the roads are impassable or I just need too much stuff. I’ve had it in my garage for some minor repairs lately, which kept it out of the downpour we had all last week. Today was beautiful—sunny and forty degrees—so I took some time to put it back together and clean it up.
I figured I had better get a picture so the wife would believe that I had actually gotten it clean. With all the mud we’ve got right now it’ll be filthy the next time I drive it.
I figured I had better get a picture so the wife would believe that I had actually gotten it clean. With all the mud we’ve got right now it’ll be filthy the next time I drive it.
The Gold Standard
Trump challenges the prevailing wisdom again, this time in pushing Judy Shelton for the Federal Reserve Board.
This mystery bedevils central banks. Productivity—the ability of workers to produce goods and services of real value to others ever more efficiently—is the indispensable ingredient for prosperity. Orthodox theory predicts that lower interest rates should stimulate more investment, and more investment should stimulate more productivity.
Yet since President Nixon slammed shut the gold window in 1971, interest rates broadly have fallen and Wall Street has become hyperactive alongside a declining rate of Main Street productivity growth. Only occasional tax reforms and the 1990s computer revolution have reversed that overarching trend, but never permanently and never to the level that obtained midcentury.
* * *
Recent academic research suggests she’s correct. Economists at major central banks and elsewhere have studied the extent to which capital mispricing by central banks (they don’t always put it that way, but that’s what they’re describing) depresses productivity growth, whether by allowing larger firms to crowd out more-productive upstart competitors or sustaining zombie companies or any of a host of other mechanisms.
Second Chance: Guess the Line of Business
I'm going to post the answer tomorrow, but I'll wait until late to make sure everyone who wants to has a chance to try. If you understand the kind of neighborhood, the answer ends up being very obvious. A further clue: it's not any of the types of businesses mentioned in the post, neither there nor in West Asheville.
Canada Undertakes Gawain's Quest
Pity the poor fools of the Canadian Armed Forces.
A military study group spent three years trying to figure out what will entice more women to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces.They should have read Chaucer.
The group called the “Tiger Team” was tasked with finding out where the military could do a better job of getting women to want to enroll and the results included things like referring to medals as “bling,” and more fashionable uniforms like “shorter, tighter skirts” and “more stylish shoes,” according to MilitaryTimes.com in a piece published Wednesday.
'Thou standest yet,' quod [Guinevere], 'in swich array,Gawain at least came up with an answer that satisfied his own woman. My sense is that accomplishing that much is the most that any man can do with the question.
That of thy lyf yet hastow no suretee.
I grante thee lyf, if thou canst tellen me
What thing is it that wommen most desyren?'
Fake News Today
"I just don't know if that was entirely fair," she commented afterward. "I'm all for equality and stuff, but I dunno -- the beard might have given her an advantage."But of course! That is the nature of beards.
Adultery is Good, You Say?
If only your marriage was 'a little gayer,' the NYT says, it would be happier too! By 'gayer' they especially mean more welcoming of adultery.
Along the way, let us pause to notice the expected conclusion that heterosexual men are the only bad actors:
UPDATE: You could also read the findings as anti-woman: after all, men who are married to women are no happier than women who are married to women. Women who marry men only get angrier. True happiness only comes when you can finally get rid of the women. That’s why they’re called “gay”!
One distinctive strength of male couples is that their tendency to candidly discuss respective preferences extends to sexuality as well, including choices that may startle some heterosexuals. For example, while the extent of non-monogamy in gay-male partnerships is often exaggerated, openly non-monogamous relationships are more common than among lesbians or heterosexuals. Many gay couples work out detailed agreements about what kinds of sexual contact are permissible outside the relationship, under what circumstances and how often.Longtime readers will recall that this was not only expected here but fielded as an argument in favor of civil partnerships instead of 'gay marriage.'
This is exactly what we should do: create a separate institution for non-marriage partnerships that can be judged by its own standards. Thus, if for example adultery should prove to be less of a concern in partnerships containing only men -- as many "same sex marriage" supporters openly proclaim -- we don't end up with a watering-down of the protections against adultery in traditional marriages. (If anything, those are far too watery already.) Let them do the things they want, just keep a distinction so we aren't forced to collapse the categories when we come before courts of law. It's only sensible to believe that the needs of these kinds of unions might come apart, so we ought to have the ability to address that in the law.Now we are at the point that the categories have collapsed. In a traditional, heterosexual marriage, showing that your partner was an adulterer was not only grounds for divorce but for the judge to grant you favorable terms in the division of property. Now we must instead learn that adultery should be negotiated, so that in all marriages it is neither grounds for divorce nor for a punitive division of property. The "Rule of Law" means we must all play by the same rules; there is only one set of laws governing all marriages, and these marriages "work better." We must all learn the new lessons.
Along the way, let us pause to notice the expected conclusion that heterosexual men are the only bad actors:
Researchers recently asked three sets of legally married couples — heterosexual, gay and lesbian — to keep daily diaries recording their experiences of marital strain and distress. Women in different-sex marriages reported the highest levels of psychological distress. Men in same-sex marriages reported the lowest. Men married to women and women married to women were in the middle, recording similar levels of distress.Maybe it's heterosexuals in general who can't get along, but women do all the suffering; those darned heterosexual men end up happier (though not as happy as the men who can avoid dealing with women entirely)! Clearly gayness for everyone is the best, preferable solution: human segregation by sex should become the ordinary norm. If you still want some heterosexual sex in your new gay union, that's ok; just include some arrangement for it in your 'detailed agreements about what kinds of sexual contact are permissible outside the relationship, under what circumstances and how often.'
What’s striking, says the lead author of the study, Michael Garcia, is that earlier research had concluded that women in general were likely to report the most relationship distress. But it turns out that’s only women married to men.
UPDATE: You could also read the findings as anti-woman: after all, men who are married to women are no happier than women who are married to women. Women who marry men only get angrier. True happiness only comes when you can finally get rid of the women. That’s why they’re called “gay”!
Just In Case
USNORTHCOM is preparing for counter-coronavirus approaches, if necessary. It reads as if the plan is less to deploy to contain civilian outbreaks than to quarantine themselves as necessary to keep the force functional. Immediate actions appear to include quarantines for servicemembers who may have visited China.
Voices from Wuhan
Some messages from the locked-down city that the PRC has tried to suppress, now published at The Federalist.
John Kelly Backs Vindman
I have great respect for Kelly, and at least part of this answer makes perfect sense to me.
That said, I can't say that I approve of the LTC's decisions here. I'm not prepared to wholly condemn him either, not based on the facts in evidence (as opposed to, say, should it prove true that he and his brother were leaking classified information to the press in order to hurt the President). I do think that his reassignment from the NSC was proper and appropriate, both because he served there at the President's pleasure, and also because there is no way the two of them could continue to trust each other enough to work together effectively. The NSC deals with the highest-level concerns, at the right hand of the President. Trust is necessary there.
Vindman was rightly disturbed by Trump’s phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July, Kelly suggested: Having seen something “questionable,” Vindman properly notified his superiors, Kelly said. Vindman, who specialized in Ukraine policy at the National Security Council at the time, was among multiple U.S. officials who listened in on the call. When subpoenaed by Congress in the House impeachment hearings, Vindman complied and told the truth, Kelly said.That's all fair, actually. If he thought he was hearing something illegal, it was proper to raise it to the legal authorities and the chain of command. There remain some matters that are questionable, however. The one that concerns me the most is that he appears to have told Ukrainian officials repeatedly not to work with the Attorney General as requested by the President, and permitted by a treaty between our nations.
“He did exactly what we teach them to do from cradle to grave,” Kelly told the audience at the Mayo Performing Arts Center. “He went and told his boss what he just heard.” ...
[Trump's conditioning of aid] amounted to a momentous change in U.S. policy toward Ukraine—one that Vindman was right to flag, because other federal agencies needed to know about the shift, Kelly said.
Vindman also took action warning Ukrainian officials he spoke to: “I would tell them to not interfere — not get involved in U.S. domestic politics.”Everyone who has been with the American military for any length of time has dealt with toxic leaders. Navigating one's duty while being under the command of one is both difficult and taxing. I imagine President Trump is a pretty toxic guy to work for, given the way he uses insult and mockery against everyone who disagrees with him. John Kelly doubtless recognizes and (rightly) resents that approach. His sympathy for others subject to this leadership climate is understandable.
That said, I can't say that I approve of the LTC's decisions here. I'm not prepared to wholly condemn him either, not based on the facts in evidence (as opposed to, say, should it prove true that he and his brother were leaking classified information to the press in order to hurt the President). I do think that his reassignment from the NSC was proper and appropriate, both because he served there at the President's pleasure, and also because there is no way the two of them could continue to trust each other enough to work together effectively. The NSC deals with the highest-level concerns, at the right hand of the President. Trust is necessary there.
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