Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Perform "Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor"

The latest number I'm learning on my $23 guitar, my version halfway between those of Mississippi John Hurt and Doc Watson, with the following risqué but genial lyrics:

Make me down a pallet on your floor
Make me down a pallet on your floor
Honey, make it down, make it soft and low
Then maybe my good gal she won't know

Honey, I can't lay down on your bed
Honey, I can't lay down on your bed
You know I can't lay down across your pretty bed
My good woman she might kill you dead
And don't you let my good gal catch you here
No don't you let my good gal catch you here
She might shoot you, cut and stump you too
Ain't no tellin' just what she might do

Ooh, make me down a pallet on your floor
Make me down a pallet on your floor
Honey, make it down, make it soft and low
Then maybe my good gal she won't know

Ten Years of Bush-Obama Home-Wrecking

"I know I’m doing it for her … doing what I do, it’s serving a greater good," said Sgt. Amber Davis of Rochester, holding her 3-year-old daughter after this ceremony — Ceremony held for National Guard unit scheduled to go to Afghanistan.

Disgusting, these wars, and the use of our militias, including mothers, to fight them, not to mention the war criminals-in-chief who've waged them. If "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive" is our mantra, then why not get this young lady a job at the former GM plant here in town to support her kid instead.

Rochester's Great Libertarian

Chris Sullivan catalogues "the insights he relates that are applicable to many people today" and suggests that he "could not have imagined the degree of control imposed by modern governments" — Frederick Douglass and Modern Slavery.

Free Is Beautiful

The title of a book which The New American's Patrick Krey says "is definitely geared to make Catholics become libertarians [and] might also persuade a few libertarians to become Catholic" — Why Catholics Should Be Libertarians. An exceprt from the review:

Simply put, England explains, libertarianism is about the non-aggression principle, which “prohibits the initiation of physical force (or the threat of force) against people or property. The use of force is only legitimate in defense of life or property.” This idea applies to both individuals and governments. That means that if something is wrong for an individual to do – robbery or murder as an example – then that is also wrong if a government does it. England points out that every “government relies on the kind of aggression that would be criminal if used by an individual – that is, the initiation of violence.” Sadly, in present times, we have become accustomed to government using aggressive force or the threat of force to achieve its goals. Libertarians, England states, reject “violence as a solution” and “embrace the goal of eliminating all authority that relies upon the initiation of force to accomplish its ends.”

The supporters of state action on the Left and the Right would be quick to label such rhetoric as the ranting of an anarchist, which, in practice, would produce a lawless society. England addresses such criticism by arguing that order can be accomplished through voluntary, nonviolent means. England reminds readers that authority does not need to come only from an “aggressive government. There are other ways to secure agreement so that orders may be given and obedience expected. Authority based on reciprocity and trust is more powerful than that based on physical coercion.” One idea proposed later in the book is cooperative contractual agreements, which are based on private property rights. These cooperatives, many of which exist today, can take the place of the role presently handled by coercive governments.

As England explains, a society that is based on voluntary association will not make a “perfect world, but real virtue makes a better world than compelled virtue…. Liberty frees us to live – if we choose – a virtuous life in this world, and a life capable of sharing in the divine life in the next.” England echoes that last point throughout the book. “Only free men can become good men. True virtue requires liberty.” This might be met with grumbling from the conservative wing of Christians who view moral evils as an area for state action, but the author reminds the reader that we should have learned from similar approaches in the past, such as the failure of alcohol prohibition, which have shown us that criminalizing vices do not rid us of social problems and, in the majority of cases, end up making the problems far worse.

The New Hitler?

Lew Rockwell posts the above video, which probably occured as our own president was on TV talking with a bunch of broads — New York Rabbis Honor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Lest we Christians feel left out, in my previous post on the heroic leader's visit to our country — Ain't My Enemy — perennial commenter Pints in NYC pointed out the following:

Did you catch the end of his speech? In addition to his invocation of the Mahdi, he looks forward to the return of Jesus Christ. I wonder how much air time the words "Jesus Christ" got and will get at the UN this week.

The Fugees Perform "Killing Me Softly"

A departure from this blog's usual musical fare inspired by a bargain bin purchase today of an album I enjoyed immensely back in the '90s, which was the soundtrack of my first year in Korea. I had then unthinkingly bought the Tipper Gore-Parents Music Resource Center-Parental Advisory version of the album. Now, a decade-and-a-half later, I can finally enjoy the original with all its f-bombs. As far as this blogger is concerned, the Fugees mark the end of Hip hop.

Dave Rawlings & Gillian Welch Perform "Method Acting" & "Sweet Tooth"

Libyan Lies

Disturbing reports that "the attack on the Libyan ambassador was pre-meditated, with the possible collaboration of a Libyan politician" — Obama’s Shaky Libya Narrative — and on a man "detained because he is a flight risk" — Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, man behind anti-Muslim film, ordered jailed.

“Cash on the Nail”

The New American Joe Wolverton, II, J.D. on a happy development in the town that gave us that expression — Bristol, England, Adopts Alternative Currency.

Dave Rawlings Machine Perform "To Be Young," "Ruby," "Monkey and the Engineer," and "Bells of Harlem"

The Rehabilitative Aspect of Imprisonment

"For four months, I had nothing to read but the Bible, so I read it for all four months—diligently, picking everything apart," says Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova, pictured above — Pussy Riot: The Jailhouse Interview.

"Prison is like a monastery—it's a place for ascetic practices," she continues. "After a month here, I became a vegetarian. Walking in circles for an hour in that tiny dusty yard gets you into a pretty meditative state as well."

Her bible-reading, vegetarian diet, and meditative states seem to be doing her good; she looks far more attractive above than in the photo that accompanied pre-sentencing articles like this one — Political Theatre: Pussy Riot readings at the Royal Court. My Russian colleague predicted that prison would be a blessing for them.

Ain't My Enemy

I have never been able to understand why I am supposed to hate this man, much less his countrymen — Ahmadinejad tells U.N. ‘uncivilized Zionists’ are threat to Iran; U.S. boycotts address.

"The current abysmal situation in the world and the bitter incidents of history are due mainly to the wrong management of the world and the self-proclaimed centers of power who have entrusted themselves to the devil." Amen.

Disengagement From the Middle East

"Western nations need to respect the people of the Middle East and trust them to solve their own problems, said an Iraqi diplomat, an Iraqi archbishop and a Syrian-born representative of the Melkite Catholic Church," writes the Catholic News Services's Carol Glatz, quoted here by Daniel Nichols — “Mind Your Own Business”.

Andrew Napolitano writes, "We should come home from these barbaric places and leave them alone" — The Arab Spring Becomes a Western Winter. "We should trade with them, since they want to buy our iPads and washing machines and blue jeans, but let them run their own governments."

Having "no love lost for the Arab world," Guy Somerset of Taki's Magazine argues that "love of religion is not itself a fundamental flaw in their belief system" — Let Them Have Their God. "I don’t care for the entire region and think all of the West would be better off disengaging," the author concludes. "In fact, leave the Muslims alone and they’ll probably do the same for us."

You Won't MasoniChip My Kids

A exposé of a supposed "state and provincial endeavor intended to protect your little ones" — Why Are the Freemasons Collecting Children’s DNA?

Perhaps it's time to revive "the first 'third party' in the United States," the Anti-Masonic Party, founded down the road in the Great City of Batavia, New York.

George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," Performed by Musikkapelle Villnöß, Directed by Sonya Profanter

In honor of the American composer's birthday, the most satisfactory video rendition of this piece I could find was the above from the German-speaking Italian province of South Tyrol of all places.

"The Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Prophet"

The subtitle of a book reviewed about "a man of great learning, [who] had promoted 'decent behavior' and reestablished the city’s republican government," who "died, a condemned heretic," and whom "Pope Clement VIII considered making... a saint" — Trial by Fire.

What Not to Eat

"Avoid these health destroyers" — Top 10 Most Genetically Modified Foods.

Tom Woods Responds to Conservative Buffoonery

My Latest Video: 'You Libertarians Are Soulless Materialists,' Say Critics.

Local(ist) Beauty

Vistas within walking distance, pictured above "Fairport at Dawn" and "Lock 33 Sunset" — Fairport, Pittsford canal photos win top honors in contest.

The Band Perform "The Weight"

From Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz (1978).

The Band Perform "The Weight"

From Woodstock (1970), a song that appeared in Easy Rider (1969).

"This Used to Be a Hell of a Good Country"

A conservative lament that struck me from a conservative film, which I watched again recently — Easy Rider (1969). "I don't really have to convince you that Easy Rider is a reactionary picture, do I?" asked Bill Kauffman in Look Homeward America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Porch Anarchist, continuing:

I don't really have to convince you that Easy Rider is a reactionary picture, do I? The only characters that are depicted as unqualifiably virtuous are the homesteading family, living on their own acreage, raising their own food, teaching their own young... The only American Dream worth the snores is based in liberty and a community- (or family-) oriented independence, which the filmakers associate with the country's founders. Dennis Hopper (an admittedly unorthodox Kansas Reoublican) and Peter Fonda (a gun-loving libertarian) did not make a movie glorifying tripping hippies and condemning the southern gun culture; rather, as an exasperated Fonda explained, "My movie is about the lack of freedom. My heroes are not right, they're wrong. Liberty's become a whore, and we're all taking the easy ride."

I go on about what I am sure is now a ludicrously unfashionable movie because Easy Rider was groping toward a truth that might have set America free. The hippies and the small-town southerners gathered in the diner; the small farmers and the shaggy communards: they were on the same side. The side of liberty, of locally based community, of independence from the war machine, the welfare state, the bureaucratic prison whose wardens were McNamara, Rockefeller, Bundy, and the wise men and wealthy men who had never grasped Paul Goodman's point─or perhaps they had grasped it all too well, and wrestled it into submission─that "[i]t is only the anarchists who are really conservative, for they want to conserve sun and space, animal nature, primary community, experimenting inquiry."

It is only the anarchists who are really conservative.

"The joke is this: Easy Rider is a CONSERVATIVE movie," said J.F.X. Gillis in They Blew It: The Secret of "Easy Rider", continuing,

It is not "nihilistic" and "chaotic." Not only does this movie celebrate family values, it celebrates traditional family values. But even more than that, Easy Rider argues for the enduring strength and power of faith in God as it explicitly rejects hedonism, atheism, and nihilism. This theme is evident throughout the film from the moment the travelers leave Los Angeles to the final climatic scene.

[....]

Wyatt and Billy were given choices, opportunities to find meaning in their lives beyond that gas tank filled with money, beyond the pleasure of the brothel or the bottle, beyond the aimless wandering, meaning offered through spiritual commitment. Could there be a more conservative theme? The rancher and his family, the commune: first they were given a model of a meaningful life, then they were given an invitation to build that life. Invited to stay and join a family and find God, they refused.

Peace-Loving Americans

"In the midst of a nationwide election campaign in which many politicians trumpet their support for the buildup and employment of U.S. military power around the world, the American public’s disagreement with such measures is quite remarkable," begins CounterPuncher Lawrence S. Wittner, pointing to the "many signs [that] point to the fact that most Americans want to avoid new wars, reduce military spending, and support international cooperation" — How Hawkish Are Americans?

After explaining that our fellow "Americans favor a less militarized U.S. government approach to world affairs than currently exists," the author concludes, "Perhaps the time has come for politicians to catch up with them."

Buchananite Foreign Policy

"A missionary foreign policy is no longer affordable or effective," writes The American Conservative's heroic founder in what might be the most succinct expression of his thinking on the matter — Crusaders Come Home.

Reading T.S. Eliot

"Does the culture of 'The Waste Land' lead to freedom—or something more?" asks The American Conservative's Daniel McCarthy — Modernism & Conservatism.

The Mynabirds Perform "Lemon Tree," "We Made a Mountain," "What We Gained in the Fire," ' LA Rain," and "Numbers Don't Lie"

What Greek Shipping Magnates Read

Taki Theodoracopulos tells us — A Very Incomplete List of My Favorite Novelists. "Greene is our greatest Catholic writer, and Orwell predicted what our free world would turn into."

America's Leading Cause of Injury Deaths

News of "the first cause of injury deaths, followed by car crashes, poisoning, falls and murder" — Suicide Now Kills More Americans Than Car Crashes.

The Declaration of Independance and the Magna Carta

Both "are based on the idea that, without checks and balances, those in power will take advantage of us" — America – and Western Civilization as a Whole – Was Founded on a Conspiracy Theory.

Why the Tea Party and Occupy Are Both Right

The New Beginning links to Maureen Tkacik's article stating that "both of them have roots in the same man" — The radical right-wing roots of Occupy Wall Street — and posts a video of said man — Karl Hess.

Right-Wing Cuties for Peace

"Capitalists have historically opposed war and embraced production as a means to freedom, prosperity and national security," reminds Townhall.com's wisest (and cutest) columnist, who continues, "So, it surprises me when self-described fiscal conservatives embrace a foreign policy of military interventionism" — Economics of Peace.

Does the American Electorate Deserve More Than Two Choices?

The New American's Raven Clabough on one man who thinks so — Gary Johnson Sues for Participation in Pres. Debates.

"The Conservative View on Foreign Aid"

"It's also the libertarian view, despite what Lindsey Graham wants you to think," reminds The American Conservative's Jack Hunter — The Conservative View on Foreign Aid.

Alexander Cockburn's Global Warming Skepticism

The American Conservatove's Ron Unz salutes "one of America’s foremost radical-left journalists" — Two Cheers for Heresy on Global Warming.

Jackie Evancho Sings George Frideric Handel's Ombra Mai Fu

Ombra mai fu
di vegetabile,
cara ed amabile,
soave più.
A shade there never was,
of any plant,
dearer and more lovely,
or more sweet.

Aiding and Abetting the Enemy

At least one senator wants to put an end to it — Senate Rejects Rand Paul's Call to Cut Aid to Pakistan, Libya, and Egypt. "Rand Paul was [also] the only senator who [rightly] voted against [a] measure" "declaring that the United States will take action to thwart Iran’s purported plan to develop nuclear weapons."

"Self-help Books Dressed Up in a Lab Coat"

"An intellectual pestilence is upon us," says Steven Poole of "the plague of neuroscientism" with its "books purporting to explain, through snazzy brain-imaging studies, not only how thoughts and emotions function, but how politics and religion work, and what the correct answers are to age-old philosophical controversies" — Your brain on pseudoscience: the rise of popular neurobollocks.

Local Gems

Reports on a "pair of secluded motels, which haven’t changed much since they opened in the 1950s" — Hidden gem: Two motels share an unusual history, and more — and "a 40-room Queen Ann-style mansion," built "in 1887, during the Gilded Age" — Then and Now: Sonnenberg Gardens.

Here's to the State of Mississippi

George Will reminds us, among other things, that "Mississippi has more black elected officials — not more relative to population; more — than any other state" — Will Utah send its Love to Washington?

Forget Cardio

Mark's Daily Apple explains why there is little need for "the purely mechanical act of burning calories through arduous, protracted exercise" — Exercise Primally – Move, Lift, and Sprint!

"The Longest Wait"

A conservative blog for peace brings us this moving and enraging story of "[t]he wife of a World War II soldier [who] waited for more than 68 years for solid proof that her husband is either dead or alive" — The Longest Wait. "Few missing soldiers have ever been easier to find."

"Amazing that our own government failed this hero and his widow all these years, but these French people have honored and revered him and kept his sacrifice alive all these years," rightly says one commenter.

The Mynabirds Perform "Lemon Tree," "LA Rain," "Let the Record Go"

Blue-eyed soul is reason enough for this blog to momentarily go electric. "Laura Burhenn says she'd long imagined a band that sounded like Neil Young playing Motown," we learn from this National(ist) Public Radio blurb — NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert: The Mynabirds. What this blogger hears, especially in the exquisite first number, is Memphis soul (and Stax Records), one of the last stands of decent and regional American popular music.

An In Memoriam This Morning

Reading the local obituaries and in memoriams every morning over breakfast, I'm often moved, but coming across a thing of this beauty was entirely unexpected — Clyde E. Sanford:

Sanford, Clyde E.

09/24/42 - 09/20/07

WHEN THE FIREFLIES LEAVE

The fireflies came to visit me

After all these years.

It was like you had sent them

To check on me;

To remind me that you used

To love me.

Their fleeting lights

And gossamer wings

Reminded me how

Short a time we had

Together when we could love,

When we were one.

Their silence made me listen

To see if I could catch

A tiny sound of your voice;

One small reminder

Of the timbre that

Could take my breath away.

Their flight took a ragged path

Around and around

Like your arms used to be for me.

Then off they flew

Leaving me alone in the dark

Just as you had done.

I'll miss their cheery lights

And the meaning that they hold.

But I still miss you more

Eighteen hundred and twenty five days and nights

Have come and flown

And you are still gone.

And I love you still, querido mio.

Published in Rochester Democrat And Chronicle on September 22, 2012

Lisa Hannigan Performs "Knots," "Passenger," "O Sleep"

"Why bother casting a vote for president?"

I am surprised to see letters about which presidential candidate to vote for. I get caught up in it myself. But, as New Yorkers, your vote doesn’t count in presidential elections. Due to the heavy downstate registration of Democrats, 100 percent of the votes of the great state of New York, in the Electoral College are already awarded to the Democrat.

So what do you do with that worthless vote? I try to send a message. Vote Libertarian, or Right to Life, or whatever you believe in, but they can’t win. I am tempted this year to write in “NO.” Do you think the politicians would notice a million “NO” votes?

Rightly writes Michael Rickert of Irondequoit, New York today — Letters to the editor for Sept. 21, 2012.

Retirement Comes For Our Bishop

And "the new Apostolic Administrator for Rochester, Bishop Robert J. Cunningham of Syracuse, ... will lead the Diocese of Rochester until a permanent replacement is named" — Bishop Matthew Clark announces his resignation has been accepted. More:

When Cunningham was asked how was going to run two dioceses at the same time, he said that he would have to be good at delegating authority.

There is no timetable when Pope Benedict XVI will name the next bishop, but Doug Mandelaro, spokesman for the Rochester diocese, said the process generally takes six to 14 months.

The Vatican’s naming of an apostolic administrator was unusual, as typically a resignation is accepted pending the naming of a new bishop, Clark noted.

Trappists of the Genesee

Front Porch Republican Michael J. Sauter "had the joy of taking a dozen-plus college students to the [nearby] Abbey of the Genesee for the first of this year’s 'Newman Community Book Discussion with Monks'" — Thought Control and Controlling Our Thoughts.

One can get there by "heading in the direction Bill Kauffman’s Batavia—always a good sign!"

Sociopathy and Hedonism

"I am what psychiatrists call a sociopath; I can assure you for better or worst (sic) that I am not burdened by morality, ethics, or remorse, and I certainly do not possess a conscience that needs to be cleansed," said a local convicted killer — Ed Laraby: No conscience, no remorse.

"For most of my life I have been a hedonist and a opportunist," he continued. "I subscribe to the theory that no one gets something for nothing."

It seems wise to be skeptical of the idea of the sociopath. Do these people genuinely have no "still small voice" within, or have they (and perhaps their society) squashed it?

The Vespers Perform "Got No Friends"

When I come home I hope to have that letter
When I come home I hope to have some mail
When I come home I hope to have that visitor
But when I return there's no one there
Uh uh uh uh

Well I got no friends today
And I wonder if tomorrow will be the same
But I know no matter what I do
Jesus I will always have a friend in you

When I go out I hope to hear a hello
When I go out I hope to find a smile
When I go out I hope the sun will be waving
But as I walk out there is no one there
Uh uh uh uh
Well I got no friends today
And I wonder if tomorrow will be the same
But I know no mater what I do
Jesus I will always have a friend in you
Oh oh oh oh

Well I got no friends today
And I wonder if tomorrow will be the same
But I know no mater what I do
Jesus I will always have a friend in you

Well I got no friends today
And I wonder if tomorrow will be the same
But I know no mater what I do
Jesus I will always have a friend in you

Smith

The title of the play whose debut is covered in this story — Hornell Marine Zach Smith's life told in play at Fringe Festival. The article begins:

On a frosty January morning in 2010, two Marines knocked on the door of Michael and Andrea Deebs’ house in Hornell, Steuben County. They asked to see the couple’s 18-year-old daughter, Anne Smith, who was staying with them.

Tersely, they delivered the news that she dreaded hearing: Her husband, Marine Lance Cpl. Zach Smith, had just been killed in Afghanistan. He was 19.

Four days into his first combat mission, he had stepped on an improvised explosive device. As another Marine rushed to his aid, a second IED went off and killed them both.

Considering a Vote for the Libertarian Party Canditae

John Stossel on a candidate who professes to be "more liberal than Obama on several issues, more conservative than Romney on several issues" — I Like Gary Johnson. Learn more here — Gary Johnson on the Issues.

A Jeffersonian Novelist

Who championed "the dream of the little man, the small farmer and worker who wants to be free from centralization and tyranny, whether it come from business or labor, the right or the left," writes Richard F. Hill, quoted by Libertas et Memoria here — The conservative vision of John Dos Passos.

What Began Here in Rochester...

... ended at "Dwayne’s Photo, a family-owned and operated film-processing business that has operated in the small town of Parsons, Kansas, for over 50 years," reports Front Porch Republic's Russell Arben Fox — The Kodachrome Era Ends, Right Here in Kansas.

Chris Thomas King Performs "Man Of Constant Sorrow"

Alvin Plantinga

Who argues rightly that "there is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and theistic religion, but superficial concord and deep conflict between science and naturalism" — A Philosopher Defends Religion.

Benedict in Lebanon

Pope Ratzinger "has invoked for all the common grammar of the natural law" and "has pointed to the cross as the sign of victory" — King Solomon and the Finding of the True Cross.

Joy

A comedian calls it an "infallible sign of the presence of God" — Stephen Colbert to NY Fordham students: ‘I love my church’. A quip: "Consubstantial? It’s the Creed. It’s not the SAT prep."

"우린 '성당 스타일'"

The New Beginning introduced it a while back — Catholic Parody of Gangnam Style — and now Catholic News Asia covers the story — Korean Catholics jump on viral video trend. "Sisters who pray the Angelus/Brothers who pray the rosary/They look beautiful and lovely."

J. Haydn's Harmoniemesse, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons

Catholic Mass Influence on Japanese Tea Ceremony?

It's been said that in perfecting the tea ceremony [Sen no] Rikyu was influenced by the Catholic Mass, an assertion that at first seems ridiculous given the ceremony's quintessential Japaneseness. Yest Christians were active in the circles in which Rikyo mixed, and at least two of his Seven Disciples were converts (his wife and daughter, too, it's rumored). A modern-day descendant of the tea master, Sen Soshitsu, has argued persuasively for the Catholic influence, and once the connection is pointed out the similarities are striking. Raising the tea to head height as a token of respect, for instance, and wiping the bowl after drinking with a white cloth. There is indeed in the whole ritual a sense of two or three gathering together in spiritual union. Could the okashi (Japanese confectionery) that accompanies the green tea have been inspired by the wafer that accompanies wine in the Mass? Food for thought, indeed...

So we read in In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians: A Story of Suppression, Secrecy and Survival, the story of the Kakure Kirishitan (隠れキリシタン), whose author makes clear his beliefs, which are agnostic.

George Orwell Defines Journalism

"Glenn Greenwald dredges up an Orwell quote," which Steve Sailer relays — Orwell: "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations."

Muslim Calls to Arrest the Maker of The Innocence of Muslims

Mainstream media may be preparing us for Barack Hussein Obama's loophole to answer them — Nakoula may have violated probation with movie.

"Three Laughs a Minute"

A report from across the Pond — Airplane Funniest Film Ever, Research Finds.

Old Crow Medicine Show Perform "Next Go 'Round"

Come Here, Learn From Us, and Kindly Go Home

"The flow of students from the Muslim world into American colleges and universities has grown sharply in recent years," and "interviews with students and administrators at several Catholic institutions indicate an even faster rate of growth there" — Muslims From Abroad Are Thriving in Catholic Colleges.

"At those schools, Muslim students, from the United States or abroad, say they prefer a place where talk of religious beliefs and adherence to a religious code are accepted and even encouraged, socially and academically."

U.S. Out Of the Middle East!

"If they will not protect our embassies from mobs who come to burn our flag," says Pat Buchanan, "let us lower the flag ourselves and bring Old Glory home" — Time To Come Home?

"Is it not long past time to do a cost-benefit analysis of our involvement in the Middle and Near East?" asks the peacenik paleocon, calculating "6,500 dead, 40,000 wounded and $2 trillion piled onto a national debt that is $16 trillion."

Bill Kauffman Eulogizes a Friend

The "aristocratic populist" whose "slashing wit and Adamsian erudition..., in his essays and historical novels, lit roads not taken, the America we might have had" — My Pen Pal Gore Vidal.

Sarah Jarosz Performs "Come Around"

The Man Behind the Movie

When I saw the Coptic priestly vestments and an image of the Theotokos in the clip, I knew it was no fundagelical film — Man who made 'Innocence of Muslims' said to be a Coptic Christian. Now, why would members of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria have anything but warm and fuzzy feelings for the Religion of Peace?

Mrs. Clinton's Lies and Libya

"The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others," she said, quoted here — Reaction to anti-Islam film fuels debate on free speech versus hate speech. Then why in the past quarter-century has the U.S. government-funded everything from Piss Christ to Pussy Riot?

Going Primal, the Bible, and Freedom

This article on Mark's Daily Apple makes me want to adopt the lifestyle — The Primal Blueprint 8 Key Concepts. My major stumbling block has been the whole "grains are completely and utterly unnecessary" idea. "Bread is the staff of life," the Good Book tells us, no?

But then, let's remember that "Cain is a farmer and Abel's a shepherd," as Yoram Hazony has pointed out — An Individualist Approach To The Hebrew Bible. Noting that "it turns out that this long, long narrative from Genesis to Kings, over and over again, presents people either as shepherds or as farmers," the professor continues,

And in fact there's a whole history of conflict between them. So, all the greatest heroes in the Bible — Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David and many others — they're all shepherds. And it's not just that they happen to be shepherds, because the Bible emphasizes the time they spent shepherding and what they learned from it. And this is kind of like a code — I mean, not a secret code, but it's a metaphor — the shepherd stands for people who live outside of society, on the hills. They make law for themselves, they seek God for themselves, and they're autonomous. It's almost an anarchical message.

The farmer represents the great urban agrarian societies on the huge rivers in Egypt, Babylonia, Syria, Persia. And the farming societies are what we would recognize today as kind of a totalitarian society, meaning that the king made the decisions, he spoke for the gods, he paid the priests. And these were societies, of course, that had virtues, but the virtues of farming society, of these great empires, were virtues like piety, submissiveness, obedience, honoring the government, honoring your father and your mother, keeping the system going. The shepherds were people who lived beyond society. And the funny thing is that the Hebrew Bible is one very complicated, sophisticated document which holds up the shepherds as being the heroes.

The Vespers Perform "Cottonfield" and "Grinnin' In Your Face"

A Call From Ron Paul

To reject "majority rule at the expense of the minority" and "not tolerate the fact that we have become a nation ruled by men, their whims and the mood of the day, and not laws" — A Republic, Not a Democracy.

The Pope in Lebanon

"During His Apostolic Pilgrimage to Lebanon, will the Vicar of Christ sup in the Temple with the money changers or succor the progeny of Jesus?" asks CounterPuncher Franklin Lamb — The Pope and the Palestinians.

Poetry on the News

On WXXI 1370 AM recently, I heard an interview with a classicist who suggested the poetry should be employed for commentary on the news; well, here's an example from CounterPuncher Helen Redmond on a particularly ridiculous call for centralized medicine I also heard on the same channel — Cheesecake Factory Medicine?

"Closed Sundays to Allow Employees Time for Family & Worship"

So read the sign on our second visit to the store mentioned in this story — Hobby Lobby sues government over contraception mandate. I was less impressed on my first visit; a couple of books by the CEO prominently for sale were clearly Protestant and Americanist. The sign did impress me a bit, as does this story.

The Wages of Interventionism

With all due respect, this "noted Arabist" should have known better than to get his country so involved in someone else's fight — U.S. Ambassador to Libya Killed.

Sergei Rachmaninov's "Vespers" Sung by Anitra Jellema, Pierrette de Zwaan and the Groot Omroepkoor and Directed by Sigvards Klava

The Vespers Perform "Lawdy"

"William," "James," and "Elizabeth"

The only constants on these lists — Most popular baby names, 2011 vs. 1911: ‘William’ stands the test of time. The article notes that "the most popular names in 2011 were 'Jacob' for boys and 'Sophia' for girls" and that "in 1911, they were 'John' and 'Mary,'" but that "neither 'John' nor 'Mary' even appears in the top 20 for 2011."

It's a shame that we've lost the names of the Beloved Disciple and the Theotokos, but at least "Jacob" and "Sophia" are time-tested and true names, with origins in two of the three fonts of Western Civilization, unlike several on the 2011 list. (Apart from perhaps "Darius," there is not a one on this list — Top 10 African American Baby Names.) Right are those "pointing to changing baby names as a sign of the decline of civilization."

Scientistic Imperialism

"Philosopher Julian Baggini, [who] fears that, as we learn more and more about the universe, scientists are becoming increasingly determined to stamp their mark on other disciplines," in this article "challenges theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss over 'mission creep' among his peers" — Philosophy v science: which can answer the big questions of life?

Barack Hussein Obama, America Firster?

Kudos to the president for this rejection of "sharpened demands for a tougher U.S. line against Iran" — In unusual snub, Obama to avoid meeting with Netanyahu — and anti-kudos to John McCain, who, with (Miss) Lindsey Graham, blathered about this being "a troubling signal to our ally Israel about America's commitment at this dangerous and challenging time."

Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin

Partners in (war) crime — US, Britain hushed up Katyn killings. The report states that "newly declassified documents show" that "US president Franklin D Roosevelt and Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill hushed up evidence the Soviet secret police had killed thousands of Polish men in the Katyn forest in 1940 for fear of alienating their second World War Russian ally Josef Stalin," and suggests that "the new documents shift the focus to how Washington and London put fears of upsetting the Kremlin before the truth."

9/11

Lew Rockwell calls it — The 11th Anniversary of a Military Coup?

Roy Acuff Performs "The Great Speckled Bird"

"The Great Speckled Bird" is the latest number I've learned on my guitar. Wikipedia calls the song "an allegory referencing Fundamentalist self-perception during the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy." The song, "based on Jeremiah 12:9, 'Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour," strikes me as inadvertently Catholic, as do many country songs, especially verses 2, 3, and 4:

1.What a beautiful thought I am thinking
Concerning a great speckled bird
Remember her name is recorded
On the pages of God's Holy Word.

2. All the other birds are flocking 'round her
And she is despised by the squad
But the great speckled bird in the Bible
Is one with the great church of God.

3. All the other churches are against her
They envy her glory and fame
They hate her because she is chosen
And has not denied Jesus' name.

4. Desiring to lower her standard
They watch every move that she makes
They long to find fault with her teachings
But really they find no mistake.
5. She is spreading her wings for a journey
She's going to leave by and by
When the trumpet shall sound in the morning
She'll rise and go up in the sky.

6. In the presence of all her despisers
With a song never uttered before
She will rise and be gone in a moment
Till the great tribulation is o'er.

7. I am glad I have learned of her meekness
I am proud that my name is on her book
For I want to be one never fearing
The face of my Savior to look.

8. When He cometh descending from heaven
On the cloud that He writes in His Word
I'll be joyfully carried to meet Him
On the wings of that great speckled bird.

Folies d'Espagne Performed by Jordi Savall

Local Tyrants

From the antipodes, cryptogon.com reports — Rochester City Employees Don’t Have to Pay Fines When Caught by Red-Light Cameras.

Football Is a Leftist Plot

George Will (whose Wikipedia page photo shows him "attending a Nationals-Cardinals baseball game) writes about "progressivism, a doctrine whose many blemishes on American life include universities as football factories, which progressivism helped to create" — Pigskin progressivism. An exceprt:

Harvard philosopher William James then spoke of society finding new sources of discipline and inspiration in “the moral equivalent of war.” Society found football, which like war required the subordination of the individual, and which would relieve the supposed monotony of workers enmeshed in mass production.

College football became a national phenomenon because it supposedly served the values of progressivism, in two ways. It exemplified specialization, expertise and scientific management. And it would reconcile the public to the transformation of universities, especially public universities, into something progressivism desired but the public found alien. Replicating industrialism’s division of labor, universities introduced the fragmentation of the old curriculum of moral instruction into increasingly specialized and arcane disciplines. These included the recently founded social sciences — economics, sociology, political science — that were supposed to supply progressive governments with the expertise to manage the complexities of the modern economy and the simplicities of the uninstructed masses.

Football taught the progressive virtue of subordinating the individual to the collectivity. Inevitably, this led to the cult of one individual, the coach. Today, in almost every state, at least one public university football coach is paid more than the governor.

Jeffersonian Wisdom on Debt

I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses; and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes; have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account; but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers. Our landholders, too, like theirs, retaining indeed the title and stewardship of estates called theirs, but held really in trust for the treasury, must wander, like theirs, in foreign countries, and be contented with penury, obscurity, exile, and the glory of the nation. This example reads to us the salutary lesson, that private fortunes are destroyed by public as well as by private extravagance. And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and so on, till the bulk of the society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery, and to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering. Then begins, indeed, the bellum omnium in omnia, which some philosophers observing to be so general in this world, have mistaken it for the natural, instead of the abusive state of man. And the fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.

Quoted in Jefferson on Freedom: Wisdom, Advice, and Hints on Freedom, Democracy, and the American Way, a book I picked up for a couple of bucks at Ollie's Bargain Outlet.

(Too bad we chose Hamiltonian folly instead — Past & Present: Alexander Hamilton and the Start of the National Debt.)

Robin & Linda Williams & Their Fine Group Perform "Rollin' & Ramblin'"

Headlining this weekend's local Golden Link Festival.

10000 Maniacs Perform "Hey Jack Kerouac"

Some local music I grew up with to accompany this article reminding us that the "bopping, scatting, mystical jazz poet who almost singlehandedly willed the 1960s counterculture into being was himself a political conservative and a Catholic" — The Conservative Kerouac.

Two on Those Who Denied Him Three Times

"For the first time–and in the longest Democratic platform in history, 26,000 words–there was not a single mention of God, the Creator, whom Thomas Jefferson himself, father of the party, proclaimed to be the author of our right to life and liberty," reports Pat Buchanan, noting that "when the amendment was offered to the convention by its chairman, Antonio Villaraigosa, the idea of restoring the name of God to the platform was hooted, jeered and booed by half the delegates on the floor, who three times howled, 'No!'" — Godless Party.

"Democrats apparently do not yet understand that hypocrisy, not Christianity, is the American religion," writes Thomas Fleming; "We are happy to elect godless sinners who only go to Church for weddings and funerals, so long as they make the usual noises, as the deist Lincoln did, about 'the author of our being,' etc." — Godless Party.

More Middle-East Anti-Christian Hate-Mongering

"Police inaction and an educational culture that encourages Jewish children to treat Christians with 'contempt' has made life increasingly 'intolerable' for many, Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Custodian of the Holy Land, said" — Vatican official says Israel fostering intolerance of Christianity. An excerpt:

Fr Pizzaballa's intervention, unusually outspoken for a senior Catholic churchman, came after pro-settler extremists attacked a Trappist monastery in the town of Latroun.

The door of the monastery was set fire to and its walls were covered with anti-Christian graffiti that denounced Christ as a "monkey".

The incident is the latest in a series of acts of arson and vandalism this year targeting places of worship, including Jerusalem's 11th century Monastery of the Cross, built on the site where the tree used to make Christ's Cross is held to have been planted.

Slogans reading "Death to Christians" and other offensive graffiti were daubed on its walls.

Fr Pizzaballa, the head of the Franciscan Order in the Holy Land, and fellow senior clergymen of other denominations have protested the failure of the police to identify the culprits behind any of the incidents.

But the most important issue they say Israel has failed to address is the practice of some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools that teach children it is a doctrinal obligation to abuse anyone in Holy Orders they encounter in public.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, including children as young as eight, spit at members of the clergy on a daily basis, Fr Pizzaballa said.

Sierra Hull Performs "Someone Like You"

Minor Keys, Appoggiaturas, and "Vocal Fry"

An interesting NPR story about research suggesting a "shift... in the emotional content of music since the 1960s" — Why We're Happy Being Sad: Pop's Emotional Evolution.

I'm reminded of this exploration of the musical theory behind how "Adele won the song of the year category at [last] year's Grammy Awards for her tear-jerker 'Someone Like You'" — The Ballad Of The Tearful: Why Some Songs Make You Cry.

And, listening to presenter Alix Spiegel's voice, I'm unfortunately reminded of that "creaky, rough and guttural sound" that "appear[s] to be the new craze among young women," which under normal circumstances "is considered a speech disorder" and when feigned "could put them at a risk of future vocal cord damage" — 'Vocal fry': The new craze in talking inspired by Britney Spears, Ke$ha and Kim Kardashian.

"Shaving Contrarians" vs. "Big Shave"

An interesting article on the "band of contrarians [who] claim that, for all the change in men’s razors, we’ve made no progress" — Shaving debate hasn’t resolved whether doubled-edged safety razor is best. An excerpt:

The darling of these shaving contrarians is the double-edged safety razor: a handle attached to a metal guard that exposes just the edge of a simple, two-sided blade. Conspiracy theorists say big companies largely abandoned the model, which dominated men’s shaving throughout the early and mid 20th century, when they realized that making five-cent blades wasn’t a growth industry. Anyone could manufacture them at bargain basement prices. So “big shave” developed a patentable product for which it could command a premium without direct competition.

This blogger has been using the same double-edged safety razor, like the one pictured above, for more than two decades now. The day I bought it I was in a drug store with a bearded friend. When I picked it off the shelf and compared it with modern models, he said, "If you want to get in touch with your ancestors, by that one." That was one of the best purchases in of my life.

True Gentlemanliness

"One of the distinguishing marks of a gentleman was that he did things because he knew they were the right thing to do, not because they would bring him personal advantage," eulogizes Andrew Gimson — Strange Death of the English Gentleman. More:

The idea of a gentleman was a more inclusive one than it sounds to modern ears. One of its greatest advantages was that you could define it so as to include yourself. You could behave like a gentleman, without possessing any of the social attributes which a gentleman might have: there was no need to possess a coat of arms, or a country estate, or engage in field sports, or wear evening dress. At least since Chaucer's time, there had been a distinction between the social meaning of the word, and the moral. It was evident that well-born people, who ought to know how to behave like gentlemen, did not always do so, while others sometimes did.

The author colncludes, "The gentleman has retired from the fray, but we still need an ideal of good conduct: something that is not the same as Christian behaviour, but which helps to raise us above boorish self-seeking; an ideal which includes modesty, magnanimity and the willingness to sacrifice oneself for the sake of others, especially those who are weaker."

The Tallest Man On Earth Performs "Where Do My Bluebird Fly," "Honey Won't You Let Me In," " I Won't Be Found," & "The Gardener"

American Primitivism from Sweden!

My Younger Brethren

The New Beginning links to an illuminating article — The Manosphere.

"Men in their late 30s and beyond who had the luxury of semi-rejecting the red pill while still finding moderate success are being outnumbered by a younger generation who realize they really don’t have a choice in the matter," writes Professor Mentu, continuing, "Unlike the older men, these men didn’t choose to unplug; they were unplugged." More:

Happiness is an eagle soaring through the air, because that’s what it was made to do; it worries not about the wind, because the same wind that creates resistance also gives lift. Happiness is a fish swimming in the water, because that’s what it was made to do; it worries not about strong currents, because the same turbulent waters that cloud its view also churns up sustenance. Happiness is a tree growing deep roots, because that’s what it was made to do; it worries not about its lack of freedom, because the same roots that hold it down also allow it to weather the storm.

Happiness is a man who protects and cares for his family, goes forth and conquers, gives of himself for a greater cause, and ensures his legacy – because that’s what he was made to do. He doesn’t fear resistance, turbulence, or commitment, because his masculine frame turns resistance into rise, finds sustenance in turbulent waters, and relies on the steadfast roots of commitment to provide stability for himself and safety for those he vowed to protect.

But today’s men are encouraged to meet resistance head on while being shamed for expecting lift. They’re told to man up and tough it out through turbulent waters while being called misogynists for expecting sustenance. They’re shamed into putting down roots in infertile hypergamous soil that offers no support, then are financially ruined and separated from their children when they cannot weather the storm.

And society wonders why these men walk away.

Being in my "late 30s and beyond," I remember things being bad enough when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I can't quite imagine what it's like for young men today, in an age when the Hookup Culture is heralded as "an engine of female progress—one being harnessed and driven by women themselves." That puts a whole new spin on the "play or be played" mantra.

"Hipster Valhalla"

Steve Sailer's "The Unbearable Whiteness of Portland," about the progressive mecca "near the top of any list of Stuff White People Like" with its "environmental restrictions on suburban development, trams, liberal social attitudes, bicycle trails, awareness, an upscale population, microbreweries, sterility, and so much more," and whose "'core city' is the whitest" in the country, comes to mind reading CounterPuncher Linda Ueki Absher's piece about the "hipster Valhalla" — Keep Portland White!

Tired of being "constantly celebrated for being an official person of color" and people "insisting upon the opportunity to honor my person-of-colorness," she says that the "practice of honoring of my culture or any culture involving people of different pigmentations is starting to wear me down."

Neighboring Vermont Leads the Way

"We, citizens of this American land," begin Thomas H. Naylor, Kirkpatrick Sale, James Starkey, and Charles Keil, "haunted by the nihilism of separation, meaninglessness, and powerlessness, subsumed by political elites who use corporate, state, and military power to manipulate our lives, pawns of a global system of dominance and deceit in which transnational megacompanies and big government control us through money, markets, and media, sapping our political will, civil liberties, collective memory, traditional cultures, sustainability, and independence, and as victims of affluenza, technomania, cybermania, globalism, and imperialism, do issue and proclaim this" — The Montpelier Manifesto.

The petition ends with this call: "Citizens, lend your name to this manifesto and join in the honorable task of rejecting the immoral, corrupt, decaying, dying, failing American Empire and seeking its rapid and peaceful dissolution before it takes us all down with it."

American Exceptionalism, Old and New

"The old kept us out of conflict; the new leads to empire," argues The American Conservative's Richard Gamble — American Exceptionalisms. Noting that "John Adams unwittingly penned one of the proof texts of American exceptionalism" but then "edited out these musings when he extended his thoughts a short time later for publication," Mr. Gamble rightly writes:

Today, the United States owes more to the hubristic exceptionalism of Adams’s descendants than to anything bequeathed to us by the Founders of the republic. Hardly a trace of humility survives among the boasts of collective excellence we encounter with numbing predictability from neoconservatives and their allies. Dissidents find themselves in the crosshairs as apostates from the American civil religion.

Old Testament Anarchism

NPR interviews the author of a new book who argues that the "history of Israel, from the creation story to the dissolution and dismemberment of a decadent monarchy, ... is a cautionary tale, an epic that advocates wariness of great imperial powers and individualism in the face of authority" — An Individualist Approach To The Hebrew Bible.

The author says, "It begins with individuals like Abraham and Joseph, and then builds up to a people which goes about trying to live, first without a state and then with a kingdom. " He explains how "this long, long narrative from Genesis to Kings, over and over again, presents people either as shepherds or as farmers" and the "history of conflict between them." Suggesting that "the shepherd stands for people who live outside of society, on the hills," the author says, "They make law for themselves, they seek God for themselves, and they're autonomous. It's almost an anarchical message."

Tolle, lege. Frank Chodorov's classic piece on the transition from the rule of judges to kings comes to mind — What Samuel Said about Solomon.

Why All the Calls to Overthrow Bashar al-Assad?

Srđa Trifković reminds us that "Syria is the region’s only remaining country where Christians live effectively as equals with their Muslim neighbor" — The Disappearing Middle Eastern Christians.

Hope for Pakistani Chirstians

That poor Christian girl with Down's syndrome accused of blasphemy may see justice — Muslim cleric arrested in Pakistan case against Christian girl.

The report states that "witnesses claim the imam tore pages from a Quran and planted them along with burned pieces of paper in the girl's bag" as "part of a plot by a local 'land mafia'" which "intend[s] to wrest land from Christians and drive them out from Mehrabadi, a suburb of Islamabad." Now that's blasphemous, whether or not one hold the Quran to be the Word of God.

Phil Ochs Performs "Joe Hill"

Something for Labor Day, on which I labored. It's hard not to have a soft spot in one's heart for the Industrial Workers of the World and their "Star-Spangled Anarchism".

Why Conservatives Are Duped By Warmongers

The New Beginning with a reminder from Robert Nisbet "that modern populations depend increasingly on the symbolism of war for relief from civil conflicts and frustrations" — Supporting War as an Answer to Man's Search for Meaning. "One of the most impressive aspects of contemporary war is the intoxicating atmosphere of spiritual unity that arises out of the common consciousness of participating in a moral crusade."

Church and Statism

A conservative blog for peace reminds us that while "most devout Catholics (from traditionalists to the Pope to the old workers’-union Democrats to the ’70s liberation theologians) and many other devout Christians believe in a sanctified welfare state," "once you give the state power, it calls your shots" — Churchmen’s dance with the devil.

Hookup Culture

A conservative blog for peace links to one Hanna Rosini's piece that sees it not "as socially corrosive and ultimately toxic to women" but as "an engine of female progress—one being harnessed and driven by women themselves" — Boys on the Side. An excerpt:

“Here in America, the girls, they give up their mouth, their ass, their tits,” the Argentinean said to me, punctuating each with the appropriate hand motion, “before they even know the guy. It’s like, ‘Hello.’ ‘Hello.’ ‘You wanna hook up?’ ‘Sure.’ They are so aggressive! Do they have hearts of steel or something? In my country, a girl like this would be desperate. Or a prostitute.”

So there we have it. America has unseated the Scandinavian countries for the title of Easiest Lay. We are, in the world’s estimation, a nation of prostitutes. And not even prostitutes with hearts of gold.

Is that so bad?

It might not seem "so bad" that night, but thinking a bit longer term, how will these girls feel a decade or two down the road (not to mention an eternity), when they're used up, spent, and unloved?

Heinrich Isaac's Missa Paschale Sung by The Tallis Scholars, Directed by Peter Phillips

Since every Sunday is a celebration of the Paschal Mystery.

Man and Nature

The Portage Bridge, pictured above, was among the most beautiful sights we took in today on our family day-trip to nearby Letchworth State Park. The defiant bridge, rebuilt in 1875 and still looking as it does above, adds to rather than detracts from the natural beauty of what is known as the "Grand Canyon of the East," does it not?

Elizabeth Cotten Performs "Freight Train"

The latest number I've learned on my $23 guitar.

Catholic Crap

A conservative blog for peace poses a question whose answer could not be more depressing — Which country has only 12 new seminarians?

Sandro Magister on the veep and would-be veep, noting that this "is the first time that this has happened in the United States" — Two Catholics in the Running for the White House.

"The beatification of the man known as 'the Saint Jerome of China' will take place ten years after Pope John Paul II first recognised a miracle through his intercession in 2002" — Priest who translated Bible into Chinese to be beatified.

Reviews of Books on War and Peace

Stephen McKeown and Coleen Rowley review When the World Outlawed War, about "an international treaty first signed by the United States, France and thirteen other countries on August 27,1928" and "later signed by an additional forty-seven countries – almost all of the established nations in the world at the time – and subsequently declared in force by Herbert Hoover on July 24, 1929" — Time to ‘Speak Out, Not Hold Your Peace’ About the Kellogg-Briand Pact Outlawing War.

Daniel Immerwahr reviews Foundations of the American Century: The Ford, Carnegie, and Rockefeller Foundations in the Rise of American Power, which explains that "when Franklin Delano Roosevelt took his oath of office, he inherited control of a vast country with a booming population, abundant resources, the world’s largest economy, and next to nothing in the way of central government," and "how the US Government, politically hamstrung at home, could act with force and purpose abroad," "supplemented by private foundations, which took on many of the functions of government" and "channeled billions of dollars into positioning the United States as a world power" — The Foundation Statesmen.

Scott Galupo reviews They Eat Puppies, Don't They?, which "imagines a fantastical military-industrial plot to foment tensions with China and thereby induce Congress to fund a fancy new toy for the Pentagon" — Baiting the Dragon.

Kodachromes of FDR's Internment Camps

More here — ‘Colors of Confinement’: Japanese internment camp photographs by Bill Manbo. These releases from last year come to mind — Here Are The Amazing Color Photos Of The Great Depression That Everyone Is Talking About. Folks in those days sure knew how to exude dignity.

Baby Gramps and the Akron Family Perform "Cape Cod Girls"

Rochester's City Newspaper informs us that Baby Gramps is a-coming to town:

Hobo troubadour Baby Gramps is like one of those Japanese soldiers that came out of the jungles of the Philippines, years after V-J Day, completely unaware that the war was over. That's not to say Baby Gramps is in the dark. The cat cops from a solid knowledge box, a copasetic compendium of tantalizing adventure as told through American music on a well-traveled dobro. It ain't quite blues, and though it's richly storied, I wouldn't call it folk, either. Classifying the enigmatic and illusive character that is Baby Gramps is equally beguiling. If you read Jack Black's (not the actor) "You Can't Win," written in the 1920's, you'd be introduced to characters like Foot-And-A-Half George, The Sanctimonious Kid, and Salt Pork Mary. I have a feeling Baby Gramps was in there too, basking in the subversive glow. The man you see on stage is ageless behind his white beard, but if he played all the way back in the 1920's, that would make him — gulp — a ghost.

Baby Gramps performs Tuesday, September 4, 7 p.m. at Record Archive, 33 1/3 Rockwood St. Free.

His is the most Americanized Tuvan throat singing I've yet heard. The sitar-like picking of the accompanying banjo is also quite pleasant.

Daniel McCarthy on Rand Paul

The American Conservative writer says "he could be the first of the next-generation Republicans, or he could be one of the last — but perhaps most successful — of the older generation," and that "the very signals that help establish Rand with the biggest boomer tribes risk alienating the post-boomers" — Does Rand Paul Have the Future?

An interesting observation for this Generation Xer:

The conservatives and libertarians who came of age before the Korean War — that includes Kirk as well as Ron Paul — have something in common with today’s 20-somethings that most 40- and 50-year-olds don’t share with either group. The baby boom generation’s characteristic attitude toward politics has been utopian or apocalyptic by turns. They lived through the unraveling of one social order and never came close to building a more perfect one; their dreams are filled with visions of end times and the New Jerusalem, and every battle over raising the debt ceiling is met on the fields of Megiddo.

And noting that "the next generation, while it has its own defects, hasn’t yet calcified," Mr. McCarthy writes:

This is the time to teach them aright. They have a passion for knowledge: they’re drawn to Austrian economics or distributism, not just Chamber of Commerce economics; they love Kirkian conservatism, not just “culture war” animosity. They’re not merely in favor of entrenched interests and prejudices; they want a philosophy that’s reflective and open. It will have to be prudent, too, if all this is to amount to more than the boomers’ protest politics. But then, they can’t do any worse than the generation that gave us Bill O’Reilly.