Dick Cheney. Private Dick?

Those who may be unfortunate enough to be readers of this blog may be old enough to recall the great age of the Private Detective novel or Private Detective television series. Such names as Mike Hammer, Shell Scott, Lew Archer, Phillip Marlowe, Peter Gunn, Jim Rockford, Richie Brockleman, or Magnum, may tug at one's heart strings in mourning for the days when the P.I. was the example of traditional American enterprise and "get it done-ness".

The P.I. was an example of what America was all about. The P.I. was an entrepenteur, an independent operator, and a man suspicious of the the government. He was a cynical man. He was cynical of the stated mores of society and of the government. He searched for truth and justice; not the niceties of law. Often, during his search for justice he found that the law was inadequate regarding justice. And while he searched, and suffered, during his search for justice and right, he often showed his flaws and sins. His life seemed to be have been made up of nothing more than booze, babes and bullets. His needs were simple. His life was simple. He looked at a world he thought cracked and crazy and saw himself as a normal man; not a man in the throes of angst. His personal life was private except for the occasional fling with a female client, female suspect, or his secretary. His weaknesses were for a shot of rye and a well-turned ankle (actually, more often a heaving full bosom). Introspection and self-flagellation was for the client; not him. He was a man comfortable in his skin. And because he was comfortable in his skin he was able to focus his attention on the problem. He always found the root of the problem despite the fact that his reward was a few hundred bucks, a shot of leg, a shot of bourbon and a Lucky Strike. He got spat upon, beat up, drunk, screwed (in more ways than one). And he worked for himself and his client in the search of justice (not government justice, but real justice).

The P.I. was, in fiction, the knight errant. He was a man looking for a cause despite his own flaws and sins. And he did so despite rotten pay and a lot of beatings. His cause was justice. And when the law conflicted with justice he chose justice.

Things have changed.

Now look at modern crime fiction and crime related television. Almost every one features a cop working for a government of some sort: CSI: Whatever, NCIS, Law and Order: Whatever, Without a Trace. Each television program shares a common thing: they all represent government agencies. They, along with all too many current crime novels, appeal to the government for justice and righteousness. In other words, the government says what is right and wrong instead of the moral right and wrong. The idea behind the programs and novels is that the government knows what is best, and that one should rely on the government to right legal wrongs. Forget about moral justice. The government knows all and if your adult sister is missing, and there is no legally found evidence that she is working in a Nevada brothel against her will , there is nothing the government sanctioned cops will do about it to rescue her. The law trumps all. The law is codified. It's a blueprint and it gives the CSI, Law and Order crowd indications of what to do and takes the burden of defining justice off their shoulders. And despite not having the burden of defining justice, the characters in current cop novels and series are so psychologically screwed up that it's a wonder that they can function. They drink too much occasionally and feel guilty about it. They bed a co-worker and feel guilty about it. They don't spend enough time with their wife and kids and feel guilty about it. They do the jobs for which the state has hired them and they feel conflicted about it. And when they perform acts of justice in favor of acts of law they do not only not celebrate the triumph of right over wrong, they crawl under the covers of their beds and fight through depression.

How times have changed. The great fictional French police detective, Jules Maigret, was a simple man with simple tastes (a good beer and a good meal), who sought justice and right and wrong and never lost a wink of sleep over it. Even the Swedish police detective, Martin Beck, probably the first of the depressed detectives and the precursor of what we have now, was more interested in justice than his own problems or the niceties of the law. Both detectives occasionally worked outside the system and felt no guilt about it. The only suffering that either character experienced from drinking too much were hangovers. Most of their suffering, in the trade, was based on dealing with the governments the worked for.

What we have come to is the dearth of the P.I. or cowboy in favor of the government paid salary man. Every damn thing is based on what the government says is right instead of what is right. The search for justice has become a slogan among government officials. The searchers for "truth" are expected to have more empathy for the perpetrator than the victim. One's inner demons are things to be embraced in the name of being "genuine." Instead of listening to jazz and watching the ponies run at the track, today's crime fighter watches Oprah and drinks Evian water. Perhaps that's the problem. The modern government sanctioned crime fighter drinks so much water that he or she has become diluted in every way.

The only characters in modern fiction approaching the classic private detective are historical detectives such as Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael, Elizabeth Peters' Victorian Egyptologist mysteries and Lindsey Davis' Marcus Dido Falco series of detective novels. The P.I. has become passe', a museum piece.

It's enough to gag a maggot. And this maggot is gagging. Hard.

So we come to Dick Cheney versus Barack Obama.

Dick Cheney is the P.I. Dick Cheney is a hard man in search of justice and he is willing to twist an arm to get it. Dick Cheney sees the world as a cracked and crazy place and the survival of the American experiment depends on seeing those you would do us harm as the Other; the dangerous Other. He regards those who would attack the U.S. as rabid dogs to be put down. Mr.Cheney is close to the old Patriots -- suspicious of those values and traditions that are not American. And in this way he is like the P.I. who saw a black and white and called things black and white.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, is the Without a Trace government guy. Mr. Obama is conflicted about his identity. Is he a citizen of the United States or is he a citizen of the world? Do the laws of the United States trump those of the World Court? Is there such a thing as justice? Is the idea of buying the world a Coke imperialist? Mr. Obama seems to think that naivete in the matters of dealing with those who would do us harm a good thing. The excuse, when something bad happens will probably be something like, "They (the perpetrators) were true to their values, which are not our values, but are still valid nonetheless." One wonders if a crime were perpetrated against him or his family if his empathy would be the same. Mr. Obama seems to take Stalin's view: One death is a tragedy; a thousand deaths are a statistic.

Who do you want to help you when things get tough? A guy interested in justice or a guy interested in the niceties of law?

There is a right and a wrong, and the codified law of the United States has nothing to do with it.

If, during a Thanksgiving supper, would you rely on the cranky uncle (Dick Cheney) or the smart-assed nephew (Obama) as to what action to take against your asshole neighbor? Who would you rather try to find your missing sister? Mike Hammer? Or the CSI crew?

It's For the Children!

How many times in your life have you heard the cry by a politician, union official, or general busybody that the passage of a certain law (usually involving a tax raise) or spending measure (usually involving a tax raise) that the bill or measure was, "for the children." The issues that "are for the children" range from free medical care, government paid pre-school, midnight basketball, computers for schools and on and on and on ad infinitum.

The current administrations of both the United States and the State of California are pulling out the "for the children" card in a big way. And if one were to look closely at the matter, what both those entities are creating for the children is a big. big debt. Some one has to pay for these programs and there is just not enough money flowing now to pay for them. The result is that the payments for programs "for the children" will be paid for by the children and their children and perhaps their children.

In California, because of the budget deficit, there is a movement afoot to raise taxes to pay for educational programs and give teachers (California teachers are the highest paid in the nation) a pay raise. They seem to get a pay raise every year while people in the private sector are now lucky to get one every two or three years. In Los Angeles a number of teachers mounted a demonstration protesting projected lay-offs by the school district crying that the demonstrations were "for the children." It should be noted that the demonstration was organized by the Los Angeles teachers' union (United Teachers of Los Angeles). In other words, the action as a union action and not a grassroots action.

Years ago the president of the Associated Federation of Teachers (a nation-wide umbrella union for teacher), Albert Shanker, said that everything he did and every action he organized was not for the children. It was for union members. He said, "I'll start representing the concerns of students when students start paying union dues."

Remember that. Remember it well and expand the thought. Most of the cries of programs and concerns "for the children" are really actions benefiting those who work with children.

In Japan the cost of educating students is much less than it is in the lowest spending district in the US, but the Japanese educational system produces a better product than the average American school district. If the rulers of this nation had any damn sense at all they would outsource education to Japan instead of putting up with the nonsense that the airy-fairy pedagogues that determine educational policy here.

When you hear the cry, "It's for the children!" just reply, "Who cares? It's not my kid. I take care of my kid and don't expect the stated to do it."

Men in Hats

It's been a while since this writer has offered a new edition of the Men in Hats feature. To make up for the neglect of this feature, he offers two photos of men from the Old West wearing hats.

The first image is of Wild Bill Hickcock -- scout, Indian fighter, lawman, gun fighter, gambler and some one you really wouldn't want your daughter to marry. He was killed by being shot in the back while playing poker. The poker hand he held at the time he was shot was Aces and eights; since known at the Deadman's Hand. The hat he wears in the photo is of the old sombrero type cowboy hat with a flat crown and very broad brim; a good hat to wear in the sun, though of questionable value in high winds.

The second photo is of the great William F. Cody i.e., Buffalo Bill Cody. Cody was an Indian fighter, buffalo hunter, scout and showman. With his Wild West shows he brought the Wild West to the East and Europe complete with Indians, cattle stampedes and shooting exhibitions. He, unlike Hickcock, died well-off and peacefully. The hat he wears in this photo is more of a dress/dude type of hat with the right side of the brim tilted up like an Aussie digger hat. It's not a bad hat, but the tilted brim makes it not much good for being in the sun. It does give clearance for the carrying of a rifle at shoulder arms, though.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Your faithful correspondent takes no back seat to anyone in his love and desire for Asian women. After all, the every lovely Lady Nib was born and partially raise in Yokohama.
But this is really going too far: CNSNews.com - U.S. Will Pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the Job

Just links. No Comments

Consider this:
It's time lily-livered Europe stood up to Muslim bigots | Opinion | The First Post
And this:
The Spectator
And finally, this:
Cheney: Obama endangers the nation - Washington Times

Men in Hats

It's been a while since your faithful correspondent has offered a Men in Hats post. So please consider the following. the above is of the popular Buffalo Bill (the lower photo). Note the rakish tilt of the brim. And if anyone should make a denigration of Mr. Cody, please remember that Mr. Cody was not only a buffalo hunter, but also an Indian fighter.
The top photo is Wild Bill Hickock. A killer, to be sure, but a killer of the right sort. He wears a broad brimmed sombrero proudly as a man should wear his hat. It's just too bad that he didn't die in bed instead of on a bar room floor.
Life just isn't fair sometimes.

This and That

When this writer was a sprite people (usually men) who wrote news stories for newspapers or reported the news on television and the radio were called either "newspaper men" or "news reporters." The word journalist was reserved for writers who had done a bit of research after an event and generally took the long view of a story or issue. Newspaper men wrote the first version of a story. Journalists usually looked at the story after the dust had settled.

Nowadays every damn one who can wield a pencil, pound a keyboard or text-message and get their scribblings published on paper, broadcast over the air or appear on an Internet site thinks that they are a journalist and are cultural descendants of Richard Harding Davis, Jack London or Heywood Broun. Of course they are not. They are akin to people who perform in pornographic films and then call themselves "actors." And the present day "journalist" sees him or her self as brave courageous and true and consider themselves akin to Ambrose Bierce covering the Mexican Revolution or Ernie Pyle covering the Battle of Saipan i.e., telling the truth in spite of danger for the sake of getting the story out to the reader. But when push comes to shove, the present day scribes are really not as brave or heroic as they claim they are. Is there really anything brave about questioning the President's statements or positions. It's not like the Secret Service is going to arrest the scribe for asking the One about why he didn't adopt a shelter mutt instead of getting a purebred as a gift from that paragon of morality Ted Kennedy (more on him later).

Most journalists claiming to try to get the scoop from closed societies end up modelling Walter Duranty, who spent the 1930s reporting from the Soviet Union that Stalin was a pussycat and that the average worker in Russia was living better than the average worker in the US. For an example of the children of Duranty just read any mainstream media story about Cuba, Vietnam or Mainland China. If the stories were printed in Excelsior in Mexico City or La Opinion in Los Angeles there would not be an illegal alien problem in the Southwest. All the wetbacks would be running to Cuba, Vietnam or China.

Recently three journalist with more ambition than sense have found themselves under arrest and, in one case, convicted of espionage while attempting to report from nations that are hostile, not only to the Western way of life, but to almost everyone except themselves:

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Why is Hollywood Silent on Roxana Saberi?

US journalists to face criminal trial in North Korea | World news | guardian.co.uk

All three women involved probably got into the situations they find themselves in for what they saw as the best of journalistic intentions; they wanted to report a truth from Iran or North Korea and they seem to have thought that their jobs as journalists would protect them from the bad intentions of the nations they hoped to write about. They forgot that in some nations a card stuck in the hatband of a fedora reading "Press" means to some people that they will report what the host country wants. Wielding a pen and notepad doesn't do much when one is in handcuffs. Refugees from Korea and Iran have told many stories about life in those two nations and none of them have been good. One wonders why these reporters decided that it would be a good idea to run to a place that other people risk their lives to escape. They did not seem to realize that not all oppressive governments are as friendly as Cuba.

But the lack of wisdom on the part of the three reporters is no reason for arrest and/or conviction. The reporters are now being used as tools by the Norks and the Iranians. And the only comment that your faithful correspondent has heard from the Obama administration concerned the case of Roxana Saberi ; "This is troubling." That's all. No outrage. No statements about the sanctity of the free press. No loud protests about the illegal arrests of American citizens. The lack of a strong stand on the part of the administration is troubling and makes one more convinced that our Chief Executive is a soft man willing to ditch three reporters in an attempt to make nice with our enemies. Even more troubling is the lack of coverage of the stories by the mainstream press. But the press has, for years, shown themselves to be the whore that we all knew they were.

The other day our Dear Leader declared that from now on September 11 will be federally recognized as a National Day of Service and that the signing of the proclamation would be known as the Edward Kennedy Act. The idea behind the proclamation is that every September 11 all citizens should volunteer to do something to make life better for the nation, whether it be cleaning a vacant lot, feeding the homeless, painting over graffiti, et al. It's a nice little bubblegum factory thought arrived at by a nice little bubblegum mindset. The problem is that the declaration of a National Day of Service come damn close to a mandatory volunteerism (an oxymoron if ever there was one) burdened upon the citizens of the United States. And the declaration shows a great lack of understanding of what the United States and the Constitution is all about. Historically, the citizens of this great nation have not been loath to volunteer to help their neighbors or the nation. But this volunteerism has been voluntary. It has not been mandatory. No one, in the past, held the threat of jail or a fine over some one's head to make them shore up a levee or work in a soup kitchen. Volunteerism is a matter of conscience, not law. Or at least it used to be. We are entering a new world with newspeak.

For some reason the One named the volunteer act after Edward Kennedy. Those of us of a certain age know that Mr. Kennedy is not exactly a paragon of virtue or morality. He has been in the past at least partially responsible for the death of a youth woman he is suspected of having an affair with, a drunk, a liar an, adulterer, a spender of other peoples' money while he sits on his own, a hypocrite and a bad Catholic pretending to be a good Catholic. Ted Kennedy is a living example that if one has the right name and lives long enough a scoundrel can become a saint in the public eye. One wonders how Errol Flynn would have been regarded if he had lived into his seventies. So, if you plan to live a long life and behave badly, don't bother to reform. You'll become known as a sweet old man or old woman with a past, and thus a colorful character like Charles Bukowski. Or Ted Kennedy.

This writer is a man and is able to write only from a male point of view, so if any women are unable to relate to the following he apologizes in advance.

Have you ever been walking or driving down the street and seen a pretty young woman walking down the street? In your dotage you say to yourself something like, "What a lovely young woman." Then she reaches into her back pocket or purse, pulls out a cellular phone and starts yakking on the damn thing, either receiving or making a phone call. For your faithful correspondent this particular action turns a lovely young woman into a yakker. Even worse is when she starts texting. And the reason is that such actions show that the young woman has no interior life. She is a person who feels the need to be "connected"n with her friends to such an extent that she is unable to go more than a couple of hours without telling her pals something like: "M @ Nordies lking @ shus" or hearing that her friend is at the library studying Pride and Prejudice. Can you imagine being married to such a woman? She feels that she has to share everything with her friends and share everything from her friends. God help the man who marries this woman. One can almost read the text message to her friends on the wedding night: "Had sex w/ Brad. Premature ejaculation! Again! LOL!"

Grumpasauris

Have you ever awoken one day in a bad mood and the bad mood seems to go on from day to day to day? After awhile the people you live with and work with start commenting that you are a grump and that you willfully refuse to see the good side of anything.

Let's face it. No one wants to be known as a grump or a curmudgeon for more than five minutes because to exceed the five minute limit is to pretty much close one out from invitations to lawn bowling parties, quiz nights at the local pub, and the attentions of young lovelies wearing tight sweaters and tight skirts (the latter does not apply in France where the young have been indoctrinated into Sartrean Existentialism, and thus a state of depression lasting from the ages of eighteen to twenty-eight). One finds one's self sitting in the corner of the local King's Head with other grumps and joykillers, both male and female, in an aura of too many too strong beers and pipe tobacco smoke talking to one another like the Finnish Debating Society i.e., "The world is going to hell." "Uhm." "Ah." "Ja."

No one wants to spend time with a grump, especially jeune filles wearing tight sweaters and tight skirts, and it ends up for the grump being a pretty lonely life filled with the conversations of other grumps. One becomes known as a "character" or an "eccentric." Truth to be told, one would probably be much happier and more appreciated by the public at large (especially by the local jung freulien wearing a tight sweater and tight skirt) if one decided to try to spool knit the longest spool knitting piece ever known to man or if one donned tan tights and leotard with brown hood and cape and called oneself Captain Beano: Super Hero.

It must be admitted by this writer that some thirty years ago he woke up one day in a bad mood and it has since that day thirty years of grumpiness. It hasn't been easy being the wet towel on the party, but, after so many years of the disease, this writer has finally realized that there is a value to being a grump. That value is a damping of irrational exuberance. Exuberance is fine when the dawn arrives with rosy fingers promising a fine day, but more often than not there are storm clouds that the optimist refuses to see. It's not the grump's fault that the optimist is soaking wet and cold by noon. The grump gave his warning. The grump realizes that in front of every silver lining is a cloud.
Burt Prelutsky, a writer this correspondent has read on and off for many years, seems to appreciate the value and the state of being a grump much better than the average Pollyanna:
Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » We Should All Be a Little Cranky

And if any lassies who like wearing tight sweaters and tight skirts and who ride Raleigh 3-Speed bicycles should read this entry, please do not hesitate to ride by the Manor to comfort an old grump. The fragrance of lilac or lavender on a woman has always managed to soften this writer's sharp edges.

Links Galore!

Here are some links from people how know more than your faithful correspondent does:
Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » You’ve Been Warned

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Apocalypse Near? Liberal Actresses Line Up to Star in ‘Atlas Shrugged’

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Are We a Nation of Serfs?

Regarding the second link, this writer's grandfather, Baron Bill of Talequa, was a man who liked women. He was a shameless flirt and asked every waitress. nurse or shopgirl he ever met for a date even after he was married, though it has been assumed that he was faithful to his wife. He just liked women and enjoyed talking to women. But one type of woman he had no use for was actresses. He liked movies and liked looking at actresses on the screen, but he had a low opinion of the species. When asked why he had such a low view of female thespians his reply was, "Because they're whores. They care for nothing but money."

Baron Bill was not an educated man, but he knew the score.

Marooned Without a Hope (But Lots of Change)

In the 1930s the character actor made a couple of films that took place during the Age of Sail.
The most famous film was Treasure Island co-starring Jackie Cooper as Jim Hawkins in which Beery played the part of pirate/mutineer Long John Silver. The second film was called Slave Ship co-starring Mickey Rooney.
In one of the films the character played by Beery, in describing when he and several other sailors were castaway or marooned, said, "All they left us was a bag of salt and a little black boy."
It is the opinion of this writer that, since the inauguration, we, the working citizen of this great Republic, have been left with a bag of salt and a little black boy. To make matters worse, our elected leaders have deigned to tax away our bag of salt and the little black boy has somehow taken command of the lifeboat.
As you faithful correspondent has written previously, we are a nation now led by children. Do you remember the student council elections in grade school. During those elections the students running for student body president promised that, if elected, they would have Kool-Aid squirting out of the drinking fountains. Our Dear Leader came close to promising the same thing and the result was that the voting population drank the Kool-Aid a'la Jonestown. Why wait for the Second Coming of Christ when we have the first coming of The One? What the Hell? We might as well party like it's 1999 and let our kids and grand kids pick up the tab.
Now O has decided that the nation is ready for "mandatory volunteerism". If the preceding phrase seems an oxymoron consider the fact that modern politics is a concrete oxymoron. Just prepare yourself for the sight of thousands of brown-shirted youth (more likely rainbow-shirted youth) coming into your neighborhood insisting that they help you even if you don't want the help. And all the time they will be chanting something to the effect of, "We're from the government and we're here to help you by the kindness of the Messiah whether you want it or not."
You have two choices: Build a deep moat and fill it with piranhas or pretend that you're not home when they knock on your door. There is one other option, if you're not willing to submit to the benevolent dictatorship of President Hopeandchange. Buy a sailboat and head to the Marquesa Islands.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Growing a Spine?

For some time this writer has wondered if the term, "the village atheist" should replaced with the term "the village Christian."
While you faithful correspondent is aware that most of the population of the United States is nominally Christian, he is also aware that the media, many popular Christian leaders and many vocal Roman Catholic clerics belong to the "kumbaya" school of Christianity , i.e. widely ecumenical with a view that traditional Christianity is oppressive, non-accepting, ignorant, blah, blah blah, while Islam is misunderstood, paganism is loving and atheists are just the cat's meow because they call Baptist idiots and Catholics tools of Rome.
Finally some Christian leaders are saying, "No pasaran!"
Bishop of Rochester resigns to become defender of persecuted Christians - Telegraph
Archbishop confronts BBC Director General over its treatment of religion - Telegraph
Now, a U.S. cardinal denounces Notre Dame's Obama invite | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times
One wonders how long it will be before an archbishop or bishop or well-known priest or pastor will challenge PBS on it's religion coverage. Don't hold your breath.

The Czechs Get It. We Don't

As you watch these three videos ask yourself if such a story would be shown on American television.
Gates of Vienna: Undercover as a Muslim in Prague
And after you've watched the videos ask yourself, "What the Hell's happened to the culture of this country?" We can't even stand up for our values and heritage without some idiot trying to make us feel guilty for what we are and hold dear.

The Children's Hour

Many years ago the singer/comedian/television personality Tennessee Ernie Ford used to perform a comedy routine in which he would open a road map, find the route to his destination and then attempt to properly re-fold the map. The end result of the effort was an angrily balled up sheet of paper thrown into a trash can and a forgotten journey.
Something tells me that we are about to experience the same thing as a nation because we are being governed by impatient shallow thinking children. The accomplishment of small tasks reflect the ability to accomplish large tasks.
Our Dear Leader has shown himself to be able to insult our British cousins several times and attempt to brush it off by saying that he is tired and preoccupied:
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Great news: Obama fumbled Brown visit because he’s in over his head
Now, admittedly, The One cannot be expected to look after all matters of diplomatic protocol when dealing with foreign leaders. That's why he has a director of Diplomatic Protocol. But, apparently Mr. Obama hired a slacker for the job. His office's reaction to Prime Minster Brown's visit seems like an episode of King of the Hill i.e. " Peg! The Browns are coming over for supper. Rustle up some Hamburger Helper and I'll go by Wal-Mart and buy some DVDs for them and a couple of Tonka truck for their boys."
Meanwhile, our Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham-Clinton, has shown herself to be as clueless as her boss:
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Hillary competes with Geithner for competence nadir
When she's not forgetting the names of world leaders or using Babble-fish instead of a proper Russian translator, she's bemoaning the lack of privacy that she's allowed herself. She's not Tallyrandian. She's Oprahatic.
And that makes this writer sleep soundly at night because the only way he can sleep well with this bunch of jokers steering the ship of state is to take sleeping pills. Lots of them.

We're free (to act badly)

Your faithful correspondent has made it a point to avoid mentioning the policies and ideas put forth by Mr. Barack Obama since his inauguration as President of the United States. The reason for this reluctance to address President Obama's silliness is the same as giving a rookie a pass in baseball early in the season.
The normal period of time for the Presidential rookie pass is 100 days. But Mr. Obama has shown himself to be such a busy termite that yours has no choice but to comment before out Dear Leader decides to take control of the Internet and blogs.
So here's the deal from Nib Manor.
In the past month Mr. Obama has done a dire dis-service to the American people. In his desire to level the playing field of life he has denied the American people the freedom of personal responsibility. He has denied them the freedom to succeed and he has denied them the freedom to fail.
What more need be said?

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

When your faithful correspondent was a tyke one of the indications of moving from being a "baby" to being a "big boy" was the ability to tell time using an analog clock or watch. In those days there really was no such thing as an analog timepiece. A watch or a clock always hand the numerals 1 through 12 placed in a roughly circular fashion around the face and hand two or three hands to tell the hour, minute, and sometimes second of the day.
Telling time was a tricky thing for a kid; big hand, little hand, second hand were often confused. After all, an hour is bigger than a minute and a minute is bigger than a second, so the hour hand should be the longest hand (The second hand) the minute should be the middle length hand (the minute hand) and the shortest hand should be the second hand (the hour hand). But most kids got through it and learned that instinct, especially in measurement,was not always the best guide and that the resisting of instinct in favor of certain rules, whether man-made or God proclaimed, were, and are, the mark of a human.
This writer's first watch was awarded to him at the age of five. The watch was a Zorro watch. The face of the watch was black and the numerals and hands were white. Emblazoned just above the center of the face was the word "Zorro." Zorro was a popular children's television program starring Guy Williams at the time. And while yours, at the time of the receiving of the watch, was still a little shaky on the concept of time telling, he enjoyed wearing, winding and listening to the watch.
Upon graduation from high school, this writer was awarded a Gruen chronometer. which was a real prize. Four dials in one watch! It was used several times at the drag races to measure the speed of cars and was used in the Navy to estimate the distance of 5 inch guns being fired from nearby destroyers.
It was at this time that digital watches (first invented by Hughes Aircraft) became popular and it was assumed that the dreary display of numerals on an LED or LCD watch face would soon take over the the analog watch market. At first the digital watches were rather expensive, but new technology always starts out dear. The arguments for buying a digital watch were that the watches were more accurate than digital watches (whether spring driven or electric) and that they could (at least the LED watches) could be easily read in the dark.
At the time such watch companies as Timex (probably the maker of more watches than any other company in the world) and Seiko started tooling up to make digital watches and pretty much considered their analog watches as supply for a niche market. New companies such as Citizen and Casio popped up to make digital watches and seemed to fully expect that everyone would be walking around and telling time by looking at looking at their wrists and seeing LCD or LED numerals telling them that it was 12:35:54 instead of at an analog watch telling them that it was about twelve-thirty.
But guess what? The digital watch, as a wrist watch, pocket watch or even clock, lost out. Well, really it didn't lose out, but it took second place to the analog watch after a short period of supremacy. If one goes to a department store, jewelry store or watch store one will see that the vast majority of watches are of the analog type. Some of them are spring driven and others are electronically driven, but they have hands that point to numerals. Those digital watches that are offered are either very cheap (this writer has seen digital watches for as little as five dollars) or are specialty watches for sailors, runner or hikers. Or anal retentive geeks.
What happened to the great digital watch revolution? This writer posits that the reason is that digital watches are seen as cheap and that they are, in fact inhumanly ugly. Compare the the face of a Casio Yachtsman to a Movado or Rolex Submariner. Also, they represent nothing. They're displays are nothing more than bare numerals that really mean nothing outside the watch or clock. An analog watch, one the other hand, and in a sense, represents the rotation of the earth.
A wrist or pocket watch is a piece of jewelry as well as a time keeping device. The watch says something about the owner and most people are content to know the time of day within plus or minus five minutes and have no need to split seconds while they are driving to work.
This, to your faithful correspondent, shows the triumph of the common man. Despite the ubiquity of digital clocks in cars and on bank buildings, the average man and woman prefers an analog watch or clock to the geekness of digital display. It is a triumph of common sense over marketing, though one sees young people using the clocks on their cell phones instead of watches when one asks them the time of day despite the fact that they are wearing an analog wrist watch. But young people are foolish and are blinded by shiny things and one can only hope that they get some about time. Being within fifteen minutes of the correct time is good enough for most things.

Termites and termite fighters

Our Mussalman friends keep do a good job of keeping a bitch going and a good job of getting those who should know better consider their nonsense seriously:
Islamic fundamentalism promoted on websites at some Muslim schools in the UK, think tank finds - Telegraph
In the above article note that there are some UK officials who defend people who want to do nothing but bury the Union Jack under a pile of rubble.
British Muslims 'providing Taliban with electronic devices for roadside bombs' - Telegraph
One wonders if the British officials are looking for the British orcs who are cooperating with the Afghan orcs in trying to kill British soldiers and marines. Or are they bureaucrats afraid of hurting the feelings of the Islamic "disenfranchised" youth?
Meanwhile, there are several governmental agencies and politicians who are willing to take on the burrowing of the Islamic termite:
Man arrested who has possible tie to bin Laden | charges, authorities, taken, custody, immigration - News - OCRegister.com
Admittedly, the above arrest has more to do with an immigration violation than an attack on the traitorous nature and ramblings of one of our Islamic brothers, but it's a start on the right road.
Gates of Vienna: Viennese School Draws the Line at Schnitzel
Let's think a moment. Pretend for a moment that you want to make a living as a plumber. During your training in the program you are expected to learn how to install and repair toilets and sewage lines. You tell your instructor that you only want to repair sinks and bathtubs and that you find toilets disgusting. Do you think that you'd be receiving your journeyman's card anytime soon?
Gates of Vienna: Geert Wilders’ Speech in Rome
Wilders is one of the few Dutch and European politicians who seem to understand that Islam is a threat to the Western ethos, and he has been treated badly by the Quislings who run the EU. Recently he was barred entry into the U.K. because a Muslim member of the House of Lords pitched a bitch about a film that Wilders produced. Oddly enough, the film was made up of nothing much more than clips of Mohammedans making statements about the West and the Jews.
Sometimes it seems that all is lost, but occasionally there is cause for hope.

Juicers Up!

Professional football season has thankfully come to an end. Some team won the Superbowl game and another team has won the Pro Bowl game and now those with any lick of sense, and appreciation for beauty, drama and athleticism, can concentrate on the upcoming baseball season without being accused of being premature in our pondering of how will our favorite team do during this year's campaign. The intelligent person knows many things and one of those is that in team sports Only Baseball Matters. All others are chaff mistaken for grain.
But, as usual, modern life and and science have inserted themselves into the sublimity of the Great Game. It was revealed this weekend that Alex Rodriguez (aka A-Rod) tested positive for the use of steroids during the 2003 season. There's really no surprise in this revelation for those of us who have watched the man over the years. He's shown himself to be hungry for money and for glory, going so far as to attempt to make himself the unofficial leader of the Yankees during his first year with the team.
Mr. Rodriguez, in reply to a query from Sports Illustrated concerning the matter replied that the writers should talk to the players' union about the matter and that he had nothing to say.
In other words, he had neither the courage and honesty to 'fess up and claim that he made a youthful mistake nor the brass to deny the findings of the test and call the charges damnable lies. He, in effect, ran to Mommy and hid behind her skirts. He sees the players' union as his protector instead of manning up, getting on the horse and riding it until he defeats it or falls off.
Now, admittedly, A-Rod is not the most popular members of the Yankees. Noo Yawkers have long known him to be a preening would-be usurper of the Black Adder type without the humor. A-Rod now joins the company of Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco, Bonds et al who have been proven or heavily suspected of being juicers and thus who's hard work and talent are suspect because the relied on better living through chemistry. And he, and they, have helped to besmirch the great game.
One finds one's self wishing for the days of good, honest cheating: cheating that risked instant detection such as throwing spitters, using corked bats, not touching base. The use of steroids is more underhanded than physically cheating and is thus to be more condemned.
This writer has no solution to the problem. The club owners, in their search to pad their bank accounts, are loathe to enforce the anti-steroid rules. The only thing that would make the owners pay attention to the rule would be if the club were heavily fined for steroid use by its team members as well as the players being fined and/or suspended. But the union covers for the players and greed drives the owners to the expense of the game.
The only thing that the fans can do is shun and mock the juicers and praise and support the clean players. Instead of talking about Roger Clemens' record we should look at the heroic performances of Curt Schilling, razz A-Rod and praise Garrett Anderson, forget McGwire and remember Ted Williams.
Despite what one would think, baseball is not the property of the MLB, the Steinbrenners, the McCourts or the Morenos. Baseball is, and always has been the people's game from the days when it developed from rounders. We may not be able to control the professional game, but we can influence it. We can demand that the game be played clean. Otherwise, if the owners and the dirty players prevail our game will turn into professional wrestling.

The Baseball Fan's Prayer

Heavenly Father, most High and Powerful, all Knowing and perfect Umpire,
We confess to Thee our manifest fouls and errors and beg forgiveness through our most gracious Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ.
We thank Thee for all the blessings Thou hast deigned to give us, especially for the game of baseball, which Thou mentioned in the first words of the Scriptures (In the big inning).
We beseech Thee to give us a season of good, clean baseball and pray that our ash wielding warriors of the diamond will fairly and cleanly defeat our enemies. Lead us not into the temptation of band wagonism, but deliver us from the evil ones called the Yankees. Give us patience during loss and humbleness during victory.
We ask these things in the name of our most blessed Savior, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Amen and Play Ball

Some Are Starting To Get and Some Ain't

During the recent Gaza action by Israel resulted in demonstrations in the US, Great Britain and Europe. In Great Britain, France and parts of the US the demonstrations in favor of the Palestinians became violent against against both people and property. The French and the British handled the demonstrations badly. The usual burning of car in Paris and Orcs running through Golders Green in London threatening Jewish owned businesses and smashing windows. The usual Islamic run-a-mok.
In Italy, on the other hand, while there were demonstrations, they remained remained fairly peaceful. But the Orcs managed to push the Italian into taking action against the creeping infestation of non-verbal threats to the Italian way of life: Islam In Action: Italy:Talks of Deportations.
Great Britain, on the other hand, seems to be unable to recognize a threat to it's heritage and form of government. And leading the charge toward the English monarchy becoming a satrap to Mecca is the Church of England, as evinced by the following: Church vows to keep faith with its schools, despite Muslim majority - Times Online. Be not fooled by the title of the piece. The very fact that a C of E school would accept Muslim students and not carry out the religious instruction for all students, Christian or not, in deference to the Muslims shows that the C of E schools have become private schools and not religious schools. The parents of the Muslim students are using the frame work of a Christin education, without the Christianity to give their children superior educations while Christian students, who cannot afford the schools, are abandoned to the state school system.
To get an idea of the gravity of the C of E school problem imagine yourself the parent of a child who you have decided to enroll into a Catholic or Calvary Chapel school. Naturally you expect your child to be given religious instruction. That's part of what you paid for. But suddenly there is an influx of a large number of Muslim students who are not interested in learning the truth of Christianity, but only in the fact that their children will receive a better education than they would at a state school. The school, decides that they prefer the tuition fees instead of the stated goal of the school (Christian education). Religious instruction, Christian prayers and Christian ethos are chucked out the window in order not to offend the Muslim students. In fact, the Muslim students are given opportunities for prayer that the Christian students are not. One can only assume that the school will soon abandon all vestiges of Christianity (examples are Harvard, Georgetown and USC; all founded as religious schools and now secular)and will become nothing but money makers and perhaps elite alternatives to the awful state schools.
It must be remembered that in India, during the days of the Raj, the best educated Indians were educated at C of E schools and underwent Christian education. Not all the Indians who attended the schools became Christians, but they learned a Christian ethos that neither Hinduism, Buddhism nor Mohammedism have. Christian education, explicit Christian education, bears interest for society in a way that secular or Muslim education does not. Namely, the students are urged to behave like Christians.
One wonders if, in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, there were an influx of the children of Christians into madrassas the the religious education would change to avoid offending the Christians. Not likely.
While reading the article about the C of E schools note the statement of one of one C of E woman priest concerning the withdrawing of her child from the local C of E school and the third e-mail response to the article.
It appears that the C of E and the C of E schools are bound and determined to commit religious and cultural suicide.

3 Links

So this is what it has come down to:
1 in 3 'Christians' say 'Jesus sinned'
Christians are becoming social pariahs in Britain, claims Jeremy Vine - Telegraph
Obama prayer leader from group US linked to Hamas - International Herald Tribune
But after Jan. 20 everything will be "O-tay."
Back to the catacombs.

A Headline You Won't See in the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times Raises Newsstand Price by 50%:
Minorities and Poor Most Affected!

This Is Your Enemy

For some reason there are people in the civilized world who support Hamas in the current military action by Israel in Gaza. These are probably the same types of people who adopt rattlesnakes and then are surprised when said snakes have the audacity to bite them despite the fact that the snakes have been fed a nice diet of mice.
Here are two videos showing what Hamas, and, indeed, Islam, is all about:
YouTube - Hamas terrorists kill innocent Palestinian in Gaza (Rare Video) (Must See)
YouTube - Hamas use UN ambulance to smuggle terrorists in Gaza
Also, an interesting thing happened in Italy. As you read the link ask yourself what your local mosque leaders' reaction would be is your church's youth group or prayer groups did the same thing as these people did:
Muslim apology over prayers outside Milan Cathedral - Telegraph
One sometimes wishes that the 1% motorcycle gangs would gather together at a mosque and give the Turks a big moon.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

For many years people in the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) in California have complained that people moving there from South Central and East Los Angeles to escape crime have done less than escape crime than bring crime with them. The opinion has been met with charges of racism against the Honkie McGills that used to be the mainstay of those counties.
Here is an example of the same thing happening faster in a smaller area. And the reaction is the same.
My Way News - Influx of black renters raises tension in Bay Area
It seems that everyone is wrong but the problem.
Go figure.

A Useful Idiot and an Escape From Idiocy

We here at the Manor have, for the past twenty years or so, considered Rosanne Barr (aka Rosanne or Roseanne Barr Goodman)to be a rather off-putting and stupid woman. She has shown herself to be a classic "celebutard" who thinks that because she has a platform addressing the public as an entertainer she should use the platform to express her political and social views. She has over the years claimed that she was a sexually abused girl-child (claiming that her father was the abuser) but has never taken any legal action, she has claimed to be a lesbian, but has never been seen in public with a girlfriend, she claims to be a practitioner of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbala, but has never been seen reading any Kabbalistic books or even speaking intelligently on the philosophy.
With the current action by Israel against the Hamas Palestinians in the Gaza she has deigned that the world should listen to her views of the action.Roseanne Barr blasts Israel as 'Nazi state'
This writer will not bother to cast aspersions on her comments or thoughts. They speak for themselves and they reveal a woman who has the same ability to reach conclusions based on morality and logic as a nutria. In her comments take time to consider that Our Lord Jesus Christ was a practitioner of Kabbala without any supporting documentation. The woman is just plain dumb. And she hasn't been funny in years.
Meanwhile, the Vatican has made a move that is a compliment to it's role as a leader of Roman Catholics: BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Vatican divorces from Italian law To put it in short and easy words, the Vatican has decided that it will not automatically recognize all Italian laws. but will review them and only recognize them when they agree with Roman Catholic law and teaching.
Would that the Christian churches here, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant do the same thing instead of making excuses to lick the hand of the secular master. Christians are to obey secular laws in their secular lives, but they are to hold to a higher law among themselves that is beyond the ken of the heathen.

Two Blogs Worthy of Your Consideration

Those who are personally acquainted with this writer are aware that Bloody Nib Manor is within shouting distance of the Mexican border. There was a time, during your faithful correspondent's youth, that it was not unusual for a person from the Southern California to travel to Tijuana (or Tia Juana or TiaJuana or just TJ) to have one's car re-upholstered, buy cheap junk like flocked ceramic bull figurines or velvet paintings of Mexican banditos, busty putas or Elvis, or look for a little under-aged drinking or to have one's photo taken sitting on a zebra-striped burro while wearing a comical sombrero.
Those days have long passed and the drug wars in Old Mexico have taken their toll on the cheap wallet/belt and strip show market in TJ. The finding of headless bodies in town squares and school yards tends to put a bit of cold water on the tourist trade.
Here's a link to a blog that keeps track of the Mexican Drug Wars: Blog of the Gods
If you do not think that the Mexican Drug Wars have anything to do with you keep in mind that the kidnappings and killings have moved north of the border.
There are some who claim that what Mexico needs to get the situation under control is a strong man on a white horse. Your faithful correspondent is of another opinion. What Mexico needs is nothing less than a moral and religious reformation. This is not to say that this writer thinks that Protestantism will save Mexico from anarchy. But the Mexican people will have to take their Christianity seriously and abandon the quasi-paganism that many of them practice.
We don't think of Russia much anymore except when Putin does something silly. But be aware that Russia and Eurasia are of concern to the US. Check this out and keep informed: WindowonEurasia
There is more to worry about than your shrinking 401(k). We have enemies within who are enemies because of their greed. But we also have enemies without who do not want us to be poor. they do not want us to be.

Indians Do Something that Liberal Americans Won't Do

Liberal Americans often, when they feel that their rights have been transgressed, ask "Where's the outrage?" Examples are such things are the rejection of homosexual marriage by the voters of California or "man-made global warming." Their interests are very insular and they seem to see themselves as not a part of the larger American culture. They expressed a bit of outrage for about two weeks after September 11, 2001, but it wasn't long before they started calling for the understanding of the terrorists' grievances. In other words, they seem to be bound and determined to commit slow motion cultural suicide. This is the result of people who feel guilty of their comfortable lives and one often wishes that the wealthy and comfortable would take the same stance as European aristocrats in regarding foreigners and other cultures as charming as long as they stay where they are.
During the Thanksgiving weekend a group of Muslim men wrought havoc in Mumbai (nee Bombay), and the Indian elite were not slow in condemning the action. They, and the government, named the men as Muslims and did not try to parse words by calling them "evil doers."
In this way the Indians have shown themselves to be much more men with chests than the average craven American politician. There's something wrong here. The American political and social elite have become so soft and so caring that they are useless for the maintenance of the nation. Everything goes as long as the Muslim hordes don't pee in their pool while the rest of us are subjected to law-fare from CAIR for proclaiming our traditional Judeo-Christian values.
But to get to the point, a group of Indians and Indian-Americans have protested in front of that cancerous institution known as the United Nations against the Muslims involved in the Mumbai massacre.
Atlas Shrugs: INDIA: Protesting Jihad at the UN
Note the placards pointing out the murders of the Chabad rabbi and his wife. And while looking at it ask yourself when was the last time you heard about Leonardo Di Caprio or Peter Coyote protesting the murder of innocents by radical Muslims? There are bastards by intention and bastards by default. American liberals fall into the latter category. They care more for a snail darter or an invert than they do for a family man or woman working an honest eight at a crappy job.
The reader may not care for country music, but there is something in old country music that speaks of the traditional American soul. Here's Granpa Jones singing a song that is more American than anything by Bruce Springsteen or any of the current crop of political singers because it addresses the American love of dogs (which Muslims hate) in an American style: YouTube - Grandpa Jones Old Rattler
The nation has, according to the media elite, become a nation that cares more for the feelings of our enemies than our dogs. That's not right. Our enemies are not only less than dogs. They are less than termites. And they are just as dangerous.

Scatter Shooting (Hoping to Hit Something)

As those who are familiar with us here at Nib Manor may be aware, we have always been Christians of the Protestant sort. Specifically, this writer is a hard shell Baptist and the ever lovely Lady Nib leans more toward the Evangelical Anglican version of Christianity.
This has not always been the case. A a young man your faithful correspondent was a member of the United Methodist Church. There was a time when the Methodist Church, in the United States, was a very conservative and Protestant church. They had no truck with Roman Catholic liturgies or Roman Catholic practice. The displaying of images of saints or members of what Catholics call the Holy Family (Baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary) on anything but lawn displays during Christmas or on Christmas cards, were considered as indications of idolatry.
Over the years things have changed. The United Methodist Church, in an effort to stem the flowing away of their members to other denominations, has decided to take a stand by not taking a stand. They have decided that sodomy is not such a bad thing, that divorce is just a part of marriage, that abortion is pretty much okay and that Jesus Christ is more of a role model than God Incarnate.
The UMC has also made an effort to attract Latin American immigrants to the denomination has undertaken to change the traditional Protestant Methodist practices to those of a more Latin American Catholic bent. In other words, the UMC is beginning to move toward a "Catholic Lite" theology and practice to attract Latin Americans instead of pointing out the traditional theology of the Reformation and its truth in Spanish. One wonders if the leaders of the UMC think that Latinos are not capable of understanding the Three Solas. Or perhaps the UMC is, in certain geographical ares, sailing under false colors.
What brings this up is that the church that this writer used to attend is now offering a La Posada celebration for its Spanish speaking members. La Posada is a uniquely Latino Roman Catholic celebration. It has never been part of Protestantism.
There used to be a joke that Methodists aspired to be Anglicans once they made enough money to buy a pew. Now it seems that they want to be Latino Catholics without the Pope. One wonders what Wesley and Fletcher would make of it.
Earlier this week a Marine Corps F18 jet fighter, while on practice maneuvers off the coast of San Diego, crashed into a residential neighborhood killing a woman, her mother and her two infants children. It was a tragedy, to say the least. The woman's husband made a public statement that he did not blame the Marine Corps for what happened; it was an accident. The two Senators from California, on the other hand called for an immediate and fast investigation of the incident in order to affix blame.
Here's the problem. Do these two women, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, not think that the Marines will not investigate the causes of the crash without their urging? And do they think that a fast investigation will be better than a thorough investigation? Is there a point at which a politician will not stop grandstanding?
Finally, today an Iraqi journalist threw a pair of shoes at President Bush. The throwing of shoes, in Iraq, is considered a grave insult. Mr. Bush handles the incident well and went as far as to joke that he thought the shoes were size 10. One wonders what Mr. Obama's reaction, as well as the American press' reaction, would be in the same situation. But this writer forgets: no one would throw a shoe at The One.

Dishonor and distopia

Let's assume for a few moments that you are a member of a gentleman's club. By gentleman's club this writer does not refer to such places as Spearmint Rhino or Boobs Galore where scantily clad women perform pole-dancing routines while men drink over-priced beer and howl like coyotes on the trail of a clutch of three legged rabbits.
Here, "gentleman's club" refers to the classic English club organized and joined by classic English gentlemen such as The Atheneaum or White's (or if one is in a lighter mood The Drone's Club).
Now assume that one, while playing billiards or whist or reading in the library, is "cut" by another member. Said member has said something negative regarding one's (or one's family's) honor. One has two courses of action.
One can either ignore the insult, and thus reap the rewards of showing one's self as a man not concerned about his reputation. Or one can challenge the bounder in one way or another (ranging from pistols at dawn to throwing biscuits into top hats).
What one does not do is start a slanging match that eventually results in one and the insulter sitting down and breaking bread and talking about how much one and the other like and respect one another. One has one's honor to defend or ignore. But one can not honorably sit down with the person who "cut" one (see the Oxford English Dictionary for the definition of "cut" used in this context) and be best mates. To do so is to show one's self as a lickspittle or sickeningly ambitious (both the same things, really).
Honor, in the old sense, in these days seems quaint among a certain segment of the population. But this segment is the same segment that hides the fact that their daughters are slatterns by paying for numerous abortions, allows their under-aged children to get tattoos from a "celebrity" tattooist, and has no problem spilling the most intimate details of one's personal life to a fat black woman or or bald fat white man on national television to get attention and perhaps make a shilling or two.
This past week (or perhaps the week before) Barack Obama and John McCain got together for lunch and afterwards praised one another to no end. Not more than a month ago both men were describing one another as agents of the demise of the Great Republic, idiots, fools and just dumb. But, no that the election is over and the Chosen One has been chosen, they are best buddies.
What changed? Nothing. Then way this sudden love-fest between two men who "cut" one another repeatedly? Who Knows? Perhaps it's a game for them.
This writer has noticed that politics seems to mean much more to the electorate than to the elected. To us it is serious business that effects the fate of the Great Republic. To them it's a job interview. And if they fail the interview they can pick up a higher paying job as a lobbyist.
There's something wrong with this.
Those in the know are aware that Nib Manor is in California and that during the last election the citizens of the Golden State voted to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman instead of a man and a man , a woman and a woman, or a freak and a cow.
The reaction among the homosexual crowd (this writer refuses to use the words "gay" and out of a sense of propriety the words "sodomite" or "invert")has been that of spoiled children denied their second bowl of ice cream at 11:00 P.M. There have been mass demonstrations outside Mormon churches (and oddly enough not outside Catholic churches despite the fact that the official Catholic position is against homosexual marriage, or black churches despite the fact that blacks voted overwhelmingly for heterosexual marriage) with a lot of heat and not much light. The word "hate" was bandied about freely and boycotts were called against businesses that had supported exclusively heterosexual marriage.
The homosexual community is outraged, but people who are wrong are often outraged. Outrage is not a logical, or even decent argument. This writer was outraged years ago when his parents would not give him a Vincent Black Shadow for his sixteenth birthday.
The people, through the initiative process (as questionable as that process may be), and if the vote had gone the other way the homosexual crowd would be crowing about the validity of the popular vote. Since they lost they are angry. There is really nothing new there. Every loser is angry that he lost. Just spend a few minutes at the tables at the Luxor and one can see that.
But here's the real story about the whole thing. Our homosexual friends, relatives and strangers are really angry because the passing of the the Yes vote on Proposition 8 reveals to them that homosexuals and homosexuality is not as popular among the populace of the state as they had assumed. In other words, and to make it short, most people in the state would prefer that homosexuals would just go away to someplace else like New York or Boston or Amsterdam.
The passage of Proposition 8 hurt their feelings and that's what gets them so angry.
And the reason that they've gone after the Mormons instead of the Catholics, the black churches, or even the Scientologists, is because the Mormons are seen, by the majority of the population as somewhat hickey (are they really Christians?); they are easy to beat up on because they are outside the mainstream. Their neglect of the Scientologists is due to, this writer thinks, the Hubbardists fondness for lawsuits. The Catholics and black churches, being accepted in society are considered part of American society and are, despite being minorities, are in the mainstream of society. And they might fight back.
Years ago this writer read the opinion of another writer that the homosexual lobby was working on a progressive plan. First the lobby would call for tolerance. Once the concept of tolerance was established the lobby would call for acceptance of homosexuality. And once the acceptance of homosexuality was established in a society was established then the lobby would call for mandatory homosexuality for a period of time for young people (perhaps a semester in high school). The passing of Proposition 8 has shown that the voters in the state are not willing to go beyond the first the first step.

Baby Talk

How many times have you found yourself sitting in front of the television set on a late afternoon or late night waiting for a ball game, the news or your favorite needlepoint or gardening show only to find yourself watching some nonsensical program like Access Hollywood or TMZ because you're just too damn lazy and comfortable to take the effort to punch a button on the remote control. And then, before you know it some "reporter" specializing in celebrities, such as Mary Hart, appears on screen to breathlessly announce that a female actress, singer or celebutard is showing a "baby bump" which means that said woman is with child, pregnant or, to use the current patois, "preggers."
If you are anything like your faithful correspondent the use of the term "baby bump" is like dragging a nail across a blackboard when the term is not used while speaking to children ("No, honey. Maria is not gotten fat. She has a baby bump.") or by children ("Mommy? Is that lady going to have a baby? She has a baby bump." "No, Junior. That old cow just has a beer belly.")or by people who seem somewhat retarded or just trying to be cute. The same goes for the word "preggers." The word "preggers" is a term best used, and should be only used, by adolescents in describing their schoolmates who are about to drop out of school and go on welfare and become regular customers of the local WIC center.
To hear a person in the media, who apparently is an adult with a college education, use the term "baby bump" and the word "preggers" is not unlike when this writer was a callow youth hearing the local gray-haired news reader use the word "groovy." It was just silly and made the user sound and look silly. It was tantamount with one's father, a veteran of the Marines in the Pacific during World War Two, wearing paisley shirts and bell-bottomed Levis to church because he wanted to be "with it." Just embarrassing. Thank God that Baron Nib never did any such silly thing. He was always a proper gentleman in his behavior and dress.
This writer has noticed an infantilization of the spoken and written word that he finds disturbing. It goes beyond "baby bump" and "preggers." All too many times he has heard a person on television or radio, or read articles in the newspaper in which the reporter describes a frightening incident as "scary." In the old days such incidents were described as "frightening", "terrifying", "horrifying" or "disturbing." The word "scary" was a children's word that could be used of anything from falling off a skateboard to fighting off an ax murderer or watching a horror movie. It seems that a certain segment of society has not progressed from grade school descriptions of emotions because they have neither matured or they feel that the viewers are rather stupid.
If one listens or reads the outpourings from the news media and popular culture one can find many instances of baby-talk put forth by people, who by their educations alone, should know and (one would hope)desire to speak and write in an adult manner. And these people seem to show no embarrassment about using terms and words that were heretofore used exclusively by children. It's a wonder.
Other words or terms that have come into common usage in the media are "poo" instead of feces or offal (one wonders when Katie Couric will break new ground by saying "poo-poo","poopy" or "do-do"; "doing the nasty" instead of making love, mating or fornicating; "bad guy" instead of criminal, enemy, jerk or idiot. The list goes on and on.
Language changes over the years and centuries, but usually it becomes more sophisticated instead of degraded and infantile. This writer would suggest that news writer and reporters, before using words that they feel might be somewhat suspect (and they DO know unless they are complete idiots) that they look in a Roget's Thesaurus, the King James Bible or Shakespeare to find an adult word to replace the baby talk that they have been babbling to us for the past twenty years.
One shudders to think of what the next twenty years hold for the language. Perhaps a spoken form of text messaging. CN U DG IT?

We're All Socialists Now

We here at the Manor have always made it a point to play by the rules.
We never built up mountains of debt, tried to pay for our cars with cash and have managed to pay off the mortgage and pay help without taking out a second mortgage. We have tried to save as much money as we can.
When we were young the very idea of taking out a loan of any size was considered shameful. One was expected, except in the case of the most dire emergency, to be self reliant as much as possible. One would borrow money from family members before going to the bank.
Now, due to the current financial "crisis" we find that the federal government is bound an determined to bail out everydamnbody who behaved in a less than wise financial manner. In other words, the government is bound and determined not to allow people fail who really should fail. It is like the indulgent mother of a gang member who has been arrested for shooting a slug from another gang crying, "My boy is a good boy" while the cops take the gun from the woman's son's hand and toss him into the squad car.
In other words, in the name of national interest the government has decided to institute what are, in fact, socialist measures to prevent the possibility of a "meltdown." Those who have behaved badly will be saved and those who have behaved responsibly will have to pay for it.
This writer fell asleep one night in a capitalist nation and woke up in a socialist one. And he never heard a shot fired or saw a ballot cast.

Blame it on the Computer

Recently one of the judges for the Nobel Prize for Literature stated that he saw no chance for any American writers to be considered for the prize. The reason, he said, is that American writers are too "insular."
To be absolutely honest, this writer does not know exactly what he means considering the fact that the last American writer to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature was Toni Morrison; a woman who has made a career about writing exclusively about the lives of black people in America. There is nothing universal, despite what literature professors in Ivy League and Ivy League "wannabe" schools say in Morrison's writing.
But your faithful correspondent is in complete agreement that there is no American writer on the horizon, perhaps barring Joyce Carol Oates*, who deserves to even be nominated for the Prize. And the reason is simply this: contemporary American writers, even the literary ones, just can't write worth a damn. This is not to say that they cannot make themselves understood. But their writing is lacking in style and substance. It all seems to be cleaned up first drafts; the first expression of an idea is used without thought of using other words to make the thought deeper, funnier, sadder, more poignant, etc. But that may be their intention. We live in a world where first thoughts trump pondering and the exhibiting of raw emotion is considered being "real" while taking time to have a second thought is considered artifice.
Be that as it may, this writer blames much of the problem on the computer; specifically, the word processor. The use of a computer is the most artificial form of story telling. It verges on the writer almost becoming an android with the machine. Because of the ease of spell checking and the use of cut and paste features the machine becomes an assistant instead of a tool.
The best literary writing has been done by hand or by type writers. Compared to writing on a computer the use of pen or type writer are slow and messy. And it is the slowness and messiness that improve the writing. The hand writer and type writer have to constantly look over their work to fix spelling and grammatical errors, and in doing so they see how they can make their writing better by changing, adding or removing words, sentences or paragraphs. On a computer, on the other hand, the words are on a screen and with a press of a key all words can be properly spelled, and in some cases the grammar fixed, per style book rules. With a computer the writer depends on the machine to fix the flaws instead of going through pages, reading and re-reading, looking for and marking errors with pencil in preparation for typing up or writing the second draft. It is the reading and re-reading and re-reading again that makes the author ponder his or her story and writing. The computer makes the very act of writing too easy, and easy writing is not often good writing. There is no need to re-read and re-read the writing. The words magically appear on a screen and, in this age of television, what appears on a video screen must be good.
Your faithful correspondent has seen copies of first drafts by famous writers written by hand or on type writers and he has also seen what are called first drafts written by writers on computers. The difference is striking. The first drafts of the manual writers (hand and type writer) are marked up with spelling corrections, phrase, sentences and paragraphs marked out and hand written notes crammed into the margins. The computer based writers, on the other hand, change a word here or there and perhaps add a phrase. The manual writers bled over their work. The computer writers just tweak. The difference, to use a vulgar illustration is like that of a person building an engine for a top fuel rail based on a Chevy big block engine and tuning up the family SUV.
At this point you may be asking the following questions:
"But Lord Nib, how can you say such things? Do not writers in other nations not use computers to write their literature? And you yourself use a computer to write the Bloody Nib. Does that mean that the Bloody Nib is bad writing?"
This writer has the misfortune of being able to read only one language, and that language is English. The problem may hold true for other languages and probably does. Americans, Canadians and the English take to technological advances much faster than do other peoples and in taking to the technologies they sooner become dependent to them. It will soon become a flaw in the writings of non-English writing writers that writing becomes a co-operative effort between man and machine.
And yes, the writing on the Bloody Nib is bad writing. If this writer pounded out the entries on this blog on a typewriter as he once pounded out a monthly magazine on a typewriter the writing would be much better.
At the top of this post are photos of two writers, now deceased and much writers of much different style and substance who, each in his own way, were masters of unique styles that have yet to be matched.
On the left is William Faulkner, a writer of stately and ponderous prose who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949. He is, in the photo, working on a Royal desk type writer while wearing a collar and tie.
On the right Mickey Spillaine, the creator of the Mike Hammer novels, among other. Hard boiled, slangy and fast. His attire reflects his writing; casual and muscular. He is working on a Smith-Corona desk machine.
Neither man would have benefited from the use of a computer. In fact, a word processor would have probably ruined their writing because the word processor does not call for the sweat and blood that a type writer does.
There is another thing that has reduced the quality of American writing and that is the falling out of common knowledge of the Bible, Shakespeare and Homer not by the reader, but by the writer. These three sources have been, for centuries, the ground of literature, the sources of themes, phrases and ideas. Since they have fallen out of favor the ground has shifted and keeps shifting. There is no place to stand. And if there is no place to stand the is no place to locate a lever with which to move ideas.
For those who question this writer's presentation of the term "type writer" instead of "typewriter," please know that the original patent for the machine called the machine a "type writer."
And please know that this writer prefers the indented beginning to a paragraph to the current practice of starting the paragraph at the left hand margin.
*Joyce Carol Oates writes her novels longhand and then writes the final draft on an electric type writer.

The Bail Out

Apparently our "leaders" have come to an agreement about how to handle a bail out of the misdeeds and idiocy of the Solons of Wall Street and the banking industry.
This writer does not claim to have any expertise about economic matters. His financial plan is based on the thoughts of John Wesley: Make as much as you can, save as much as you can and give as much as you can. But this writer thinks that the bail out plan is a bad idea simply because there is no Constitutional mandate for the federal government to bail out any one, let alone Wall Street and the bankers.
The speed with which this deal has been pushed through the halls of Congress reminds your faithful correspondent of the sale of a questionable used car. In other words, the salesman tells you that the car is great and if you don't buy it now someone else will be it and you'll be getting to work on the bus. Then, after you buy it, you find out that you have to spend as much as the car is worth or more to get the thing safely on the road.
Also, this writer is of the opinion that the businesses who partied at our expense have no business expecting us to suffer the hangover they caused.
Would the failure of the government to bail out the banks and investment houses result in a recession or depression? Perhaps. But that may be the very thing that we need to instill financial discipline on business and the populace.

Calling All Screen Writers

Here's a story that hasn't gotten any attention from the television, radio or newspaper reporters: Mystery surrounds hijacked Iranian ship - The Long War Journal
One can almost look forward to the pulp novel based on this incident. Never mind the Robert Ludlam or Tom Clancy nonsense. This story deserves the Sax Rohmer ( writer of the Fu Manchu novels)or Maxwell Grant (writer of the Shadow novels). One can almost see a Republic Studios serial starring Clayton Moore in the story.

The Financial Crisis

Your faithful correspondent does not claim to know a whole lot about economics.
But he does know this:
If this writer conducted his financial affairs in the same way that the CEOs, CFOs and executives of the major banking, investment and insurance houses have he'd be living in a tent by the BNSF railroad tracks instead of softly descending with a golden parachute.
And this writer knows that no one would bail this writer out of his trouble except, maybe, his family. The federal government would give yours the big California "Howdy."
Socialism. Brought to you by Wall Street.

The Trouble With Tattoos

Those who know your faithful correspondent well are aware that he is a tattooed man. At one time he would have been considered a heavily tattooed man. At that time four tattoos or more on one person were considered to be the datum of a heavily tattooed person. Never mind how many tattoos this writer has because it is not to the point.
Let us just say that most people who know yours are not aware that he is tattooed at all. This is not due to any embarrassment on the part of this writer, but due more to discretion and the personal nature of said tattoos i.e., names, dates and symbols. The tattoos were not, not are not, for public consumption. They were and are personal images only of import to this writer and his loved ones.
But, in recent years, this writer has noticed that many young people seem to be using tattoos as fashion statements. They have become some sort of trend that the bearers may one day later grow to regret. Some, in fact, seem to be aspiring to get jobs with the circus sideshow as "Tattooed Men" while working as salesmen at Circuit City or preachers.
"Back in the day" tattoos were the purview of servicemen (usually sailors), roughnecks, bikers and anyone who, having drunk too much, wandered by a tattoo parlour thinking of "Mom." Tattooed people were a sub-culture who. Their tattoos were personal statements, not fashion statements.
And their tattoos made sense. They expressed sentiments or philosophies or experiences. They were not "tribal" or fashion. A hula girl or globe and anchor denoted memories of Hawaii or the Corps.
Nowadays it seems that every damn clerk at the local Wal-Mart or CVS is sporting some sort of "tribal" tattoos going from their shoulder to their wrist when the only tribe they ever belonged to was the generic white guy or gal. The tattoos mean no more to them than make up or tennis (or is it athletic?) shoes. What these young sprite do not seem to realize that one day they will be fifty years old with tattoos that reflect nothing more than a fashion. Does any young woman who has a "tramp stamp" tattooed on her lower back realize that one day she will be a granny hiding that thing from her dear little angel grandkids? Or does a future IBM executive realize that he will be wearing long sleeves at work until his retirement because he has a screaming skull in flames etched on his arm?
What has happened is that the youth of the middle and upper classes have taken over an art that has heretofore been the purview of the military, the working class and the lower class. They've, in effect, taken on something that is not theirs to present themselves as us. And they will one day regret their decision much to the delight of plastic surgeons. And they have made tattoos common and have made them less special to those who have had them for years.
Idiots.

Celebrities Suck! But!

We here at the Manor have never had much use for celebrities. We have always felt that anyone who makes their living by posing or acting in front of a camera is a person who has no real life.
That is not to say that we think of actors/models/celebutards don't deserve privacy. Everyone, even if they shake their private parts as a business, deserves a modicum of privacy.
Ask yourself this question. "If I fell asleep on the lovely beach at Malibu while sunbathing would I appreciate it if a paparazzi was taking pictures of my crotch/open mouth/belly or boobs in the name of "freedom of the press?"
Perhaps you have experienced the same disconnect that your faithful correspondent has: after falling asleep on the chesterfield one suddenly awakes to find that the television is tuned to an episode of TNZ or Access Hollywood. And one has found out that (insert celebrutard's name here) has done something human and wondered, "What's the big deal?"
This is all nonsense. Celebrities are almost the least of humans. They contribute little too the civitas. And the paps and their employers are the least of humans.
The only thing for the average man or woman is to "paparazzi' the paparazzi and their masters. In other words, dog Harvey Levin every day and every minute and see how he likes it.

There's sumpin' wrong here

Both of these are rather old stories by Internet standards. But as you read them compare and contrast:
Schoolboys punished with detention for refusing to kneel down and pray to Allah | Mail Online
Christian registrar who refused to marry gay couples reveals bullying ordeal at hands of politically correct colleagues | Mail Online
One wonders what would have transpired if the registrar had been a Muslim who had refused to marry gay couples. Would the multi-cultural nonsense trump the political correctness nonsense. Or would it be the other way around?
Once one reduces standards it seems that one is adrift.

These Are Our Leaders?!

As those in the know are aware, Bloody Nib Manor is in the state of California. This is an unfortunate state of affairs as we at the Manor would much rather be our own city-state.
But being in the Golden State we often find ourselves at the mercy of politicians who have the capability for logic as do three year old children. Two examples of Californian politicos thinking follow:
The governor of the state, a former body builder and B-movie actor, stated that the recent wildfires in the state were due to "global warming." The fires in question were caused by lightening strikes in forests and the fires spread because of bad forest management. The temperatures in the affected areas did not rise to 451 degrees before the fires broke out. And the fires burned so enthusiastically because there had been no clearing of brush by earlier fires for over fifty years. Redskin Indians had a better understanding of forestry management than this Austrian hillbilly. There are times when wildfires are the result of nature and should be allowed to burn. The problem is that the state allowed too much growth of forests and scrub. Not global warming.
The senior senator of the state, Dianne Feinstein ("I can have a concealed carry permit but you can't even if you live in a crime ridden neighborhood") recently stated that the water supply problem in the state was due to the fact that the original water supply system was designed when the state had a population of 16 million and now the population is over 30 million and that the residents of the state had better get damned used to using less water. This is the same woman who wanted, last year, to legalize a couple million illegal aliens in the state instead of deporting them. Apparently illegal aliens, in her mind, do not use water as she has yet to advocate the deportation of people who are here illegally and and partake of the state's water supply.
Perhaps it might be a good idea to require all elected officials, upon, election and re-election, take and pass a course in logic.

Baseball!

Your faithful correspondent has not yet this year mentioned the great game of baseball.
As those in the know are aware, we here at the Manor are fans of the Anaheim Angels (now known as the Los Angeles Angels) despite the fact that the Angels are an American League team. When we are asked why we are Angels cranks, despite the fact that we find the DH rule loathsome, we reply, "Because they are not the Dodgers."
Lisa Fabrizio has written an interesting piece regarding the DH rule. It is worthy some consideration:
Intellectual Conservative Politics and Philosophy

It's a Pretty Sad Day

While at the local office supply store (previously known as "stationer'") your faithful correspondent happened to pick up a box or Dixon Ticonderoga pencils and noticed two things: the box lacked the rendition of Ethan Allen as was the norm in days gone by, and that the pencils were made in China,
When this writer was a wee laddie Ticonderoga pencils were THE pencil for writing. Drafting and engineering pencils were another thing left best to the professionals. Those pencils were usually German, and thus suspect. But Ticonderoga pencil, especially the 2.5, were what pencil writing was all about. And they were, up until recently, made in the US.
Now this writer finds that "The World's Best Pencil" is made in China.
The question arises: Why? Pencil making is pretty much an automated process and one finds oneself wondering if the cost of labor and shipping from China of the pencils is really so much cheaper than the manufacture of pencils in the US.
Up until now your faithful correspondent has been an enthusiastic, indeed, a champion, of Ticonderoga pencils. But no more. This writer refuses to rely on, or pay, an oppressive regime to write his daily missives and calculations. Instead, being unable to buy a decent writing pencil made in the US, he will pay his custom to either Mars-Staedler or Koh-I-Noor. They may be German, but they don't rely on slave labor.

No Endorsement

The few readers of this blog have asked your faithful correspondent who. between Barack Obama and John McCain he intends to support and cast his vote for as president of the United States.
To be short, the answer is neither.
To choose either is to make a choice between Laural and Hardy or Abbot and Costello.
This year is one of those years that occasionally appears in the history of the Great Republic in which one has to make a choice between between bad and badder. The question is which is bad and which is badder..
So, until November, this writer will not write on things of the domestic political nature.