De Doc’s Institute for Memetic Engineering And Polymaths’ Pursuits

Of Blogging?

I mean, really. I go on a few days’ holiday to check on my family,

and Kelley comes back!

I am delighted, and I trust you all are too.

If not, go get Blighted, and see why you SHOULD be delighted!

Channeling K:

Just think of what he won’t know tomorrow.

It’s been 35 years.

I was with my family, visiting people in the Los Angeles area. We were in and out of the back yard, looking up at the sky, and running back into the family room to see Armstrong on television.

It was Right Up There. And yet, we could watch it on the TV…

Where were YOU, 35 years ago,
when a decade’s efforts paid off,
and we proved, once again, what we could do

when we WANTED to…

(Note to Roger: Fear not. Raleigh’s colony failed; but Jamestown succeded, and Plymouth Rock, and other efforts.

We’re going back to Luna. And this time … I suspect we’ll stay.)

As the son of an immigrant, and the son-in-law of immigrants, I have a dim opinion of what passes for “multiculturalism” in the Academy. So imagine my pleasure when Hong Kong Buccaneer OF Jay launched this alpha strike:

(Multiculturalism) … is a racist policy, one rooted in the Noble Savage Myth (and, for that alone Rosseau should burn in whatever hell is imaginable for him, which, in my idea would be an America full of Chinese-food eating people, Asians driving huge SUVs and Sudanese Moslem children who actually weigh heavier than a kitten, free to live without fear of an Arab “brother Moslem” raiding his home to kill them).

DAMN.

Jay goes on to make a critical distinction:

While the melting-pot society respects culturally-driven schemas of thought, multiculturalism insists that culturally-driven schemas of thought are more important, and that one has to think a certain way because he is of a certain culture.

The classical American approach adds new things to the smorgasboard that is American culture, and allows me to take pleasure in my neighbors’ history and traditions. Politically correct multiculturalism forbids it, lest those traditions be “contaminated”.

And we all end up in gulags of the mind.

To hell itself with that noise. I’ll hang with S-Train instead:

Why is it wrong to be proud of your racial identity? If it doesn’t disrespect and infringe on the rights of others, why is it wrong? One of my best friends (we call him Big Swain) was born and raised in German. He’s one proud white fella. Loves his native country and culture. When there’s a German festival, he’s there (usually dragging me with him). And you know what? I enjoy myself immensly. And what does Big Swain do? He goes to African and African-American festivals with me. And you know what? He enjoys himself also. How can we do this?

CAUSE WE RESPECT EACH OTHER!

I’m bringing the csirke paprikas and the Tokaji. What are you bringin’ to the party?

This person’s behavior is contemptible.

She wasn’t at risk of her life. She wasn’t bearing a child because of rape, or forcible incest. She wasn’t facing dire poverty, and the grinding fear of being unable to raise a child at all. She wasn’t even a contraceptive failure; she was ”… tired of being on the pill, because it made me moody.”

So she played “breeding roulette”, and then was horrified at this dire fate:

… I’m going to have to move to Staten Island. I’ll never leave my house because I’ll have to care for these children. I’ll have to start shopping only at Costco and buying big jars of mayonnaise.

I wouldn’t have the nerve to put that in a fictional character’s mouth.

The only consolation I have just now is that, although the Grey Lady doesn’t seem to care what manner of monster graces their “magazine”, there is no shortage of outrage, horror, disgust and dismay at what she has nonchalantly confessed to doing.

A note to those whose support of abortion is rooted in the notion that somehow, the unborn aren’t really people. Amy Richards’ behavior is nothing less than the inevitable consequence of your belief: the reduction of some human beings to less than human; less than chattel; to inconveniences.

Monstrous.

Zombyboy, I swear to G_d this is true…

What with one thing and another, my son and I ended up at EPCOT yesterday. (Horrid thing, to live in Florida, eh?) After allowing sufficient post-lunch digestion time to avoid “protein spills”, we decided to go take a spin… heh… on Mission: Space.

Given the nature of this ride, Disney makes sure there’s at least one “greeter” at the entrance to the plaza, to answer guests’ questions about the ride. Having ridden this attraction before, we ambled by the greeter. But as we did, something in the greeter’s bearing caught my eye, and I took a second look.

Crisp, erect posture. Balding, with a salt-and pepper tonsure. A keen, intelligent gaze. A close-cropped mustache.

And on the nametag… “Bob”.

(…cue theremins… )

The press of the crowd kept me from doubling back and seeing if the greeter was from Kansas City.

Both my son and I have come to the conclusion that SOMEONE in Casting has a highly developed sense of irony.

(more…)

Ironbear, over at Who Tends The Fires, made an arresting comment the other day:

Hrmmm…. me, Allah, the Commissar, Kim, Rivrdog, Jim, Michele, Misha, AnalogKid and Nukevet, and now Connie du Toit is declaring War to the Knife with the Left. Gee, are we detecting a trend yet? ;] One might almost think we’re forming a movement….

Ironbear… isn’t exaggerating by much at all. Many pundits from both the “conservative” and the libertarian spectrums are growing angry with the pronouncements of “liberal” standard bearers; note the normally urbane Steven Den Beste, who recently called the director of “Unfahrenheit 9-11″ Michael Muqtada al-Moore.

Or consider the Vice President, a man not known to be a sailor, dropping the deuce on Senator Leahy.

Why is this happening now? Is this the “coarsening of discourse”, the “loss of civility”, that Conventional Wisdom has been nattering on about?

I don’t think so. This isn’t about civility. This is about honest revulsion.

G.K. Chesterton, writing of St. Thomas Aquinas, noted:

It is no good to tell an atheist that he is an atheist; or to charge a denier of immortality with the infamy of denying it; or to imagine that one can force an opponent to admit he is wrong, by proving that he is wrong on somebody else’s principles, but not on his own. After the great example of St. Thomas, the principle stands, or ought always to have stood established; that we must either not argue with a man at all, or we must argue on his grounds and not ours. We may do other things instead of arguing, according to our views of what actions are morally permissible; but if we argue we must argue “On the reasons and statements of the philosophers themselves.” This is the common sense in a saying attributed to a friend of St. Thomas, the great St. Louis, King of France, which shallow people quote as a sample of fanaticism; the sense of which is, that I must either argue with an infidel as a real philosopher can argue, or else “thrust a sword through his body as far as it will go.”

Now, it seems obvious that St. Louis’ Choice rests on the possibility that there can BE discourse, discussion, debate. But what happens when one side renders debate impossible?

All that’s left are the long knives.

There can be no debate when one side has no grounds. And when one side is willing to change stories, deny they said things which were in fact said, evade and equivocate and lie… they have no ground at all.

This brazen attitude has become the hallmark of the collectivist “left”. Bloggers at Indymedia sites have removed pictures of demonstrators calling for the fragging of American officers by their troops. Micah Wright invented a nonexistent military career in order to bolster his anti-war arguments. Markos Zuniga callously dismissed the death of Americans in Fallujah, only to try and remove all traces of it from his website. Joseph Wilson swore he was “restoring honesty”, even as he lied about his behavior, and his wife’s behavior, and what actually happened in Niger.

There hasn’t been this much wanton political lying since the glory days of the Politburo.

The darlings of the collectivist left LIE. They lie damnably. They lie like Stalinist “historians”.

There is no debating with such people. They will lie, and change their stories, and duck, and weave, and attempt to evade even a hypocritical half-tribute to integrity by pretending they have any responsibility.

There is no debating with such people.

They will lie about insulting citizens who have volunteered to serve our country. They will lie about having done it in the past; they will lie about doing it today. They say they “support our troops”… “when they frag their officers.”

And then they will lie about having said that, too.

Unfortunately for the liars, there is no central, single, monolithic Ministry of Truth. There are dozens of news sources, and now there are myriads of smart, intelligent bloggers, with memories, and the tools to preserve those memories against the eyewash of the collectivists.

We remember. And with every lie, with every smear, we grow angrier.

Conservatives value order, and are loathe to let violent anarchy loose. Libertarians insist upon not forcing other people to do things, on the “zero aggression” principle, even as they insist on having the tools to defend themselves from those who won’t leave them in peace.

BUT… we know, as did St. Louis, what to pick up, when the pen no longer avails.

The more things change, the more they remain the same:

While Soviet troops joined the Hungarians in their revolt, the West considered what it could possibly do. Sympathy was quickly extended by some, and other courses of action were discussed. then to everyone’s great relief, the UN got busy. There was even talk of sending notes, but no one seemed to know where.

Heh.

More trenchant wit from Vashi’s Red Primer.

The ever-delightful James Lileks brought this little gem from the Cold War to my attention.

The website’s anonymous author is right – this book needs to be rescued from obscurity, and to “be shared with the world”. Even though the Soviet Union is no more, this “primer for children and diplomats” is still full of trenchant wisdom:

Old Man History underwent some alterations. Parts which did not fit were rearranged, useless ones thrown away and more suitable parts introduced. The rearranging of History remains an important and demanding task in People’s Democracies to this day.

Hold onto that thought.

You will not understand much of what passes for political discourse, just now, without the insight.

More on that, and the implications, to follow…

(more…)

Between work being BUSY, and it taking BellSouth some time to get my DSL back on line, I’ve had a hard time getting online to make posts.

HOPEFULLY this is all but settled. As you might suspect, the enforced silence is frustrating…

Go read Lileks.

Just GO.

The last paragraph alone …

WOW.

I am not likely to change the minds of anyone who still believes that war profiteer Michael Moore is anything but a liar, and a long lost cousin of Leni Riefenstahl.

However, if there are any people out there who are undecided about the proposition, let me recommend Pejman Yousefzadeh on the subject.

Actually, let me recommend Pejman to you on all manner of subjects. It’s high time I update my blogrolls, and this is an auspicious moment. He, too, will be remembering 18 Tir. So, onto the rolls with Pejmanesque!

…this will be seen throughout Iraq.

G_d speed the day.

But G_d helps those who help themselves. Fortunately for Iran, there are many Iranians who understand that. And they are asking for our help, here. Take a look, and if you are willing to join in, sign the petition. You’ll be in excellent company.

If there’s a demonstration nearby, drop by there as well – the petition site notes locations worldwide.

These people aren’t asking for guns, invasions, boots on the ground; they’re asking for public support –

… We need your soft power, and all of it. We need it in a barrage of heavy-media artillery, think-tank platforms, and the solidarity of Western NGOs. We need U.S. and EU campus events with young Iranians “yearning for freedom” standing hand in hand with Western students. We need Western artists lending their music and their voices to the Joyless Generation.

Is that so very much to ask from people who love liberty?

This July 8th, commemorate 18 Tir. Step up to the plate, and help the Joyless. Make the cartoon above a happy prophecy.

I wonder how al-Zarqawi feels about this announcement: Militant group threatens death for al-Zarqawi.

Turnabout is fair play, right?

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) – A previously unknown militant group in Iraq is threatening to kill the most-wanted terror suspect in that country: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya said it received a taped statement from an organization that calls itself the Rescue Group warning al-Zarqawi and his followers to leave Iraq or face the consequences.

One masked militant read a statement denouncing the actions by al-Zarqawi and his followers as hurtful to Iraq, particularly the kidnapping of foreigners.

The group has called for the killing of the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi if he doesn’t leave Iraq.

Here’s hoping.

as Venomous Kate returns with a vengeance, striking sparks from the heads of some not-exactly-friends.

Ouch.

That being said, welcome back, VK!

4 July 2004 1225 UTC/GMT

Sparks flying. That’s my weekend, in more ways than one.

I have the watch for my emergency department today, waiting for the inevitable picnic indigestion, sun burns, and sparkler injuries. It’s been relatively q***t today, so far, thank G_d. (No, ER folks are not superstitious; why DO you ask? ) I count that as a special blessing, because I was up late last night, replacing electrical sockets.

Why, you ask?

Well, I came home yesterday ’round dusk, having collected my son from an afternoon movie… only to find two sockets blown from the wall, a fused telephone, a television that’s dead, and a desktop computer whose OS is capable of booting up only with extensions turned off. Oh, and half the house circuit breakers tripped.

An inspection of the outside of the house showed a lightning strike in the backyard, which appears to have

(a) coursed down one of the trees, striking off several branches
(b) flashed over the house, due to the torrential rains
© blackened the metal top of the chimney, which was an entirely different color yesterday
(d) blown the external cover off the circuit breaker to the AC’s external heat exchanger
(e) nuked the phone lines, and sent a surge thru the house.

Why there weren’t electrical fires? G_d knows. I’m just very, VERY thankful there weren’t. (See also: shudder.)

So, I had to take the house “cold”, tagging out the entire electrical system, and repair the blown sockets – lest the dogs develop a fatal case of curiousity.

It is entirely opssible I will try and miss (further!) fireworks tonight, America’s Birthday notwithstanding. *wince*

So, as you see… Sparks. PLENTY of sparks.

Nice sentiment, brother Greyhawk. Was it REALLY necessary for it to be taken literally, though???

Heh.

That being said, I wish you all a happy Fourth – and that this be the most dramatic news any of you receive this holiday!

You decide…

Really, gentle readers. They even sound alike.

There’s no way to tell who actually said this:

..this is all theater; the real criminal is Bush…

…without a program, for crying out loud.

(Hint: Click here for the program.)

One murdered his people; one murders the truth.

Warmonger and mass murderer Saddam Hussein; War profiteer and mass media liar Michael Moore.

Two of a kind. Truth really IS stranger than fiction…

deserves our contempt for Unfahrenheit 911 – and Claire’s readying a big serving, by way of googlebomb.

Let’s all chip in, shall we, and give this generation’s false Falstaff his Shakespearean desserts…

Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome
The doughty bloggers, doth we prize him at.

(Whilst I am at it, high time I got off my duff and blogrolled SondraK, who brought War Profiteer Michael Moore’s latest scummy behavior to Claire’s attention. Welcome Aboard, Headmistress!)

UPDATE: Welcome to the Institute, any of you who might have sauntered over by way of Resurrectionsong. As you can see, we’re keeping We Hate Michael Moore Week here at the Institute, with all good cheer. Enjoy your reading!

The Cassini probe will carry out orbital insertion burn within a few hours, if all goes well. More good news for us spacers!

Now, for the day that we might go there ourselves…

Memo to Bert Rutan and all the other X-prize teams: Faster, please.

It won’t be a US trial.

It won’t be a UN trial – as if they had ANY moral standing, after years of leaving the monster in place and accepting hush money.

Hussein will face his own countrymen in an Iraqi court.

As he sewed, so let him reap.