tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64846182011-08-16T20:12:10.208-07:00Ruminations and Rants from Laguna BeachGrumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.comBlogger14231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-37506554842350246082010-06-04T10:34:00.000-07:002010-06-04T10:34:03.236-07:00

Same shit, different century. Left: the aftermath of shootings of demonstrators by the National Guard at Kent State University in the Vietnam era. Right: a peaceful American demonstrator (an artist, in fact) blinded by a tear gas canister shot by Israeli forces at a roadblock in Palestine.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-79249718812850585552010-05-24T05:56:00.000-07:002010-05-24T05:56:45.457-07:00

You odious prick, how's your attempt to smear Goldstone workin' out for ya, now that this has come out again?

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-68905499763800032722010-05-05T11:58:00.000-07:002010-05-05T11:58:21.596-07:00

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-75777085808024548702010-03-27T03:52:00.000-07:002010-03-27T03:52:22.330-07:00

There’s a meme going around asking people to name ten books that have been influential in their lives, or views. You’re not supposed to think too much about it. Well, here are mine, with brief explanations. I left a great deal out, for example the works of Érico Veríssimo, which taught me a great deal about Brazil, or Mary Renault, whose early historical novels I liked so much. If I did it

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-65032487095304357582010-01-01T13:44:00.000-08:002010-01-01T14:00:39.981-08:00

Wm. Safire having bought the farm, someone had to make New Year's predictions. Here are mine, in three variants: quasi-apocalyptic, benign, and realistic. Or: really bad s**t, pretty good news, what's most likely to happen.  We'll check in a year. Here goes: Apocalyptic: 1. Iran starts executing dissidents. 2. Yemen-based Al Qaeda succeeds in downing planes. Americans attack Yemen. Obama

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-24004611584569205232009-12-30T09:57:00.000-08:002009-12-30T09:57:26.850-08:00

Rod Dreher lists five changes he thinks significant in the last decade: * The Islamic threat * The humbling of American power * The humbling of market capitalism * The collapse of American conservatism * The rise of gay marriage * The globe is going to warm, no matter what I came up with four more: 1. The rise of new economic powers in the former Third World: China, India, Brazil. This change

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-36629460409280387132009-12-24T13:27:00.000-08:002009-12-24T13:27:58.070-08:00

One of the few songs I know about disillusionment (as opposed simply to torch songs). There's no redemption for us without recognizing our fallenness.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-66391402609028474202009-12-06T08:28:00.000-08:002009-12-06T08:29:02.653-08:00

The Return of the Player by Michael TolkinMy rating: 3 of 5 starsThis book is a send up of the Hollywood and associated New Rich. There are some very funny insights and scenes, but the book is not nearly so profound as the author thinks. His views, alas, are often quite tiresome.View all my reviews >>

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-46021541296294113922009-11-27T14:41:00.001-08:002009-11-27T15:11:14.603-08:00

The Ochlophobist is a Memphis blogger. He has posted a screed on Thanksgiving that is well worth reading and pondering. The latter part of the post is a good story about bullying and other antics at a Mennonite school. Well worth reading but hardly food for debate.The former part questions Thanksgiving, among other things because it is surrounded by patrioteering mythology. Our kindergarteners

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-30612667888007512492009-11-27T14:03:00.000-08:002009-11-27T14:12:36.825-08:00

Like a freeway gawker looking at a crash, or a spectator at a bum-fight, I am drawn to Commentary Magazine's contentions blog, to see how degenerate neoconservatism and hasbara can become. Max Boot, usually one of the site's less-deranged bloggers, posting about the importance of Dubai, despite its financial troubles, today blew my weak mind:But still for all of Dubai’s excesses it is a wonder

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-25289326363778667512009-11-13T12:26:00.000-08:002009-11-13T12:31:46.888-08:00

As Netanyahu knows, there is consensus support among Israelis for his plan to ensure that the country retains defensible borders in perpetuity. This involves establishing permanent Israeli control over the Jordan Valley and the large Jewish population blocs in Judea and Samaria. In light of the well-recognized failure of the two-state solution, Hamas's takeover of Gaza and the disintegration of

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-29014051451475769782009-11-11T04:12:00.000-08:002009-11-11T04:13:31.037-08:00

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-87423551722169811252009-11-10T12:26:00.000-08:002009-11-10T12:27:33.079-08:00

A brave and eloquent Congressman.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-15673285780173253022009-11-09T07:36:00.000-08:002009-11-09T07:49:29.335-08:00

Paul Krugman invokes the ghost of Richard Hofstadter. Hofstadter was a Columbia historian who wrote an essay on "The Paranoid Style in American Politics."A reaction to the perceived abused of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, Hofstadter's essay was a middlebrow version of the Frankfurt School's "authoritarian personality" concept. In essence, the argument is that the people whose views one dislikes aren't

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-72388546507353855692009-11-02T09:07:00.000-08:002009-11-02T13:22:58.006-08:00

I just finished John Derbyshire's We Are Doomed.The style is sprightly and witticisms abound, concealing the fact that the arguments are deep and the conclusions founded in considerable erudition.The conceit is the familiar one that conservatism is founded in a belief in the fallenness, or at least the imperfection of human nature, and the complexity and proneness to error inherent in social

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-11483790900843091632009-10-24T12:25:00.001-07:002009-10-24T12:28:36.085-07:00

Here's a story that creeped me out--how far surveillance by local bureaucrats has gone in Merrie Olde England.Totalitarianism creeps in under the guise of benevolence. Beware your local gummint, the local enviro police, the school board, the zoners. It's not the hobnailed boots that'll getcha, it's the helping professions. They'll brainwash you in your childhood, therap you into conformity in

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-81512213927795179952009-10-03T12:56:00.000-07:002009-10-03T13:21:05.147-07:00

A Bolshevik whose blog I read regularly is Louis Proyect. Louis writes good review of foreign films from places such as Turkey, films we don't get to see very often. He writes interesting personal reminiscences (he grew up in what used to be called the Borscht Belt) and on anthropological topics, such as the controversies about the studies of the Yanomami and the pecadillioes of the ethnographers

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-88719669251448255612009-08-30T07:52:00.001-07:002009-08-30T08:13:05.053-07:00

No blogging for many weeks. Much going on and the seduction of "Facebook."The healthcare debate is hardly a debate. It seems full of slogans and anecdotes, and no doubt will no be freighted with Kennedy nostalgia.There are home truths about healthcare that no one wants to face. Fundamental is that people will want more healthcare than any system can provide. If you make it free or lower the cost

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-78338048312477017892009-07-09T19:12:00.001-07:002009-07-09T19:25:20.767-07:00

The crazed Zionofascists at contentions have closed the blog to comments.This decision reflects Commentary's continuity with the Trotskyism of its forbears. Once the party line is laid down, a split is inevitable, and discussion is verboten. For a while, in spite of its odious, warmongering politics and its support for every trope of Israeli propaganda (hasbara), contentions commendably allowed

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-74124940467168667732009-07-01T23:12:00.000-07:002009-07-01T23:55:08.710-07:00

An Arabic Army translator from Tustin who announced to the world his homosexual predilections has been recommended for discharge by an Army panel. He invited this decision by making his genital inclinations into a cause, but still, discharging him seems unwise. Arabic translators are scarce as hen's teeth.A Facebook friend (and relative) took offense at a comment of mine on this issue (I do

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-62872765016165202002009-06-24T12:07:00.000-07:002009-06-24T12:08:00.074-07:00

Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States by Trita Parsi My review rating: 3 of 5 starsFascinating, if too academic account, of the Iran-Israel-US triangle. Things are not what they seem. Both Israel and the US did business with Khomeini, and later Israel managed to scuttle a rapprochement between the US and Iran.Although the régime in Iran is currently

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-71272216368855939722009-05-15T11:54:00.000-07:002009-05-15T12:04:53.076-07:00

The admirable Daniel Larison explains the eclipse of the GOP as follows: Of the three GOP factions he identifies, social, economic and national security conservatives, he blames the national security conservatives. The GOP in power under Bush did little or nothing for the social conservatives, and followed corporate welfare policies, not economic conservatism or libertarianism. It did, however,

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-58750498121030996082009-05-11T17:30:00.000-07:002009-05-11T17:41:12.179-07:00

Sinner that I am, and easily provoked, too, I have been back on contentions. A commenter challenged me thus:The enemies of Israel and of the Jews lie shamelessly about them. To “grumpy old man”: It is the Muslims (and maybe some Christians) who want to destroy Israel and the Jews. The war against the Jews in Eretz Yisroel was started by Haj Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who organized

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-77196322401129917972009-05-11T08:09:00.000-07:002009-05-11T09:17:12.147-07:00

There was a time that the central story of the Jews, commemorated in ritual and prayer, was God's freeing of the Hebrew slaves of Egypt, let by the prophet Moses, followed by wandering in the desert and the reception of the Law. The Passover Seder, the last ritual retained by secularizing Jews such as my own family, commemorated and discussed this.No more. To be sure, observant and semi-observant

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-80660896950977437352009-04-11T17:58:00.000-07:002009-04-11T18:02:23.885-07:00

HT: American Digest.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-88505958022754849712009-04-05T20:54:00.000-07:002009-04-05T20:58:39.646-07:00

The Banks are Made of MarbleA Song by Les Rice©Stormking Music 1950I've traveled round this countryFrom shore to shining shoreIt really made me wonderThe things I heard and saw.I saw the weary farmerPlowing sod and loaml heard the auction hammerA knocking down his homeBut the banks are made of marbleWith a guard at every doorAnd the vaults are stuffed with silverThat the farmer sweated forl saw

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-63710258126268314542009-04-04T08:02:00.000-07:002009-04-04T08:15:12.690-07:00

Albania has joined NATO.Will they give up all the cars stolen all over Europe that end up there?

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-83871533616318078562009-04-02T22:41:00.000-07:002009-04-02T22:57:00.068-07:00

Lula Paul Krugman

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-1739610107180233542009-04-02T22:29:00.000-07:002009-04-02T22:30:42.085-07:00

I was never a Krugman fan. TARP blew up the right/left distinction, though.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-60945169851781490512009-03-23T07:15:00.000-07:002009-03-23T07:35:33.326-07:00

After six months and two administrations, it appears that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has come up with a bank rescue plan that rather resembles the one that Bush's Treasury Secretar Paulson proposed and then abandoned. Rather than reorganize zombie and failed banks, the Feds will subsidize the purchase of "toxic" assets by investors, presumably hedge funds and sovereign funds. The Feds will

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-15435058833663119312009-03-11T07:47:00.000-07:002009-03-11T08:04:04.958-07:00

The blogsophere has been lit up with the controversy over the abortive appointment of Ambassador Charles Freeman to assist the Director of National Intelligence in preparing estimates for the President.Freeman, apparently, worked for a Middle East think tank funded partly by Saudi money (as opposed to those funded by Zionist money), and was insufficiently on board with the new-Cold-War -

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-31333902024455607102009-02-11T15:36:00.000-08:002009-02-11T15:38:52.913-08:00

Not safe for work, either.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-56217618919586458192009-02-11T12:07:00.000-08:002009-02-11T12:09:14.172-08:00

Pedestrian Is Struck, Then Dragged 17 MilesBy AL BAKER and KAREN ZRAICK 32 minutes agoA pedestrian was hit by an S.U.V. in Queens, then struck by a van and dragged into Brooklyn. He is dead.From the February 11, 2009 New York Times website.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-71739877172085311642009-01-31T09:47:00.001-08:002009-01-31T09:50:57.795-08:00

HT: Phil Weiss

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-65509612564081861942009-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:002009-01-27T09:04:10.467-08:00

Even our dead are not safe. They have been called up, disturbed, dredged from their mass graves and forced to testify against their fellow human beings in pain, to confess a hatred that was alien to them and to offer themselves up as justification for a new cycle of suffering in Palestine. Their ghosts have been enlisted to help displace fellow Jews from Arab homelands, and to bequeath to them

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-64843163887160527162009-01-25T09:13:00.000-08:002009-01-25T09:21:44.196-08:00

Juan ColeRobert FiskBarack H. ObamaCandidate MemberFrank Rich

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-68514052668597700722009-01-25T08:57:00.000-08:002009-01-25T09:11:19.179-08:00

I generally refer to the man as "the insufferable Frank Rich." I despise his smug, self-satisfied East Coast liberal snobbery and his obsession with homosexuality.However, this week he is right. He points to the sober tone of Pres. Obama's inaugural speech and the severity of the crisis we face. Rich says it's wrong to blame our woes simply upon the incompetence or misguided policies of W. Rather

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-77572340993931450222009-01-23T06:32:00.000-08:002009-01-23T06:45:25.255-08:00

For some time now, I have regularly read contentions, the group blog of the odious neocon journal, Commentary. I have also commented regularly, challenging the policies and worldviews advocated there, especially support for Israel, which has become a criminal state, whose original creation is now in question.I've decided, now, to give up contentions. I'm also done with the zionofascist Caroline

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-19472183067961486922009-01-21T03:21:00.000-08:002009-01-21T03:39:23.684-08:00

I sometimes post on Goodreads, which I recommend if you're bookish or like people who are.Some ladies concluded that the fear of death being less than seductive, Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" might be poetical, but to them was unappealing. One thing led to another, and I dropped the following into the tank:Had we but tank enough, and slime,This koi-ness, lady, were no crime.We would swim

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-39800812762520349862009-01-20T05:26:00.000-08:002009-01-20T05:37:42.592-08:00

Sliced, diced, and salted. Here.The graphs are to die for.Friedman does write for the Times, once home to Abe ("I'm writing as bad as I can") Rosenthal.Excerpts:I’ve been unhealthily obsessed with Thomas Friedman for more than a decade now. For most of that time, I just thought he was funny. And admittedly, what I thought was funniest about him was the kind of stuff that only another writer would

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-55758086368814840912009-01-18T16:17:00.000-08:002009-01-18T16:20:32.674-08:00

Here.Pray for this man, if you're the praying kind.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-68895237020620260372009-01-17T09:51:00.000-08:002009-01-17T09:58:36.107-08:00

This is Dr. Aboul Aish, three of whose daughters were killed and two injured by Israeli tank fire. No doubt the shell was American.See two posts down for an Israeli television account, including this man's wail of pain, the most nerve-shattering sound I've ever heard.Over a thousand are dead, many more wounded, and still more bereaved. Yet by the accident it was broadcast on Israeli television,

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-83139592274723959582009-01-17T07:58:00.000-08:002009-01-17T08:02:53.349-08:00

My admiration for Robert Fisk is growing. Here's his piece on WWII analogies and their misuse in the context of Israeli-Arab confrontation. Excerpt:I have long raged against any comparisons with the Second World War – whether of the Arafat-is-Hitler variety once deployed by Menachem Begin or of the anti-war-demonstrators-are-1930s-appeasers, most recently used by George Bush and Lord Blair of Kut

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-2642448225909850392009-01-16T17:44:00.000-08:002009-01-16T17:54:24.601-08:00

Israel has not allowed the press into Gaza while it conducts its "operation." Israeli TV ran this report, in which a Gazan doctor, three of whose children were killed in an Israeli tank strike, speaks via cell phone to an Israeli TV station.I do not understand Hebrew or Arabic, but the pain in the man's voice says it all. This is a medical doctor, who speaks fluent Hebrew and apparently worked in

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-81758357526747274262009-01-16T06:36:00.000-08:002009-01-16T06:39:06.948-08:00

Capt. Sullenberger. Handsome fellow, too.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-42854043288189650262009-01-16T05:55:00.000-08:002009-01-16T05:59:24.622-08:00

European diplomats, UN officials and a senior PA official all said Thursday that as of last Friday night it was clear to almost everyone that the U.S., like the other 14 Security Council members, would vote for the softened resolution. They said Rice had promised as much to her European colleagues.In Jerusalem, however, officials went to sleep thinking the Americans had only agreed to support a

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-27717184143301448262009-01-15T15:46:00.000-08:002009-01-15T15:48:49.809-08:00

The US Airways pilot, crew, and the sailors and captains of the rescue vessels. Social discipline and courage aren't dead.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-1704174550024583182009-01-14T06:51:00.000-08:002009-01-14T06:54:30.866-08:00

This article does a fine job of debunking the analogy between Tijuana-San Diego and Gaza-Israel.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-40127506855473331702009-01-11T22:08:00.000-08:002009-01-11T22:10:46.667-08:00

A London Times letter by predominantly British lawyers and such, on Gaza, courtesy of Prof. Cole:This letter of attorneys and academics appeared in the Times of London on Sunday. I suggest that all bloggers who agree with it just reprint it so that it is everywhere in the blogosphere. It is a succinct and cogent refutation of the reigning right-Zionist talking points that have dominated American

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-82071589075480164112009-01-11T06:32:00.000-08:002009-01-11T06:39:14.837-08:00

HT: Juan Cole.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-29891010935736735152009-01-10T11:55:00.000-08:002009-01-10T12:18:18.559-08:00

Zionism teaches that the Jews were entitled to a state in Israel because they were dispossessed in AD 70. Sometimes they add there has been a continuous Jewish presence since AD 70, consisting mostly in a handful of pious Jews. The Arab refugees are not entitled to return, say the Zionists, even though they left in 1948. After all, they (or their allies in the Arab states) started a war and lost,

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-38937242668175722562009-01-07T08:12:00.000-08:002009-01-07T08:19:54.873-08:00

Yes, Israelis deserve security. Twenty Israelis dead in 10 years around Gaza is a grim figure indeed. But 600 Palestinians dead in just over a week, thousands over the years since 1948 – when the Israeli massacre at Deir Yassin helped to kick-start the flight of Palestinians from that part of Palestine that was to become Israel – is on a quite different scale. This recalls not a normal Middle

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-88603584549685416282009-01-06T08:34:00.001-08:002009-01-06T08:36:38.659-08:00

The angels weep.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-83223431697510285912009-01-05T17:51:00.001-08:002009-01-05T17:52:34.852-08:00

This story is from CBS, not Al Jazeera.The truth will out.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-65063592798447898762009-01-05T16:17:00.000-08:002009-01-05T16:20:47.377-08:00

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.Translation: To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.Above: American phosphorous bombs falling on Gaza.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-39168279827380076312009-01-03T08:35:00.000-08:002009-01-03T08:45:51.314-08:00

Done with our weapons.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-44587175000401915962009-01-02T04:26:00.000-08:002009-01-02T04:29:33.780-08:00

The bombing of Gaza continues unabated, the dead in their hundreds and the wounded in their thousands, the hospitals already decimated unable to cope. To the American press, this seems of little consequence. These people are, after all, sand niggers who don't look at death the way we do. If one adopts a short-range perspective, the crude utterances and indiscriminate rocketing of Hamas

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-57743231061583896172008-12-28T08:53:00.001-08:002008-12-28T09:13:05.647-08:00

Like the rest of the world, I'm watching the events in Gaza with dismay. If this proportion of deaths were occurring in the US, the dead on the first day would number 46,000.First Israel, with help from Egypt, starved the Gazans. Some Gazans responded with unlawful, but largely ineffective homemade weapons, as well as despicable suicide attacks. Now, however, Israel is killing policemen and

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-89643361364075149602008-12-20T10:05:00.000-08:002008-12-20T10:12:49.840-08:00

If you're with me in despising "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," listen to Fairytale of New York.This is the version with Katie Melua, not the Kirsty MacColl version. The latter is grittier, but the former's easier to understand.The people in the song aren't sanctimonious, and are in need of salvation.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-64827090905301925402008-12-17T07:52:00.001-08:002008-12-17T07:54:42.460-08:00

A whingeing pom gives another perspective on Abe Lincoln.High-level corruption in the Land of Lincoln, and this US Attorney thinks we should be surprised at that -- and Lincoln would be shocked. Oh, sure. As Captain Renault was shocked to find there was gambling going on at Rick's Café. I am not surprised to see yet more evidence that corruption is endemic in the Land of Lincoln. I'd call it

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-47135177731207752472008-12-15T15:47:00.001-08:002008-12-15T15:53:25.970-08:00

With a few exceptions ("White Christmas", "Deck the Hall", "The Twelve Days"), I dislike secular Christmas (oops, "holiday") music."Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"? Yecch.I reserve particular odium for "The Little Drummer Boy." Cloyingly sentimental, repetitively oppressive, and this years, seemingly, played everywhere.Most carols, on the other hand, I like. Grouchy, ain't I?

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-89497378920607541542008-12-14T08:51:00.000-08:002008-12-14T09:06:20.212-08:00

We hear all kinds of weird and distressing news these days:The world financial structure continues to teeter and disintegrate, while free marketeers shovel out subsidies--but not to any company that actually makes anything.GM, which used to be the pillar of our economy, is teetering on the edge, begging for a direct subsidy, as opposed to the highway program's indirect subsidy. (Remember "Engine

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-64303427260529656552008-12-05T14:37:00.000-08:002008-12-05T14:56:17.441-08:00

James Kunstler is an aficionado of apocalypse*. If it wasn't Y2K then, it's "peak oil" now. He's a particular critic of suburbanization, fueled as it is by cheap fuel, which he believes will soon be gone and force us into a less global, more local, and sounder way of life.That's a kettle of fish for a later supper, however.Today I wish to celebrate a feature of his blog, the "Eyesore of the Month

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-7299140308111695872008-12-03T05:18:00.001-08:002008-12-03T05:23:56.725-08:00

Apparently I never posted about the Japanese animated film, Grave of Fireflies, by the great Miyazaki.I'll make it short. It's a tragic film about the aftermath of American bombing of Japan in WWII, but it's also about the great love of a brother for his sister.Heartbreaking but beautiful.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-27137200952352188912008-11-27T10:47:00.000-08:002008-11-27T10:48:21.513-08:00

Turkey droppings are being used as a fuel source in electric power plants. One such plant in western Minnesota provides 55 megawatts of power using 700,000 tons of dung per year. The plant began operating in 2007. Three such plants are in operation in England.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-18680460712254809982008-11-25T08:36:00.000-08:002008-11-25T09:08:59.691-08:00

Caroline Glick is the Chicago-born Mme. Defarge of modern Zionism. She sits and knits, and devises schemes for crimes and disasters. She's bright enough, but radioactively dangerous. Here's her latest:With just six weeks remaining to his tenure in office, much of what Bush will leave behind him has already been determined. But there are two things he can still do that will impact greatly both the

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-10420485601977150462008-11-05T11:52:00.001-08:002008-11-25T09:05:33.584-08:00

I certainly wouldn'ta thunk it, two years ago, when Obama launched his campaign. With a mixture of skill and luck an implausibly inexperienced son of a white anthropologist and a Kenyan expat parlayed his rhetorical talent and temperament into a historic victory.Do I share his views? Insofar as one can figure out what they are, mostly not. Will I like his appointments. Mostly not, especially

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-54717685363270637952008-11-03T15:04:00.000-08:002008-11-03T15:06:32.927-08:00

Barack Obama's grandmother has died on the eve of what will probably be his greatest triumph.This woman was there for young Barack when his mother, father, and stepfather were not. How many grandmothers, these days, step in when the parents fail? This is the quiet heroism that keeps our society from getting much, much worse.May her memory be eternal.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-11046295102945116382008-11-03T10:32:00.000-08:002008-11-03T10:54:02.054-08:00

Although I've been following this election more closely than it deserved, I haven't posted much about it. From a political junkie's perspective, it's fascinating. No candidates for reelection, no VPs seeking to succeed to the White House. A major-party black, the first female GOP candidate--and one who evokes a great deal of feeling on both sides. The heiress-apparent bested by an eloquent but

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-37269933802102830422008-11-03T09:41:00.000-08:002008-11-03T10:30:14.897-08:00

Nick Kristof's Sunday column has two themes: where W stands on the lists of worst American Presidents, and his notion of what changes we need in foreign policy.Kristof thinks it's a tie between W and James Buchanan for the worst. In fact, it's probably early to evaluate W definitively, but I don't think he's the worst of the worst. My candidate for the worst is Woodrow Wilson, whose intervention

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-57418770310813880422008-10-19T22:19:00.001-07:002008-10-19T22:22:23.530-07:00

I just voted by mail. I'm a bit jaded by politics right now.Here's a beautiful picture of a solar eclipse. Click on it to see the detail.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-86061331333581925922008-10-17T11:30:00.001-07:002008-10-17T11:34:53.436-07:00

This fellow is an ajolote, or worm lizard.It's not a snake, but a case of parallel evolution.Various species are found in Africa, Mexico and South America. Only the Mexican ones have forelimbs.The Swiss have a cryptid called a Tatzelwurm that seems similar, but it's supposed to have a catlike head.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-59717849865023096942008-10-12T16:23:00.000-07:002008-10-12T16:32:13.827-07:00

I'm a maverickShe's a maverickWouldn't ya like to be a maverick, too?(Be a maverick!)

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-49235848067366250822008-10-11T09:13:00.001-07:002008-10-11T09:26:28.769-07:00

The old Internationale, the anthem of international communism and socialism, began thus (at least in the US version):Arise, ye prisoners of starvation!Arise, ye wretched of the earth!For justice thunders condemnation:A better world's in birth!Now that George Bush is doing more for socialism than anyone since Chairman Mao, I offer the following:Arise ye fearful of deflation,Arise ye victims of the

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-13272276857365810882008-10-10T08:53:00.000-07:002008-10-10T08:57:44.480-07:00

Mother's Cookies--you know, those super-sweet ones with pink and white frosting--is kaputt.Where are the sugar highs of yesteryear?

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-89598401398749036752008-10-10T06:30:00.001-07:002008-10-10T06:39:07.180-07:00

The Zionofascists at Commentary's contentions are finally facing facts:Unless McCain can make a passionate and convincing case that Obama’s is not just “risky” on character and judgment but badly misguided on policy, the voters will decide he’s the best shot they have for changing course and arresting the economic chaos played out before them. Perhaps they already have.Jennifer Rubin's recipe:

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-64155355969776449372008-10-10T06:24:00.000-07:002008-10-10T06:28:48.734-07:00

In banana republics, admittedly, very often the only efficient behavior is displayed by the army (and the secret police). But our case is rather different. In addition to exhibiting extraordinary efficiency and, most especially under the generalship of David Petraeus, performing some great feats of arms and ingenuity, the American armed forces manifest all the professionalism and integrity that

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-67670387088716462212008-10-07T15:32:00.001-07:002008-10-07T15:40:12.202-07:00

I was asked by the Orange County Register to join a group live-blog of the first Presidential debate. They invited me back. To view the live-blog, go here.As a preliminary question, they asked whether the candidates should address Obama's past association with Bill Ayers, an ex-Weatherman bomber, and Obama's riposte, a reprise of the issue of the associations of McCain with Charles Keating, an S&

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-16248447088152998432008-10-06T05:38:00.000-07:002008-10-06T05:40:25.390-07:00

Will the next depression bring us anything as good as Fred Astaire?Will mass unemployment solve the servant problem?What will the moonbats do if there are not enough Republicans to kick around?

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-26162622847535694922008-10-05T16:25:00.000-07:002008-10-05T16:27:54.991-07:00

I haven’t commented much on the Sarah Palin phenomenon. Not only has the pressure of work limited my bloggery, but also I wanted to let the campaign unfold a bit before passing judgment. My deadlines, after all, are purely internal.Now it can be told. Palin is likeable, charming even. She is a naturally gifted campaigner, a thing of wonder to anyone who has experience in retail politics. Even her

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-38474947132738450082008-10-02T14:25:00.000-07:002008-10-02T14:28:36.511-07:00

The Dow is down 348 points today. How does that gibe with the alleged magnificence of the Bailout?  The 777 fall was supposedly due to the House's failure to pass the abomination.Economic analysts want things both ways, methinks.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-67189360191413386562008-10-01T07:04:00.000-07:002008-10-01T07:07:31.575-07:00

The bandit says to the farmer, "I'm taking your cow,  your goat, and the chickens. To win your assent, you may keep the cat."As I find it hard to stay on one foot for long, all the rest is commentary.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-14229185096747168732008-09-29T08:32:00.000-07:002008-09-29T08:34:31.370-07:00

Larison:Few on the right are more hostile to the perverse appeal to “creative destruction” than I am when it is used to justify de-industrialization, the displacement of people, the transformation of local communities or demographic upheaval through mass immigration, but what we are faced with this week is the victory of Hamiltonian collusion between finance and government to use the latter’s

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-42437945087191572612008-09-29T08:20:00.000-07:002008-09-29T08:24:06.182-07:00

Marcy Kaptur's usually too "progressive" for my reactionary tastes, but here she's on a roll!HT: Juan Cole, another strange bedfellow.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-53093250274627476302008-09-28T16:14:00.000-07:002008-09-28T16:17:53.841-07:00

There's a Morandi exhibition at the Met.Quiet, brilliant paintings. Slideshow here.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-83744734271091418302008-09-28T09:37:00.000-07:002008-09-28T09:38:45.117-07:00

Government, they said--A problem, not solution.Now they lick its shoes.Man from Goldman SachsSays he can cure the crisisHe's rich from causing.Give away the storeInvestment bankers care lessIf your children starve.The Republic's dead.Laugh, then set yourself ablaze;Nothing left to do.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-64376878013774181862008-09-28T08:44:00.000-07:002008-09-28T09:16:26.520-07:00

Some talking points on the bailout:Moral hazard. The prattle from the economic punditocracy was that bailing out the poor slobs that borrowed on teaser terms would create a "moral hazard," that is, reward the grasshoppers, not the ants. All this has been forgotten. When the grasshoppers are powerful enough, forget about moral hazard.True prices.  If the gummint buys this paper at the market price

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-90368342958176856352008-09-26T20:00:00.000-07:002008-09-26T20:01:59.957-07:00

The OC Register asked me and  5 others to liveblog the presidential debate tonight.I was the most logorrheic. It's here.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-70524338846725269152008-09-26T09:05:00.000-07:002008-09-26T09:30:30.786-07:00

I actually emailed my Congressman--not a bad guy, John Campbell--to tell him, 'No bailout."Until they pardon every shoplifter and chicken thief in this country, not a penny for the Masters of the Universe. OK, maybe food stamps.Remember all the prattle about “moral hazard” if we help out the poor slobs who bit on the hook of teaser mortgage rates? Sauce for the ganders, sez I.I grew up in New

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-44301584942268047092008-09-13T17:30:00.001-07:002008-09-13T17:34:28.170-07:00

This is right out of a Russian novel.I am a sentimental old fool, for which I am grateful.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-22454032918947338242008-08-28T14:54:00.000-07:002008-09-06T22:59:38.779-07:00

The man pulls no punches:Both parties’ choices of nominee are appalling to me. I contemplate the next four years with dread.I don’t want either of these men in charge of the federal government, neither the crazy old fool nor the simpering sophomore. I don’t want either the moralistic imperialism of John McCain or the welfare-state-to-the world sentimentalism of Barack Obama. I don’t want my

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-32781119801806365092008-08-28T12:47:00.000-07:002008-08-28T12:48:43.267-07:00

Bird-watchers.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-55568229651066062432008-08-28T12:43:00.000-07:002008-08-28T12:47:29.257-07:00

I admire Victor Hanson, who is a classicist and military historian. He's too enamored of the crusade to save democracy everywhere, but he's a smart guy.He's figured out that NATO's obsolete, like an overgrown plum tree.Don't take my word for it. Take his.If it's obsolete and ineffective, why provoke Russia by expanding a useless alliance?

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-29157069187666020702008-08-27T09:36:00.000-07:002008-09-06T23:01:22.592-07:00

Tropical Storm Gustav, soon to be a hurricane, no doubt, is headed straight for New Orleans.Gustav could veer off, or stay relatively small, but it ain't lookin' good. Just in time for the GOP convention. More of that Obama luck?While we're at it, where's Brownie?Update: BHO ran into Hurricane Sarah. We don't know her category yet.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-9709478890210590912008-08-26T06:55:00.000-07:002008-08-26T07:05:41.391-07:00

Pat Buchanan, love him or not, is hot today:Mikheil Saakashvili started this war with his barrage attack and occupation of South Ossetia. Russia's war of retribution was far less violent or excessive than the U.S. bombing of Serbia for 78 days over Kosovo, or our unprovoked war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which has brought death to scores of thousands, or Israel's 35 days of bombing of Lebanon for

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-87975346694138476472008-08-23T07:07:00.000-07:002008-08-23T07:08:22.374-07:00

Oy, vey.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-4374758528440824962008-08-19T07:19:00.000-07:002008-08-19T07:21:22.455-07:00

A former Senator and vice-presidential candidate misused campaign contributions and money pledged to fight poverty so he could bring his mistress on the campaign trail with him during the presidential campaign where he was constantly making appearances with his widely admired cancer stricken wife then fathered the mistress's child sometime around the time he was getting a Father Of The Year Award

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-16906056916918045782008-08-16T10:37:00.000-07:002008-08-16T10:39:18.232-07:00

This story is about a camp for siblings who have been separated by the foster care system, allowing them to be together for a week.Stories about "lost" children make me tear up. I don't know why.

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-11556168382046010612008-08-14T08:38:00.000-07:002008-08-14T08:50:24.714-07:00

The British, at least outside their rather inbred and grotesque left, tend to be more realistic about international affairs than the Americans, who are too prone to ideologize. Here's a wise Brit, Michael Binyon, on Georgia: The attack was short, sharp and deadly - enough to send the Georgians fleeing in humiliating panic, their rout captured by global television. The destruction was enough to

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6484618.post-40315053802574489312008-08-12T16:34:00.000-07:002008-08-12T16:36:40.168-07:00

From FOX:YORK, PA — John McCain maintained his focus on the war in the Caucasus for the second straight day, declaring, “we are all Georgians,” during a town hall meeting before more than 2,000 voters in central Pennsylvania. “We learned a great cost of the price of allowing aggression against free nations to go unchecked. With our allies we must stand in united purpose to persuade Russian

Grumpy Old Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06885003732996511989noreply@blogger.com0