Hitch contra Polanski & Applebaum

Here's some thought for one and all: I've always agreed how the Political Right could thunder against the likes of a Polanski, but was always confused when they somehow couldn't thunder against pederasts more broadly, whether they have a white little collar on; or for conservative Muslims, whether they sing into a megaphone 5-times/day or not.

The closing zinger paragraph of the article: In Iran—where the Islamic revolution originally lowered the age of marriage to 9—the minimum age is currently 13, though this is not among the laws that the Revolutionary Guards are especially zealous in enforcing. You may, if you wish, try to make a case for cultural relativism—different standards for different societies and traditions—but the plain fact is that the Prophet Mohammed was betrothed to his favorite wife Aisha when she was 6 and took her as his wife when she was 9, and this gives an "empowering" effect to those who like things to be this way and to keep it legal. Meanwhile, a leading prince of the American Roman church sits in the Vatican as a cardinal, having for decades facilitated and covered up the institutionalized sodomizing of the underage. I would rather live in a country where children are protected and their predators prosecuted, and even (which in Hollywood is evidently not always
the same thing) disapproved of.

Anne Applebaum stands up for a scumbag

The Feminine of Iran

The Iranian clerics know that women pose a profound threat to their authority: As activist Ladan Boroumand has written, the regime would not bother to use brutal forms of repression against dissidents unless it feared them deeply. Nobody would have murdered a young woman in blue jeans—a peaceful, unarmed demonstrator—unless her mere presence on the street presented a dire threat.

One Component of Tecumseh's Old Backyard, Today

...some of the most violent demonstrators were immediately identified—by Western observers and by local politicians—as members of the Moldovan security services. One observer told me that it would have been difficult even to get onto the roof of the parliament building without tools and preparation, let alone to put up a flag.

Orwell's Londonians?

This story is a little dated (well, for a current events rant blog), but just in case, I posted it. Check out how Londoners didn't respond to five little inches of snow. What's that in centimeters?

Russia's Chessboard that is Europe

The EU unifies to occupy itself, that is, Europe, but somehow can't unify to give Moscow a taste of Moscow. They still have quite the chess game going over there:

Putin still deploys "divide and rule" tactics to deal with Europe, making special arrangements for Italy, buying politicians in Germany, and cutting off the gas to Ukraine. And it works...

Anne Applebaum vs. AA, AI, and JJ?

In this article, Applebaum, a formidable intellectual and cultural warrior in Russia, lauds McCain, but critiques Palin and the anti-Intellectualism that unfortunately pervades, in this case, the GOP: strangely, it comes from the Evangelical Wing, what Mencken called the Bible Belt (it was originally a perjorative), from the folks who often say, "The only book worth reading is the Bible" without, mind you, ever even reading it[!]; the folks who believe that Agnosticism = Nihilism, not because they hang out with Agnostics or Atheists, but rather, they "know" this because their pastors and preists tell them. I'm not saying Believer = Intellectual Laziness. What I am saying is that if I'm going to have a conversation with someone who is willing to base their lives around, say, a Bible, then shouldn't they have command of that, and every great treatise or essay written about it, from St. Augustine up through Aquinas up through Luther's Table Talks and even the crazed John Calvin and, in the New World, to the idealistic-religious John Winthrop?

If intellectual laziness is tolerated in one's own party, how can America expect to continue on a Benjamin Franklin Path when that said party is elected?

Applebaum on Russian Babes

Anne Applebaum is onto something here with hot Russian women. She breaks down beauty by ethnicity, noting the Tartars and Mongolians as well. Just to footnote Applebaum's claim: from my empirical studies over here, yes, Mongolian women certainly increase the beauty factor, bringing attributes such as high cheek-bones and beautiful round eyes to the gene pool.

Applebaumism: Beauty is a matter of luck, but the same could be said of many other talents. And what open markets do for beautiful women they also do for other sorts of genius. So, cheer up next time you see a Siberian blonde dominating male attention at the far end of the table: The same mechanisms that brought her to your dinner party might one day bring you the Ukrainian doctor who cures your cancer or the Polish stockbroker who makes your fortune.

Opera-ian Politics & America

Anne Applebaum exposes the absurdity, this time not in Russia, but America: the need for spouses of American politicos to moderately parrot their husbands (or wives) before national and international audiences. Of the recent "debate" that 5 of the potential first ladies had, Applebaum calls it all very Opera-ellian:

Applebaum: "The result? There was Michelle Obama, an impressive woman who has put her career on hold to attend events like this; Elizabeth Edwards, who gamely endures this sort of thing despite her cancer; and poor Jeri Thompson, who admitted to sheer terror ("I'm afraid of embarrassing Fred … you don't want to let everybody down"). Nothing of relevance was said, of course. How could it be?"

...but they felt good about doing it.

Nice article, Anne.

Putin's Crucifix Not Confusing the Apple of Truth...

While Mohommad flies wildly in the crater of Civilization, remember to keep an eye on those Bear Bombers, fellahs...

Slate.com drops the double-hammer on the London bombs

Two links to read (except for you, Pepe: don't read this stuff).

1.) Between London and Baghdad: Vigilant Traffic Wardens, Trusted Police Officers, and Women Who Complain," by Russian Historian and Journalist, Anne Applebaum. According to Applebaum, the Stiff Upper Lip and British Bulldog are alive and well.

2.) ...and, The Brit-turned-Yankee himself, Christopher Hitchens. Hitch is calling out the attempted London bombings as an attack directed at the ladies.

Hitch also psychoanalyzes Planet Pepe, and Pepe's support for the feudal system of Islamocracy: "Liberal reluctance to confront this sheer horror is the result, I think, of a deep reticence about some furtive concept of "race." It is subconsciously assumed that a critique of political Islam is an attack on people with brown skins."