| 8.6.02 |
What You Weren’t Told
In World War I we bought 450,000 dog skins from the Chinese for flying jackets.
Never know what you’ll find on the Internet while doing research.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
| 7.6.02 |
Hope, brought to you by Homeschooling
Joel Miller has a good, strong, postmillennial-feeling piece on homeschooling and why we have hope for our future.
“When you realize that there are Christian families all across the nation imbuing their children with this sort of academic excellence and such a rigorously biblical worldview, can there be any room for gloom?” he writes.
Amen.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
Mayhem street?
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
What anti-Semitism?
This image of the French edition of Saul Bellow’s new book Ravelstein is supposed to be an example of latent anti-Semitism in France pushed subliminally.
I don’t see it. Maybe I just have no concept of anti-Semitism.
I certainly have no love lost on the French and no sympathy for anti-Semites, but how does this picture say Jews are evil?
I mean yeah the guy has a big nose and his hair comes to a point like a horn and he is an old man—but he looks cool. I’d like to know the man. I’d kind of like to be the man.
Here's the cover of the American published addition.
And how about that name? Ravelstein. It’s like the closest thing to Rumplestilskin that is still serious.
Anyway, I ordered the book.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
Post Speech Analysis
Reading Bush's 13-minute speech and a few of the press reports on the government restructuring and the response to the intelligence, I think everything sounds like a good idea. At first brush at least, it sound good. I haven’t thought of anything wrong with it.
I was quite impressed at the politics of the move.
Instead of being the head of an administration riddled with failures and responsible for cover-ups and inadequate agencies, Bush has set forth a change. His is now the administration that responded to problems, set out to solve things. At the same time he didn't give up any ground and clearly stated that the information wasn't enough to stop the tragedy of September 11 with.
This is a hard position to assault. This doesn’t look political and because of that I think people will like it and think it has the potential to really stop some terrorism in the future.
He recognized the failures and has set out to counteract them. He takes terrorism and the previous failures seriously. Bush looks like the essence of responsibility and the man to lead.
Ted Kennedy, on the other hand, said the move was “shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.” So I guess America is the Titanic and there is nothing we can do. The Titanic sank and didn’t have any other option.
This, politically, is a really lousy position. How do you sell the defeatist position? How do you try to tell the American people to support you because they are damned no matter what?
I liked the White House statement that this was the biggest shakeup since Harry Truman was in office. “In the biggest government shakeup since Harry Truman was president…” sounds like something one of the old-time radio or TV reporters would have said. It was a really nice touch.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
| 6.6.02 |
As the Apostle Paul [sort of] said,
I write what I do not want to write and what I want to write I do not write.
Which is why I have blogged often and yet I have still not written on some of the things I planned. I really think writing these things are worth my time. I want to write them and I should write them.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
| 4.6.02 |
Chinese Literature takes on the Massacre that Killed Thousands, Defined Childhoods of Many
This is an interesting story on Chinese literature dealing with the events of Tiananmen Square. The murder of protesting students there impacted the children who were growing up in the area and are now writing, protesting, dealing with the events of those fateful days.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
Bush Shifting Leftward
This piece by James K. Glassman is on target. I, a Bush-supporting conservative, am demoralized enough I will consider casting a no-confidence vote fo someone in the primaries.
What does the man think he’s doing? Where are the brilliant politics of Karl Rove? How can this make sense?
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
| 3.6.02 |
Now here is the romantic tradition of the hard-nosed, drinking, cynical reporter who turned out good copy and great newspapers.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
The Boyhood of my Brothers
A list of commonly said things in my family’s home includes the phrase “Bang. You’re dead.” I think I’ve had a gunfight (in the old Western six-shooter stand off, O.K. Corral fashion) everyday since I’ve been home.
Today one of my five little brothers—the 7-year-old—wanted to sit in the back of the station wagon I was driving so he could be the “tail-gunner.”
I don’t think I knew about tail-gunners when I was 7.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
Profiling is a Bad Idea. Very, Very Bad.
Over at National Review, John J. Miller complains about being searched in an airport and deprived of his screwdriver. He is tired of the petty searches and the refusal to profile in airport security.
As much as I like the folks at National Review and as much as I like to agree with them, profiling is one of the dumbest ideas that has ever lasted this long. Not because of all the liberal “it smells of racism,” “how dare you make an educated guess at who is and who isn’t a terrorist” reasons to oppose terrorism. I think profiling is dumb because I can’t figure out how it would work.
Couldn’t a half-thinking terrorist beat a profile? All unconventional war uses unpredictability and surprise. Terrorists aren’t going to do things the same way next time and they are going to do the unexpected. Only searching guys that have “direct from the mountains and deserts of the Middle East” stamped on their paper work just isn’t going to cut it.
When missionaries tried to sneak behind the Iron Curtain, they found traveling in couples effective because they could ask about scenic routes and guards assumed they were on a honeymoon and didn’t search as hard. Drug smugglers have long used children’s ice cream cones and babies diapers in the hope that those won’t be suspected and searched.
Randomness can’t be planned against. Searching the old lady may seem like a waste of time and we may catch the first old lady terrorist. We can only succeed if we expect the unexpected.
Of course, we should stop all the folks who look like terrorists--but they aren't the only ones who should be spot checked.
by Daniel Silliman @
: Comments 0
|
