There is much that Kauffman says that I agree with, I certainly hate the idea of the U.S. being the world’s policeman. None of the wars we have been in since WWII have I approved of. But, as I pointed out in my review of look Homeward, Ametica, what exactly was FDR supposed to do after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and Germany and Italy declared war on us. And his hero Jefferson sent the Navy to deal with the Barbary Pirates — that would have been in the Mediterranean. I also voted for George McGovern. And I supported Eugene McCarthy. I call ‘em as I see ‘em. Oh, and I am a disciple of Dorothy Day. And a practicing Catholic.
Friday, March 31, 2023
Well-deserved praise
… Paul Johnson (1937-2023): A Valediction | The Russell Kirk Center. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… this vital intellectual history is not taught in the schools, nor do our mass media manage to give it adequate attention, with extremes of militant cultural Leftism and commercial-libertarian nihilism dominant not only in the USA but all over the West: “radical chic” oscillating with pervasive, collective amnesia, attention-deficit disorder, and “amusing ourselves to death.”
Worrisome …
… Did the New Atheists Win? - Crisis Magazine.
There are countless ways in which this implicit materialism manifests itself in the Church today. Youth sports on Sundays (even in “Catholic” leagues!) downplay the spiritual importance of this divinely-ordered day of rest; Catholic schools prioritizing public school educational standards over imparting the Faith to children undermine the importance of their spiritual health; attempts to make the Mass more “relevant” instead of more transcendent fashion a man-centered, rather than God-centered, liturgy; emphasizing “social justice” as the top priority of the Church diminishes its spiritual mission; and, of course, agreeing to classify the Sacraments as “non-essential” services (while Home Depot remained open) undercut the very purpose of the Catholic religion.
When the archdiocese shut down Masses at the start of Covid, I sent the archbishop a clip of Alan Rickmab in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves telling his scribe “That’s it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas.”
I read The God Delusion, but was unimpressed. Dawkins was practicing philosophy without a license and with little or no insight. As I remarked to a friend, nobody in his right mind believes in the God Richard Dawkins doesn’t believe in.
Elie
Thursday, March 30, 2023
My favorite conductor …
… Bruno Walter, a Conductor Who Found Truth Through Beauty - The New York Times.
Writers often dignified Walter with spiritual metaphors — the author Stefan Zweig compared the beam on his face while conducting to “the countenance of the angels when they look upon God” — and it is revealing of his artistry that they were exactly what Walter aspired to achieve. For him, the Germanic music from Bach to Strauss was pure, uplifting, redemptive. It offered an “unchanging message of comfort,” he wrote in his memoir “Theme and Variations”; its “wordless gospel proclaims in a universal language what the thirsting soul of man is seeking beyond this life.”
Just so you know …
… 20 of The Best Poetry Magazines You Need to Read | Book Riot. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden,)
Something to think on …
Civilization tries to persuade us we are going towards something, a distant goal. We have forgotten that our only goal is to live, to live each and every day, and that if we live each and every day, our true goal is achieved.
— Jean Giono, born on this date in 1895
FYI ~
… Read all about it: 12 of the best novels about journalism | The Spectator. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.’
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Something tomthink on …
For medieval thought the gulf that could be bridged only by Divine intervention came not between life and the inanimate, nor between consciousness and lack of consciousness, but between rational and irrational creatures. I think there is no reason now to think otherwise -- only fashion.
— Peter Geach, born on this date in 1916
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Good for her …
One can hardly fault Eberstadt for not wanting to subject herself to the juvenile pageantry that would accompany her visit, and for having no desire to engage with people who have no sense of themselves or the world around them. I could have more insightful discussions with our dogs than the average college student.
Hear, hear …
… Don’t Believe the Hype: Woke Is Real and It’s Dangerous.
The crucial dynamic is not just the assertion of fraught claims but the continued advancement of them after they have been debunked. The New York Times, for example, didn’t just declare in its “1619 Project” that the American Revolution was fought to preserve slavery, it pooh-poohed complaints from leading historians that this was false.
Much in what he says …
… Expressive Individualism - by William F. Vallicella.
The archetypal expressive individualist, according to Bellah, is Walt Whitman, whose most famous work, Leaves of Grass, begins with the words, “I celebrate myself.” For Whitman, in contrast to Franklin, the goal of life is not to maximize efficiency for the sake of material acquisition but rather to luxuriate in sensual and intellectual experiences, to take pleasure in one’s bodily life and sexuality and to express oneself freely, without any concern for social conventions.
Something to think on …
Once upon a time, there was a boy who learned to read at the age of 5. This changed his life. Owing to the adventure tales he read, he discovered a way to escape from the poor house, the poor country, and the poor reality in which he lived.
— Mario Vargas Llosa, born on this date in 1936
Monday, March 27, 2023
Oh, wow …
From the Superior Side - Wisconsin... - Destination Duluth | Facebook. (Hat tip, Dave Lull — who lives in Superior.)
Something to keep an eye out for
I recently received in the mail the latest book by poet Lynn Levin, a collection of stories entitled House Parties (Spuyten Duyvil). The pub date is May.
The other day I read the first of the stories, “The Path to Halfway Falls.” I thought it magical. And since I have no outlet for reviewing these days, I thought I’d bring the book to public attention in a new way. I am going to post accounts of my reading it. This will be the first installment.
This first story seems straightforward enough:
Chuck, Higby, and Dean set out at first light intending to head to a lookout over a valley.
About an hour and a half into their trek, the three friends met a wide-eyed man and a dark-eyed woman descending the trail. The man, his voice breathy with excitement, told the three friends that he and the woman had seen an extraordinary sight: a slender waterfall not in the guidebooks or maps. This was Halfway Falls, a secret passed from hiker to hiker. Fed by snow melt and spring rains, Halfway Falls sent off veils of mist that looked like flying angels, and the stream of water was so thin that it evaporated before it reached the ground. That was why they called it Halfway Falls.
The man tells Dean that “You can always go to the lookout … but you can only see Halfway Falls now.”
“See it before it disappears,” the woman tells him.
Dean is enthralled:
A secret place. Flying angels. A sight you could only see now. Dean could sense that the couple was exceptionally, almost preternaturally eager, and their enthusiasm inspired in him an overwhelming desire to see the awe-inspiring Halfway Falls.
Dean is sort of the odd man out of the hiking trio, a wallpaper hanger who is the caregiver for his mother, who has MS. His sister is keeping an eye on Mom today, but his sister wants him back by 4:30 that afternoon. He has no wife and no girlfriend.
Chuck is married, but has a girlfriend on the side. Higby is married also, but seems to have a low opinion of his wife.
Higby gets directions from the couple:
They were to follow the present path up to a rock that looked like the famous comedian Bob Hope, turn left, and hike off trail through the forest; they weren’t sure how far, maybe half a mile. Then they were to listen carefully for the sound of falling water. Owing to the slender stream of the falls, the sound was faint. Nearby was a rock outcropping that looked like a mountain lion with its mouth open. To see the falls, all you had to do was climb on top of the mountain lion rock and hang over on your stomach.
But I think that’s as far I’ll go. I don’t want to give any spoilers and I don’t want to prevent others from enjoying the story on their own. But we learn much about how the three friends grow closer.
Levin is a very poet and her ear for language is evident throughout.
And then there’s the raven, who may just be the star of the tale.
Something to think on …
The poem is at last between two persons instead of two pages. In all modesty, I confess that it may be the death of literature as we know it.
— Frank O’Hara, born on this date in 1926
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Touching …
… Ernest Hemingway’s Idaho playground. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
As the end neared, the novelist was paranoid, delusional, irritable, sullen and wished vainly for another “belle epoque.”
I couldn’t agree more …
… Glenn Reynolds: Ban AC for DC.
Let the government assholes find out first-hand about what they would impose on the rest of us.
Martin Amis
I've just finished Martin Amis's Rachel Papers, and I must say: this is a very funny book. I know Amis has been accused of all sorts of things -- some not very flattering. But this novel -- this vignette, really -- is a successful one. Cast a coming of age tale, Rachel is a smart, sensitive, melancholy portrayal of its time and characters. Most everything here revolves around sex: but unlike other novelists, Amis has the courage to confront its humor, its absurdity. Amis's characters -- including his central personality, Charles -- position sex as a defense against time: Charles's brother in law, for instance, refuses to impregnate his wife, for fear that the sex with her will never be the same -- that is: that time will render her sexless. For his part, Charles is as virile as they come: sex for him is a way to accelerate time, to propel him forward into university and beyond. As I say, all of this is shrouded in a certain melancholy: as if even the most hopeful relationships -- and the most enthusiastic liaisons -- are fated to defeat, or at least to decline. Along the way, as those relationship progress, flounder, and fall, there's a lot of laughter: Amis makes clear that not all of it is funny, but then, even in sadness, there's a certain humor. Amis is nothing in Rachel if not honest.
Something to think on …
How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means 'filled with a god,' so what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it. So I have a little word: follow your bliss. The bliss is the message of God to yourself. That's where your life is.
— Joseph Campbell, born on this date in 1904
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Something to think on …
God is closer to us than water is to a fish.
— St. Catherine of Siena, born on this date in 1347
Friday, March 24, 2023
Surprise, surprise …
… Paul Davis On Crime: Ask Any Cop: Philly DA Krasner Is Soft On Crime.
This malevolent clown has made Philly more dangerous than it has ever been in my lifetime.
Horse’s ass alert …
… Roger Waters Comes Across As Antisemitic As Ever in Interview With Der Spiegel - Israellycool.
Exactly why we’re supposed to care what this dipshit thinks escapes me.
Something to think on …
Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message.
— Malcolm Muggeridge, born on this date in 1993
Good for them …
… Cardinal Müller and Cardinal Burke rebuke German bishops over same-sex marriage vote - Catholic Herald.
“They are acting absolutely directly against the Catholic doctrines– against the definition of the dogmas. There must be a trial. They must be sentenced. And they must be removed from their office– unless they convert,” said the cardinal.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Something to think on …
'Emergencies' have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.
— Friedrich von Hayek, who died on this date in 1992
These really are neat …
… Incredible Winning Images from 2023 Mobile Photography Awards. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
More appreciation …
… The Neo-Latinate Imagination of Joseph Bottum | Acton Institute: (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
It is not only in their themes that these poems are revelatory. Bottum’s practice of poetry hovers always close to music and song. In English, our paradigmatic line is the iambic pentameter. The five-stress line is flexible enough to be musical when needed, but it can also accommodate the plainest speech and the most ornate and golden rhetoric. Bottum’s poems are usually one metrical foot shorter, in some sort of loose or tight tetrameter or trimeter. Tetrameter is the language of ballad and song, of music almost to the exclusion of rhetoric.
Tracking the decline …
… Media bias and campus chaos - by Tom Knighton.
The truth of the matter is that the media has given up any pretense of being unbiased, yet one can’t help but wonder if this is a reflection of the chaos we tend to see on American college campuses or the cause of it.
Dumb as posts …
… On the generational narcissism of sensitivity readers.
The most striking aspect of the whole ordeal, and indeed even of the existence of a company such as Inclusive Minds, is the abounding narcissism inherent in this new breed of cultural censor. What level of self-regard must one possess to feel qualified to rewrite classic novels? Would these same “sensitivity readers'' also consider themselves qualified to retouch the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in order to render it less patriarchal? And if not, what then makes them feel qualified to rewrite entire sections of The BFG?
Live and let live …
… NHL players are courageously leading the charge against gender propaganda and indoctrination | Washington Examiner.
No one should have any problem with what Reimer said, but they sure will. The Left wants to force everyone to surrender to their way of thinking. The people who claim to be the most accepting and understanding are also the most intolerant of anyone who disagrees.
A very insightful piece …
… The King of Love My Shepherd Is: Some thoughts that are gay and also happy | Eve Tushnet. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
For me, being gay has never been particularly solitary or sorrowful; and so, to the extent that my gay experience prepared me for conversion, it was conversion not as rescue but as deepening. The virtues I discovered in gay communities helped me understand love, and recognize Love when He came to me; the beauty I experienced in women prepared me for the absolute Beauty. It seems to me that “gay” and “straight” are both odd modern conglomerates which include a mix of temptations to sin and possibilities for love. “Side B” is a big umbrella, and there are many people under it whose spirituality centers on Jesus as the light in our solitude, the companion in our sorrow. I have needed that Jesus myself, especially in my sobriety. But I have found that “side B” people are open to the possibility that Jesus may also be found in shared joy.
Appreciation …
… Signs and Wonders, by Will Stephenson. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The old ways are always being contrasted with present-day American banality, with the encroachment of chintzy commercial culture even into the hinterlands. This flattening, atomizing force is what seemingly accounts for Portis’s preoccupation with Gnomon-esque guilds and other such flimsy attempts at restoring enchantment and community to a culture that has lost all meaningful trace of either.
Talk about worrisome …
… Child mortality is rising at the fastest rate in 50 years | The Hill.
“These increases, the largest in decades, followed a period of great progress in reducing pediatric mortality rates,” the authors wrote. They assigned blame to “manmade pathogens,” particularly guns and drugs.
What the hell is going on in our society?
Something to think on …
We do not at present educate people to think but, rather, to have opinions, and that is something altogether different.
— Louis L’Amour, born on this datein 1908
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
I fear so …
… Abortion advocates today sound a lot like the eugenicists of the past.
Since I happen to be an illegitimate child, I’m sure glad my Mom went ahead and had me anyway. The so-called fetus is genetically unique — an individual person, essentially unlike either parent Killing one is murder and no amount of sophistry can demonstrate otherwise.
Where we find ourselves these days …
… The Sweater.
On Jan. 17, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov declined to wear a pride jersey in warmups, citing his Christian (Russian Orthodox) beliefs. So he sat in the locker room, banished, while his teammates took their pre-game skate.
… within days, No. 9 Provorov game replica sweaters were selling out on the NHL Shop and at Fanatics, indicating that despite the hatred that was heaped on him – shameful hockey media hack E.J. Hradek suggested that Provorov return to Europe and “maybe get involved” in Russia’s war in Ukraine, while sports writer Cyd Zeigler huffed that “Proporov chose to embrace prejudice” – not just a few appreciated his position.
For what it’s worth, my friend Katherine Miller and I shared power of attorney for a gay couple. So don’t call us homophobic.
Our despicable political class
… Mark Levin SHREDS ‘A Soros Prosecutor’ Alvin Bragg Over Possible Trump Indictment.
“How much you want to bet these news operations covering it, like MSNBC, NBC, and the rest, have entered into non-disclosure agreements?” Levin asked. “Now we call it ‘hush money’”?
Something to think on …
Those wearing Tolerance for a label call other views intolerable.
— Phyllis McGinley, born on this date in 1905
This is not a joke …
… though it’s bound to draw a lot of laughs: University of Helsinki gives Greta Thunberg a Doctorate of Theology.
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