Posted 8:15 AM

enlighten thou our enemies

Dean Esmay has written a very good article on changes that have come over American thought.

...Somewhere, somewhen, there was a sea change in the American mind. The Left is now generally viewed as being dominated by the desire for coercion and control, while the Right has grabbed "individualism and free choice" as its war cries. And, increasingly, people associate "liberal" with being just plain dumb. Fair or not, that is the ascendant viewpoint of the moment.

It's really quite remarkable. Where did it start? I can't quite say. Where does it all lead? The mind boggles. Without question, there is arrogance here. Is it entirely without merit? I don't know. But I do know this:

If conservatives want to stay on the intellectual high ground, they might want to start praying: "Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers. We are in danger from their folly, not from their wisdom."

WORD NOTE (re-post of an earlier note): ... Another good one is sea change. Don't squander it carelessly, but save it for special occasions, for when something looks similar but is actually changed utterly. Full fathom five my father lies; Of his bones are coral made: Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, but doth suffer a sea-change... Dean's got it right.

Posted 8:22 AM

Only in Israel...

This is from an article in Israelinsider, about how in Israel, along with the usual Hallmark stuff, there are greeting cards for a friend who has been drafted ...

...I n everyone's mind, but not on our lips, were the same thoughts. The political situation here in Israel is not wonderful at the moment, and soldiers have been killed and injured almost daily. Our friend was joining a combat unit. Like many Israelis, he vied for a particular unit in order to serve his country in the most critical way possible. Often I hear stories about a fallen soldier, who volunteered for the particularly risky place in the army, instead of the safe desk job he was offered.

Why are our boys and girls so much more brave and patriotic than they have to be? The ideals of the founding generations of Israel continue strong. And not just in native-born Israelis, who were raised on the foundation of their grandparents. My friend who joined the army is part of a unit comprised solely of immigrants. They are all combat fighters. They fight for a land they believe in, not the one in which they were raised...

Posted 8:23 PM

King of Jordan

There's been some bad press about King Abdullah lately, at least along the blogshore. So I was very interested in an article in the September 2 FORBES, which shows him in a favorable light...

BY KERRY A. DOLAN

SEPT. 11. SUICIDE BOMBERS. TALK OF A war to topple Saddam Hussein. King Abdullah 11, who has been running Jordan since his revered father, King Hussein, died of cancer in February 1999, is surrounded by chaos. His defensive plan: Build the economy.

"I don't use the regional instability as an excuse not to move forward," he says, referring to Jordan's economic liberalization. "When everyone else is marking time, this is when you want to hit."

Five months after Abdullah became king, he called a lunch meeting of 25 young businessmen. Recalls Jordan's Minister of Planning Bassem Awadallah, who attended the lunch, "The king said to them, 'Don't tell me there are problems with the Customs Department. I already know that. Give me a solution.' They were shocked."

Shock turned to action. The group met every night for a month and came back with a solution. Before, clearance on shipments at the Amman airport was done manually and often took two days. Now the system is computerized. Customs brokers can do their own shipment entry. Express packages with low values clear customs in an hour or two. Tariffis have also been reduced, from at least 80% to 30%''...

I don't know enough about King Abdullah to have an opinion of him. But it's notable that people who want to lower taxes and tarriffs, liberalize trade, and encourage economic development often seem to get bad press...

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Posted 8:06 PM

this made me feel good...

Joanne Jacobs writes about the big fire in San Jose, and how people jumped in to help each other.

... Apartment-dwellers led their neighbors to safety. Men grabbed garden hoses and tried to put out other peoples' roof fires. A man who was just driving by -- he didn't live in San Jose -- stopped and saved the home of a couple in their 80s ...

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Posted 9:07 AM

It's the way she phrases it that warms my heart ...

Who wrote this?

...I don't feel like commenting on anything political right now. Well, except here's a few remarks I'd like to [make to] a certain type of person. Dear Pinko Multiculturalist Terrorist-fan Activist Thing: if you are sure that America is a haven of oppression rivalling the USSR in the time of Stalin, then no amount of beatings by the reality stick will ever change your delusional little mind. If you think that atrocities committed in Exotic Foreign Lands right now are not as bad as atrocities committed on US soil one hundred and fifty years ago, I can't afford the plane ticket to send you to the places that might change your mind. If you think that Understanding, Compassion, and endless apologies will appease people who have told us in just about every way possible that the only thing they respond to and respect is brute force, then I guess I can't count on you to guard my back at a crucial moment, so I won't. As usual, I'll take care of myself while you are inventing excuses and complaining that I am selfish...
----------------
...Classes so far: Christian Thought -- it's actually, "The History of Christian Thought," but the professor informed us that the History Department said that they couldn't use "history" in the class title, and I can just envision the faculty meeting where they addressed that very issue, no doubt to nauseous and rancorous length. Just insert "standard academic departmental territorial circle-pissing bullshit." (Oops. Maybe I shouldn't say that here -- after all, I am thinking of going for a Masters in History. Oh who cares. Bite me, future History Department advisors.)...

You guessed it -- Andrea Harris

Posted 11:12 AM

Let the dead wake...

Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death.
--G. K. Chesterton

Posted 8:11 PM

Iran update

there's not a lot of news coming out of Iran, but Glenn Frazier has some reports...
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Posted 12:02 PM

It's WAR...

Noted by Richard Bennett:

Asia Times says: Iraq: In all but name, the war's on

 ...Equally irrelevant is speculation on the timing (September/October for the sake of surprise? January/February a la Gulf War to avoid the desert heat?) of "the" allied attack. Attacks of various kinds are ongoing. Their intensity and intrusiveness can increase at any time ... or decrease again. It's a game of options and contingencies, backed by ever increasing material capabilities; perhaps a game of prodding Saddam into a tactical mistake or a flight-forward reaction. Earlier this year, a British journalist asked Bush how exactly he was going to get rid of Saddam Hussein. He replied, "Wait and see." The journalist, like many of his colleagues, may well still be waiting - for lack of ability to see that the war is on. Some high-speed, high-intensity strikes may later be called "The Iraq War", but it began no later than March.

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Posted 11:51 AM

Press release from the Simon campaign...

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 17, 2002

Major Latino Organization Overwhelmingly Endorses Simon

LOS ANGELES ˆ Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon today secured a major victory, as 22 of the Mexican American Political Association's 32 chapters voted to endorse Simon for governor.

Simon's victory was a particular embarrassment to Governor Gray Davis, who has been widely criticized for his failures to improve California's education system and on other issues of particular interest to Latinos.

Davis aides, caught off-guard by the ground swell of Simon support, attempted to alter convention rules, and even cancelled the convention, in order to cover-up the Simon victory ...