The Greek Problem

The economic discussion of this is all well and good. I was struck however with a picture of a young man wearing a gas mask with an upraised tall cylindrical stick in a charge at a riot policeman. He reminded me of one of those mythological man and horse combinations. It is clear that these people have an outrageous sense of betrayal. Who or what has betrayed them? It is said that there is a lot of tax evasion and entitlement disappointment in the country. Let us assume they are (to some extent) thieves. Bonnie and Clyde never gave the impression when they were robbing banks that they were mad at the townspeople for not putting enough money in the bank. Take an image of the Greek in the movies, Zorba the Greek. Asked by the Englishman if he has been married, he said, 'Yes, the whole catastrophe,' indicating that he was familiar with and accepted the financial loss of a family. What he didn't lose however was that he was the philosopher, the Delphic oracle, yes, and honored.

We have asked, 'Who are these people, the same genetic stock that created Athens and the beginnings of mathematical and scientific knowledge and democracy?' The answer may be that they ask themselves the same question and feel that they have betrayed themselves. Events remind them of that and they are enraged. Bismark saw this a century and half ago perhaps which is why he said the Balkans 'Weren't worth a Pomeranian(?).' In contrast it is a tribute to the Jews that they can be 'folded, spindled, and mutilated' and create a successful country.

Gloria Kaminer argues that cultural analysis is needed in the Weiner case. I have been struck that this is needed. Some say that the women who got his messages felt 'special not sleazy.' They would add that they were only angry when they found other women were getting them. Peggy Noonan has called his actions 'pornographic. ' Megan McArdle objects to them in that he was 'cheating on his wife.' I suppose this does imply that there was some (perhaps wanted) intimacy between Weiner and the recipients of the messages. Someone commenting on the TNC blog said* 'Weiner's ability to be such an effective attack dog for Democratic causes was deeply tied to the same arrogance that led him to make such huge mistakes.' The 'attack' in his twitter messages strikes me as putting the recipient in a sleazy relationship with Weiner and like the 'first rule of picking up girls which is to put them down' (so that they can then move on to recovering their virtue in your eyes). In that sense it would bear an analogy to the political attack, e.g. 'You're a racist, homophobe' unless, of course, you agree with what I say. But, to go back to the beginning, were the messages pleasing or not?

There Be Dragons

Here are Dragons.

The movie starts with a recreation of a medieval map including sea animals and 'Hic sunt Dragones' which I translate above. I appreciate two criticisms here as an opportunity to dialogue. 'It is two hours of preachy, turn the other cheek.' To quote from the movie Josemaria, 'Cervantes said," Our biggest dragons are within us," ' As far as not taking action, my daughter said, 'I thought the fascists were supposed to be bad? That is why I was confused.' Few would prefer the communists after watching this movie. The communists obviously threw out the Cervantian insight along with the other myths of Spanish Catholicism. There is a Jew who plays an insightful and creative role in Josemaria's development though lord knows how he found himself in that Catholic Spain. It has an essential historical accuracy in the words of the communist brigade leader, 'Our leaders argue in Madrid and send us nothing.' Stalin saw that factionalism as the cause of failure and instituted his late 30's purges on that basis. Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie?, does a great cameo role discussing dragons with the children. The physiognomy of Robert Torres well matches his father. I wonder which side is rushing past Manolo as he surrenders. My favorite abutted scenes are those of the girl who has ?PTSD who tells Josemaria she sees him climbing a mountain and his struggle next over leaving Madrid. The deus ex machina, one a bit too important, plays a role in his leaving.

It doesn't appear that Mr. Kissinger ever read "Wild Swans" or the biography of Mao by the same author, Jung Chang. - comment on the review of On China by H. Kissinger.

British News

Queen Elizabeth went to Ireland last week; this was reported in the Wall Street Journal:

"To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy," she said at a state dinner hosted by Irish President Mary McAleese. "With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all."

It was the only the only public address of her Irish visit, which is seen as a journey of reconciliation to Ireland.

Three plus hours of the Royal Wedding are available here on YouTube. For me it was partially of interest, as I commented at Catholic Analysis because:

Not on my knowledge but on someone from that tradition, the wedding is said to be of the form and have hymns of a very traditional Baptist church service (alteration of the Mass). I believe Baptist practice derives from Free Church practice in England; free being free of Church of England rule but retaining it's liturgy and theology. From an administrative point of view Henry VIII was well prepared to take the role he did. He was the second in line growing up and thus was educated in Church matters, e.g. liturgy and music, while an older heir apparent was raised in military matters.

A nice story of the Obama Mama.

An apparently good book by South Vietnam's generals on the VN war is discussed. I ave read Sorely's history which is good.

HuffPo has a nice interview with Mitch Daniels, first time I hear him speak.

Well that was a short romance. I was inclined to vote for Obama for a week. Started with Abbottabad, the death of Osama bin Laden, and ended with the executive order that all businesses applying for government contracts have to list their political contributions. Why anybody would prefer a USSR system to an open economy like Chile is beyond me. Besides it's dangerous.