Who knows?
Let’s Talk Cricket
Kristi Noem is in the dog house (ahem) with people of every political leaning for shooting her 15-month-old dog, Cricket, after he killed her neighbor’s chickens, as documented in her new autobiography. Some on the Right are criticizing her for being out of touch with the electorate and sabotaging her electoral future. Others are defending her for honestly exposing the rural versus urban divide in attitudes among Americans. As a lifelong dog lover, I’m here to explain why I’m in the latter camp and to open the discussion to the cultural implications of the reaction to Noem’s story.
What I’m not going to do is spend much time here on Noem and her political career. I just don’t know enough about her. My overall impression is she’s a typical Republican ladder-climber — talks a good game and ultimately disappoints.
The University of Chicago Response, Part Deux
The other day I posted about how proud I was with my alma mater’s response to the proposed Marxist-Palestinian Love Fest on the university quad. (Basically, free speech until you threaten someone or take over a building, then discipline.) Welp. I spoke too soon. The U of C campus is now a circus too. The basic problem is, you can’t “negotiate” with entitled little children. They don’t want to negotiate. They don’t even know how, since most of them have never been told “no.” They just want media attention and for their videos to go viral. So the issue du jour (Occupy Wall Street, BLM, now this) is never the real issue.
Very disappointed that the administration has apparently caved in. But I thought you might be amused at the gift requests of the “protestors.” So here they are. They’re either preparing for a vigorous game of Rollerball or an orgy. Not sure which.
What Do You Look At When You Drive?
Yesterday I witnessed an accident on our local beltway (I-695). I was behind another vehicle. The driver partially moved into the left lane, realized another car was there (though it was tight, she was not actually going to hit it), thought she was going to collide, over-corrected (twice) to get back into her own lane, almost rolled, and ended up glancing off the concrete median barrier. No other cars were hit, but it could very easily have become a multi-car pileup.
I avoided the collision because I watched it happen, and took appropriate evasive action. But I know that had I been distracted at all, we would have been in the middle of a lot of dissipating kinetic energy.
Most Unlikely Things in Star Trek? (Or Sci-Fi in general, but especially Star Trek)
Quote of the Day: “What’s in a name?”
Arnold George Dorsey must have thought quite deeply about the answer to Shakespeare’s question, one which seems, at least in his case, to have boiled down to, “quite a lot, really.”
Born eighty-eight years ago today in Madras, India (the date is sometimes given as May 2), young Mr. Dorsey riffled through several options before deciding on his stage name:
At first I thought I should be a second Beethoven; presently I found that to be another Schubert would be good; then, gradually, satisfied with less and less, I resigned to be a Humperdinck.
H.R. McMaster joins James, Peter and Steve Hayward to discuss the Biden administration’s feckless policy on the war in Gaza; he explains Hamas’ battalion strength and the IDF’s delayed invasion of Rafah, along with the political balancing act that’s keeping the president from doing what he must.
Plus, the hosts enjoy the overdue campus crackdowns and consider the Trump campaign’s pitch for a return to normalcy.
An Inevitable Disaster?
A long time ago, Ben Stein wrote a funny, insightful book (The View from Sunset Boulevard) about the collective mindset of those who make movies and TV shows. It explained why the Puerto Rican kid arrested in the first 15 minutes of a Kojak episode was innocent because it was really the rich white stockbroker who murdered the prostitute with a heart of gold. He described the industry’s view of America as a few urban oases in an otherwise dangerous hinterland filled with dangerous racist troglodytes patiently waiting for the appearance of their Führer to give the order to arise. Forty-five years later, the book is still surprisingly applicable.
It turns out that there really is a dangerous mass of malformed intellects in America awaiting a spark or orders to arise but it was not the Red State working class. It was our grossly miseducated, deformed upscale youth.
Why Were Adam and Eve Expelled?
The classic Christian understanding is that Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden because they disobeyed G-d’s commandment not to eat the fruit. This is not actually what the text says, but everyone is guilty, to some extent, of changing the story to make it align with our expectations.
I used to point out that Adam and Eve were not expelled until after they denied responsibility for their actions – which means that they must have been expelled as a punishment for a failure in owning up to their mistakes. In that reading of the text, the core lesson of Eden is that G-d wants people to act on free will, and understand that with great power comes great responsibility. Isn’t that both logical and textual?
How Stupid Do They Think We Are?
The Biden administration has made innumerable missteps, lied to the American public repeatedly and done a ghastly job of managing “refugees” allowed into the country—why in the world would they think we’d welcome an influx of Palestinian refugees now?
Let me explain the purported reasons that the administration thinks this is a sensible idea followed, in some cases, by the reason it’s not:
Aluminum
My latest audiobook dropped this afternoon. This is #83. Don’t stop me, I’m on a roll.
This time I got to do science. Soil to Foil: Aluminum and the Quest for Industrial Sustainability has plenty in it to make anyone who remembers high school science classes happy. There is also a lot of good information on the history and operation of mineral extraction, and it is presented without a lot of enviro hand-wringing; we need this stuff, so what are good ways of getting it and using it that make sense for both the immediate need and the long term? I found it accessible and non-political.
From the blurb: Soil to Foil tells the extraordinary story of aluminum. Saleem H. Ali reveals its pivotal role in the histories of scientific inquiry and technological innovation as well as its importance to sustainability. He offers compelling portraits of the scientists and innovators who discovered new uses for this remarkable element, ranging from chemistry and geoscience to engineering and industrial design. Ali argues that aluminum exemplifies broader lessons about stewardship of nonrenewable resources. Soil to Foil shows that the story of aluminum’s use and misuse helps us rethink how to sustainably manage the resources of our planet.
Top Biden Officials Worked with Jack Smith
Top Biden administration officials worked with the National Archives to develop Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against Donald Trump involving the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified material, according to recently unsealed court documents in the case pending in southern Florida.
What happened between the sexual revolution and the age of the internet?
“Baker Shot,” Bikini Atoll, 1946. (Wikimedia Commons)
The study of history is always tainted by the fact that we know how things turned out. So, in retrospect, it seems inevitable that things would go the way they did, and we look for reasons for that outcome that fit our preconceived worldview. So we’re misled before we even begin, even if we’re making an honest effort to understand.
Spring! In Stereo!
Spring seems a little late where I am. But there are calves in the fields and things are greening up, and I am ready for the change of seasons.
My little patch is cluttered and weedy, but I decided to capture some of the short-lived blossoms and blooms. After a while I realized that I have a nice collection of colorful and beautiful things. The closer one looks, the better the view.
Giving War Another Chance
Not really – this is just my way of saying I am rereading P.J. O’Rourke’s 1992 book Give War A Chance: Eyewitness Accounts of Mankind’s Struggle Against Tyranny, Injustice, and Alcohol-Free Beer. I read it shortly after it came out, and found it excellent. Almost a third of a century later, I am pleased to report that it still is. There are, however, quite a few details that have become dated. (It also has entire themes which have disappeared. Lee Iacocca?)
Since O’Rourke made it clear that these pieces were journalism, and since he more than most journalists would admit that such product is perishable, it may be unfair of me to point out how much of his “news” got old. Of course it did. Still, his observations at the end of the Cold War are as good a place as any to begin a review of the world we find ourselves in now. 1992 wasn’t that long ago.
The State of (Cos)Play
Or maybe it’s LARPing (which term isn’t so easy to fit into a succinct and clever title).
In either case, it’s people with privilege (talking about actual, personal, individual privilege, such as students, whatever their background, who’ve been accepted into some of the most elite educational institutions in the world and who, as a result, have traditionally had their ticket punched for a lifetime of success) identifying with, and pretending that they are–in all equivalent respects to actual victims–actual victims.
Examples abound, and like Lewis Carroll’s oysters, they come “thick and fast” these days, but the most egregious of them to come recently has been the idiotic Johannah King-Slutsky:
On J.K. Rowling’s “Holocaust Denial”
J.K. Rowling, the famous author of the Harry Potter series, has been accused of Holocaust denial.
I am confident that she is not a Holocaust denier in the sense most people would use the term. I am 99.99 percent sure that if someone asked her whether the Nazis killed roughly six million European Jews and millions of homosexuals, Roma (Gypsies), disabled people, prisoners of war, political dissidents, and others, she would affirm that they did.
Don’t fall for it. Everything is not as it appears. Somebody is setting us up to fall and Dennis doesn’t like it.
In this week’s interview we talk to Jeremy Carl, a Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute, about his new book, The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism Is Tearing America Apart. Victor Davis Hanson calls it, “A prescient, landmark book that finally calls out those who for far too long have claimed victimhood even as they fueled a toxic brand of tribal chauvinism.”
QotD: Try Again with God
Winners don’t quit try again this time with God. — Maryam Elisha
Who is Maryam Elisha? A Nigerian fashion model, apparently, and one for whom punctuation is not all that. One of her fashion model titles was even Miss Environment. I can overlook all of that, though. The idea here is well worth contemplating. Try again, this time with God.
This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts University of Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Barry Anderson interview General Counsel of U.S. Cyber Command, Colonel Pete Hayden. He shares insights about growing up in western Massachusetts, attending law school, his military service, and emphasizes the legal aspects of his national security work. Col. Hayden discusses Cyber Command’s mission, distinguishing it from the NSA, while stressing the importance of defending the nation in cyberspace. He talks about Cyber Command’s daily operations and international cooperation, highlighting partnerships with various entities, and the delicate balance of public engagement and classified national security. In closing, Col. Hayden advises young people on navigating the complexities of technology and encourages aspiring military legal professionals.
Priorities
I had a boss who set forth many priorities for the next year. His boss told me that he was only concerned about three things and everything else was optional. In 2015, Mark Steyn mentioned that Trump was the only one of the seventeen Republican candidates emphasizing border security. He was elected and the establishment fought him tooth and nail. But he succeeded in greatly reducing illegal immigration.
Biden has opened up the border with Mexico and millions of unverified illegals are coming in freely. Some are being flown into the U.S. at our expense. The Republicans hold the House but have done nothing to secure the border. They haven’t tried to trade our number 1 priority for Democratic priorities. The leaders don’t care. Our number 1 priority of securing the border is something they use only as a slogan. What will they say when we have a 911-type of terrorist attack. I despair for our country. I’ve called repeatedly my representative Rob Wittman. In December, his staffer told me that the Speaker agreed that this was the last continuing resolution and border security was a top priority. I think that was several CRs ago. They continue to be concerned about Ukrainian border security and indifferent to our own. Americans were required to get the COVID jab; illegals were given a pass. I told NTers on Ricochet in 2020 that four years of Biden would lead to the destruction of our country. It’s happening and the Republican congressional leaders are twiddling their thumbs.
Any Bluey fans out there?
By way of background, JY and I sold our home of 38 years in California in the summer of 2023. We had been talking about selling and relocating for a few years; even went so far as to meet with a realtor in 2021. Three of our four adult children and ALL of our grandchildren live out of state (Texas and AZ). But JY’s stroke in February (since 100% recovered) sealed the deal – it was time to go.
All four of our children had been brought home to the house from the hospital and three of our granddaughters. Needless to say, saying goodbye was tough for all. In the middle of listing and showing the home, every kid had to come and stay to say goodbye.
The Next Book
Today is a good day. Just as I’m completing work on a very interesting history of the Second Great Awakening, I got a note from my favorite publisher asking if I’d be interested in producing “Eisenhower For Our Time” by Steven Wagner.
I lit up like a Christmas tree. As I’ve mentioned, I graduated from Eisenhower College in 1974, and have had a strong interest in the General for many years. This book was just published (April 15!) so it doesn’t get hotter off the press. I expect to spend the month of May happily recording and editing this one.
I don’t usually talk about the books I’m recording until they’re available, but I was just too excited about this one not to share. Like “Abraham Lincoln, A Life.” Speaking of which, it came out March 30 and has sold nearly 100 copies, which is remarkable for a 33 hour long audiobook!
