Logos kai Apokalupsis

Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield has done us a great service by writing an excellent piece on modernity.  Key snip:

He is aware that the humanist philosophers in Poggio’s time had reason not to risk gaining a reputation for atheism, and he recounts at some length the later (1600) trial and burning of Giordano Bruno for his open heresy. But this motive would be the same in the time of Lucretius, or in any time. Almost every society punishes atheism, even to some extent our tolerant society today: Try running for president as an atheist. Every society rests on belief, almost always on a religious belief that God supports and protects it. At the same time, a philosopher is one who questions the authority of belief, especially the highest. Philosophy always tends toward skepticism, and even if it finds in favor of religion, it does so on philosophical grounds. Skepticism is normal for philosophers, and so too is dissimulation to conceal skepticism and confuse the authorities. A recent book on Lucretius and the Renaissance by the historian Alison Brown shows greater understanding of the once-common practice of evasion by philosophers, and remarks on Lucretius’ “discreet (and often unnamed) influence” in that time. The appreciation and the discretion had the same cause: Both were offensive to prevailing belief.

Indie saves Rock-n-roll and resurrects the 60s:

Watch the full video at Baeblemusic.com

CNN notes Romney is pulling away.  Some of this is expected because Republicans always seem to reward the last real challenger.  But name recognition may have something to do with it too.  As the WSJ notes, Romney is not fairing well against Obama in a head-to-head matchup.  Though Obama is only at 49%, it is not a strong showing for Romney to be that far behind.

Intelligent Life has a nice piece on the Martini. The drink is 100 years old this year (give or take a few years and other disputations).  It has become a sophisticated drink.  And like all drinks of such a nature, they are meant to be sipped, and savored.  Oh but there is some debate over the origin and the mix of the concoction, so go here for more.

Will either of these spoil the election in 2012?  Some think so!

With the bad economic times, crime should spike.  Right?  Not so fast says James Q. Wilson here.  Crime is actually falling.

What are the war powers the president possesses?  It is always a contentious debate–especially as a President assumes office and no matter the party.

Harvard Professor Harvey Mansfield criticizes modern higher ed and the plethora of majors in the WSJ here.  The op-ed makes me think once again about common cores and a great books design for college curriculum.  Is there not value in that type of education that transcends market-place change?

Larry Kudlow brings some sanity to the 280 point drop and the economy.  Snip:

What’s lacking here is confidence.

No, we’re not going into a double-dip recession. The most important indicator is the Treasury yield curve, which is still very steeply sloped. And businesses are profitable. Those profits have been the backbone of what little growth we’ve had in the last two years. And they’re the mother’s milk of the stock market.

But the point is, without real growth policies, there’s not much to cheer about in the market or the economy. We’re muddling along. It could even be called a growth recession.

Wednesday’s 280-point Dow drop is cry for help. Is anybody listening?

Dana Milbank at WaPo explains:

The Senate is supposed to be in Memorial Day recess this week. But the chamber is so ungovernable that Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn’t even have the votes to declare a recess. So he decided instead to have a few “pro forma” sessions, such as Tuesday’s, allowing senators to take a vacation without voting for it.

In a sense, the Senate has been in a pro-forma session all year. Beyond a few ho-hum pieces of legislation — patent reform! FAA reauthorization! — senators could have taken a five-month holiday and the republic would be none the worse. Although there’s general agreement that the most pressing issue facing the federal government is its runaway finances, the Democrat-controlled Senate hasn’t passed a budget in 762 days, a new standard for dereliction of duty.

If I recall, never has there been no budget from Congress or the Senate.  This will get a lot of play for 2012

Michael Yon posted this piece on a soldier and his wife.  He died in action, and she, well, she could not endure the loss. War visits not just our soldiers but our families.  This memorial we should remember them all:

29 May 2011

Ben Morton answered America’s call from Kansas.  He joined the Army and served in Korea, then reenlisted and served as an infantry Sergeant in Mosul, Iraq.  On the night of 22 May 2005, intelligence was received that high value targets were in a certain large house.  Ben’s recon platoon moved in.  Sergeant Ben Morton led the way up the stairs, and in the ensuing firefight Ben was shot and mortally wounded.  Ben died from blood loss just near the spot where he had been hit.

It was two nights after the first year wedding anniversary for Ben Morton and Elaina Salinas.  Elaina got word even while flowers and cards poured in, many of them from Ben.  He had ordered flowers each day for the entire month.  The Mortons were a couple deeply in love.  The course of their romance had been like something from a novel and now this.  Even after his funeral, the flowers and cards continued to arrive from Ben.  With Ben’s loss, and his love still pouring in, Elaina was inconsolable, so heartbroken that nobody from either side of the family could reach her.  Their love had been so deep that even their families had fused into one.  Together they searched for answers.  Some nights, Elaina would take Ben’s sleeping bag to the cemetery near the small church on the windswept Kansas plains.  She would weep beside Ben’s grave until she fell asleep even while his family would ask her to come home.  But even when she would come home, she cried all night in Ben’s bedroom until she would finally go quiet.

One day, Elaina drove to a special place beside a lake where she and Ben had spent much time.  Elaina was alone when she took a small tree branch and traced in the sand by the lake, “I Love You Ben Morton, R.I.P.”  She traced a heart around the words and then joined her love forever.

Rest In Peace Ben and Elaina.  Many people miss you.

Bottom Line: The declining share of manufacturing’s contribution to GDP reflects a global trend as the entire world moves increasingly towards a more services-intensive global economy. When people complain that “nothing is made here anymore,” it’s not really true that somebody else is manufacturing the goods that we used to make in America. The reality is that because of ongoing gains in productivity and lower prices, we (and others around the world) just don’t need to spend as much on manufactured goods any more in relation to the overall size of the economy. And we’re all better off because of that global “decline in manufacturing.”

The founder of Kendall-Jackson passes. RIP.

Mitch Daniels has decided not to run.  Chris Christie is out too.  I found reports of Roger Ailes’ take on some contenders interesting from NY Mag:

But he hasn’t found any of them, including the adults in the room—Jon Huntsman, Mitch Daniels, Mitt Romney—compelling. “He finds flaws in every one,” says a person familiar with his thinking.

“He thinks things are going in a bad direction,” another Republican close to Ailes told me. “Roger is worried about the future of the country. He thinks the election of Obama is a disaster. He thinks Palin is an idiot. He thinks she’s stupid. He helped boost her up. People like Sarah Palin haven’t elevated the conservative movement.”

 

Want to commute on a bicycle?  Who doesn’t?  Well a lot of people I guess, but if you want to do that, there is a nice line of chic as noted here.

And if the story is not enough, head to a website by the same name!  It is a fabulous website/blog of those who ride in Copenhagen.  Delightful!

There is nothing like a daughter who loves her father, and in this video, it is evident. She loves her daddy. And, what a talented family. The song here is better than original. Enjoy!

Many know I spent a good amount of time in the great state of North Carolina. It seems that a local small brewery is having some trouble expanding because of state regulations and tax rates. John Hood makes the argument that the corporate tax rate violates principles of liberty. One way these regulations and taxes are hurting a great brewery like Red Oak can be seen below:

Christopher Hitchens has been battling cancer for a while. It has effected his voice in a way that has made him unable to speak at times. Hitchens writes a moving piece in Vanity Fair here:

In the medical literature, the vocal “cord” is a mere “fold,” a piece of gristle that strives to reach out and touch its twin, thus producing the possibility of sound effects. But I feel that there must be a deep relationship with the word “chord”: the resonant vibration that can stir memory, produce music, evoke love, bring tears, move crowds to pity and mobs to passion. We may not be, as we used to boast, the only animals capable of speech. But we are the only ones who can deploy vocal communication for sheer pleasure and recreation, combining it with our two other boasts of reason and humor to produce higher syntheses. To lose this ability is to be deprived of an entire range of faculty: it is assuredly to die more than a little.

My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends. I can’t eat or drink for pleasure anymore, so when they offer to come it’s only for the blessed chance to talk. Some of these comrades can easily fill a hall with paying customers avid to hear them: they are talkers with whom it’s a privilege just to keep up. Now at least I can do the listening for free. Can they come and see me? Yes, but only in a way. So now every day I go to a waiting room, and watch the awful news from Japan on cable TV (often closed-captioned, just to torture myself) and wait impatiently for a high dose of protons to be fired into my body at two-thirds the speed of light. What do I hope for? If not a cure, then a remission. And what do I want back? In the most beautiful apposition of two of the simplest words in our language: the freedom of speech.

The problem with the Golden Age of Country  as a topic is what artists to spotlight next. By all common sense, after Steve Earle, I really should spolight Robert Earle Keen Jr.  But, I have had Whiskeytown on the mind for the past few weeks.  So, this week, one of the most important bands in Alt country history to date:  Whiskeytown.

As I have fashioned it, Alt country’s golden age is rooted in three geographical areas:  Austin, Tx (Keen, Earle, and countless others)., The midwest (like St. Louis–Uncle Tupelo), and…Raleigh, NC (or the Triangle–Flat Duo Jets, Whiskeytown, Backsliders, Two Dollar Pistols, Tift Merritt, and the like).  The lineup of Whiskeytown is formidable:  Ryan Adams, violinist Caitlin Cary, drummer Eric “Skillet” Gilmore, bassist Steve Grothman and guitarist Phil Wandscher.  The band, was, dynamite.  Ryan Adams was the guitarist and lyricist that had so much talent, he could not stop writing.  Like most great writers/artists, he will likely have songs surfacing long after his death.  A legendary Raleigh story has Adams calling local radio stations early in the mid 90s talking to DJs telling them that Whiskeytown was the next great band.  It was, and I say still is, even though they are no longer together.  Adams was a tempermental and strong personality.  That, in part, led to the split between Adams and Wandscher, who left Raleigh for Seattle, and teamed up with the haunting (and very talented) Jesse Sykes.  So, as you might surmise, Whiskeytown was GREAT, and then disappeared with members going into separate projects.  Adams went his own way to solo and other band projects.  Caitlin Cary (as great violinist) went on to solo and other band acts (Tres Chikas).

Regardless of the break, which like Uncle Tupelo, was a sad day, the band left their mark. And what came after by individual members was worthy.

The discography:

Rural Free Delivery (1997, but really, earlier than that).  Dave Menconi writes about this album:

Rural Free Delivery is somewhat problematic in that the band is none too happy it’s seeing the light of day at all. The right to release these recordings was part of the quid pro quo for Whiskeytown to leave the independent label Mood Food for Geffen-affiliated Outpost Records. That said, it’s still worthwhile for the same reason all Whiskeytown records are worthwhile: Ryan Adams just plain doesn’t make bad music. Sloppy, sure. But anybody who can listen (really listen) to him and not hear what a great singer and brilliant songwriter the guy is — well, they’re to be pitied.

Rural Free Delivery consists of demos predating the band’s 1995 debut Faithless Street, including two songs that later showed up on that album (”Oklahoma” and the statement-of-purpose manifesto “Angels”). The band had only been together a couple of months at the time. But, rough edges and all, Adams’ raw ability was apparent even then.

Rural Free Delivery is cow punk for sure. It reminds me of that 80s band Lone Justice in a way.

Faithless Street (1995)

Pitchfork (that indie internet mag) called this album a “touchstone.”  It was recorded in Apex, NC (not too far from my first home in NC). It was, to be perfectly honest, at the time, a breakthrough album that would only be surpassed by their next album.

Revenge (hidden track in the original)

Stranger’s Almanac (1997)

Dancing With The Women At The Bar

Yesterday’s News

From Austin City Limits, “Everything I do”

More Austin: “16 Days”

Waiting to Derail:

Avenues:

Houses on the Hill:

Turn Around:

In the 1990s, this:
Song for you:

After Almanac, legal matters prevented their release of an album before 2001. it caused no end of frustration for the band and Adams once quipped the album would never come out. It did, as Pneumonia, but in 2001-so we withhold it from this post. By the end of the 90s, Whiskeytown was, along with Wilco, Mavericks, the Drive by Truckers, Son Volt, and the like, the most influential band of the decade.

In my mind, the band, and Ryan Adams in particular, ranks alongside the Byrds, Parsons, Townes, Jason & the Scorchers, and the rest of the giants of the Alt Country scene. It would be nothing without their contribution.

~finis

At the WSJ this weekend, a provocative article that argues true moderation begins with reformation.