Halloween in the Empire On reading Google news this morning... House approves $87 billion Hey, if the U.S. is now an empire like the leftists say, shouldn't we be making money from our colonies? On reading further... Study: Bush donors rake in contracts Oh, now I get it.... We're the colony! And so this year's appropriate Halloween wear includes... "The pith helmet served traditionally and mainly the military colonial forces of Europe and the United States. It received widespread recognition as the head-dress for notable missionaries such as Stanley and Livingstone...." Posted 10/31/2003 at 9:49 AM |
War of Ideas US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently declared a "war of ideas." Here is some background-- notes made to help clarify my own thoughts. Today, the 22nd "Socialist International Conference," held every 4 years, concludes. This is a non-communist gathering of various countries' Social Democratic parties. It has been called a gathering of "dinosaurs" (rather like the Democratic Party in the United States, or Tony Blair). More relevant is the following history: The First International The Second International The Third International The Fourth International The Fifth International Posted 10/29/2003 at 1:24 PM |
Pulitzer Ritual Today is the feast day of In his memory, here are two links: A Columbia Journalism Review article
Posted 10/29/2003 at 4:49 AM |
In Memory of Soong Mayling Dissing Dissent: This is from the well-organized leftist site Related links: Commentary on Baifang essay, and two links that appear to be about this same Liu Baifang: Liu Baifang, wife of Orville Schell, and
Posted 10/28/2003 at 11:53 AM |
Going Beyond "Any American who tries to go beyond 'America good, terrorists evil,' who tries to understand — not condone — the growing world backlash against the United States, faces furious attacks delivered in a tone of high moral indignation." -- Paul Krugman, 10/28/03 NY Times And those who launch those furious attacks face a reborn, well-armed, well-organized, international socialist movement with their own grandchildren in the vanguard. No, Communism is not dead. For a view of this movement from the left, click here. For a view from the right, click here. Posted 10/28/2003 at 6:06 AM |
Dream of Heaven, continued "...I am going up the hill on the grass behind juniper trees birches the road dusty she is coming up the other side yes there she is look it is who is it not Berty no Molly no a girl with red hair comes through the oak trees beautiful loves me puts out her hand kisses me we are kissing become one face floating in air with wings one fused face with wings Turner sunset and this and this and this and this and this WINGbeat and WINGbeat where whirled and well where whirled and well where whirled and well —" — Great Circle, by Conrad Aiken, 1933. For related material, see the poems of Conrad Aiken, the 1947 novel Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry, and the 1936 poem "Altarwise by Owl-Light," by Dylan Thomas, whose birthday is today. Surrealist postscripts: The above dream contains a Turner sunset; a critic once called the work of Turner "pictures of nothing." For details, see my entry of 8/23. The time of this entry, 8:28, is a reference to the date, 8/28, of the Feast of St. Augustine, who was puzzled, as many still are, by the nature of time. For details, see my entry of 8/28. Posted 10/27/2003 at 8:28 AM |
"Heaven is a state, a sort of — John O'Hara, "Frère Jacques, Cuernavaca, — John O'Hara, Hope of Heaven Frère Jacques For another, purely visual, in the web page See, too, the Wallace Stevens poem Posted 10/27/2003 at 2:20 AM |
Long Time Gone Today's hymn from KHYI, Plano, Texas... They got money but they don't got Cash; From the album Real Time, Update of 1:50 PM EST... Thanks, too, KHYI, for what may be Love at the Five and Dime, Posted 10/26/2003 at 12:22 PM |
ART WARS for Trotsky's Birthday Part I: From my entry of July 26, 2003, in memory
For the meaning of the above symbols, see Part II: To Leon from Diego -- Three's a Crowd: Symbol: Posted 10/26/2003 at 3:17 AM |
On the Left
See this analysis of the organizers of today's March on Washington. For a much better organized Commie effort, click here. On the right
Posted 10/25/2003 at 2:56 PM |
Rummy, here's your Today is the anniversary of the triumph of Lenin in the October Revolution. General background on the two sides: News In today's news: March on Washington Posted 10/25/2003 at 6:38 AM |
War of Ideas Click on the above picture for
For the details of a rather famous religious text that shows Rumsfeld to be lying, see my note of July 31, 1997, (The detail that makes Rumsfeld's statement a lie is the word "all," which is contradicted by the religion of Orthodox Judaism. Another detail of interest is the word "Joshua" in the Vacation Bible School entry. Recall that this was the real name of the Jew now known as Jesus, and that many of his followers may have hoped he would star in a bloody sequel to the Book of Joshua. Hence the "thorny crown" phrase in the West Wing link above.) Posted 10/24/2003 at 11:38 AM |
x Posted 10/23/2003 at 12:25 PM |
For the Dead of In the spirit of Southie...
"To admirers, Mrs. Hicks "The time had come for him Posted 10/23/2003 at 3:00 AM |
"What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?" -- Saying attributed to Posted 10/21/2003 at 2:07 AM |
For St. Gwen Verdon: From Daily Quotational Lattice:
Posted 10/18/2003 at 3:33 AM |
Happy Birthday, Arthur Miller Miller, the author of "The Crucible," is what Russell Baker has called a "tribal storyteller." From an essay by Baker in The New York Review of Books, issue dated November 6, 2003 (Fortieth Anniversary Issue): "Among the privileges enjoyed by rich, fat, superpower America is the power to invent public reality. Politicians and the mass media do much of the inventing for us by telling us stories which purport to unfold a relatively simple reality. As our tribal storytellers, they shape our knowledge and ignorance of the world, not only producing ideas and emotions which influence the way we live our lives, but also leaving us dangerously unaware of the difference between stories and reality." -- Russell Baker, "The Awful Truth," NYRB 11/6/03, page 8 Here is a rather similar view of the media: The attentive student of this second essay will have no difficulty finding a single four-letter word to replace both of Baker's phrases "rich, fat, superpower America" and "politicians and the mass media." Baker's concern for "the difference between stories and reality" is reflected in my own website The Diamond Theory of Truth. In summary: "Is it safe?" -- Sir Laurence Olivier Posted 10/17/2003 at 4:15 PM |
Cursing the Darkness From my entries on this date last year... "...we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God's grace shall never be put out." Thought for today: Render unto Rome that which is Rome's. See also my remarks of January 29, 2003, Posted 10/16/2003 at 6:23 PM |
The One Culture Today's birthdays: Recommended reading-- The Two Cultures Today, by Roger Kimball, which begins with a quotation from Nietzsche: "It is not a question of annihilating science, but of controlling it." Posted 10/15/2003 at 4:01 PM |
From a review of Leonard Bernstein's 1973 Norton lectures at Harvard:
Posted 10/14/2003 at 4:07 PM |
Hello, Columbus
"Dunne is to Irish Catholics as Posted 10/12/2003 at 6:36 PM |
See last year's Posted 10/12/2003 at 2:36 PM |
For Patricia Collinge of Collinge-Pickman Casting, Boston, whose credits include casting for the film A Civil Action. "Take us the foxes, the little foxes..." KHYI just played Tish Hinojosa's "Something in the Rain." Here, Ms. Collinge, is a rather strange website related to the themes of A Civil Action and to Hinojosa's song: Posted 10/11/2003 at 1:00 AM |
The Mysterious West Thanks again to KHYI, Plano, Texas, for great poetry. In tonight's KHYI playlist... From Spike and Jamie: WAIT A WHILE AND YOU'LL GROW OLDER; JUST KEEP AN ANGEL ON YOUR SHOULDER; SONG IS JUST A BOX OF VISIONS; A MESSAGE ROLLED UP INSIDE A BOTTLE SONG IS JUST A BOX OF VISIONS, WAIT A WHILE AND YOU'LL GROW STRONGER; From Tish Hinojosa: "It's the way of life in the real west..." A search for information on the singer of "Real West" led to a site in Japan that mentions Hinojosa, among many other makers of recommended music: From Japan-- "an example of understand beyond language is still possible" Such an example is one of the themes in a movie I admire greatly.... Ghost Dog - The Way of the Samurai. The hero's understanding of what his friend says, even though he does not know the friend's language, is a recurring theme in this film. As for me... "No entiendo. Sigo trabajando." Posted 10/11/2003 at 12:25 AM |
Pro-Semitism As the president of Harvard has pointed out, many have found good reasons recently to become anti-Semites. Here are three good reasons to be pro-Semitic:
Unlike many with a Harvard background who project with success the appearance of intelligence, Ellenberg seems to be in fact genuinely intelligent... a rare thing. He also seems to be Jewish... This may be false, though, since Elllenberg, intelligently, does not state any ethnic or religious preferences.
The classic question of Sir Laurence Olivier-- "Is it safe?"-- may, in view of the above, be answered in the affirmative... provided, that is, that the "it" refers to number theory at Princeton... one of the crowning glories of Western civilization. Posted 10/10/2003 at 6:04 PM |
Storyline To hear a story, or to read it straight through from start to finish, is to travel along a one-dimensional line. A well-structured story has, however, more than one dimension. Juxtaposing scenes shows that details that seem to be far apart in the telling (or the living) of a story may in fact be closely related. Here is an example from the film "Contact," in which a young girl's drawing and a vision of paradise are no longer separated by the time it takes to tell (or live) the story: (See my entry of Michaelmas 2002.) For details of how time is "folded" A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, and Time Fold, by S. H. Cullinane. Posted 10/10/2003 at 4:44 PM |
The West Wing's
See also the "story theory of truth" Posted 10/10/2003 at 1:35 AM |
"Fair and Balanced"?
Franken disgusts me, so I'm with Arnie. As for Mulholland... click here. Update of 5:35 PM: I see the NY Times has killed the Semple story and replaced it with another at the above Times link. Posted 10/8/2003 at 5:09 PM |
Annunciation "A ray of light striking through a wall or window... is a conventional sign of the Annunciation."
Posted 10/8/2003 at 1:06 AM |
ART WARS: "...Mondrian and Malevich are not discussing canvas or pigment or graphite or any other form of matter. They are talking about Being or Mind or Spirit. From their point of view, the grid is a staircase to the Universal...." -- Rosalind Krauss, "Grids" Krauss is the Meyer Schapiro Professor of Modern Art and Theory at Columbia University. For more on Meyer Schapiro, see the link on the phrase "art historian" in my March 10, 2003, entry. To view that entry in a larger context, see the web page Art at the Vanishing Point, which includes a picture of Mondrian's own Paris staircase. The picture below might be thought of as illustrating Krauss's "grid is a staircase"... a staircase to, in fact, a vanishing point. Frame not included in For a different view of what the New York Times Book Review has characterized as "high culture," see the link on that phrase also in my March 10, 2003, entry. This leads to a work by T. S. Eliot titled Christianity and Culture. See too the remarks of the Meyer Schapiro Professor in my Oct. 5, 2003, entry, "Art Theory for Yom Kippur," in which she likens the Cross to Pandora's box. Eliot's attitude toward this Jewish approach to high culture might be summarized by the following remarks of Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day-- Dr. Silberman: You broke my arm! Sarah Connor: There are two-hundred-fifteen bones in the human body, [expletive deleted]. That's one. Posted 10/7/2003 at 5:09 PM |
Ado Born on this date: March 9, 1975: March 9, 2000: "Of course there is nothing afterwards." "There is nothing like a dame." For more on the religious significance of the date March 9, see Posted 10/5/2003 at 5:01 PM |
At Mount Sinai: From the New York Times of Sunday, October 5, 2003 (the day that Yom Kippur begins at sunset): "Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, whose interpretations of religious law helped sustain Lithuanian Jews during Nazi occupation.... died on Sept. 28 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. He was 89." For a fictional portrait of Lithuanian Jews during Nazi occupation, see the E. L. Doctorow novel City of God. For meditations on the spiritual in art, see the Rosalind Krauss essay "Grids." As a memorial to Rabbi Oshry, here is a grid-based version of the Hebrew letter aleph:
Click on the aleph for details. "In the garden of Adding Here are two meditations Meditation I From Rosalind Krauss, "Grids": "If we open any tract-- Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art or The Non-Objective World, for instance-- we will find that Mondrian and Malevich are not discussing canvas or pigment or graphite or any other form of matter. They are talking about Being or Mind or Spirit. From their point of view, the grid is a staircase to the Universal, and they are not interested in what happens below in the Concrete. Or, to take a more up-to-date example, we could think about Ad Reinhardt who, despite his repeated insistence that 'Art is art,' ended up by painting a series of black nine-square grids in which the motif that inescapably emerges is a Greek cross. There is no painter in the West who can be unaware of the symbolic power of the cruciform shape and the Pandora's box of spiritual reference that is opened once one uses it." Meditation II Here, for reference, is a Greek cross Related religious meditation for Posted 10/5/2003 at 5:09 AM |
Today's birthday: ageless Charlton Heston. Elaine Pagels, Posted 10/4/2003 at 5:48 PM |
Noble Lies or Criminal Fraud? On Noble Lies: "Leo Strauss, who for many years taught an esoteric reading of Plato at the University of Chicago, believed that an educated elite could rule through deception. A circle of his former students, now in appointed public office, are in a position to make Strauss's teaching national practice." -- America, the Jesuit weekly, July 7, 2003 ("Words are events."-- Walter J. Ong, S.J.) On Criminal Fraud: "There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas.... This whole thing was a fraud." -- Sen. Ted Kennedy on the Iraq war, Sept. 18, 2003 "Nothing could be a more serious violation of public trust than to consciously make a war based on false claims.... [The Bush administration's] handling of intelligence and its retaliation against its critics may have been criminal." -- Gen. Wesley Clark, Oct. 3, 2003 On the Good versus the True According to one reading of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance-- a book that deals with, among other things, the reading of Plato at the University of Chicago (see the Jesuit remarks above)-- the Good is the enemy of the True. This is a reading that may well appeal to Bush supporters, who would of course like to be on the side of the Good. Let them recall two Middle Eastern sayings: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," "Satan is the father of lies." Posted 10/4/2003 at 1:29 AM |
ART WARS: Art theorist Rosalind Krauss and poet T. S. Eliot on time, timelessness, and the grid. Posted 10/3/2003 at 8:23 PM |
For Wallace Stevens's Birthday Unlicensed Metaphysics: Noticer: The Visionary Art Posted 10/2/2003 at 6:15 AM |