On...The Summer Campaign

Peggy Noonan (per usual) gives precise insight into the Presidential campaign.

Noonan

Trex Adventures: Easter 2012

Trex Adventures: Easter 2012: I just found this post that I started but never posted so Happy Easter, in June! This Easter the girls and I spent at my parents' hous...

Love it. Thanks

On...BEST ALBUMS OF 2011

Since I have a brief moment before the new year, I will present my favorite albums of 2011 in descending order.

10.) Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi ~ Rome
9.) Foster the People ~ Torches
8.) Florence & The Machine ~ Ceremonials
7.) Cake ~ Showroom of Compassion
6.) Fountains of Wayne ~ Sky Full of Holes
5.) My Morning Jacket ~ Circuital
4.) Adele ~ 21
3.) The Decemberists ~ The King is Dead
2.) Ivy ~ Distant Lights

and

The Best Album of 2011

1.) The Black Keys ~ El Camino

Budget Fairy Tales, Left and Right

I haven't posted in a while but I felt this article was worth posting. The article is succinct and worth every word.

Budget Fairy Tales, Left and Right

On..."Earned Success"

A few articles to share. It's been a while.

First Michael Barone ties together a number of ideas to formulate an idea that is overall pretty basic but is often ignored.
Barone writes

• They want public policies that enable them to earn success, and they resent policies that channel money to the politically well positioned or to those who have not made decisions and taken actions necessary for earned success. They want to be empowered, not patronized.

• (Walter Russell) Mead makes an even stronger point when he writes that "for large numbers of voters, the professional classes who staff the bureaucracies, foundations and policy institutes in and around government are themselves a special interest." One, he adds, that acts "only to protect their turf and fatten their purses."

Americans Want the Honor of "Earned Success"

The Tea Party's rise and success has been linked to both of these points, but especially the second one. Government has become a massive special interest and for those on the outside-looking-in resentment has been growing for some time. Continually throughout US history the people have rebelled from what they deemed an unnatural growth (and abuse) of power consolidated in one group's hands i.e. slave holders, Gilded Age capitalists, urban political machines. In all three cases, the federal government was strengthened to destroy (slave holders) or reduce (capitalists, political bosses) these power grabs. Now, the very monster they created to protect the republic is now seen by a growing minority to be the threat to the republic.

If there is one person who needs to be read it's Walter Russell Mead. His last few blog posts have been awesome, especially

The Writing on the Wall

It perhaps is the best long essay I've read all year.

His latest American Tinderbox is also very interesting.

On...A Wonderful Birthday and an Unhappy Birthday

Robert Samuelson continues to be a great voice in our Republic's present skirmishes. The linked piece may be a tad pessimistic on a glorious day for our nation, but he really is presenting a reality that many of our citizens are ignoring. Along with William Russel Mead he is in a smooth groove.

I particularly loved the bit about the reactionaries versus radicals. I think this is becoming truer and truer.

Unhappy Birthday

On...Hilarious Historical Comedy

This bit from Jimmy Fallon is over a year old now but I love it. Inane historical humor. My AP students tend to get a kick out of it after we study the Manifest Destiny chapter.

Gadsden Purchase from Michael G on Vimeo.

On... Sipping Gas in the Faculty Lounge

Victor Davis Hanson presents some interesting points about Obama and his administration in regards to the high price of gas and their disconnect with middle-class reality. He doesn't include it, but I also think they've drunk from the Tom Friedman school of economics: only super high gas prices will force us off the teat of foreign oil. They never say this too strongly in public, but you only need to connect the dots.

Obama, Gas Prices & the Faculty Lounge

On...Ceilings of Debt

Shouldn't it be a basement of debt? Anyway, this graph is pretty amazing, and scary and I don't know what we're going to do. Where in the hell is all this money going? I think we could have filled the Grand Canyon by now.

NationalJournal.com - GRAPHIC: 10 Years, 10 Broken U.S. Debt Ceilings - Wednesday, April 13, 2011

On...Backbencher in Chief

I love the continuous small insights from the Chicago journalists who knew President Obama best from his Illinois days. Their contempt for the Chicago Way is powerful, but I don't think it necessarily blinds them to the truth. Obama was a shadow rising in the ranks on image and hope and not substance. He was a backbencher. He learned the game to his credit and hit the jackpot. Unfortunately for us he's the leader of the free-world and his abilities are more and more rhetorical. The quotes in the article below truly are telling. He reminds me of the Godfather when Michael tells Tom Hagen that he's out of the major decision making because he's not a wartime Consiglierie. Obama is not a wartime president. Well, I'd rather have Tom Hagen than Obama. Hagen got a raw deal though he wasn't as ruthless as Michael or Sonny. Obama is becoming an egghead Fredo. Nobody wants that. Nobody wants a backbencher for POTUS.



While Obama searches for clarity, we're plunged into another war

The second article is Maureen Dowd's new one on the women who are giving Obama a spine.

Fight of the Valkyries (Obama's ladies of war)

On..Taking a Bogey

There does seem to be this nonchalant caste about the POTUS in terms of the major issues of his day. He's not Carter, because thankfully he's not as whiny. But I agree with Goldberg that he is certainly not Ike. The quote that really hits home in this article is "The real problem for Obama is not that he likes his exercise. It’s that he’s acting like an employee who thinks he’s too good for the job." I think this is a real astute observation. I've been that guy before and it isn't becoming. It's sad that Obama fits all the stereotypes of the left-wing intellectual, especially when things aren't rosey and he's not praised for being such an awesome human being from every spectrum of the globe. It's his demeanor, his attitude. Take the press conference when he announced we would support a no-fly zone in Libya. It was like he just had to get through this and do something else. I watched a few minutes of his NCAA women's bracket picks on ESPN and he seemed to be having the same issue. It wasn't as apparent but it was there; the college professor trying to act like he is having a few beers with the proles down at the local pub. If this pub isn't in Ann Arbor or Madison or Berkeley he's a dork.

He will go for second term because he has to, not because I think he really wants to.

The President Takes a Bogey - Jonah Goldberg - National Review Online

On...2012

It is still a bit early to get the carnival started again but I would have to agree with this assessment.

2012: Yes, maybe, and unelectable - The Boston Globe

My present order of interest is currently:

1. Mitch Daniels
2. Tim Pawlenty
3. Jon Huntsman
4. Mitt Romney (If there is no one else)

And for the Dream and a Prayer who can be drafted late: General David Petraeus.

VP-Pick: Chris Christie (He's the bulldog you need. This should be a no-brainer. He would tear the hell out of Joe B.)

On...Oscar Parties

Well, it took 15 years but our Oscar Party was finally covered by the press, the Oakland Press. They put together a small 4 minute (unedited) flyby of the festivities. Good for a novelty. So without further ado. . .

On...Mitch

I know he doesn't fire up a crowd with lofty rhetoric, but his central message is solid and firm. I don't know if can win, but he has my attention

Mitch Daniels

Daniels Offers Tough Love to Conservative Crowd

Teasing for a Run

From NPR

On...Top 5 Films of 2010

BEST FILMS OF 2010

I watched 19 films that were released in theaters between Jan 1, 2010 and the end of the year. This is certainly down from the late 90s where I viewed between 40 and 50 per year. Not too bad considering I have a few more responsibilities now. I didn't get a chance to see The Fighter, Black Swan, or The Kids Are All Right that have gathered a lot of buzz, but those are the breaks. I limited it to 5 since movies like The Other Guys would have probably sneaked in (funny film but should not find itself in such company).

So here are the TOP 5 FILMS of 2010:

5) True Grit By Joel & Ethan Coen.
I don't know where this film will end up on the list after it settles. I just viewed it today and Coen Brother films tend to need repeat viewings to fully appreciate. I have to admit I wasn't originally taken with either Big Lebowski or Oh, Brother Where Are Thou? Boy has that changed. That aside, True Grit is a solid movie: funny, hard edged, a fabulous yarn from beginning to end. Best western since Open Range.

4) Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part I by David Yates.
Raw and stunning. After rewatching Half-Blood Prince a few nights ago I have even more appreciation for the latest Potter film. Deathly Hallows is richer and darker and takes care of the characters on a deeper level than the previous films. Maybe this is because they have more time to nurture Rowling's prose with two movies. Either way it is a great introduction to the coming finale.

3) Inception by Christopher Nolan
The last 30 seconds deny this film the number one spot, but from beginning to end it is a visual treat and I can't complain in the face of such layered filmmaking. It also proved that you don't need 3D to blow an audience away. I don't know how Nolan and his brother pieced this dream-factory together, but the sheer audacity is breathtaking.

2) Toy Story 3 by Lee Unkrich.
Pixar makes cathedrals out of digital film. This company is the Babe Ruth of motion pictures. One home run after another. I haven't cried and laughed so much since, well, since Up.

1) The Social Network by David Fincher.
Never has a film gripped a viewer and flung them roaring for an hour and a half with nothing but dialogue, acting, and multiple lawsuits. Fincher has come a long way from Alien 3. This is a tour de force on numerous levels. (It even made Justin Timberlake a real actor) It may leave you with more questions than answers, but this movie is immensely enjoyable. A time capsule of the mid 2000s.

On...Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats - ...

Really neat. The 4 minutes fly by.

On...Fallen Indian

RIP Indians Legend Bob Feller

Bob Feller footage from OleMissCub on Vimeo.

The more I read about him the more I'm impressed. So much that this is my first post in 2 months. I wish I had more good news about the 2011 Indians. Boy could they use a Bob Feller. Once in a century product however.

From Cleveland Plain Dealer

An American Icon

War Hero

ESPN's Collection of articles and videos

New York Times and all the Bob Feller related Links

On...The Shovel Incompetent

Jonah Goldberg digs up the non-sense, flim-flam that was the Obama "shovel-ready" dream. He also lays out more evidence of what many of us already knew: he was woefully unready for President. Unfortunately the PR President's ego is so huge I don't even think the Nov. Mid-terms will wake him up.

A Shovel-Unready President

On...Losing the Political War

From Time Magazine. A decent breakdown of the POTUS's slide.
Why Obama Is Losing the Political War

On...Political Tornadoes

Peggy Noonan examines the political winds and the internal struggle of the Democratic Party caught in stagnation and cynicism. The Twister of 2010