These days Brits are into biographies which focus on former heroes' feet of clay. The first which caught my attention was the biopic of Thatcher which focused on Maggie as an elderly sufferer from early stage dementia.
This afternoon the ship screened Churchill which focuses on Winston Churchill's role in the run-up to the D-Day landings at Normandy. The film would have you believe Churchill tried to kill D-Day. Supposedly it reminded him of an earlier (World War I) landing - Gallipoli - an actual disaster for Commonwealth troops for which he was blamed.
I can't speak to the film's historical accuracy, but it is very well made and moving. I went in thinking I'd probably fall asleep in the dark theater ... it did not happen.
I was glad the theater didn't have "smell-O-vision." The actor playing Winston smoked fat cigars constantly and I hate their smell.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Friday, September 29, 2017
Review: Dangerous Minds
Over the last couple of days I read Dangerous Minds, a 2017 book by Janet Evanovich, checked out from the ship's library. Herewith a review.
I don't know about you, I read Evanovich for the humor she brings to the Stephanie Plum novels. These now total some 27 volumes. I've read these, many of them more than once, and chuckled throughout.
So I picked up this, the second book (so it says) in her Knight and Moon series. Let's say I was disappointed.
Sure, it featured her quirky characters and breezy, off-the-wall plotting, but the belly laughs were missing. And she can't blame a co-author as none was listed.
You could call the book science fiction, or techno thriller, or even how to marry a millionaire and be sorta correct. It has elements of all three and more.
With another author's name on it, you might give the book a "pass" and say it was mildly diverting. With the Evanovich name on it, you expect funny dialog but don't get much of it in this book.
I don't know about you, I read Evanovich for the humor she brings to the Stephanie Plum novels. These now total some 27 volumes. I've read these, many of them more than once, and chuckled throughout.
So I picked up this, the second book (so it says) in her Knight and Moon series. Let's say I was disappointed.
Sure, it featured her quirky characters and breezy, off-the-wall plotting, but the belly laughs were missing. And she can't blame a co-author as none was listed.
You could call the book science fiction, or techno thriller, or even how to marry a millionaire and be sorta correct. It has elements of all three and more.
With another author's name on it, you might give the book a "pass" and say it was mildly diverting. With the Evanovich name on it, you expect funny dialog but don't get much of it in this book.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
A Bias Primer
As noted the other day, Holland America provides online access to The New York Times. Today their lead articles (2) concern the President's plan to revise the income tax system.
The first is almost all straight reportage, as it should be.
The second, labeled "News Analysis" begins to demonstrate how to spin a story. The "Analysis" mentions all of the lacunae in the White House announcement. These are the not-filled-in details and the imponderables (characterized as "problems") those gaps might create.
You have to read to the final 2 paragraphs to learn economists think Trump's new plan would definitely be stimulative, a boost to the economy. Witness the classic misdirection ... author Binyamin Appelbaum puts the good news at the end. That's where many will never read it because the story - as written - becomes repetitively negative three paragraphs back.
The "Analysis" is an example of finely crafted subtle evil. The evil is easy to deny and hard to prove absent the Times' overt editorial bias.
The second, labeled "News Analysis" begins to demonstrate how to spin a story. The "Analysis" mentions all of the lacunae in the White House announcement. These are the not-filled-in details and the imponderables (characterized as "problems") those gaps might create.
You have to read to the final 2 paragraphs to learn economists think Trump's new plan would definitely be stimulative, a boost to the economy. Witness the classic misdirection ... author Binyamin Appelbaum puts the good news at the end. That's where many will never read it because the story - as written - becomes repetitively negative three paragraphs back.
The "Analysis" is an example of finely crafted subtle evil. The evil is easy to deny and hard to prove absent the Times' overt editorial bias.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Travel Blogging I
San Diego harbor: Holland America's Maasdam is not a new ship, but she's newly refurbished and entirely functional. Our flight was uneventful and Southwest's ground personnel in San Diego very helpful, those in Sacramento less so.
We are comfortably aboard, our cabin is fine, the location low and midships is good, and we've survived the lifeboat drill, always a bore on HAL. However it happens only once per cruise.
Other lines do lifeboat drill better, provide more info with less tedious standing. I remember one we did on Royal Caribbean sitting comfortably in a night club setting, without free drinks unfortunately.
We are loading up on fresh produce as there are a bunch of long hauls between here and Sydney, SD to Honolulu is 5 days, Honolulu to American Samoa is another 5, I think. It appears we may sail somewhat later than originally planned - no biggie in the greater scheme of things. The captain will pile on 2 extra knots and we'll arrive in Honolulu as scheduled.
San Diego is having a spectacular, warm, blue-skied Chamber of Commerce-type day. Basically no wind and beautiful shirt-sleeve weather. It normally isn't this warm along the CA coast, inland a few miles is a different story, often even hot.
We are comfortably aboard, our cabin is fine, the location low and midships is good, and we've survived the lifeboat drill, always a bore on HAL. However it happens only once per cruise.
Other lines do lifeboat drill better, provide more info with less tedious standing. I remember one we did on Royal Caribbean sitting comfortably in a night club setting, without free drinks unfortunately.
We are loading up on fresh produce as there are a bunch of long hauls between here and Sydney, SD to Honolulu is 5 days, Honolulu to American Samoa is another 5, I think. It appears we may sail somewhat later than originally planned - no biggie in the greater scheme of things. The captain will pile on 2 extra knots and we'll arrive in Honolulu as scheduled.
San Diego is having a spectacular, warm, blue-skied Chamber of Commerce-type day. Basically no wind and beautiful shirt-sleeve weather. It normally isn't this warm along the CA coast, inland a few miles is a different story, often even hot.
Review: Young Sheldon
The program, a Big Bang Theory spinoff, looks at Sheldon Cooper's life as a child prodigy growing up in the TX household of a high school coach and his stay-at-home religious wife plus an older brother and a twin sister, none of whom show signs of brilliance and who find Sheldon a bore, a cross to bear, or both.
They love him but aren't sure they like him, it's hard to know what he feels. As BBT viewers of the adult Sheldon know, he is nearly always hard to be around.
The program begins as a 9 year old Sheldon embarks on his first day of public high school, the same school his brother attends and that employs his father. You just know he will create chaos.
I'd guess we'll get tired of the pint-sized Newton spouting off wisdom and misunderstanding everyday life, but then I got tired of the adult Sheldon and quit watching BBT. The ratings suggest others did not. I may not be the best judge of this program, as some elements in young Sheldon's life are not entirely unlike my own youth.
They love him but aren't sure they like him, it's hard to know what he feels. As BBT viewers of the adult Sheldon know, he is nearly always hard to be around.
The program begins as a 9 year old Sheldon embarks on his first day of public high school, the same school his brother attends and that employs his father. You just know he will create chaos.
I'd guess we'll get tired of the pint-sized Newton spouting off wisdom and misunderstanding everyday life, but then I got tired of the adult Sheldon and quit watching BBT. The ratings suggest others did not. I may not be the best judge of this program, as some elements in young Sheldon's life are not entirely unlike my own youth.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main
Tomorrow the DrsC head out on another of their globe-spanning trips, this one a cruise from San Diego to Sydney, and then around Australia, ending up back in Sydney from whence we will fly home. We'll be gone about 57 days, start to finish, and sailing from autumn here into spring down under.
Expect Travel Blogging posts along the way. You can see trip photos at cruztalkingtwo.blogspot.com, it's the other DrC's blog. We will try for some level of current events postings although we don't have unlimited WiFi browsing.
One 'resource' normally available on Holland America ships is unlimited access to the New York Times online edition. As a first cousin to Pravda, NYT is not a COTTonLINE favorite but it is somewhat better than nothing.
Expect Travel Blogging posts along the way. You can see trip photos at cruztalkingtwo.blogspot.com, it's the other DrC's blog. We will try for some level of current events postings although we don't have unlimited WiFi browsing.
One 'resource' normally available on Holland America ships is unlimited access to the New York Times online edition. As a first cousin to Pravda, NYT is not a COTTonLINE favorite but it is somewhat better than nothing.
Brutal
David P. Goldman, who blogs as Spengler at PJ Media, shares his view of the American foreign policy establishment.
Our foreign policy elite is a pack of hypocritical, yellow-bellied, two-faced, fork-tongued, lying polecats who wouldn't acknowledge the truth if it were tattooed on their ophidian foreheads.What triggers his outburst is U.S. opposition to the Iraqi Kurd independence vote. COTTonLINE is inclined to agree with Kurdish nationhood aspirations. The Kurds may be the only "moderate" Muslims in the region.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Another Reason Clinton Lost
Philip Bump crunches numbers and writes politics for The Washington Post. In today's column, he looks at the drop in the black vote between 2012 and 2016. It was other than trivial.
The most heavily white neighborhoods voted much more heavily Republican in 2016 than in 2012. Second, the most heavily black neighborhoods voted less heavily Democratic last year than four years ago. Third, Hispanic neighborhoods voted for Republicans less than in 2012.I've omitted parenthetic comments from the above quote as they refer to charts I've not reproduced here. Actually, nothing in the above paragraph is counterintuitive, it's about what we'd expect.
Trump earned less support from black Americans than any Republican in 40 years, except those who ran against Obama. But a small uptick in support for Trump vs. Romney combined with less support for Clinton means that Obama’s 87-point margin became an 80-point margin for Clinton. That mattered.I see nothing here to question my prediction that Democrats will, in 2020, nominate for president a person of color. Bump may underestimate the extent to which African-Americans actually voted for Trump, rather than failing to vote.
In 2016, the turnout rate for black Americans dropped about 8 points, McDonald estimates — meaning that 8 percent fewer black Americans who were registered to vote came out to cast a ballot. That’s a lower rate than in 2004. The percentage of white voters turning out increased slightly.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Germany Votes
Germany held a national election earlier today, results now in. Angela Merkel's party won a third of the votes, and got the largest single bloc, meaning she'll continue as chancellor.
However, her CDU/CSU party lost some 8 percentage points, roughly the same as what the anti-immigrant AfD party gained to become the third largest party in the Bundestag. The second-largest Socialists lost 5 points, while the fourth-largest Free Democrats gained almost 6 points. Greens, the Left, and others gained or lost a half point or less.
The Chancellor has to assemble a majority coalition if, as in this case, her party doesn't win an absolute majority of the seats in the Bundestag. One supposes she will be shopping for that coalition which demands the least compromise in return for inclusion in the government and cabinet positions.
You can read the vote increases for AFD and FDP as protest votes against Merkel's policy of taking in a million or more Muslims, mostly young men. One German voter in five who voted for Merkel last time voted for someone else this time. In a 6 or 7 party race, that's huge.
Bottom line: German voters largely validated President Trump's negative evaluation of Merkel's refugee policy. Mutti Merkel is weakened by this vote.
However, her CDU/CSU party lost some 8 percentage points, roughly the same as what the anti-immigrant AfD party gained to become the third largest party in the Bundestag. The second-largest Socialists lost 5 points, while the fourth-largest Free Democrats gained almost 6 points. Greens, the Left, and others gained or lost a half point or less.
The Chancellor has to assemble a majority coalition if, as in this case, her party doesn't win an absolute majority of the seats in the Bundestag. One supposes she will be shopping for that coalition which demands the least compromise in return for inclusion in the government and cabinet positions.
You can read the vote increases for AFD and FDP as protest votes against Merkel's policy of taking in a million or more Muslims, mostly young men. One German voter in five who voted for Merkel last time voted for someone else this time. In a 6 or 7 party race, that's huge.
Bottom line: German voters largely validated President Trump's negative evaluation of Merkel's refugee policy. Mutti Merkel is weakened by this vote.
Catholic Scholars Rebuke Pope
A continuing feature of COTTonLINE has been our outsider's disillusion with the leftism of Pope Francis. A search of our archive detects 20 different times we've referenced him directly or in passing, mostly in disparaging terms.
You can imagine, then, our fascination with a group of Catholic theologians issuing the sort of rebuke to a pope that hasn't happened in nearly seven centuries. The National Catholic Register has the story, hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
You can imagine, then, our fascination with a group of Catholic theologians issuing the sort of rebuke to a pope that hasn't happened in nearly seven centuries. The National Catholic Register has the story, hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
A group of clergy and lay scholars from around the world have taken the very rare step of presenting Pope Francis with a formal filial correction, accusing him of propagating heresies concerning marriage, the moral life, and reception of the sacraments.If papal doctrinal pronouncements are supposedly "infallible," the Francis papacy proves the process by which popes are chosen is as fallible as most human endeavors.
Entitled Correctio filialis de haeresibus propagatis, meaning ‘A Filial Correction Concerning the Propagation of Heresies,’ the 25 page letter was delivered to the Holy Father at his Santa Marta residence on Aug. 11.
The Pope has so far not responded to the initiative, whose 62 signatories include the German intellectual Martin Mosebach, former president of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and the superior general of the Society of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay (he learned of the document only after it had been delivered to the Pope and signed it on behalf of the Society).
The filial correction (is) the first to be made of a reigning Pontiff since Pope John XXII was admonished in 1333.
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Why Not Paul, Collins, or Murkowski?
After writing that McCain is RINO-in-Chief, it occurred to me I should answer the question "Why doesn't Rand Paul (R-KY) deserve the title even more?" You could fairly make that argument, here's my reasoning.
McCain claims to be a real Republican, but rarely acts like one. Rand Paul, like his dad Ron Paul, is in fact a Libertarian who, like Socialist Bernie Sanders across the aisle, lines up with one of the two major parties out of convenience.
Paul doesn't claim to be a 'real' Republican, but is rather an individual who wishes all Republicans would become Libertarians (while knowing they won't). Sanders, on the other hand, appears to be getting his wish that many Democrats move to the left and embrace socialism.
And, yes, I excuse the squishiness of Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as part of the difficulty women have with the Republican Party's bedrock policy of "tough love." We've written before about Rs being the "daddy" party and Ds being the "mommy" party.
As this society raises people, tough love comes easier to guys than to gals, easier to daddies than to mommies. Personally, I'm okay with that division of labor, I fully understand if you find it distasteful.
Later ... On the other hand, I will support (editorially) realistic primary challenges to any or all of these four defectors by men or women who embrace the Party's "tough love" policy and support its POTUS.
McCain claims to be a real Republican, but rarely acts like one. Rand Paul, like his dad Ron Paul, is in fact a Libertarian who, like Socialist Bernie Sanders across the aisle, lines up with one of the two major parties out of convenience.
Paul doesn't claim to be a 'real' Republican, but is rather an individual who wishes all Republicans would become Libertarians (while knowing they won't). Sanders, on the other hand, appears to be getting his wish that many Democrats move to the left and embrace socialism.
And, yes, I excuse the squishiness of Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as part of the difficulty women have with the Republican Party's bedrock policy of "tough love." We've written before about Rs being the "daddy" party and Ds being the "mommy" party.
As this society raises people, tough love comes easier to guys than to gals, easier to daddies than to mommies. Personally, I'm okay with that division of labor, I fully understand if you find it distasteful.
Later ... On the other hand, I will support (editorially) realistic primary challenges to any or all of these four defectors by men or women who embrace the Party's "tough love" policy and support its POTUS.
Noonan Rates the UN Speech
The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan was, in an earlier life, a presidential speech writer for Ronald Reagan. She is a connoisseur of presidential speeches and thus her reaction to President Trump's UN speech is of interest.
So, did Noonan like it? She liked his UN speech a lot, while careful to hedge her bets as to its impact.
So, did Noonan like it? She liked his UN speech a lot, while careful to hedge her bets as to its impact.
It was a strong speech—clear, emphatic, remarkably blunt. The great question is whether the bluntness will tend at this point in history to make things better or worse. We’ll find out soon enough.Politicians like to believe they can command their economy. In fact the economy will not obey, a truth of which Venezuela provides only the most recent hard-to-watch, harder-to-live-through demonstration.
This is the opposite of democracy promotion and nation building and dreams of eradicating evil.
A great line—because it spoke a great truth—was this: “The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully implemented.” Mr. Trump then paused and looked at the audience. It struck some as a “please clap” moment. It struck me as a stare-down: I’m saying something a lot of you need to hear. You’re not going to like it, and I’m going to watch you not like it.
Friday, September 22, 2017
RINO-in-Chief
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has announced that he will not vote for the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. He's likely killed it. Due to arcane peculiarities in Senate rules, this was the last opportunity to dump Obamacare without being stopped by a filibuster, until perhaps January of 2019.
Every Republican (including McCain) swore to vote to replace Obamacare. McCain is letting his pique with Trump get out of hand. If this flip-flop doesn't make McCain the RINO-in-Chief, I don't know what it would take.
Good people of Arizona, you really need to replace ol' John with someone who will actually act and vote like a Republican. He has become an embarrassment to you and to the party.
Every Republican (including McCain) swore to vote to replace Obamacare. McCain is letting his pique with Trump get out of hand. If this flip-flop doesn't make McCain the RINO-in-Chief, I don't know what it would take.
Good people of Arizona, you really need to replace ol' John with someone who will actually act and vote like a Republican. He has become an embarrassment to you and to the party.
Goodbye to Summer
Here on the left coast, the autumnal equinox occurs today at roughly 1 p.m. At that time the sun will shine directly down upon the equator and the daily length of sunlight and dark will be as close to equal as they ever get.
Today also marks the "official" end of Summer and beginning of Autumn, a season which will end on the 21st of December. I put official in quotes inasmuch as we've already had snowfall at home in the Wyoming Rockies.
For awhile it snows at night and melts during the day, then it gets colder and snow begins to accumulate. This, of course, is why we arrange to be elsewhere during the Rockies' long annual cold spell. We have the CA native's view of snow, it's fun to visit but you don't want to live there.
Upon retirement, the DrsC decided to spend as much of the year as possible in conditions of late Springtime - the "Goldilocks" season of not too hot, not too cold. It's a lot of work but worth it. We have successfully done this for the past 13 years, and hope to continue for many more.
Today also marks the "official" end of Summer and beginning of Autumn, a season which will end on the 21st of December. I put official in quotes inasmuch as we've already had snowfall at home in the Wyoming Rockies.
For awhile it snows at night and melts during the day, then it gets colder and snow begins to accumulate. This, of course, is why we arrange to be elsewhere during the Rockies' long annual cold spell. We have the CA native's view of snow, it's fun to visit but you don't want to live there.
Upon retirement, the DrsC decided to spend as much of the year as possible in conditions of late Springtime - the "Goldilocks" season of not too hot, not too cold. It's a lot of work but worth it. We have successfully done this for the past 13 years, and hope to continue for many more.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Bream Joins the Fox Varsity
An update from Fox News about their fall lineup. Supreme Court watcher Shannon Bream will host her own hour long show weeknights at 11 p.m. EST, beginning October 30. Here on the left coast, she will air at 8 p.m.
The net describes her show - Fox News @ Night - as "hard news and analysis" which is roughly what Bret Baier does earlier at dinnertime. For all who tire of the MSM's late nite talk propagandists, this will be a decent alternative.
I've been wondering when Shannon would get her own show. After subbing for Bret and others off and on for a couple of years she joins the varsity squad.
The net describes her show - Fox News @ Night - as "hard news and analysis" which is roughly what Bret Baier does earlier at dinnertime. For all who tire of the MSM's late nite talk propagandists, this will be a decent alternative.
I've been wondering when Shannon would get her own show. After subbing for Bret and others off and on for a couple of years she joins the varsity squad.
Review: the Ken Burns Vietnam Series
The DrsC tried an episode of Ken Burns' Vietnam miniseries last night. We didn't even finish the one episode, having both concluded we had (a) lived through the Vietnam experience and (b) had no desire to relive it at Burns' usual snail pace.
So, we cancelled the recording and deleted it from our DVR "record to watch" list. Consider this a review of Burns' Vietnam show, and let's be clear, it is a pan.
Burns manages to make war boring, with lots of people speaking Vietnamese, plus most of the footage in dreary black and white. As over-educated people, the DrsC are supposed to love Burns' work; but neither of us does. He bores us silly.
So, we cancelled the recording and deleted it from our DVR "record to watch" list. Consider this a review of Burns' Vietnam show, and let's be clear, it is a pan.
Burns manages to make war boring, with lots of people speaking Vietnamese, plus most of the footage in dreary black and white. As over-educated people, the DrsC are supposed to love Burns' work; but neither of us does. He bores us silly.
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Going Off the Wagon
A survey found that 37% of British vegetarians eat meat when out drinking booze. And as all regular watchers of BBC drama on PBS know, the Brits do love a drink.
Their top five choices when falling off the wagon are kebabs, beef burgers, bacon, fried chicken, and pork sausages. It's amazing how often the veggies' moral superiority pose falls by the wayside, eh? Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
Their top five choices when falling off the wagon are kebabs, beef burgers, bacon, fried chicken, and pork sausages. It's amazing how often the veggies' moral superiority pose falls by the wayside, eh? Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
Destroying Themselves
Lead blogger at Ace of Spades HQ, the pseudonymous Ace, writes about the MSM's current self-destructive behavior. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
They're destroying themselves, and sabotaging their own propaganda operations, because they're just too crazy to think or care about such things any longer.Indeed.
And I gotta tell you: I love it.
Destroying the media is a thing to be dearly wished for -- but watching them destroy themselves is tons better.
They're now Othering themselves, and I think that's just fine.
People don't want to associate with weirdoes -- and now that they've decided to fly their freak flags proudly and put their Full Metal Weird on display for the world, I can only sit back and cheer.
When Family Income Matters
The Brookings has a statistical chart which shows in graphic form the impact of family income on children's performance in college. It turns out to be not so important for those with sub-3.0 high school GPAs or above 3.5 GPAs. Few in the former group and most in the latter win baccalaureate degrees, regardless of family income.
Family income seems to matter most for students with high school GPAs in the 3.0-3.5 range. Those from more affluent families do much better than those from poorer families.
These are kids who can go either way, depending on their degree of emotional and financial support. Coaching by parents who understand the higher education process doesn't hurt, either. Hat tip to RealClearPolicy for the link.
Family income seems to matter most for students with high school GPAs in the 3.0-3.5 range. Those from more affluent families do much better than those from poorer families.
These are kids who can go either way, depending on their degree of emotional and financial support. Coaching by parents who understand the higher education process doesn't hurt, either. Hat tip to RealClearPolicy for the link.
Tribalism, the Default Human Experience
Alexander Sullivan writes a long article about our latter-day tribal politics for New York magazine. It's decent and worth reading, if you have the time. A couple of choice quotes:
Tribalism, it’s always worth remembering, is not one aspect of human experience. It’s the default human experience. It comes more naturally to us than any other way of life. For the overwhelming majority of our time on this planet, the tribe was the only form of human society.And he quotes Townhall.com blogger Kurt Schlichter, an out-in-the-open example of tribal politics, who writes:
The tribes that best survived (and thereby transmitted their genes to us) were, moreover, those most acutely aware of outsiders and potential foes. A failure to notice incoming strangers could end your life in an instant, and an indifference to the appearances of other human beings could mean defeat at the hands of rivals or the collapse of a tribe altogether. And so we became a deeply cooperative species — but primarily with our own kind. The notion of living alongside people who do not look like us and treating them as our fellows was meaningless for most of human history.
They hate you. Leftists don’t merely disagree with you. They don’t merely feel you are misguided. They don’t think you are merely wrong. They hate you. They want you enslaved and obedient, if not dead. Once you get that, everything that is happening now will make sense.The only reasonable response to such hatred is reciprocity. Hat tip to RealClearPolitics for the link.
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