Month: October 2020
13OCT2020 – Quote of the Day
It is therefore the privilege of posterity to adjust the characters of illustrious persons, and to set matters right between those antagonists who by their rivalry for greatness divided a whole age into factions.
Joseph Addison
In Honor of Columbus Day
I love Columbus Day. When I was a young guy working to feed a growing family, it was a little oasis of freedom in the long desert of work that stretched from Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Sure, there’s Veteran’s Day but by then the cold weather has stripped the trees bare of leaves and the cold precludes barbecues and outdoor activities. But on October 12th you could put some burgers on the grill and back when such things were done you might have a little parade in town and the school would run a competition to see which parents could pretend their children built the best float looking like the Nina and the Pinta and the Santa Maria. And every little kid could recite, “In Fourteen Hundred Ninety-Two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”
But that was before we found out that Columbus was a horrible monster. His founding of the New World was the cause of the destruction of the indigenous civilizations that lived in North and South America.
And that is the case. His discovery uniting both halves of our world sparked the greatest expansion of human population, scientific discovery and prosperity since the discovery of fire. Compare the state of knowledge in any art or science in 1500 and 1700 and you will find a leap forward that can only be explained by the dynamism created by the Age of Discovery. Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Leibniz, Newton, Huygens and endless other scientists and inventors appear almost magically once the potential for expanding into a boundless new world fired the imagination and provided the material wealth to pay for all those dreams. And all these advances in mathematics, physics, chemistry, medicine, and the technology that it spawned have changed our world immeasurably.
The children and crackpots who disparage Columbus say he was a genocidal murderer. They claim that if he had not discovered the New World that the indigenous people would be living in peace and prosperity. From what I’ve read of the Aztecs peace and prosperity was not their strong suit. A civilization whose hallmark is conquering neighboring peoples and then dragging the conquered warriors to the top of a pyramid and cutting their still beating hearts out of their chests doesn’t sound like something we should be grieved about putting out of business. In the same vein what is recorded about the warfare practiced by the North American tribes against each other isn’t exactly what the tree huggers claim was going on. I think it would be more than fair to say that Old World and New World were fairly evenly matched when it came to cruelty. Where they differed was in technology. Swords, spears and arrows really don’t compare to cannons and guns. Steel beats wood, stone and even bronze. Cavalry can rout poorly trained infantry pretty handily especially if they’ve never seen a horse before.
The history of mankind is the story of conquest of one people by another. But what differs is what the conquerors do once they rule. Genghis Khan and his Mongols conquered the greater part of Eurasia. But they have left nothing in their wake to justify the slaughter of untold millions of human beings. The world created by the Europeans following in the wake of Columbus has changed humanity from a short-lived, pain-gripped creature always hungry for his next meal to almost pampered aristocrats trying to keep from being bored by the technological wonders that are strewn around our homes like detritus. Pictures of the “poor” in a third world country reveals the odd sight that they are all a little on the fat side lately.
And whoever heard of a conqueror giving back his conquests to those he’s conquered. But that is exactly what the Europeans have allowed in almost the whole of their possessions that they didn’t colonize. Most of Asia and Africa were handed back to the indigenous peoples during the Twentieth Century. Whoever heard of that?
So, there is my defense of Columbus Day. The Europeans proved that they were just as ferocious as every other human population on the planet. They just had better science and better technology. The Europeans invented this whole “United Nations, kumbaya, We Are the World” thing and maybe it’ll catch on to a greater extent. So far it only seems to be us turning the other cheek. But one day humans will get around to conquering each other on a grand scale again. There will be other empires and other genocides. It’s human nature. But I’d just like to say that Europeans invented the wherewithal to destroy human life on a global scale and so far, they’ve mostly used it only on each other, not the helpless savages that they found around the world. Hardly a reason to be ashamed.
Happy Columbus Day.
12OCT2020 – Quote of the Day
If men of eminence are exposed to censure on one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due to them, they likewise receive praises which they do not deserve. In a word, the man in a high post is never regarded with an indifferent eye, but always considered as a friend or an enemy. For this reason persons in great stations have seldom their true characters drawn till several years after their deaths. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done them. When writers have the least opportunity of knowing the truth, they are in the best disposition to tell it.
Joseph Addison
12OCT2020 – Photo of the Day
Indian Summer and Aconitum
A few weeks back when I was lamenting the end of summer I wondered if the wolf’s bane would finally bloom this year. Well, we had a warm snap and right on schedule the wolf’s bane bloomed.
If you look at the bottom of the plant in the last photo you can see that the leaves have almost all died. So this really is the last gasp of summer.
But bring on the fall and let the holidays begin.
11OCT2020 – Photo of the Day
11OCT2020 – Quote of the Day
The Walrus and The Carpenter
The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright–
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done–
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”
The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead–
There were no birds to fly.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
“If this were only cleared away,”
They said, “it would be grand!”
“If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.
“O Oysters, come and walk with us!”
The Walrus did beseech.
“A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.”
The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head–
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.
But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat–
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn’t any feet.
Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more–
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.
“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax–
Of cabbages–and kings–
And why the sea is boiling hot–
And whether pigs have wings.”
“But wait a bit,” the Oysters cried,
“Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!”
“No hurry!” said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.
“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said,
“Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed–
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.”
“But not on us!” the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
“After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!”
“The night is fine,” the Walrus said.
“Do you admire the view?
“It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf–
I’ve had to ask you twice!”
“It seems a shame,” the Walrus said,
“To play them such a trick,
After we’ve brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“The butter’s spread too thick!”
“I weep for you,” the Walrus said:
“I deeply sympathize.”
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter,
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?’
But answer came there none–
And this was scarcely odd, because
They’d eaten every one.
Lewis Carroll
How to Balance the Budget Without the Congress
Congress has essentially gotten out of the budget balancing business. The last balanced budget was under George W Bush back in the time before Obama (BO). But the President has something called the Executive Order and darned if it isn’t every bit as good as law. So, until such time as Congress actually performs some function again, how about this?
In 2018 the federal government employed 2,055,731 Federal Civilian Employees. So, putting the armed forces aside we have over two million people drawing a check entirely on our dime. Whatever the average salary is, once you add in health insurance cost and any pension or other benefits a very conservative annual cost per employee is bound to be above $100,000. So, just in safe ballpark numbers we are paying two trillion dollars to our public masters every year.
Now you could logically make the point that if these mostly useless people didn’t work for the government they would end up as criminals and the destitute, but putting that cost calculation aside it could be reasonably stated that drastically reducing the number of federal employees is the most effective way to reduce the cost of government. And as an added benefit it would clear out much of the riff-raff that currently vote Democrat in Virginia and Maryland. This giant army of freeloaders would disperse across the country and change from a dagger in the heart of the republic into a low-grade fever across the whole body politic.
Think of how wonderful it would be to see building after federal building emptied of these parasites and those same buildings sold off or demolished to make room for more worthwhile endeavors like pawn shops or nail salons. One day the IRS could be composed of one IT technician and space on a mainframe that multiplied everyone’s paycheck by six percent and sent out the link to where payment could be sent. NASA would just be two IP address links between the President’s office and Elon Musk’s. And the Post Office would be a website page that lists the names of companies like FedEx and UPS that have trucks. Anyone who wants to send a letter would be reminded of the e-mail addresses that everyone in the world already has. And even for bureaus, departments and offices of the federal government that serve some actual purpose the 80/20 rule could be put into strict application and four fifths of the denizens of the swamp could be heaved up on shore and allowed to dry out and rot in the sun.
I don’t want to claim that there won’t be consequences to something as radical as this. For several years after the surgery these severed appendices will stagger around the landscape like extras from some zombie movie. Their palsied limbs endlessly performing the tics of their former occupations. Fingers hitting the reject button on applications for social security benefits and neck muscles shaking heads back and forth to signify another denial of application to delist a vernal puddle in a backyard as navigable water. But as lack of food slowly drains them of life they will expire on the sidewalk in front of various federal buildings across the country and when they decompose, they will finally begin to serve a useful purpose. In fact, I propose the repurposing of these former civil masters as fertilizer be given an appropriate name. How about the “Green New Deal.”
10OCT2020 – Quote of the Day
Jabberwocky
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Lewis Carrroll (pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)