"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep." - Saul Bellow
HT: Powerline
QOTD
Welcome to the Nanny State
Once national health care is a right, all responsibility falls to the state.
Ad absurdum!
HT: Mark Styne, of course.
Get Yours While They Last!
(Do you suppose the American Historical Society might want to consider a copyright infringement suit?)
One More Keith Jarrett
This time with the great Jack Dejohnette on bass and Gary Peacock on drums. This is so good it's almost painful to listen to. Comes in as well as my favorite Jarrett recording, "Country" on the My Song album.
Mr. Gioia's NEA
I've often argued that public funding of the arts is less desirable than the private model. As with most government subsidies, it interjects politics into decision making and results in poor allocation of resources and lower standards. Examples are too numerous to discuss here.
That said, if the electorate forces arts funding on us, it is helpful to have a thoughtful person leading the effort. During the Bush years, we have been fortunate to have such a person in Dan Gioia.
Running the National Endowment for the Arts under a Republican Administration brings all the notoriety that heading the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms does under the Democrats. Like the accomplishments of Bush's "Homeless Czar", or the Africa Initiative, the press has studiously ignored Mr. Gioia. Yet many have felt the positive effects of his efforts, most notably those serving in the military. Mr. Gioia:
"...secured Boeing funding for a tour of opera companies to 41 military bases — a project that met with surprising success. He also initiated “Operation Homecoming,” which recruited some three dozen writers to lead workshops with soldiers rotating out of Afghanistan and Iraq in order to help them articulate their experiences."
To those who have not done a stint in the military, it might well seem "surprising" that young soldiers, sailors and Marines would enjoy Shakespeare. After all, public perceptions of who actually serves in the military are strangely distorted.
In fact, military folks (including doctors, lawyers, nurses, pilots, mechanics, cooks, ship captains, computer experts, etc.) have above average levels of education and are often intellectually curious and naturally adventurous. Sounds like a natural theater going audience to me. In fact, when I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, I was a regular at the Shakespeare in the Park summer stock theater in San Diego (great place to meet women, BTW).
And of course military people love to write. Letter writing starts in Boot Camp where the DIs force recruits to write their "fricken mothers!" It continues with the inevitable letters of longing to girlfriends. And it sometimes ends with expunging the mental anguish of combat in personal and very private journals.
That Mr. Gioia understood these things and strove to use the NEA help young people serving their country says a great deal about the man. He could have used the position as his predecessors had. He could have used the NEA as a tool to reward political allies, which often resulted in the inevitable silliness at the SF or NY MOMA. But rather, he chose to use public funds to bring the classics to the young, and to teach practical skills in writing.
So, thank you Mr. Gioia. And thank you President and Mrs. Bush. It was your idea to take the NEA in a new, different, and better direction. None of you will get any credit from the powers that be in the "arts community". But you will get it here, and from the thousands of young people who benefited from your insights and thoughtfulness.
Death Spiral
Declines in print advertising revenues are accelerating quarter over quarter:
3Q07: -7.4%
4Q07: -10.3%
1Q08: -12.85%
2Q08: -15.11%
3Q08: -18.11%
One can bet that this 4Q08 will be even worse. Does this mean that the newspaper industry won't survive the Recession of '08-'09?
Seems that way.
On-line advertising spend is also shrinking, though I would say that such declines are the result of the general economic environment. Print declines, on the other hand, are structural.
That being said, newspaper content doesn't help much. Now that we have a partisan media, newspapers will either restructure to reflect the demand for their particular partisan audiences, or disappear.
As such, one might guess that the New York Post will be selling on the streets of New York long after the New York Times is merged into the web site of ABC News (as I predicted here).
It will be a brave new world without newspapers. No preening print journos at White House pressers. No hit pieces splashed across pages across the country expressly designed to influence elections. Power out of the hands of the few and into the hands of the many. How that makes the politicians act will be interesting to see.
My guess is that politicians won't change much.
Check Out YouTube
... this morning. They've changed the aspect ratio of all vids to a more hi-def friendly configuration. One step closer to a viable alternative to TV.
Other recent innovations. They had their first live show a couple of days ago. And (in case you missed it), there is now a Monty Python channel!
Making Us Proud
“I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us,” the corporal said. “It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured.”
Reality Strikes
Tyler Cowen talking sense in The New York Times:
"Our current downturn will end as well someday, and, as in the ’30s, the recovery will probably come for reasons that have little to do with most policy initiatives."
Beware today on the streets of America. New York Times readers will surely be stumbling around in a state of confusion, their understanding of history and overall worldview challenged by a cogent reading of depression era economics.
Cowen notes (as I have said before) that the biggest problem with Rooseveltian economics was experimentation.
My Feminine Side
OK. All you people who think I'm some kind of troglodyte, sexist pig... you need to know that my score shows a pretty healthy feminine side.
Of course this doesn't surprise me. Having been raised in a family of women, I certainly know a bit (and have no allusions about) the fairer sex. Now there's proof!
Others apparently are not so well rounded.
A Sixty Foot Planing Hull
These are what the single-handed folks are racing around the world right now. Watch the hull pop off the wave toward the end of the video. This is what a small planing hull does to overcome boat speed. These Open 60's apparently do it at winds over 15 knots or so. Wow!
You Know You Are in a Recession When...
"HORMEL FOODS struggling to keep up with SPAM demand... Developing...
Wonder when "Obamavilles" are going to start springing up.
Oh ya, that couldn't happen.
Strange It Is Not
"It seems strange for prominent and outspoken advocates of the federal estate tax to dispose of their assets in a manner meticulously designed to avoid the federal estate tax."
No it doesn't. Show me someone who advocates higher taxes and voluntarily pays more than their required minimum. There isn't one.
People who speak for higher taxes are generally those whose lives are not impacted by them. They are the rich and the poor (and people who benefit from government spending).
People who agitate for lower taxes are the ones who have to make hard choices as a result of higher tax rates. They are the middle class. They as a group pay the majority of the monies collected, and higher taxes can mean a worse college for the kids, a smaller house, or any number of negative things.
This is why, in the broadest of terms, we have one political party aligned with the rich and poor (Democrats), and one with the middle income set (Republicans).
Warren Buffet advocates higher taxes in order to get good press and ingratiate himself with the smart set. It makes all those Charlie Rose appearances go so swimmingly. Tax thirty percent of his net worth away in a year and see how quickly he changes his tune.
Our legions of Democrat billionaires will continue to move heaven and earth to keep from paying taxes, while speaking publicly for higher marginal rates and the estate tax. Their media buddies will continue to let them get away with the hypocrisy. And when the rates do go up, all the suffering will be born by others.
Big deal. Life isn't fair.
Unless you're Warren Buffet. Then you get to be a sage and a saint.
Girls... Take the Test
It could save your life!
Really, this is so British. I can just see the birds yammering on about the results at their "hen night". The questions are classic. Only in a Fleet Street tab.
I guess if the fact that your man's favorite movie is Evita hasn't clued you in... you probably don't want to know!
P.S. Yeah, slow day.
Not Historic in Every Sense
According to the Architect, the Obama victory is not as "historic" as it might seem. His numbers are good, no doubt. But it is striking how important young, black voters were to his victory.
They produced almost half of the increase in votes over Kerry's totals. One has to wonder if they will have any similar impact on other elections with other candidates (particularly white ones).
There are lots of other interesting numbers to wade through here. But at the end, Rove is right. History favors a Republican recovery in two years. But it is my no means assured. We need a plan, and some good candidates on which to hang it.
Best Drudge Headline of All Time
UK Sperm Banks May Need Bailout...
You don't even need to read the article.
Winter Holiday
Winter holiday scheduled with the boys at Sun Valley. First week of March. Now that the Alberto Tomba-like thighs are looking more like Babe Ruth's, blue cruising runs are all the rage. My days on Corbet's Couloir have come to an end. It's now "cruising blue" for the gents in red.
This ought to get me drinking again.
Legislating Acceptance
Wading into the whole gay marriage debate is probably stupid of me, mostly because I really don't have a dog in the fight. I can see the point of both sides. But mostly this is a place where my libertarian leanings come out (so to speak). Let 'em do what they will, calling it what they want.
But there is the nagging question of why the government is involved in marriage at all. It's a private contract sanctioned by the church of your choice. What the hell is the government doing issuing marriage licenses? Don't we have separation of church and state in this country?
I suspect that the present debate will force those questions to come to the fore. The Spyral Notebook crystal ball tells me that the concept of traditional marriage will be so undermined by politics that the government will eventually get out of the marriage license business altogether. It will take the tack that we see in Belgium and other European countries.
There, the state issues a license bestowing all the conditions of legal union on couples (analogous to civil unions for all). Then, if so desired, couples have separate church weddings. The couple's church decides the conditions of those compacts.
The vast majority of Americans support civil unions. Very few people in the US believe that homosexuals shouldn't have the legal right to live together, raise children and generally have committed, legally recognized relationships. So the politics of civil unions work here.
Yet presently we are in the odd situation where homosexuals demand that civil unions are not good enough. They want their associations to be called "marriages". They believe anything short of that demonstrates inequality. I do suspect though, that if all unions were of the civil kind (no pun intended!), they would have a lower soap box from which to shout.
The only apparent resolution to the present impasse (and the probable compromise) is for the government to quit issuing marriage licenses. It will be civil unions for all. My bet is that as a result, traditional marriage will flourish, as the role of churches in marriage increases in importance. Same sex unions will continue to be what they are today - a bit of a novelty that society in general accepts, though considers odd and a bit unfortunate.
Unfortunately, the compromise will be not bring what gay couples seek. Because at the end of the day, you can't legislate your way to social acceptance.
Update: How did I miss the pun embedded in this post? It's now noted, though it makes me think I shouldn't write on this blog without at least two cups of coffee under my belt.
Those Damn Oil Speculators
Gee, where is everyone when the oil speculators are pushing the oil price down to new lows? Do you think we can get some congresspeople to hold hearings? After all, there are thousands of people who work in the oil industry and need HELP!
Hollywood... Get It Together
This amazes me.
Unlike most people, I don't mind being advertised to... if you know what I want. Fifty, single, no kids, boat lover, reader, ex-military, Republican, businessman. My profile is all over the internet and I consume media like a twenty year old. Shouldn't Hollywood be able to sell me a movie that I would obviously love? Apparently not.
So last night I was reading my "movie" feed in Google Reader and saw the weekly "Most Pirated Movies" post in TorrentFreak. At the top of the list is Traitor.
Umm, what's that. Never heard of it. So I click over the IMDB. "Traitor", August 2008, starring Don Cheatle. Really? I love Don Cheatle. Plot summary...
"When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn..."
What? How can I not know about this movie? I love this stuff. Did it bomb? Click over to Boxoffice Mojo. No. $23 Million. Not great but not bad. Back on IMDB. What's the rating? 7.3. That's good. How are the reviews? Really good. Biggest complaint? Hollywood didn't market the film!
OK, so bittorrent here I come. Quick search on Speckly. Lots of traffic for Traitor. Click. Click. Click. Click.
Back to IMDB and the reviews. The top review says that unlike most Hollywood thrillers, you can't know the politics of the people who wrote this. I'm thinking, ya right. I can find a liberal in wood pile blindfolded. But I like the sentiment. Anyway, this movie gets good reviews for being innovative and interesting, and it is produced by Steve Martin? I check. Yes, that Steve Martin.
Fifteen minutes later... "Your download is complete". Eight Hundred meg of video goodness. Open file, movie starts. Wammo, socko from start to finish. Some techie stuff... yum. And Don Cheatle and host of other quality actors really strutting their stuff.
In the end, a very well made action flick, with an interesting twist, great acting, good writing. And no, and I repeat NO, pandering, preachy Hollywood crap about terrorism. Maybe the best action/terrorism flick I've seen. Much, much better than The Kingdom, which got tons of press and ended up being overly violent, a bit preachy and not a great film for Jamie Foxx (maybe the best living movie actor).
So, lets go over this. Hollywood finally makes a decent terrorism film. But it cannot find the people who want to see it, and won't pay to advertise it because why... it doesn't have the standard liberal Hollywood bent?
Add to the mix that there are thousands of copies of the movie free for the taking on the internet. It's a toxic mix.
Hollywood... you need to get your shit together. Learn how to mine the web for micro markets. Learn how to distribute so you get a piece of the revenue action. Try not to let your biases get in the way of making and marketing films. If you can't figure out how to work in a world where anything that is digitized is essentially free, you will go the way of Peaches and CD Warehouse.
And don't think we will all be crushed. I, for one, have a ton of books I need to read.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
