September 29, 2007
Paris Hilton: I Want You (Ghost of a flea Mix)
Antihistamines + one big hook = remix! Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (most probably nsfw).
September 28, 2007
Knight Templar
While Sadie continues to (un)cover the emotional* and sartorial** aspects of the Beckhams' move to Los Angeles, the Flea is interested in a more purely aesthetic concern. Aside from sneering at its supposed unsightliness and scarequotes at the notion it might be understood as "art", the Daily Mail has an interesting revelation to offer about David Beckham's newly completed right-arm sleeve tattoo.
The three words are inscribed next to another symbolic piece Beckham apparently wanted to reflect who he feels he has been for the past ten years - a Knight Templar, symbolised by a cross. The Templar Knights, recognisable by their white mantle with distinct red cross, are for David the symbols of him and the England team. He asked the tattoo artist to etch the Knight Templar on his arm as he "feels the knights were the best equipped, trained, and disciplined fighting units of the Crusades, just as he has always tried to be as a footballer representing his team of knights".
Which is arguably to make more of football than it is at a time when the Royal Navy has become less than it is supposed to be. Still, the sentiment is spot on. More of this from England, please.
* I gather Victoria feels lonely. I would be happy to distract her by soliciting her vocals for a dark ambient Abba cover project.
** Yet another nude David Beckham photo does not strike me as terribly newsworthy but there it is. If I was famous and in better shape there would be pictures of my bare ass all over the internet. Verdict: Fake but accurate.
Paris Hilton: Nothing In This World
I can only ask PDS sufferers to give this one a chance, it is a catchy tune.* Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
* Counting down to most obvious rejoinder in 5... 4... 3...
Spidey Up Against the Wall
The Morgan Freeman thing is weird enough, Spiderman as a regular comedy feature on The Electric Company is weirder still. I had somehow blanked out this part of my childhood.
September 27, 2007
Partie de campagne
I knew that Sylvia Bataille* had starred in a never quite finished short film by Jean Renoir but I had never expected to see it. Enter a dvd release, the internet and the whole of A Day in the Country (1936) is on-line in five parts. Merveillieux!**
* Married to Flea-fav Georges Bataille and later to Flea-fav Jacques Lacan.
** Even if featuring some caddish behaviour and egregious lens blur.
Goth Holiday
Irn Bru taps an unlikely demographic. Friends don't let friends wear Crow make-up, btw.
Related: Kath's audition. What do you do for fun? Sit in dark rooms.
September 26, 2007
Half-pregnant with reason
Spengler considers national suicide and natural law. Read the whole thing (for so it is written); wonderful observations on reliving the experience of Abraham... The passage I am pointing to, however, concerns the arguably tenuous necessity of revelation in light of inherent reason.
Theoretically speaking, man is capable of acquiring a full knowledge of the moral law, which is ... nothing but the dictates of reason properly exercised. Actually, taking into consideration the power of passion, prejudice, and other influences which cloud the understanding or pervert the will, one can safely say that man, unaided by supernatural revelation, would not acquire a full and correct knowledge of the contents of the natural law (cf Vatican Council, Sess III, cap ii). [1]
In this system, God isn't strictly necessary, merely convenient, because humankind is "capable of acquiring a full knowledge of the moral law", although prone to mistakes without the aid of supernatural revelation. That helps explain why a certain kind of Marxist philosopher always has found it easy to become a certain kind of Thomist; in both cases, nature is in the driver's seat. [2] Either human reason can work everything out on its own, or it can't. Natural theology leaves humankind half-pregnant with reason.
A further homology accounting for the Marxist and the Thomist is that of the dialectic standing in for natural law.* Socialism, and later communism, are coming as a result of the operation of the dialectic not as the expression of the triumph of socialist ideology**; or such is the Marxian claim. This being the case, the unending immanence of socialism and its ever elusive "actually existing" variety**, meant (variously) Lenin, the Frankfurt School and their latter-day semi-retarded descendants have had to justify revolutionary action on this or that vanguardist grounds. The aim was not to deny the inevitability of the dialectic but to perhaps give it a bit of a nudge; the revelation of V.I. Lenin, as it were.
* Not a huge surprise given Marx's debt to Hegel. The Idea as expressed in the dialectic was meant to be an explication of - not a substitute for - God's self-realization in history as freedom.
"For Hegel, the process of thinking, which he even transforms into an independent subject, under the name of 'the Idea', is the creator of the real world, and the real world is only the external appearance of the idea. With me, the reverse is true: the ideal is nothing but the material world reflected in the mind of man, and translated into forms of thought" (102). - Marx, Karl. Capital. Vol. 1. 1867. Trans. Ben Fowkes. London: Penguin. 1976.
** To be fair to Marxists who have read Marx, a socialist ideology could only arise from a socialist mode of production. At best the vanguardists are a byproduct of an Hegelian antithesis making itself felt in the currently hegemonic mode of production; poseurs dependent for their existence on the very capitalism they purportedly despise.
*** Though I would argue the ostensibly capitalist world became socialist by the time of the New Deal at the very latest. The dialectic triumphed with hardly anyone noticing be they today's "conservatives" or street protesters agitating against the very globalization predicted by their Marxist holy books.
Public Image Ltd: Bad Life
Arguably the best base-line in history. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
We are subject to these delusions
George Stroumboulopoulos encounters Christopher Hitchens on The Hour (Part 1, Part 2). The show is CBC's attempt to be relevant to a youthful audience. Hitchens does not pull any punches.
More ownage: Part I of V, "You are created sick and commanded to be well; the essence of the totalitarian principle."
September 25, 2007
Bomb 20
It took a few years but I finally got round to watching Dark Star. I had not suspected John Carpenter of a phenomenological bent.
Gary Numan: Are Friends Electric
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Also, Cars.
September 24, 2007
Miss West Carolina speaks out
On the subject of Maps; Paperlilies is a goddess, no matter what the haters say.
Steely Dan: Kid Charlemagne
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Another soul lost to BDS
Why I have delinked Scott Adams.
September 21, 2007
To whom it may concern
The year: 1667. The Zaporozhian Cossacks defeat a Turkish army. Ever the optimist, Sultan Mehmed IV sends a letter. It reads:
The Cossack reply, a lesson echoing down to the present day.
You Babylonian scullion, Macedonian wheelwright, brewer of Jerusalem, goat-fucker of Alexandria, swineherd of Greater and Lesser Egypt, Armenian pig, Podolian thief, catamite of Tartary, hangman of Kamyanets, and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our dick. Pig's snout, mare's arse, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow, screw your own mother!
So the Zaporozhians declare, you lowlife. You won't even be herding Christian pigs. Now we'll conclude, for we don't know the date and don't own a calendar; the moon's in the sky, the year with the Lord, the day's the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our arse!
This entire post via Turban Bomb - my new idol, now permalinked - who adds: "Quite an appropriate response if You ask me. Should be nailed on the walls in every Western Foreign Ministry."
Exactly.
Chemical Brothers: Do It Again
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Eulogy
Bill Ardolino writes in memory of 1LT Travis Manion; a hero. Bill links to a Memorial Fund.
Reading about the man there is nothing I could possibly add. But Ace had something to say, something I have been thinking and not finding a way to express.
They don't seem to acknowledge or comprehend: These are heroes. These are better people. It's true I lack what Manion had, and I will never be what he was. Is that shameful? Indeed, it is a source of some shame; but I can acknowledge, reluctantly, what is denied by the chickenhawk-baiters: There are better men than me, better, braver, and stronger in body and mind and spirit.
The constant question: Are you afraid to go to Iraq? Of course I'm afraid, Champ. The only people who aren't afraid are the Fool and Hero, and since you're asking me from the safety of a nice cozy apartment in Chelsea, I'm pretty sure you're not the latter yourself.
The childish baiting seems to deny the credit which Lt. Travis Manion is owed, as if the only thing keeping an army of would-be novelists from writing a best-seller is an extra hour a day and a clean desk.
Testify.
September 20, 2007
The Amen Break
Nate Harrison's smart documentary/installation piece, Can I Get An Amen? traces the history of a six-second break from The Winstons 1969 B-side "Amen Brother", the world's most important drum loop. The delivery is very dry but as someone trying to turn sampling into a living the content is fascinating.
Red Army Choir: Kalinka
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
* And the t.A.T.u. rendition.
Dextrosphere temperature check
John Hawkins has posted the results of his September temperature check. I did not submit an answer to question 6 as I do not have a vote in the coming election. Otherwise, I sided with the majority on every point excepting the matter of who is best placed to defeat Senator Clinton should she become the Democrat nominee; I give Senator Thompson the (narrow) edge over Giuliani in such a contest.
Arguably not even tangentially related: The Dissident Frogman explains the basic operation of bullets and boomsticks (via Tim Blair).
September 19, 2007
The Guild
The Guild is fun and, I suspect, not unrepresentative of on-line gaming life (Episode 1: Wake-Up Call, Episode 2: Zaboo'd, Episode 3: The Macro Problem).
Related, and most probably not work safe, Short Story Time: My Best Guess. Which stars Buffy alum, Felicia Day, pictured above as a Jedi chef. Ahem. And it turns out she really did play World of Warcraft.
John Landis, John Carpenter & David Cronenberg
John Landis, John Carpenter & David Cronenberg were interviewed in 1982 for "Fear on Film", an episode of movie round-table Take One. Cronenberg's comparison of the American film rating system versus Ontario's censorship board is particularly telling and especially for those ideologues who grew up with this system yet still insist Canada qua Canada is more free than its southern neighbour* (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
* For example, Canada was the only Western democracy to seize The Satanic Verses at the border. It was Freedom To Read Week. You can explain this stuff to people and they will still go on about the Patriot Act about which they know not a single particular. Gramsci called this phenomenon "ideology".
September 18, 2007
An hour of wolves and shattered shields
Writing for paleocon central, The American Conservative, James Pinkerton offers Crusader talk and a Shire Strategy for the West (links added below). For myself, I am not ready to abandon hope of what used to be called universal rights nor ready to abandon countless millions to eternal servitude, child-rape and absolute gender apartheid. Japan and Germany and now perhaps Russia* offer examples of tyranny turned back by force of arms and the prospect of liberty; we should not be so quick to condemn Araby or Persia to unending barbarism. Better to confront and destroy those forces at home and abroad which would claim superiority for Dark Ages evil, equivocate in the face of the horde or - perhaps worst of all - set our own treasures alight in the hope the enemy might be appeased and our own misplaced guilt assuaged. Pulling up the drawbridge is not the answer, not yet.
But still less is suicide. If it comes down to it the Shire must be defended. Dark clouds have gathered over so many once free cities it would be foolish to imagine the skies will stay clear over Toronto.
We in the West will always need warriors. We must have chevaliers sans peur et sans reproche—“Knights without fear and without reproach”—to safeguard our marches and protect our homes. Men such as Leonidas, whose Immortal 300 held off the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC, long enough for other Greeks to rally and save the nascent West. Or Aetius, the last noble Roman, who defeated Attila the Hun, Scourge of God, at Chalons in AD 451. Or Don Juan of Austria, who led the Holy League to naval victory over the Turks at Lepanto in 1571. Or Jon Sobieski, whose Polish cavalry rescued Vienna from the Turks in 1683.
These are not just legends, not just fictional characters—they were real. And if we dutifully honor those heroes, as heroic Men of the West and of Christendom, we will be rewarded with more such heroic men.
Future epics await us. Future Knights of the West, ready to defend Christendom, are waiting to be born, waiting for the call of duty. If we bring them forth with faith and wisdom and confidence, then also will come new heroes and new legends.
Stirring stuff (and at least three films that have yet to be made). Ptah offers useful criticism of the piece at Rantburg to which I would add the following: If the West had always chosen to hunker down, to build walls and defend them, there would be no Alexander to follow Leonidas; no twilight Rome to be defended by Flavius Aetius, the Eternal City would have long since vanished, of no particular consequence; no Spain but al-Andalus, no Americas, no United States; indeed no Israel and perhaps no India. Some paleocons may hold no particular concern for the independence of women, a casual disregard for the fate of brown people and even harbour the old Oberammergau view of the Jews. Some among them have long sought common cause with Mordor so long as the oil keeps flowing and the slave-camps remain on the far side of the mountains. Not good enough. It is not enough to save ourselves and consign the rest to the fire.
* And a side-bar to Russia: We are your only friends; your only hope. Time to pull the thumb out and stop pissing about with our airspace. It is not funny, it is not clever and you are not impressing anybody.
John Williams: Olympic Fanfare
Why we fight: So girls like Carly can have the opportunity to do this. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (via Ace).
Engage caterpillar drive
A look at the Typhoon; a vehicle I never expected to see in this detail. Awesome.
September 17, 2007
Skypirate Regalia
You ever find out about somebody who does what you do but does it so much better? Yeah, this guy. Vladislaus Dantes has upped the ante.
Suzie McNeil: Believe (Olympic inspired)
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Our chances of winning this thing just got better
In case there are Flea-readers who missed it over the weekend, Bill Ardolino via video conference from Fallujah and John Donovan via sitting on the other side of the table at the White House - along with other milblogging notables - met with President George W. Bush. Congratulations, gentlemen. And Mr. President, I hope you were listening carefully; it would be any honour to meet either of them in person.
September 14, 2007
How to pronounce "lich"
A vexed question for adolescent gamers of the 1980s, how to pronounce the word lich, i.e. "a type of undead creature, usually an evil magician or powerful undead king, who has used evil rituals to bind their intellect to their animated corpse, thereby achieving a perverse form of immortality". It rhymes with witch, apparently. Kelandon explains the etymology.
For those of you who read IPA, the OED gives the pronunciation as "lɪtʃ."
Various nerd parsing ensues. A clue should have been the plural as "liches", hard to pronounce any other way.
Dawn of Ashes: Torture Device
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
How to dance goth
The Flea's ongoing commitment to the explication of goth culture finds new heuristic promise in the form of these video illustrations. First, Pulling Cobwebs from the Ceiling at the 35 second mark; next, a demonstration of Grab the Bat, and, finally; a group practicing Kick the Smurf. I have yet to master the last one.
Club Sandwich seeks Tuna Fish Sandwich
| You Are a Club Sandwich |
 You dream big. You think big. And you eat big. Some people consider you high maintenance, but you just know what you want... and when you want it. Your best friend: The Tuna Fish Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich |
If any Phantom Strangers would care to share their sandwich preferences, I would be most curious to learn what they are (via White Peril, a Ham Sandwich).
September 13, 2007
How to hide an airplane factory
How to hide an airplane factory... not something I had thought necessary against the Japanese; better safe than sorry (via Neptunus Lex).
September 12, 2007
Hotter than Fembots*
They took a staple of the Gen-X childhood - an sf classic - and rebooted it with punched up blacks in the photography, shaky-cam verité, a dark storyline and called it Battlestar Galactica.
Now add The Matrix and do the same thing for The Bionic Woman. It even features Katee Sackhoff in the pilot. Seriously, this is freaking awesome.
* You heard me.
He was turned to steel in the great magnetic field
Iron Man trailer: Kick ass! There is something profoundly satisfying when they get the myth right. Now, Dr. Strange, please (hat tip to Mr. Ash). One caveat, as Ace pointed out in his post on the subject, something at the Iron Man site crashes Firefox. Irritating.
September 11, 2007
We are just another damn song
"Los Angeles, as I have stated elsewhere, is a city that might have been designed by eighth grade girls." So Theresa Duncan introduces Ghost Ships of Los Angeles, yet another small gem unearthed - new to me, at least - since her death (via Blogging.la).*
And the converse just as true. A few busy-bodies' difference and Theresa and Jeremy Blake might still be creating things. Why does anyone commit suicide? And why these two in particular? Writing for Gawker, Choire offers a simple, arguably uncharitable but in a strong sense inarguable, point: "Not unexpectedly, no one as yet has an "answer." I do! You know why they killed themselves? Because they were fucked in the head. Just like everyone else who's ever killed himself." (hat tip to Agent Bedhead)
* And another moment via the LA Times.
The Sculptures of Stephane Halleux
MetaFilter describes the work of Belgian sculptor Stéphane Halleux as "Tim Burton meets Jules Verne."
Put up thy sword
Quakers do not formally celebrate Christmas following the same logic that leads us not to worship in steeple-house churches, form a clergy or liturgy, or formally observe the Sabbath (technically known as First Day as a matter of social convention). All of Creation is holy, no day more so than the next.
Save for some cautious and entirely provisional optimism about France, I have nothing to add to what I wrote last year on September 11. I see no purpose in remembering September 11 on September 11; that way lies a memorial-forgetful history. And the only monument I want to see is a vast pile of skulls. Lord, forgive me, but it cannot yet be time to put up our swords.
Updates: Worthy comment at Rantburg. A story at Cox & Forkum; a gasp of breath to read right the way through. The Brussels Journal: EUnuchs send out riot police, water cannons and dogs to suppress anti-jihad demonstrators.
September 10, 2007
Gloriana Part Deux
As I am giving the Toronto International Film Festival a miss, I will not be seeing Elizabeth: The Golden Age with the wanking horde but must content myself to see it with the hoi polloi. That would be the aching distance of four weeks during which self-appointed cinéastes will put on airs for having seen an Oscar contender that much sooner; as if it takes a crystal ball and years at the ICA to work out Kate Blanchett is worth a look.
The FFFs - film festival f*ckers - talk up the opportunity to partake in Iranian art-house offerings but they are there for the Hollywood product they pretend to disdain and a fleeting glimpse of the celebrity to which they fancy themselves superior. There are not just one or two of these sociopaths kicking around but teeming thousands holding up traffic for the duration. Tossers. Tossing tosspots*
Not premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival? Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem, a film sure to be objectively superior to nine out of ten TIFF offerings.
* Excepting artists, industry people and journalists who have a excuse to be subjected to it. And, I will concede, all two or three fans of Iranian cinema who might otherwise have to rent a video instead.
Girls Aloud: Sexy! No No No
Now it the time at the Flea when we dance (hat tip to Jeff).
Jericho
Clive Barker´s Jericho trailer and gameplay footage is impressive but for some repetitive dialog. I am not one for first-person shooters but this looks right up my strasse.
Related: Clive Barker at Fangoria 2007 and hints at the forthcoming Midnight Meat Train.
September 07, 2007
Gilt by association
Commenting to his own posted at the Belmont Club, Wretchard considers an important reason elites avoid war; Canada's former Primer Minister - with his family connections to French oil and his representing Canadian oil in its business dealings with Iran - slouches to mind.
By request of the Czar, Dr. H. H. Horne and his wife brought his X-ray apparatus to the palace of Nicholas II at St. Petersburg in the winter of 1898. "... according to Mrs. Horne, the equipment overloaded the palace’s electrical system, and she inadvertently bumped into the Czar in the darkness."
Tag-line and image of the hand of Nicholas II - The Lloyd E. Hawes Collection in the History of Radiology at the Harvard Medical Library.
Patrick Wolf: The Libertine
Shades of Morrissey. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
More blogs on the ground
Senator Chuck Schumer's Orwellian pronouncement the surge in Anbar province is succeeding because it has failed is refuted by Fallujah's neighborhood watch. Dextrosphere ambassador, INDC Bill reports on local comment:
Update: An interview with Bill Ardolino in Fallujah.
It's all right now
Tim Blair comments on the Rolling Stones getting into trouble in 1967 vs the Rolling Stones getting into trouble in 2007.
September 06, 2007
Godspeed
Hugh Hewitt claims Fred Thompson lacks the executive experience of his main rivals for the Republican nomination for 2008.* I can think of at least one President who was a small town lawyer. No offense to the Gipper, Thompson may have to be more for America, more for the free world, than "the next Ronald Reagan". Let us pray Thompson will not preside over troubles of the magnitude faced by Abraham Lincoln; heaven knows the ones we can see are troubling enough. Godspeed, Senator.
Hotair as Fred Thompson's announcement on the Tonight Show and his official video launch. And dating from the pre-announcement age, Postpolitical comments on a recent Newsweek piece.
Read the rest for two telling anecdotes.
* As if running the Olympics was anything like running a superpower; you might as well have the United Nations on your resume.
Karma and dogma
Flares into Darkness considers the consequences of sitting out an election. All the way back to Jerry Ford... (via Instapundit from whence the tag-line).
September 05, 2007
Gothic Hilary Duff
This post: Soon to be number one for "goth Hilary Duff", "gothic Hilary Duff", "vampire Hilary Duff" or some such variation on the similar. It may be a small dream but such is the advantage of an exceedingly specific ambition. More Hilary Duff evidence here; I point to the black nail polish as only one notable feature. Why is Hilary Duff "trying to be sexy" ask some of the on-line detractors for her new look? Well, for one thing there is being hot as hell. Also, a genius for promotion. I have no idea what a "tropical mangosteen blossom" might be still less am familiar with its "luminous" scent but am reasonably certain it is appealing. Can't go wrong with amber milk.
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Variations on a theme
The Drink Soaked Trots discover Rabble; hilarity ensues.
Related: Three hours of the Hitch on C-SPAN earlier this year. I am delighted, obviously, by a passage where he denounces pacifism as an immoral ideology which would seek to disarm us in the face of our enemies; enemies it is our duty to destroy (which is exactly correct). But my favourite part of the piece is the tenth segment in which Christopher Hitchens introduces the Wyoming and his Washington apartment.
September 04, 2007
Underground
My dates for the next couple months... September 13: Fuck'd!!! is a new noise night and, having said I would come up with some old school industrial, my set is turning out orchestral instead; I have been listening to too much Venetian Snares. September 27 is my last scheduled gig at Savage Garden as Technical Glitch moves to a new venue. This one is going to be big; worth the price of admission for VOSQQ alone, a celebration of gothic violin! October 30: This All Hallow's Eve-Eve show is my debut appearance at The Drake Hotel*; it is an honour to be invited to play The AMBiENT PiNG.
September 13
Fuck’d!!! at Savage Garden
Tropizm, Brother Rat, Ghost of a flea, Sighup, Toronto Noise Company, Cauterwall, Dysenteryaki Deadtone
Doors open at 8. I will be on at 9 sharp.
September 27
Technical Glitch at Savage Garden
VOSQQ, Synkro, Sincere Trade, Moonbase, Laf-O, Ghost of a flea
Doors open at 8. I will be on at 9 ish.
October 30
The AMBiENT PiNG at The Drake Underground
Ghost of a flea and NOT_digital
Doors open at 8.
* Related: Russel Smith on hotels and literature. I like the idea of a hotel room as a stage and a hotel room as an anonymous place to write. A good part of the music I have been working on for the last two months was put together in the departure lounges of Ottawa International Airport; non-places can be good to get out of your head... Though as the Drake is clearly meant to be an updated Chelsea - Agent Bedhead's comparison - it lacks the anonymity Smith is describing. Which is ironic if only in an Alanis kind of way.
Tracy Ullman: They Don't Know
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Elvish Girls Gone Wild
The Jawas feature hot girls of Blizzcon 2007.
September 03, 2007
Voluptuous-but-disheveled
This somewhat belated coverage of the latest, much-maligned Harry Potter film resulted from a delay in tracking down the appropriate illustrative image. I believe it was worth the wait. It took a note from J.K. Rowling* to convince Helena Bonham Carter to take on the part of Bellatrix Lestrange for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. With three lines in the film she decided she needed to be "voluptuous-but-disheveled" thereby meeting the Flea-ideal.
"I wanted a sort of bodice thing to give me a shape,'' she said. "There is a bit of the warrior about her - Bellatrix means warrior. She's the right-hand Death Eater to Voldemort.
"I also wanted everything to be splitting at the seams and a bit of `Sunset Boulevard' disintegration to be going on, because she's been in prison for so long. She has a very posh, aristocratic carriage, because she's pureblooded, but at the same time she's completely divorced from reality.''
* Minor spoiler for Book 7 at both links.
This trailer for a better end to Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows is also somewhat belated.
Monteverdi: Sinfonie Ritornelli and Orfeo's aria
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Regurgitating the Apple
Many years ago I had a professor of religion who gently mocked me for my earnest undergraduate relativism. "You say your are a cultural relativist," he observed, "but would you rather feed hungry children or burn babies? Don't bother to answer. I already know you would rather feed hungry children." Point, belatedly, taken.
I have a caveat before linking to Evan Sayet's March 7, 2007 address to the Heritage Foundation. It is entirely possible - it is all too common - for people to hold unthinking, irrational "conservative" views since the age of five, most commonly arriving from received wisdom and common sense derived from religious belief. I should also add I disagree with several policy prescriptions advanced by Sayet, these should be obvious to long-time Flea-readers, having attempted to establish my positions through reason; this whether or not my positions turn out to be objectively mistaken.
That said, Regurgitating the Apple: How modern liberals think offers the best, most succinct and perceptive insight into the memetic plague that has overtaken "the left" I have yet to hear. Sayet does not name Rousseau or the Frankfurt School or the looming apocalyptic suicide of Western civilization but it seems to me both the origin and telos of these ideas is clear. I think, like, notably, Christopher Hitchens, I agree with discrimination - the notion some ideas are better than others - not because I want to reenact some imaginary conservative golden age but because I hold beliefs which are genuinely progressive and genuinely revolutionary. As did Isaac Newton discriminating against bronze age science, Thomas Jefferson discriminating against iron age politics or Abraham Lincoln discriminating against an evil harking back to the stone age...
The first step, it seems to me, in retaking the schools and the universities and the media is to insist on the Truth, the Beautiful and the Good; to understand that a capacity for discrimination can be evidence of a capacity for Reason. I could no longer stomach a university system that will not discriminate between a student who can read and write and a student who cannot but is ruthless in discriminating against faculty who do not advance the party line, who argue for an objective history, economic fact or moral valuation of different worldviews. It would be good to teach again if it were some day possible to teach properly, truthfully.
Related: To the last point, What year did the September 11 attacks happen? Such are today's B-students. Such are tomorrow's teachers and journalists and politicians. This via the Drink Soaked Trots who offer unmissable comment.