Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Return to the Dying Earth

If you were ever enchanted, as I was, by Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" stories, rejoice. George R. R. Martin and Gardener Dozois had put together a collection of new stories set in Vance's magical realm. Tor Books, the publisher has given us all a taste of what is in store for us. Read "The Green Bird" by Kage Baker here. Hint: it stars Cugel the Clever, my favorite Vance character.

Another Diplomatic Breakthrough

The Obama administration announced that the State Department has concluded successful negotiations with another "moderate" Taliban figure, Mullah Iowahak Muhammadavi al-Burjihad, whom officials described as the #2 man in the Taliban body & paint shop. Iowahawk has the details here.

Watching Russell Crowe

We went to see "The Next Three Days". Not many people in the theatre -- but "Harry Potter" next door was packed, mostly with families. "Days" attracted only old couples like us. Makes you wonder just what the marketing strategy for this film was.

There is a lot of talent on display in "Days", but to little effect. The narrative, copied from a 2008 French film, is a by the numbers heist flick with the difference that the treasure being liberated is Russell Crowe's wife. We have the setup, the planning, the usual complications, numerous cameos by established stars, and a nail-biting, coincidence laden, escape sequence. Nothing particularly interesting there. The direction, by Paul Haggis, is conventional and competent, no more, no less. Not very interesting either. So, why did I enjoy it so much?

Well, there was the setting. I grew up near Pittsburgh and it was fun to spot landmarks and recognize neighborhoods and to note what has changed over time. And there is a certain enjoyment in just sitting back and letting a conventional story wash over you. No matter how implausible the situations, coincidences and tension points, you know where you are going and pretty much how you will get there and there is some comfort in that. That's why so many people are willing to sit through genre flicks, being led through the same tropes time and again.

That brings us to the acting, and here we see a lot talent on display. Russell Crowe repeats his suffering everyman/unstoppable hero roles to good effect. Elizabeth Banks transitions from idealized housewife and mother to hardened, defeated, suicidal inmate, to action sidekick. Familiar stars Olivia Wilde, Brian Dennehy, Liam Neeson, and Daniel Stern, are all quite good in what are essentially cameo roles. The other secondary roles are all competently played. There really are no weak performances. But, with one exception, there are no standout ones either, and that is the fault of the writing and directing which do not allow the actors, other than Crowe, much scope to shine. I was most impressed by Liam Neeson's short bit as an expert on prison escapes. Watching him and Crowe together was a treat.

So, all in all, was it worth it? I would say "yes". Go see it if there is nothing better on tap. The trouble is, this week there is an awful lot of decent competition out there so the grosses are bound to be disappointing.

All You Could Want to Know About Aztec Blood Rituals

Check it out here. Note, this is the first of two articles -- more to come.

Making Sense of the World

In recent decades three books, purporting to explain the state of affairs in the world have been published. All have been widely read by elite policy makers; all have been extremely influential; and all three have inspired vigorous debate. They are:

The End of History and the Last Man, by Francis Fukuyama,

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, by Samuel Huntington,

and The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, by John Mearsheimer.

I would urge everyone to read all three; each gives you a useful, but limited, prism through which to view the endless debate over foreign policy. But to get a general sense of the books' arguments you can simply peruse "Conflict or Consensus: Three Visions Revisited" by Richard K. Betts, published in Foreign Affairs. [here] Check it out, then read the books. You will find that the interminable arguments on international affairs in the press and in government circles will make a lot more sense. At least, that has been my experience.

Megyn Kelly in GQ

Here she is!

Read about it here.

Penn and the TSA

Magician/comedian/libertarian Penn of Penn and Teller fame had his first experience with the new TSA procedures and has decided to sue.

Here's how it went down:

Last Thursday I was flying to LA on the Midnight flight. I went through security my usual sour stuff. I beeped, of course, and was shuttled to the "toss-em" line. A security guy came over. I assumed the position. I had a button up shirt on that was untucked. He reached around while he was behind me and grabbed around my front pocket. I guess he was going for my flashlight, but the area could have loosely been called "crotch." I said, "You have to ask me before you touch me or it's assault."

He said, "Once you cross that line, I can do whatever I want."

I said that wasn't true. I say that I have the option of saying no and not flying. He said, "Are you going to let me search you, or do I just throw you out?"

I said, "Finish up, and then call the police please." 

Read the whole thing here.

This is going to be fun. 

Krauthammer's Take on the TSA

Charles Krauthammer puts a positive spin on the TSA groping kerfluffle. He writes:

Don’t touch my junk is the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm-election voter. Don’t touch my junk, Obamacare — get out of my doctor’s examining room; I’m wearing a paper-thin gown slit down the back. Don’t touch my junk, Google — Street View is cool, but get off my street. Don’t touch my junk, you airport-security goon — my package belongs to no one but me, and do you really think I’m a Nigerian nut job preparing for my 72-virgin orgy by blowing my johnson to kingdom come?

He thinks that the outrage the TSA has inspired will be a turning point:

The junk man’s revolt marks the point at which a docile public declares that it will tolerate only so much idiocy.

I certainly hope he's right, but the forces of PC seem to be implacable.

Read the whole thing here.

Rome Reborn

Check it out here.

Here's Another One I'm Going to Have to See

S. E. Cupp Explains

Why some people get so upset over Sarah:

The reason Palin has become such a lightening rod, a kingmaker and a punching bag, a celebrity and a power player, is simple. It's because she's so gosh darn happy.

For her fans... she's refreshingly upbeat and resilient, the bubbly friend from childhood who was always great at cheering you up and cheerleading you on.

But for her detractors, nothing raises the ire of cynical liberals more than a happy-go-lucky, totally unburdened, freethinking and self-assured conservative woman who has everything she wants and then some. And without anyone's help.

She's right. For those who have embraced victimology Sarah shouldn't exist, and the fact of her existence is a repudiation not only of their belief system, but of their sense of who they are and what they can be.

Read it here.

The Continung Collapse of Scientific Authority

Patrick Coffee has a new book out on the history of modern chemistry. Its full title is Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry. It's the "Personalities and Rivalries" part that attracted my notice because it is a recognition that "Science" is not an objective enterprise, far from it. As a review states:

Most scientific biographies put their subjects on pedestals. But times are changing, and Coffey's book is representative of a new candor. Weaving together the lives of the leaders of modern chemistry, Coffey shows how fights over priority, backstabbing, cronyism, and grudges shaped the history of chemistry just as much as the actual discoveries. It is an effective antidote to the bromide that science is the work of selfless, Spock-like automatons.

Indeed! "Science" is a fundamentally human undertaking and as such is liable to all the quirks and foibles of humanity. The myth of objective scientific authority is pernicious and has poisoned our public policy debates for decades. It is good to see historians of science finally recognizing the fact that it is quite simply a myth.

Read the review here.

Lies of the Left (continued): "Profiles in Courage"

In 1957 JFK was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his book "Profiles In Courage". Almost at once allegations rose that Theodore Sorenson, not Kennedy, was the author, something that both men strenuously denied. We now know that they were lying but for decades now most journalists and historians uncritically swallowed the lie. Now that both men are dead and the Democrats have wrung every last possible benefit out of the Camelot myth, the truth is being revealed told. "Profiles in Courage" was written by a committee. Sorenson and Jules David wrote a first draft which was then edited and revised by other scholars, most of whom were told that the draft had been written by Kennedy. We now know that Kennedy's involvement in the entire affair was marginal, that Sorenson indeed was the primary author of the work, and that Kennedy's reputation as an intellectual was at least in part based on lies.

As has so often been the case the lies of the Left long served a powerful political purpose and, once finally exposed, were simply dropped. Few people today care whether or not Kennedy and his acolytes lied.

Sigh!

Read about it here.

Ferguson on the Future

Niall Ferguson writes on fiscal policy and imperial decline here.

He notes that swelling interest payments on our enormous national debt will consume more of the nation's GNP in future decades and as they do discretionary spending will be squeezed. The most obvious candidate for cuts will be the American military and as it declines so too will American influence. What makes things worse is that much of the debt payment is in the form of revenue transfers to China, our major military rival. He further notes that imperial collapse can come rapidly and that we are hurrying down the same path toward insolvency as other earlier imperial powers that experienced rapid decline.

We Lost the Election

P.J. O'Rourke argues that the people lost the election to professional politicians. A couple of his observations: 

politics is like vivisection—disturbing as a career, alarming as a hobby.

In a free country government is a dull and onerous responsibility. It is a parent-teacher conference. The teacher is a pompous twit. Our child is a lazy pain in the ass. We undertake this social obligation with weary reluctance. And we only do it at all because the teacher (political authority) deserves cold stares, hard questions, and maybe firing, and the pupil (that portion of society which, alas, needs governing) deserves to be grounded without TV and have its Internet access screened and its allowance docked.

 Read the whole thing here.

Iowahawk Strikes Again -- "Proctology Is Such A Lovely Trade"

Now he's writing song lyrics -- "Comply With Me"

Comply with me, before you fly away
Remove those shoes and take a cruise
Through my peekaboo X-ray
Comply with me, I'm your friendly TSA

Comply with me, you domestic coach class bums
If you opt out I'll just give a shout
To my icy-handed chums
Comply with me, bend over here it comes

Check out the whole thing here.

Amazing

How does he do it?

A Conversation with Jacques Barzun

One of my intellectual heroes, Jacques Barzun, still active at the age of 103 years. His body is failing, but his mind is still strong.


A Conversation with Jacques Barzun (2010) from Leo Wong on Vimeo.

It's About Time!

Good news from Iraq, reported in the Newser:

(Newser) – Eight months after the country went to the polls, Iraqi politicians have reached a tentative deal to form a government. The Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance has agreed to support a unity government headed by Nouri al-Maliki, who will return for a second term as prime minister, the New York Times reports. Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani will remain as president under the pact, although the role of Iraqiya leader and former prime minister Ayad Allawi in the new government has yet to be determined.

Members of Iraq's parliament are expected to meet Thursday, for only the second time since the election, to confirm the new pact.

Read the whole thing here.

Yes it took a long time, and the governing coalition is unwieldy and unlikely to govern very effectively but it is a step forward, if only a small one. Slowly, slowly but surely a democratic state is emerging in the region. It just takes some patience on everybody's part.