Noa Pothoven is Gone

by Sam Tobin, June 12, 2019

I read a Tweet the other day, from a prominent pro-life activist I greatly admire. The Tweet mentioned a Dutch girl who had been euthanized in The Netherlands. Here is Matt Valliere, from Fox News on this seemingly tragic story from Europe. To be fair, here is the New York Intelligencer's report, as well. It is interesting how divided this story has become, but as a week or so has passed, it is clear that Noa died from starvation...and no one at her family home, nor any doctors that knew Noa's history and what was going on, tried to stop it.

Abortion: The Real Issue

I can do what I want, because I am God

by John Russell Turner, June 4, 2019

Abortion is not the real issue (although a deadly serious one). I'll get to that later. But first, a definition recap:

There are essentially two basic questions in the abortion debate, and one basic premise:

Question One, "when does human life begin?" can be easily answered. It begins at the moment of conception, that is, at the moment when the sperm fertilizes the egg and cell division begins.

Question Two: "when do human rights begin?" can be easily answered, as well. Human rights begin at the moment a human being is conceived, again, at conception. Why? Because we are human. What are human rights? The right to live, which in this context means the right not to be killed, to continue on with his or her development until natural death occurs. Some would argue for other rights, but for the purposes of this argument, let's stick to the most fundamental of rights, the right to live, because without this right, no other rights can exist.

Basic premise: it is morally wrong to kill other people for any reason other than self-defense.

The Worst Betrayal of All

by John Russell Turner, May 27, 2019


The prevailing "argument" these days of pro-abortion people is to point to some other problem (usually children who are in orphanages, or going hungry), and then say something like "100,000 homeless babies, and you're worried about an embryo", etc., etc. Of course these are two very different issues: one is the problem of childhood poverty; the other, of killing defenseless unborn babies. I choose the abortion issue to worry about, because it is heinously cruel, and brutally evil to kill a defenseless unborn human being. I'll let others fight to help homeless and hungry born children, for I am only one person, as we all are, and I can't right all the wrongs in the world. I must, out of necessity, choose my battles. To say "how can you fight so passionately for the rights of the unborn when so many born children are suffering?" is in essence claiming that the unborn are not human-but they most certainly are! Science, reason, logic-and our consciences-says that human life begins at conception. Therefore, unborn babies have the right to live, and we all have the moral obligation not to kill them. They need someone to defend them.

You Owe Me, Brother

Pay Attention, and Get Busy

by John Russell Turner, May 22, 2019

OK, pal, I'm here to educate you on some basic realities. Listen up:

There is no objective reality; everything is subjective. Mankind is influenced solely by the culture he grew up in, the groups he belongs to, and ultimately, by the contents of his stomach.

I am convinced of the superiority of my moral views, because my professors at college told me so.

We'll Kill You if You Disagree

Power for the sake of power

by John Russell Turner, May 21, 2019

In this post, I am making no attempt to try to convince Leftists to change their minds about their beliefs. For many of them, their minds are made up. This post is like preaching to the choir, but in stark, explicit terms, so everyone understands what's really involved here. It's the battle between good and evil, and believe me, evil people are expert at posing as good. So let me define my terms. 1. SECULAR: Evil=the refusal to think. Good=the acceptance of thinking as a necessity. 2. RELIGIOUS: Evil=all that which is against the will of the Judeo-Christian God; 2. Good=all that which is in accordance with the will of the Judeo-Christian God.

The useful idiot Leftists have a plan that will benefit all of humanity, insure equality, and advance the evolution of humanity to new and better levels. Because Leftists proclaim to care about the plight of the poor, the oppressed, and the down-trodden, they believe their morals and characters are beyond question, debate, and reproach. And if you happen to disagree with any of their beliefs, they'll kill you, or silence you. If you point out that their Che Guevara T-shirts glorify a man who was a well documented killer of hundreds of innocent people, they will turn shrill in their denunciations of your own character and moral stature. If you point out that their ideology has led to literally millions of human corpses, they will attack you in whatever way they can hurt you-and silence you-the most. They are so sure of the moral superiority of their beliefs that they will listen to no debate, dismiss all disagreement, and proceed to destroy you in any way they can. They are like children who cover their ears and scream "la la la la" over and over to drown out their parents telling them "no". The video below is an excellent example of this mindset:

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Best Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers videos

Goodbye to the Big Bang Theory

Just received news from my Facebook feed that after twelve seasons (a record), The Big Bang Theory was airing it's final episode.

What a great show, filled with laughs, good times, and great story lines. From the very beginning, I was hooked by the concept of the series: the trials and tribulations of the super bright and nerdy. Then there was the surprising array of celebrity guest appearances: Sara Gilbert, from Roseanne ; Summer Glau,the actress who played the Terminator Cameron on The Sarah Connor Chronicles; Laurie Metcalf, also from Roseanne; Charlie Sheen, from Two and a Half Men, Courtney Henggeller from Happy Endings; George Takei, from the original Star Trek; comic mogul Stan Lee;  Deadwood  actor Keith Carradine; Carrie Fisher, James Earl Jones from Star Wars, et al. 

10 Evil, Irrational, and Narcissistic Pro-Abortion Quotes

by John Russell Turner, May 16, 2019

TODAY I'M GOING TO GO OVER THE FAVORITE DEFENSES, RATIONALIZATIONS AND QUOTES of the pro-abortion crowd.  Let's get right into it.

1. It's my body, I can do with it as I please/Keep your politics off my uterus, etc.

Yes, princess, it's your body, but inside your body is another human being. Yes, the baby is dependent upon you, but also separate and distinct from you. Since your unborn baby is defenseless, your killing him or her is a particularly heinous, despicable evil made even worse by this lame rationalization.

There Is No Easy Answer

Reflection on the Illegal Immigration Issue


by John Russell Turner, May 11, 2019

Imagine if you will, a story about Ramon, Nora, and their child, Felipe. This family lived in Honduras, a country troubled by violence, poverty, and political corruption. Both Ramon and Nora lost their jobs because of lay offs in the manufacturing plant where they worked. Unemployed, neither one of them could find new jobs because the economy in Tegucigalpa (the capital city of Honduras) is bad. Soon their savings account was depleted, and the family was evicted from their apartment in the city. Desperate, they decided to flee their country and head to the United States, where they heard there is plenty of work. Some people in the city were organizing a caravan of other people who want to work; some for basic survival, others to keep their families together. They joined this caravan, and in due course, arrived at the US border. This is a typical story behind many of the people seen here in El Paso/Juarez, and at Laredo, Nogales, Tijuana, et al. They have no desire to hurt anyone; they only want to work and be with their beloved families. Such is not possible in their native countries, and this saddens them, for who likes to leave the land of their birth, their culture, and their ancestors?

Really Great Classical/Symphonic Music

My Favorite Classical/Symphonic Music Videos

Abortion? That's a Good Thing!

by John Russell Turner
May 9, 2019

Some women and girls who consider abortion do so because they are faced with extreme difficulties, should they carry their unborn babies to term. This does not justify aborting the unborn baby, because that would be murder. There are alternatives, however, and that's been briefly covered in another post in this blog. Today I am addressing another motive people have in choosing and or supporting abortion.

"We're proud to kill unborn babies!"

Some of you may have read the news story about Planned Parenthood supporters crashing a Students for Life event at The University of Texas in San Antonio. For those of you who haven't, very few mainstream news outlets carried the story, but here it is in a nutshell.  Also, here's the story from Breitbart.

Encore: Wolf Alice - Lisbon

Alright, just a few words on this one: the amazing contrast between the lyrics, and the subject of the video. This one is my personal favorite, a song so beautiful, so evocative of positive emotions...but at that same time, profoundly disturbing:



Feel like running, feel like crack
Feel like going out and smashing windows...I'm smashing windows.

And in a black, black hole deeper than death,
I would wait for you there just give me the breath to say it
Back together...

Click here for a great live performance of "Lisbon"

Click here for more info on Wolf Alice, in their own words

Dr. Jordan Peterson

Peterson interviewed by Cathy Newman

The Antidote to Chaos, and Psychobabble

by John Russell Turner

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson is a clinical psychologist, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, author, lecturer, father and husband who has caused, and continues to cause, quite a stir on the Internet. His YouTube channel has over two million subscribers, and most of his videos have been viewed millions of times per day. He has written three books. His most popular book, 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos has sold well over three million copies, but I haven't been able to get a more accurate number from my web research. Most of the figures I did find were around three million, and that seems plausible. Dr. Peterson has toured the world promoting this book, and there are numerous critiques of it available on-line.

I first heard about Dr. Peterson three years ago, when he was embroiled in controversy over his opposition to Canadian Bill C-16, which requires Canadians to use the "preferred pronouns" of transgendered (and other) individuals, or face legally imposed sanctions. This caused a firestorm of controversy, although Peterson's opposition was based solely on the fact that Bill C-16 was and is compelled speech, and as such, antithetical to the concept of free speech. In other words, if you refuse to use the pronouns people want you to use when referring to them, you could wind up in jail. Although jail time was not mentioned in the Bill, but fines were, what would happen if you refused to pay such fines? You'd go to jail.

Dr. Peterson reacting to protester

This infamous "Bill C-16 Incident" was how most people first heard of Dr. Peterson, and he was the subject of a whole hell of a lot of Google searches, and that is how people came to discover the fact that he had, long before the controversy over Bill C-16, posted hundreds of videos on-line about a variety of subjects: the psychology of totalitarianism/collectivism, his fascinating university lectures, the psychology, types, and origins of personality, the psychology of religion/spirituality, rational (common sensical) self-improvement, free speech, male/female relationships and male/female differences. Also, a book titled Maps of Meaning, The Architecture of Belief, which was, in effect, a rational attempt to explain human psychology in terms of ancient archetypes and myths. Suddenly, Dr. Peterson had a large number of people who were intensely interested in his ideas, and many people credit him for helping to vastly improve their lives. In fact, Dr. Peterson's work has been called the "gateway drug to Christianity' by many who were once agnostics or atheists.  I was not an atheist when I first encountered Dr. Peterson on the web, but his work did encourage me to quit being on the fence about it. Millions of people love this man for his incredible passion and intellectual honesty in covering the topics I listed above. The thing that really got me hooked was the point he made about evil living inside of all of us, so to speak, about everyone's ability to do heinous evil, and the peril one faces when this is ignored or not confronted. He asks his students and listeners: what would you have done if you lived  in Germany during the aftermath of World War I? If you were supporting a beloved family, but the only work you could find was working for the Nazis, would you? This thought gave me pause, and got me thinking about true humility and what it entails. As for the majority of his other

admirers, the free speech issues raised with Canadian Bill c-16 was the hook.

As you would expect, Dr. Peterson has many detractors on the Left, and the interesting thing about that is Peterson has become a mirror upon which you can clearly see the vile projections these Leftists unknowingly place on him. In other words, his ideas brilliantly illuminate the evil, twisted rationalizations of most Leftists, especially the post-Modernists. Dr. Peterson's work is sometimes shocking, even astounding, for he reveals the psychological nudity of Leftists who are so wrapped up in The Lie (malignant narcissism) that they cannot see it for themselves. Do you want to change the world? Make sure yours is in order first, the good Doctor advises. Clean your room. Pet a cat or dog whenever you encounter one. Always tell the truth, or at least, don't lie. Sound, solid advice. It's about time! His scathing excoriation of feminists who promote ideas such as rape culture and toxic masculinity is almost embarrassing to witness-many men have claimed that Peterson opened their eyes to the idea that it's OK to be male. Actually, Dr. Peterson's message is that it's OK to be a human being, and that's a message a lot of people need these days.

Watch this interview with Cathy Newman from England's Channel 4, and you will get an excellent overview of the Peterson phenomenon, along with the pathetic nature of his critics. This video was at one time the most viewed video on YouTube.

Featured Video: Wolf Alice, "Giant Peach"

Wolf Alice is a four piece band from London, England, fronted by mercurial lead singer/guitarist Ellie Rowsell. "Giant Peach" shows the band's expertise in musicianship, a classic jam-song sure to impress fans of any genre. For more info on the band, here is their official website.

To watch the video, which is the absolute best of the live performance videos out there, click here: Wolf Alice-Giant Peach

To watch the band's official video, click here: Wolf Alice/Vevo

New/Beginner Chess Videos

I've made a playlist of some of the better chess videos on the Web. If you are new or just beginning to play the game, these will help.

How to Play Chess, for New/Beginners

Lia Mills, Pro-Life Feminist

Lia Mills won over a lot of people when she made a speech defending the unborn-when she was 12 years old. Since then, she's continued her activism for the unborn, and has extended her interests to other issues concerning human life and the quality of human life. Intelligent, articulate, and well educated, Lia is worth listening to if you are interested in these subjects, from whatever side you are on.

Pro-Life Lia Mills YouTube Channel

Lia Mills web site

Abortion is Not Your Only Option

Yes, there are safe, sound alternatives to abortion if you find yourself with a troublesome pregnancy. Click on the link below for more information. These people will not shame you, judge you, criticize you, nor violate your confidentiality.

National Right to Life

Global Chess Festival Web Site

The link below will take you to the Global Chess Festival website. Chess grandmaster and legend Judit Polgár sponsors this event.

Global Chess Festival

Eric Burdon and The Animals - When I Was Young

For Erich Ferger

Hello, Erich, I am writing this to you in the hopes that one day you'll come across it, and read it. A shout-out across cyberspace, if you will.

First of all, I feel proud of you, a precise feeling that simply means I am pleased to know you are doing well, and have some awesome accomplishments to your credit. Two beautiful sons, a beautiful wife, a career in the Air Force-I heard that you just recently became a tech sergeant. Congratulations! Good job! Oh, and I also heard that you are teaching children how to play chess-nice! Chess is an excellent game to teach children, for it contains a lot of practical lessons for living life in the real world.

I wish you and your family the best, and I hope you continue to succeed and prosper. Maybe we can play a game of chess. You can find me on chess.com as "jrturner" and/or "johnrussellturner". I've learned how to play a much better game since last we played, and I bet we can have a good game or two. Wow, that would be great!

This is a recent picture of me; I took it last week while doing some on-line research (aka "YouTubing") at the local library here in Tucson. Right now, I'm about to go to chess.com and see if I can get my rating above 1500-I play blitz chess only. 10 minute games are the most fun, but sometimes I enjoy a five minute blitz.

Well, so long, dude. I'll always have a place in my heart for you. No matter what. I think of you from time to time, and I wonder what you are like, what you are into these days. I imagine you're quite busy raising your family! Don't ever be discouraged or doubtful that you are on the right path. God bless you, Erich Ferger, and keep you well!

Social Justice: A Null Term

Here is the Google dictionary's definition of social justice:

Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. "Distribution of wealth" is a phrase that has no part in any serious discussion of justice. Distribution of wealth is up to those who produce it. Then there's this, a typical bromide heard in social justice circles:

"Individuality gives way to the struggle for social justice"

"Individuality gives way to the struggle for social justice?". Excuse me, comrade? Then who acts? Whose struggle? Whose justice? Why should individuality give way?

Communists do not like to be specific when engaging in rhetoric or polemics. They prefer to intimidate you into becoming a true believer. That is the case with the null term "social justice", null, because it means nothing specific, relative to justice (in fact, it has nothing to do with justice at all). It carries a certain amount of clout, however. Everyone on the Left gives it lip service; it seems to be a noble goal, and besides, to argue against it would be like arguing against world peace, or puppies and kittens. There are problems here with specificity: who belongs to society? Answer: no one individual, and everyone in general (except yourself). If social justice pertained to individuals, then we all could lay a claim, based on justice, to a mansion in Bel Air. Or perhaps we could just lie around all day, smoking weed, and demand a house, electricity, food, clothing, and free Internet-in the name of "social" justice. What is just, who decides, and who passes out the goodies? And again, who is society? Everyone, except individuals? No, the collectivist answer is: the sum total of all the useful idiots, brainwashed automatons, and imprisoned captives who all believe, or pretend to believe, in the State as the benefactor of mankind.

On Inclusion and Social Justice

Inclusion? Social justice? What do these Leftist values mean, actually? Can I get a definition, please? I'm just wondering what a Leftist would say if I asked him for a definition.

Inclusion is, as far as I can tell,  the principle that no one, regardless of race, creed, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or for whatever reason, should be excluded from... what? government programs? private businesses? an individual's free choice of association? I would imagine a Leftist would say "no one should be excluded from educational, economic, or social opportunities, because of who they are." Excluded, by whom? Everyone, but the elites? (there goes freedom of personal choice). And when a Leftist claims he wants to be inclusive, does that include Christians, who believe that Muslim radicals should definitely be excluded from civil society? Christians, who believe that homosexuals should be excluded from the institution of marriage? Conservatives, who believe tyranny should be excluded from the government? Or how about someone who simply disagrees with the Leftist agenda?

No, when it comes to disagreement with them, Leftists are amongst the most exclusive people in the world. Especially if you're a Christian. And tell me something, just exactly when did "inclusivity" become such a sacred principle? Also tell me, if someone doesn't want person type x into his business, the principle of inclusivity says he doesn't have that right, even if he is the owner of that business?

"Social justice" is another amorphous, vague, and  ultimately meaningless principal. Ask any liberal what it means, and you'll get a mishmash of Leftist bromides for an answer. Near as I can tell, it refers to the principal that no one should want for the basic necessities of life (as defined by lefties), which means: lefties want to take your shit and give it to a poor person. If no one should want for life's basic necessities, who then will give it to them, if they are needing it? What if some people would rather keep their shit for themselves? It's the Gulag for those selfish bastards, comrade. Or the firing squad.

Social justice destroys property rights; inclusion destroys property rights. To Hell with that, and with the lunatics who believe their fucking concern for the poor makes them morally superior, and entitles them to forcibly take the property of one man, and give it to another. Or to force their values on others.

Self-Honesty and Emotions

The most important thing in my inner life is not my feelings, but self-honesty. Many times I've acted as if my feelings were more important than my values, and suffered for it. All that's OK now, for I have learned to question every feeling I have, and to check the premises of the thoughts those feelings are based on. Self-honesty! Thoughts are at the basis of all emotions, and it is very beneficial ( although not always easy) to take a good, self-honest look at why I think what I think about something. This will help me (and you) deal with troublesome emotions, for often they're based on an irrational thought or  two. It's worked for me. Do I really value x, or am I just giving mental lip service to x? Or worse: pretending to value x in order to manipulate others.

Group Think

Some individuals value their ideals more than they do human lives. "You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet", they say, meaning that some will be sacrificed (or outright killed, in some historical cases) for the sake of their ideals. But human beings are not eggs, and at the precise moment whenever any idealist talks about such sacrifices, he has left the realm of rationality, reason, and good will towards ones fellow man. No ideal is greater than human life.

Furthermore, no ideal is greater than any one man.

It is necessary to be precise here. For example, if you claim that the rights of society trump the rights of the individual, the obvious questions are: what are the rights of society? Who determines what rights society has? If society's rights consists of whatever the majority in that society considers to be rights, then rights become a matter of vote, to be granted or taken away at the whim of whatever group is in the majority. But consider the implications of such a view:  individuals exist at the permission of the group; the right to life is granted by those who are living; no one man is of any importance by himself, but only as part of a group. If this is so, then men are not free. They are dependent upon society. They are, we are so often told, "social animals". Again, who decides what is in the best interests of society...if it is not the mob currently in majority, is it not some dictator who issues proclamations that all must obey (or become an omelet)?

I know what freedom is. It is independence. It is being alive and beholden to no one for one's right to be alive. It is independence from others, part of which is simple self-sufficiency. I need no one's permission to live, and in a perfect world, I would need no one's permission to keep whatever I earn or make.

Sacrifice for the greater good is one thing-but it is I, as an individual, who makes that decision and no one else has the right to tell me what or who I should sacrifice my life for. And besides, if I give my life for what I consider a greater good, that is not a sacrifice at all. But if I die for "society's" (i.e., someone else's) concept of a greater good, and I don't agree but do so out of a sense of duty, then that is a sacrifice. I am a slave when I make sacrifices of such a nature, at the mercy of society, a mere serf with a bought soul.

The US v. China?

A little while ago, I wrote a piece for my young son, Erich Ferger, about making a difference in the world. I was just re-reading it. What stood out this time around was the point I was trying to make about changing the world for the better. Make the world free!

Any form of collectivism/statism (socialism and its' variants, communism, totalitarianism) must ultimately fail, and often the result of this failure is massive human bloodshed, and/or massive human starvation.

The fact is that here in America, we shall soon see people dying of starvation on the streets, just like in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. We  now have well over a century and a half of proof, the sordid results of the leftists insane dream to create a Utopia. The end result of socialism/collectivism is societal, governmental and cultural collapse.

But here's a thought: if the Chinese abandon their communist government and embrace freedom, meaning they drastically reduce taxation and regulation, remove burdensome restrictions, decriminalize specific human behavior, involve the population in electing legislatures and executives, and encourage the investment of capital-if the Chinese have the sense to do this, to embrace free market capitalism, then it would be only the Chinese who could prop up our leftist, socialist policies after we go broke. Wouldn't that be ironic?

Thoughts about New Orleans: A Rant Written While Drinking Coffee in New Orleans at Home

There is a feeling you get when coming in to New Orleans, either by car or by plane. It is the feeling of entering another world, or even another dimension of existence.

New Orleans Saints

The following is a re-post of an article I wrote some time ago, right before the Saints won the Super Bowl.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

I have been a New Orleans Saints football fan all my life. That hasn't always been easy. For many years, the Saints had losing season after losing season. There were times when fans in the Superdome wore bags over their heads, in mock shame over their team's poor performance. Of course, these bag-headed fans were at the game, cheering the Saints (the "Ain'ts") on anyway.

But this year has been differant. This year, I've been moved to strong emotion over this edition of the Saints, with guys like Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas, Robert Meacham, Reggie Bush, Mike Bell, Darren Sharper, Jonathan Vilma, Jeremy Shockey, hell, the whole team playing to an unprecedented 13-3 season.

By "strong emotion", I mean a curious mixture of pride, joy, and happiness that something so meaningless as a football game could make me cheer with unbridled passion. I was there with the rest of them, screaming like a lunatic, actually getting angry if the referee made a bad call, or the opposing team scored. I like what talk show host Limbaugh said when someone asked him why he liked football so much. He answered: "well, I'm like most guys in this. Most guys I know love to watch football, because it allows them to spend unlimited amounts of passion, with minimal or no consequences." That's me alright. Yeah, it's just a game, but it's the SAINTS! and I love 'em! And my! Was it a spectacular ride, or what? Who can forget the nail-biting win to the Redskins in OT?... being behind 24-3 to the Dolphins?... slugging it out with the Carolina Panthers in the Dome?... losing to Tampa Bay (!?!), also in the dome?... beating the Patriots on Monday night football, with the whole nation watching... The Saints offense rose to the top of the NFL, and our quarterback Drew Brees is or was the number one rated passer in the league. Yes, this season was great, far beyond my expectations, and if the Saints make the Super Bowl, that's just gravy...particularly tasty gravy.

But there's more to it than being a fan. The best way for me to illustrate this to you is to imagine the Superdome filled with proud Saints fans, all shouting their joy to the heavens, making a noise so loud that the sportscasters on the field cannot hear each other. Many outsiders have commented on the unique ferocity of our loyalty to "The Boys". Nowhere else, they say, have they found fans more vocal and more supportive. You can hear it if you watch them on TV. For some reason, when I see the Dome packed with thousands of fans, all or nearly all of them filled up with the team spirit in a collective voice like thunder at the end of the world, I feel an enormous uplifting in my own spirit, more proud than I've ever been to be a
New Orleanian.

Thank you, Sean Payton and team! And well, well done! Now, we're with you in the playoffs!

A Confederacy of Dunces

My story on the Ignatius J. Reilly statue yesterday had about seventy or so hits-much to my surprise. I forgot to tell you all why the hotel moved the statue in the first place: so the Mardi Gras people wouldn't kidnap him, or damage the statue in any way.

Ignatius J. Reilly is Back!

Ignatius J. Reilly

TODAY has been an interesting day today, so far. Let me tell you a story about why, but first, let's go back two weeks from today, OK?

Two weeks ago, I was walking up Canal Street, probably thinking about Mardi Gras, when I passed the Chateau Bourbon Hotel just past Bourbon and Canal. Some of you might remember what this place used to be-the old D. H. Holmes department store ("meet me under the clock by Holmses, baby").

Well, "Holmses" went away, the Chateau Bourbon filled the empty building, and some sweet soul put up a bronze statue of Ignatius J. Reilly (photo at left) in the veranda right there in front of the hotel entrance. For those of you who don't know who the heck is Ignatius J. Reilly, he's the central character in a fiction/satire novel about his life in New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces. This book, one of the funniest I've ever read, won the Pulitzer prize, and became required reading at UNO by the time I got there in 1982. And the reason why his statue is in front of the Chateau Bourbon/the Old D.H. Holmes is because of the first scene in the novel. Ignatius is supposed to meet his mom there, under the clock.

Bolero

I remember well the first time I heard Maurice Ravel's classic Bolero. As it so happened, I was at a coffee shop called "Rue de la Course" on Magazine Street in New Orleans, drinking espresso, and finishing up a story I was working on. The shop always used to play some type of classical music over their sound system, and that day was no differant. Although I usually ignore classical music whenever and wherever I hear it (except when I'm driving), I heard a gentle, lilting melody that sounded somewhat mysterious, even alluring.I barely even noticed that there was music playing in the background, but as I've said, the melody was good, kind of catchy even, not quite like a pop tune but more like an old folk melody. My attention was immediately drawn by the fact that there was a light, but somehow militaristic drumbeat in the background, a steady rhythm that beat relentlessly but unobtrusively on, with a light, deft touch that again reminded me of a pop song.
I became really engrossed as I slowly became aware that the song was steadily picking up in volume (and rhythm), but at a measured, controlled pace. I sat there at my table, my story forgotten, listening to this piece in delighted enjoyment. I am always thrilled to discover good new music, and this was indeed very good. At first, the melody and counter melody was played by the lighter wind instruments, i.e., the flute, clarinet and piccolo, but as the volume ever so slowly increased, differant instruments picked up the tune, and all the while, that same relentless drumbeat kept up a steady and precise rhythm. I was totally gone, lost in this orchestral tour de force. I could see pictures in my mind, and also, I got the sense that the music was heading to an inevitable violent climax, but in the meantime, the violins picked up the beautiful melody, and now, all was joy and unbridled passion. And then came the brass instruments...soon, the entire orchestra was thundering in an unbelievable frenzy, clear, precise, measured...and the drumbeat still beat on and on. I probably forgot to breathe, for when the music came to an abrupt climactic end at the crashing of a tympani-drum, I sat there breathless and stunned. Involuntarilly, I said, "what the hell was that?" I looked up, embarrassed, and saw the pretty countergirl smiling at me in understanding. "That was "Bolero", she said.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

MARDI GRAS IN NEW ORLEANS is fast approaching-Mardi Gras day is Tuesday, February 21. Are you thinking of coming to town to see the world's greatest free show? There are all kinds of things for you to consider. Where will you stay? If you live close by, and are planning to drive here, where will you park?

Unfortunately, all the hotels, motels (including the flea bags), flophouses, bunkhouses and camp grounds are all filled up. And if you are lucky enough to find a parking spot, you'll wind up walking a good distance to the parade routes.

So are there alternatives? Yes. You might get lucky and find a room in town, but beware-you're going to pay a lot for it. Try New Orleans Craiglist.com, or contact a travel agent and ask her if she knows if any of the locals are offering their homes, or rooms within their homes-for rent.

Although Mardi Gras day is Tuesday, the serious partying starts the Friday preceding. It's a long weekend: Friday until Wednesday morning (Ash Wednesday), there are lots of parades and festivities. And all of them free!

I recommend finding a spot on St. Charles Avenue, between Louisiana and Jackson Avenues. Canal Street will be packed solid. If you get there early enough, you'll be able to stake out a claim. I usually go early in the morning the Sunday before Mardi Gras, find a spot on the "neutral ground" (median), and pitch a tent. I bring food (food along the parade routes is abundant, but not cheap), scaffolding (to better see the parades, and catch more beads), and plenty of cold beverages in the cooler. There are abundant Port-a-Potties along the parade route on St. Charles, especially between Louisiana and Jackson Avenues. Parking is usually available in the adjacent neighborhoods, but be careful of restrictions (just look for any signs that restrict or forbid parking).

Random Thoughts on New Orleans Over Morning Coffee

There is a feeling you get when coming in to New Orleans, either by car or by plane. It is the feeling of entering another world, or even another dimension of existence.

New Orleans Could Have Been Spared: The Consequences of Environmentalism

It's been almost six years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans-and the city is still recovering. The 2010 census for Orleans Parish shows 343,829 people; the 2000 census gave the number at 484,674, a drop of almost 141,000. That's about the size of Metairie, the largest suburb of New Orleans, or of Bridgeport, CT., Savannah, GA.,  Sunnyvale, CA., et al.

So it's not an exaggeration to say that Katrina was an apocalyptic event for New Orleans.

Class Warfare...Again?

When will the Left come up with some fresh ideas? They're trottting out their Marxist class warfare schemes...again!

Very recently, there's been a lot of focus in the mainstream media on the class warfare concept, a term used by key Republicans to describe Obama's economic strategy.

"Class warfare" originated as a Marxist term. It was used to describe  what would happen when the poor got sick and tired of being exploited by the rich. "Workers of the world unite!" In popular parlance, it refers to political rhetoric that appeals to envy and resentment.

It goes something like this:

"Joe the Millionaire pays a lower percentage of taxes than his secretary!"

"The rich have to pay their fair share of taxes, too. And they should be willing to pay more, since they're rich enough. A few extra dollars won't hurt them!"

Discredit the Left Now

So you want to help people-you see the media images of the starving and destitute, read about the mass scale of human suffering in the world-and you want to "make a differance", to do something to help. That is a noble sentiment. It is something conservatives and liberals agree on.

However, liberals and conservatives do not usually agree on the means to these noble ends. As for myself, I favor addressing the root causes of these symptoms with far more resources than we use right now. Most of our time and money is spent on addressing the symptoms. We send money and food to the starving and homeless. We give those things that destitute and sick people need right away. That is good. But the problem doesn't go away, and in many instances, becomes worse.

How To Profit From the Death Panels

A Horrible Consequence of Socialized Medicine!

"How to Profit From Death Panels", by forensic psychologist Helen Smith

Dr. Smith's latest blog entry goes into chilling detail about one of the consequences of a free lunch, er uh a free health care system.

Dr. Smith's blog is interesting, well written and designed, and informative.

Seniors should take note here: the death panels will be an objective reality.

Just In: Christians are Stupid

Despite 2 millenia of having, for the most part, turned the world from barbarism and savagery to reason and faith, Christianity is still looked upon by its critics as shameful and suspect. For example, for two thousand years or more, it is has been generally accepted by the Christian community as a whole that homosexuality is a sin, which means: if you engage in this behavior, you are distancing yourself from God.

On Music

First of all, please remember that music is marketed in the same basic process as any other product. What you see on the CD labels, commercials, advertisements and programs is designed to appeal to a specific audience. If the packaging appeals to a specific audience-if the marketing succeeds-then everyone involved in the production of the music wins. They make money, which is a good thing.

But, many times you will read a music critic blast a musician for "selling out", by which the critic usually means the musician has written music that appeals to a large number of people. This is "pop music", and a sure fire way to tell if someone's a sell out,  as if the musician were a greedy charlatan instead of a true artist. 

Social Justice

WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE?  If anything, it is an abstract, vague, and ultimately, meaningless term.  How can two abstract words like social and justice be linked together in any coherently objective way?  They can not... "social justice" means whatever any particular individual says it means, since it is an idea in someone's imagination of how the world should be. Who decides what is "socially" just or not?

Man vrs State: The Proper Role of Government

 by John Russell Turner

IT IS INFORMATIVE TO ASK WHY MANKIND INVENTED GOVERNMENT. It’s not a difficult question to answer: we made government because it became clear to all of us that there were some who just wouldn’t follow the rules. Some people will cheat. Some will steal. Some will commit crimes, break contracts, smoke in public places…wait a minute, smoke in public places? Is that something any government should be concerned with? 

Man invented government  to give a group of people the power to enforce the law,  and also, to run a military force.

David Horowitz: Opposing the Palestinian War Against the Jews

Leftists operate on the basis of doctrines that were discredited over the entire course of the 20^th century at the cost of 100 million innocent lives. 

                                                                                 -David Horowitz

The link below will take you to the transcript of a speech made by David Horowitz at an unidentified college campus. This is a good place to start if you'd like to know the truth about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/03/25/opposing-the-palestinian-war-against-the-jews/2/

Alternative to the Welfare State

Click the link below to read a piece suggesting a way to continue helping the poor, but at a greatly lower cost.

http://city-journal.com/2011/21_1_income-tax.html

The Latest Banality

It's getting to the point where if I see the phrase "spot on", I immediately begin to feel ill, so I ignore whatever else that person has written. Could all of you spot-on people out there read Orwell's Politics and the English Language, and let the things he writes about there influence your writing, instead of slavish imitation of celebrity jargon?

Honesty and the Left

The truth does not care whether or not I like it

I AM ASSUMING THAT THE PALIN HATERS feel the way they do because she is an uber-conservative, and apparently proud of it. I've thought about it a lot. Why do Leftists hate conservatives? Is it because conservatives believe in God? No, most Leftists merely feel smug disdain for anyone who believes in a higher power. Is it because conservatives believe in individual rights and freedom? Or is it because we all have embraced what they struggle so vainly to deny, and so embarrass them in comparison?

What have conservatives embraced, and Leftists denied? Reality.

THE ESSENCE, THE CORE OF ALL CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY is an unflinching, uncompromising embrace of reality. Conservatives do not claim to have some special grasp of what is real and unreal; they are merely honest about it. That is all. That is the root of conservatism. Is this why the Leftists hate us? Because we are real, and our real-ness illuminates their pretense at everything, from self-esteem to civility?

Leftists seem to say "I wish it, therefore it is so" when they try to defend their doctrines and policies.

Honesty: leftist policies put into practice are disastrous. The experiments in socialism, for example. Can you say...(gasp!) National Socialism? Soviet Russia? Mao-ist China? Pol Pot? Despite the repeated failure of that darling of Leftist thought, Leftists continue to embrace it, explaining away the millions of people who were murdered by their government.

Honesty: we conservatives are not infallible, we do make mistakes, but what do the Leftists offer us as an alternative to capitalism? A system of government that must exile, or outright murder dissidents. A system of government that requires us to be sheep, all equal and undifferentiated, while they act as the benevolent shepherds (but the slaughterhouse is where they are leading the sheep).

I was in Seattle when the WTO riots took place there. I saw the bastards with my own eyes. They quite obviously enjoyed breaking windows at Starbucks more than they cared about their alleged agenda. Radical leftists cannot be honest, for if they were, they would have to kill themselves, because death-for themselves and for others-is at the root of their beliefs.

A College Education?

Good news: Study confirms that college is pretty much a total waste of time « Hot Air

But at least the students leave college fully indoctrinated with Leftist agendas!

The Emerald City: A Surprisingly Mild Place to Be

It is not the perfect climate, nor is it much of a tourist draw, but Seattle, Washington has a climate you would not expect for being so far up North. The latitude here is 47 degrees north, the same latitude as northern France. We are about a two and a half hour  drive from the Canadian border-yet even so, snow fall in Seattle is rare (some seasons it doesn't snow at all), and the average temperature the past few days has been in the upper forties-lower fifties (I am writing this on January 17). But don't get me wrong-ever once in a while, the temperature drops into the twenties. Also, with the prevalent rain here, winter can be cold, damp, and dreary-but rarely as cold as, say, Chicago or even New York City. Temperature-wise, it's a bit like Memphis, Tennessee in the winter time. Except for one crucial fact: in Memphis, it rains occasionally. It Seattle, it rains constantly.

Seattle has such a mild climate because of it's location in a huge valley, with the Cascades to the east and the Olympcs to the west. Running through the center of this valley is Puget Sound, an arm of the Pacific. Just off the Pacific coast, a warm current moderates the temps, and the mountains block cold Arctic air from having much of an effect.

A tropical paradise it's not, but Seattle's climate is remarkably mild. The only trouble is the rain. Anyone visiting the Emerald City should take an umbrella.

As for the character of the city itself, it is marked by an astonishing prevalence of courtesy and friendliness-Seattle is quite civil, unusually so. The setting of this city is spectacular; downtown rests upon a  hill overlooking Puget Sound, and when the sky is clear, Mt. Rainier, perhaps the most perfectly shaped volcano on Earth, looms over all like an ominous stone idol.

Beautiful, clean, high-tech, space age, and  über-liberal, Seattle is unique and distinctive.

The Politicization of Tragedy

The recent massacre of several people in Tucson, AZ has been used by many on the Left as an excuse to vilify the Right. The link below is an excellent expose of the hypocrisy of such a claim, and instructive, as well:

Michelle Malkin » The progressive “climate of hate:” An illustrated primer, 2000-2010

Revolution: The Great Depression II

by John Russell Turner

"Most disasters are politically understandable."

 -Dr. Thomas Sowell

The root cause of the present economic depression?
Left wing ideology put into practice.

The cure for the present economic depression?
Free market capitalism.

The chances that this will happen, i.e., that Congress will start the lengthy process of cutting back on the size and continued growth of government-and removing most of the regulations on the free market-are anyone's guess. The emergence of the Tea Party Movement is encouraging, for they support  a free market, limited government agenda.

But the opposition is fierce, well funded, and well organized.

Dutch leader tests free speech - Campus News - Terrorism Awareness Project

Dutch leader tests free speech - Campus News - Terrorism Awareness Project

The Root of Left-Wing Ideology

"I do not have a monopoly on the truth, the truth has a monopoly on the truth."

by John Russell Turner

LEFT-WING: A BRANCH OF POLITICAL THOUGHT THAT HOLDS THE BELIEF IN THE ULTIMATE SUPREMACY OF THE STATE.  The power of the state should be used to help the poor. And this is how it is currently done: take(tax) the property of others in order to have money to give to those whom the state deems poor.

Thus we see clearly that violence is at the root of all Left wing social policies, for what recourse does the State have if an individual would prefer to keep his money, rather than have it given to someone else? The money must be taken by force, and most certainly will be. The ends (helping the poor) can not and must never justify the means (theft, euphemistically called taxation), for if that is so, then anything goes if the ends are sufficiently compelling.