Piers Morgan Kindly Volunteers to Deport Himself

I wrote about the Brit Piers Morgan here, where I make a call to deport him.

Well, Morgan, feeling the hostility, volunteers to leave all on his own. Isn't he generous!

Here is what he says in a Daily Mail article which he authored:

In conclusion, I can spare those Americans who want me deported a lot of effort by saying this: If you don’t change your gun laws to at least try to stop this relentless tidal wave of murderous carnage, then you don’t have to worry about deporting me. Although I love the country as a second home and one that has treated me incredibly well, I would, as a concerned parent first – and latterly, of a one-year-old daughter who may attend an American elementary school like Sandy Hook in three years’ time – seriously consider deporting myself.

Good riddance.

Happy New Year!

John Singer Sargent
Pomegranates, 1908
Oil on canvas
22.5 x 28.5 inches

You Stupid Man

An Indian immigrant in Canada, with wife and child.
Eventually, this family will grow considerably.
And the "Canadian-born" children will pine after
a country - Indian - which they never knew, but
which they cannot separate themselves from.
Such is the multicultural invasion that is
occurring in Canada.

The story behind this photo is here.

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I've written before about a changing Canada, a really transforming Canada, where almost everyone I walk by in the streets, in the malls, in the restaurants, is a non-white, Chinese or Indian (there are actually very few blacks in the major city centers, since most blacks stay in their neighborhoods either in the northern part of the city or in the Scarborough township of the Greater Toronto Area. Plus, there are much fewer blacks compared to other non-whites in Canada).

Yesterday, I was in my local Walmart. I like Walmart. It is a store established for cheaper goods, and even has a reasonably good grocery. Many of the products are Chinese made, but right now we have to survive, and boycotting Chinese goods will come with time (I can assure you).

I notice that these Chinese and Indian immigrants have no real etiquette. They talk really loudly, walk around in large groups taking up whole sidewalks, have no consideration for "side walk" etiquette of moving aside as someone comes towards them. And the men have no courtesy toward women.

Yesterday, I refused to cede my "path" to an approaching Indian man, as usual. He walked right into me. I just kept walking on.

The man ran after me with, "You stupid woman!" He had a distinct Indian accent. I turned around and said, automatically, "You stupid man!" He was red-hot furious, and lunged towards me as though to attack me. I was standing in line by then, and just turned around away from him.

In a flash, he realized what he was doing. Did he really want a scuffle in Walmart? I was clearly standing there ready for his confrontation. He skidded into a halt, stood for half a second watching me, then went about his way.

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I've said before that we are going to have to do a lot of fighting as we figure out what to do with this invasion of Indians and Chinese "immigrants" who have no intention of assimilating, and are working now decidedly to change the country and culture to their advantage.

One obvious strategy is of course to reduce all immigration into Canada, including the so-called "education" and "economic" immigration, where candidates are accepted by the amount of financial investment they bring with them, and the level of education they have acquired. This should be strictly kept with Asian immigrants (Indian and Chinese), who seem to be the highest applicants for this kind of immigration, and less so for European immigrants (British, and even Polish and Russian). Refugees from Africa and Latin America can be accommodated in nearby countries (Somali refugees in Kenya or Ethiopia for example), and eventually returned to their countries of origin when war and other crisis situations have subsided.

How about the ones already here? And not only the ones already here, but their offspring who now call themselves "Canadian"?

One proposal I've made is to find incentives to send these immigrants and especially their "Canadian" children back to their original countries, either through monetary gifts, or by inter-governmental arrangements through employment centers and universities. And to make their stay in those countries permanent. In other words, once they accept these incentives, they cannot return back to Canada without a formal re-application for immigration. The acceptance of re-applying immigrants can be fine-tuned to reduce the re-acceptance level to a minimum, and preferably to zero.

The other strategy is to phase out and eventually remove "multiculturalism" in Canada, both legally and culturally. The Canadian documents which profess Canada to be a multicultural country should be revised, and state the Western, British nature of the country. All multicultural programs, whether on television or in other media institutions, schools, employment centers, and even business areas like shopping centers and restaurants, should be phased out. If a business wants to go "multicultural" as in a French restaurant wanting to be "French," then it is up to the business to make that happen, and not some special government fund.

This true Canadianness will either be accepted or rejected by these immigrants, and their descendants. I would say that the majority of non-whites will reject it. This unwelcoming environment will eventually become difficult for them. And with the combination of strategies provided above, they will start to leave on their own. Already, Chinese and Indian immigrant off-spring are "re-acquainting" themselves with their ancestral countries by traveling there for vists, and some are staying and re-establishing their lives there.

The alternative is that there will be a confrontation between immigrants (this is now a generic word I will use for all non-white immigrants - first, second, third, etc. generation) and whites. Immigrants will refuse the white, European and Western nature of Canada, and will fight to have it resemble their own conditions. Whites are now beginning to realize what they've lost, or are losing, and will begin to start to reclaim their land and culture, since especially after their decades-long acceptance of these others, all they are getting is epithets of "racist" and "prejudiced" by these same immigrants.

This may take some time, but with incremental changes, and a combination of all the strategies and scenarios above, it may be sooner than we think.

The Queensboro Bridge

I posted on a Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel PBS special yesterday. One of their songs talks about the 59th Street Bridge in New York. The bridge is also known as the Queensboro Bridge.

I found the following photographs of the Queensboro Bridge online, in all its glory. It was called the ugly duckling of bridges next to the swan of the Brooklyn Bridge. The New York Times praises it in a 2009 article "To Fans, Queensboro Bridge Is a Steel Swan, Not an ‘Ugly Duckling’." And I also see only powerful, and even elegant, steel in the following images.

Feelin' Groovy

Feelin' Groovy at the 37.20 minute point in the video

My local PBS had Simon and Garfunkel's Songs of America documentary on last night. They get to sing several songs, while on a road trip together. The bickering between the two is as much fun to watch as their performances.

I didn't know Garfunkel was Jewish. He looks like a Germanic American, tall, blond with curly hair. His voice is surprisingly sweet, whereas the short Simon (Paul, isn't Paul a Christian name, and especially that Paul?) is more aggressive. Garfunkel is 6'0 to Paul Simon's 5'3.

I used to listen to these songs in college. My favorite was Feelin' Groovy, which until I watched the documentary, didn't know it was also called 59th Street Bridge Song. The 59th Street Bridge is also another, colloquial, name for the Queensboro Bridge.

[The Queensboro Bridge is a] collaboration between the bridge engineer Gustav Lindenthal (1850-1935) and architect Henry Hornbostel...[T]he main bridge is 3,725 feet long, the longest of the East River Bridges. The overall length of the bridge including the Manhattan and Queens approaches is 7,449 feet.
Source: NYC Bridges. Read more here.

Here's what Paul Simon says about the song:

"I spent most of the year 1965 living in England, and at the end of that year in December, I came back to the United States, 'The Sound Of Silence' had become a big hit, and I had to make this adjustment from being relatively unknown in England to being semi-famous here, and I didn't really swing with it. It was a very difficult scene to make, and I was writing very depressed-type songs until around June of last year. I started to swing out of it, I was getting into a good mood, and I remember coming home in the morning about 6 o'clock over the 59th Street Bridge in New York, and it was such a groovy day really, a good one, and it was one of those times when you know you won't be tired for about an hour, a sort of a good hanging time, so I started to write a song that later became the 59th Street Bridge Song or Feelin' Groovy."

Feelin' Groovy

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.

Ba da, Ba da, Ba da, Ba da...Feelin' Groovy.

Hello lamp-post,
What cha knowin'?
I've come to watch your flowers growin'.
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' groovy.

I've got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all it's petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy.

The short, informal, guitar-strumming rendition of Feelin' Groovy, which looks like the duo is working on in a hotel room, is at the 37.20 minute point in the top video.

And below is a later rendition:


And the beautiful. melodically complex, English folk song, "Are you Going to Scarborough Fair, around the 20 minute point in the video at the top of the blog, and a later (1981, Concert in Central Park) rendition below:


Scarborough Fair

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

On the side of a hill in the deep forest green.
Tracing of sparrow on snow-crested brown.
Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain
Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt.
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
Without no seams nor needle work,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.

On the side of a hill a sprinkling of leaves.
Washes the grave with silvery tears.
A soldier cleans and polishes a gun.
Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.

Tell her to find me an acre of land.
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
Between the salt water and the sea strand,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.

War bellows blazing in scarlet battalions.
General order their soldiers to kill.
And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten.

Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather.
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
And gather it all in a bunch of heather,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.

And below Bob Dylan's Girl from North Country, which,

Bob Dylan came across Scarborough Fair when he visited England in the early sixties but he never recorded it. Instead, he used it as the inspiration for a new song, Girl from the North Country, which he released on his album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963.

Girl From The North Country

If you're traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
For she was once a true love of mine.

Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm
When the rivers freeze and summer ends
Please see for me if she's wearing a coat so warm
To keep her from the howlin' winds.

Please see from me if her hair hanging down
If it curls and flows all down her breast
Please see from me if her hair hanging down
That's the way I remember her best.

Well, if you're traveling in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Please say hello to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine.

If you're travelin' in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine.

Feminine Art at the American Folk Art Museum

Woman at Table with Parrot
Artist unidentified, United States, c. 1901-1920
Reversed painting and embossed foil on glass
7 1/2 x 8 3/4 in.
American Folk Art Museum

[I managed to get a copy of this piece printed on a large postcard for a mere $2.50]

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One of the places I briefly visited in New York was the American Folk Art Museum. There was a tiny, but crammed, exhibition called: Foiled: Tinsel Painting in America. Here is the website's description of this exhibition:

Tinsel paintings are reverse paintings on glass with smooth or crumpled metallic foil applied behind translucent and transparent areas; when viewed in candlelight or gaslight, the effect was one of shimmering highlights. In the first half of the 19th century, tinsel painting was taught to young women whose parents were dedicated to providing refined education for their daughters and paid for such special classes. By the mid- to late 19th century, the art had expanded outside the school curriculum, and instructions proliferated in books and were advertised in women’s magazines. Its origins are related to forms developed in Renaissance Italy, 18th-century China and France, and 19th-century Austria, England, and Germany. Floral imagery predominates, as botanical copy prints and patterns were often employed. Especially appealing today are rare works that combine a variety of techniques and materials, including photography and collage.

Below is a PBS video, Tinsel Painting in America, on the exhibition. Lee Kogan, Curator Emerita at the American Folk Art Museum, gives a tour of the exhibition.

"Stupid is as Stupid Says"

This is the photo I posted this morning, after seeing the lovely dusting of snow outside my window. It had snowed all night. Is this the sign for global warming?

The idiotic Elizabeth May, an import from the US, and leader of the Green Party of Canada, was on the T.V. last night, where I think it was the CBC that showed a video of her presenting a statement on climate change to the House of Commons on December 10, 2012. I stayed on to watch her incoherence. Below is the video:



According to Wikipedia, she has:

indicated that her path towards becoming an ordained minister with the Anglican Church does not clash with her role in the Green Party of Canada

Just what we need, another female Anglican Church minister [more on May on Wikipedia].

I entered into a discussion with a liberal family member, despite my rule that I don't enter into political and cultural discussions with liberal family members (as I wrote here), but she was exceptionally bad, and the family member started the argument by saying that we will know in thirty and forty years the worth of Elizabeth May, when she will prove this right.

Such is the ideologically fuzzed out brain of liberals. "She will be proven right in thirty years."Why not next year, even this year. How about last year? Our modern scientists are so ignorant and incompetent that they cannot even give us some idea of this Armageddon within a foreseeable future.

To paraphrase Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid says."

Left: Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada
Right: Future (?) Reverend Elizabeth May, of the Anglican Church of Canada

Winter Rooftops

[Photo by KPA]

Deport Piers Morgan, Redux

Here is the petition to deport Piers Morgan, titled: "Deport British Citizen Piers Morgan for Attacking 2nd Amendment."

There are currently 80,767 signatures, which have surpassed the 25,000 needed by January 20th, 2013.


Video or the Executive Director of Gun Owners of America, Larry Pratt
on Piers Morgan's show

Above is the video of the obnoxious British Piers Morgan "interviewing" the Executive Director of Gun Owners of America, Larry Pratt on December 18, 2012. I keep calling Morgan British because he has still retained his British citizenship, and he has the audacity to say to the American Larry Pratt, in his own country,"You're an unbelievably stupid man, aren't you!"

Piers Morgan didn't dare call Barbra Streisand "You're an unbelievably stupid woman, aren't you!" because he knew he would get it back by the mouthful from that feisty American (here is the blog post, "Deport Piers Morgan, Despite His Kid Glove Handling of Barbra Streisand," I did on that interview).

But Morgan let it loose with the well-mannered and soft-spoken Pratt, who nonetheless remained undeterred, and provided his cogent arguments for gun ownership, not allowing Morgan to speed ahead with his insults.

Below is a panel interview on Morgan's show on December 20, 2012 where he brought on John Lott, the author of More Guns, Less Crime, with leftists Christian Amanpour and Deepak Chopra. The calm and reasoned Lott is once again attacked by Morgan who yells at him to "stop lying!" And of course "journalist" Amanpour's opinions and feel-good-new-agey author Chopra's mantras count for more.



Piers Morgan: R.I.P.

The Conclusion to Deconstructing a Boehner Photo: Guilty Republicans, and Liberals Never Look or Act Guilty

Guilty Republican
Larry Auster, at View From the Right has this entry, which he titles: "Guilty Republicans":

Mark P. writes:

Check out the image of John Boehner on the Speaker of the House web page. I have never seen such a weak and unflattering image.

LA replies:

He’s doing his job as the leading Republican office holder in the country, which is to be nice and weak and guilty-looking. How can Republicans be strong, since they have no truth, no distinctive position or worldview that they believe in as opposed to the Democrats’ worldview? The Republicans are not anti-liberals; they are incomplete, imperfect, and foot-dragging liberals—hence their weak and guilty appearance.
By making it appear that the only opposition to liberalism consists of foot-dragging, Republicans affirm the rightness of the liberal agenda. That is their very function within the liberal system.

Kidist Paulos Asrat writes:

From your post:

"The Republicans are not anti-liberals; they are incomplete, imperfect, and foot-dragging liberals—hence their guilty appearance."

I’ve never seen a liberal put on a guilty appearance when stating his position and belief. Even when an argument ensues, the liberal expects me to submit cowering and defeated.

I’ve often resorted to silence to avoid arguing to the bitter end, which to the liberal means I’ve ceded the argument to him.

So now, I simply don’t enter into arguments with liberals. And this eventually means I will have only minimal interaction with all liberals, and those will involve some sort of formal civility to get things done. This will ultimately have to lead to an existential battle, which I think will surprise liberals, since they expect us to be sitting ducks.

Deport Piers Morgan, Despite His Kid Glove Handling of Barbra Streisand

I watched Piers Morgan's show on CNN last night since he had on the formidable Barbra Streisand. This British immigrant to America was no match for for this great American, and he knew it, since he toned down his usual nasty questioning method with her. He still got back some from this legendary Jewish woman, who is sadly using her great energy to support Obama for president.

What is it with these British immigrants? Look at that awful Simon Cowell of American Idol, where irate contestants tell him to "go back to England" - in one hilarious episode, a contestant told him to "go back to France," which under normal eras would have been appropriate, since opportunistic Englishmen wouldn't have been so openly un-American.

Barbra Streisand's legendary status is well-earned. We got a glimpse of her formidable voice during the interview, as well as her formidable (Jewish) personality.

There is a movement to deport Morgan for his:

“hostile attack against the US Constitution” by targeting the Second Amendment.

I agree. And why not Simon Cowell while we're at it?

Don't Rain on My Parade

Queen Elizabeth's Coronation, and Her Coronation Gown

Illustration of the coronation gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II,
with embroidered emblems of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth

The actual gown, a little more subdued than
the original illustration

Close-up of the embroidery

Description of gown's the embroidery:

Every country in the Commonwealth at the time was represented: the Tudor rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the leek for Wales, the shamrock for Ireland (despite the fact that by that time only Northern Ireland remained), wattle for Australia, the maple leaf for Canada, the fern for New Zealand, protea for South Africa, lotus flowers for both India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute. Unbeknownst to the queen, a single four leaf clover was added on the left of the dress, just where her hand would brush throughout the day. In order to carry and distribute the weight of all the embroidery, the dress was lined in taffeta and three layers of horsehair.[Source: The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor]

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PBS had a brief program on Queen Elizabeth's coronation yesterday. I managed to catch the name of the gown's designer, and have posted above an illustration of the gown on the new Queen.

The program was a rebroadcast of a CBC tape. The commentator on the program called the event both a religious and a national event.

Below is the video of the coronation (after several seconds of commercials).


There were several interesting things about the event:

- The ceremony was taped in black and white by the national BBC, but more independent broadcasters taped it in color. The tapes for the event were secretly sent to Canada, with heavy protection, so that the event could be viewed first in Canada (part of the British colony at that time) rather than to the United States, where British organizers were sure that the Americans would make fun of the event.

And they did.

NBC had a segment in its Today Show where chimpanzee Fred J. Muggs was asked during a commercial break during the Communion service of the coronation: "Do they have a coronation where you come from?" [Source: The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume IV: Sound and Vision, by Asa Briggs, online in Google Books, p 433

CBS was no better with:

- Elizabeth removes the robe she wore upon entering Westminster, and she is anointed in a simple white gown. She then wears the traditional golden canopy as she says the oath.

- The recipe for the Anointing Oil contains oils of orange, roses, cinnamon, musk and ambergris. Usually a batch is made to last a few Coronations. In May 1941, a bomb hit the Deanery destroying the phial containing the anointing oil so a new batch had to be made up. The pharmacy that had mixed the last anointing oil had gone out of business but the recipe was found and the oil made [source: 5 facts about the Queen's coronation].

- The ceremony took place in Westminster Abbey. Here is a transcript of the service. At the beginning of her procession into Abbey, the Canadian commentator says of her:

Elizabeth is led here in solemn procession to be anointed Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God and the United Kingdom, Canada, and the other realms of her territories, Queen, head of the Commonwealth, defender of the faith.

- Crowds waited in the rain for as long as five hours to get a glimpse of Elizabeth as she exited Westminster and drove to Buckingham Palace. [See video at the 15:40 - 19:40 mark] 

- She goes on the palace's balcony with her family, and greets the crowd as their new queen. [See video at the 19:45-to the end].

This site has a transcript of the service in Westminster. It is divided into these parts [I've added "read more" for more information on each section at the site]:

I. The Preparation In the morning upon the day of the Coronation early, care is to be taken that the Ampulla be filled with Oil for the anointing, and, together with the Spoon, be laid ready upon the Altar in the Abbey Church...[read more]

II. The Entrance into the Church The Queen, as soon as she enters at the west door of the Church, is to be received with this Anthem: Psalm 122, 1–3, 6, 7.

III. The Recognition The Archbishop, together with the Lord Chancellor, Lord Great Chamberlain, Lord High Constable, and Earl Marshal (Garter King of Arms preceding them), shall then go to the East side of the Theatre, and after shall go to the other three sides in this order, South, West, and North, and at every of the four sides the Archbishop shall with a loud voice speak to the People: and the Queen in the mean while, standing up by King Edward's Chair, shall turn and show herself unto the People at every of the four sides of the Theatre as the Archbishop is at every of them, the Archbishop saying: "Sirs, I here present unto you...Are you willing to do the same?" [read more]

IV. The Oath [T]he Archbishop standing before her shall administer the Coronation Oath, first asking the Queen, "Madam, is your Majesty willing to take the Oath?" And the Queen answering, "I am willing," [read more]

V. The Presenting of the Holy Bible [read more]

VI. The Beginning of the Communion Service [read more]

VII. The Anointing The Creed being ended, the Queen kneeling at her faldstool, and the people kneeling in their places, the Archbishop shall begin the hymn, VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS, and the choir shall sing it out. [read more]

VIII. The Presenting of the Spurs and Sword, and the Oblation of the said Sword [read more]

IX. The Investing with the Armills, the Stole Royal and the Robe Royal: and the Delivery of the Orb. [read more] The Delivery of the Orb [read more]

X. The Investiture per annulum, et per sceptrum et baculum Then the Keeper of the Jewel House shall deliver to the Archbishop the Queen's Ring, wherein is set a sapphire and upon it a ruby cross: the Archbishop shall put it on the fourth finger of her Majesty's right hand [read more]

XI. The Putting on of the Crown [read more]

XII. The Benediction [read more]

XIII. The Enthroning [read more]

XIV. The Homage [read more]

XV. The Communion Then shall the organ play and the people shall with one voice sing this hymn: All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice; Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell, Come ye before him, and rejoice. The Lord, ye know, is God indeed, Without our aid he did us make; We are his folk, he doth us feed, And for his sheep he doth us take. O enter then his gates with praise, Approach with joy his courts unto; Praise, laud, and bless his name always, For it is seemly so to do. For why? the Lord our God is good: His mercy is for ever sure; His truth at all times firmly stood, And shall from age to age endure. To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, The God whom heaven and earth adore, From men and from the Angel-host Be praise and glory evermore. Amen. [read more]

XVI. The solemnity of the Queen's Coronation being thus ended, the people shall stand, and the choir shall sing: Te Deum Laudamus [read more]

XVII. The Recess [read more]

Merry Christmas!

This is a decorated shrub, formed to look like a tree, which I took at the Toronto Allan Gardens Conservatory Christmas Show a couple of year ago. In front are the ubiquitous, but always lovely, red poinsettias.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Kidist

View From the Right 2012 Christmas Dinner Photos

I took photos of the December 2012 VFR Dinner venue, Kennedy's Bar and Restaurant. I gather the restaurant is named after President Kennedy, since the restaurant has a room called The JFK Grill Room, and the image gallery shows photos of JFK on the walls of the Grill Room.

I didn't take my camera with me on the night of the dinner since one of the guests said she would bring hers (a much better camera than my out-dated one), and I assumed she would be taking photos of the group.

I went back to Kennedy's Restaurant the following day to take the photos below. There were many things I liked about the back room, called The Library, where we had the dinner, including the gold and red wallpaper, the Christmas wreaths, the paneled walls, the lace curtains on the doors, and of course the bookshelves.

Here is how the restaurant's website describes The Library:

[T]he intimately elegant Library beckons for private events. Kennedy’s and the JFK Grill Room, a winning and winsome marriage of two time-honored New York City institutions – the Irish pub and traditional steakhouse – in the heart of midtown Manhattan’s vibrant West Side.

It is a warm and inviting place.

Below are the photos I took:


Christmas decoration and lightly glowing sconces on gold and red wallpaper.



I'm not sure if these are Irish lace, but they provided an intimate, and aesthetic, cover from the loud pub out front.



I didn't use my flash for this photo, but let the light from the room lighten up the picture. I think the shelves are of cherry wood, and that warm reddish color gives added intimacy and warmth.

This is how the room looked when we were there.



I used the camera's flash to take this photo.



The shelves still have the deep reddish hue even with the bright flash.



I looked on the bookshelf, and I found a book on JFK: Kennedy Justice by Victor S. Navasky.

Here is what Amazon.com writes about the book:

Nowhere was the clash between idealism and expediency that characterized the Kennedy brothers more apparent during their years in power than at the crossroads of the American legal system, the Department of Justice. This story of how the moral measure of their leadership was most severely tested - how boldly were imperiled liberties championed; how effectively were overlords of corruption prosecuted; how wisely were judges picked; how well, in short, was justice served - has never been told before. Until this book.

Wikipedia has more on Navasky here, including this:

In 2005, Navasky was named chairman of the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR). This appointment engendered some controversy; as Navasky's name did not appear on the masthead, critics on the political right saw this as hiding that, despite the magazine's purported lack of political bias, a "major left-wing polemicist is calling the shots at CJR without any mention on the masthead."

The ceiling in The Library had these stained glass square panels on top. I think they were lit from inside.


[All photos by KPA]

Christmas Snowflake

The Christmas Snowflake in New York
on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue

This is the Christmas Snowflake that I kept viewing from afar on the streets of New York.

According to this site, it is:

[T]he UNICEF Snowflake is a special symbol for the world's most vulnerable children. It hangs as a reminder of UNICEF’s commitment to reach a day when zero children die from preventable causes.

This lofty promise, as well as being unbelievable, is pompous and arrogant. But the snow flake is imposing and beautiful, as a simple giant, reminder of Christmas.

Here is more background on the snow flake:

The original snowflake, a New York attraction since 1984, was dedicated to UNICEF by the Stonbely family in 2002. On its 20th anniversary, UNICEF sought the help of renowned lighting designer Ingo Maurer and his team in Germany to design and engineer a new snowflake. Collaborating with the world’s leading crystal-maker, Baccarat, they constructed the largest outdoor chandelier.

In 2005, a larger snowflake was created for New York with the original snowflake moving to its new home...on Rodeo Drive.

The New York Snowflake contains 16,000 crystal prisms, is 23 feet wide and over 28 feet tall, and weighs more than 3,300 pounds.

Pork Chops a la Kidist - Updated

In my previous post where I put up a recipe for pork chops, there is a small (but important) addition to the directions. I have updated the original recipe.

As the above photo shows, you can also add some parsley to the mixture for additional taste.

I got the photo from this site, while doing an image search for "pork chops." The recipe writer, Ginny, has similar ideas as I do as to what makes her pork chops tasty. She calls her recipe "Pork Chops with Dijon Herb Sauce." Great cooks think alike. :-)

Pork Chops a la Kidist, and Thoughts on NYC Architecture

The Unassuming Bistro Daniel Boulud, on 55 West 44th Street (between Fifth and Sixth)

Julia Child brought in one of the cooking shows yesterday (actually its archival material, since Child died in 2004) where she brought in French Chef Daniel Boulud for her Master Chefs series. Boulud has various restaurants, cafes, bistros, bars and epiceries in New York City. He has a restaurant in the trendy Yorkville of Toronto.

Child asked him to make his veal chops,and what a process! Here is the video.

I personally find veal to be a little bland, and it has an after taste I can recognize immediately (and do not like), whether barbecued, minced in spaghetti sauce, or grilled as chops.

I prefer the robust tastes of pork and beef, and can make my own version of pork chops.

Here are the ingredients and cooking instructions:

Pork Chops

(Serves 3)

3 medium sized pork chop
5 or six shallots
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons Worcester sauce
1 tablesoon flour
Juice from three oranges
4-5 teaspoons plain Dijon mustard
1/4 cup water
Salt and Pepper to taste

Coat the pork chops on both sides with the Dijon mustard

Cook the chops on the stove, with the lid on and low heat until done

Put the heat up, and sear the chops on both sides for about a minute each

Remove the chops from the skillet

Cook the shallots, minced, in the pork fat in the same pan as the chops. Add oil if necessary. Scrape the pan to get all the flavors

Divide the mixture in half

Leave one portion in the pan, add the orange juice and Worcester sauce, and reduce it to a syrupy consistency

Put the other mixture in another pan, stir in about 1/4 cup water, and warm it up

Add the browned flour to thicken up the mixture to make a gravy

Add salt and pepper to taste

Smear the syrupy mixture over the chops

Pour some of the gravy over the chops

Serve the rest of the gravy in a separate gravy boat

As the photo shows, you can also add some parsley to the mixture for additional taste

Serve the chops with sauted green beans

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I looked up Daniel Boulud's restaurants and found that I have actually passed one by while in New York. In fact it is right beside a small and pleasant diner (which I mentioned here) called The Red Flame, on 67 West 44th Street. Daniel Boulud's Bistro Moderne is just up the road on 55 West 44th Street, and in a lovely building. I had wondered why I couldn't just go in and order a soup, or something "inexpensive." Well, from the menu, I think I could have managed that. Their cheapest item is the Soupe du Jour for $12.

Boulud's bistro is in the former City Club building, which, "In 1904...was a non-partisal political club for Democrats and Republicans to meet up and chat among layers of cigar smoke." The Harvard Club and the Algonquin Hotel, which I have also walked by and where the legendary Algonquin Round Table that met, are also on the street.

I couldn't find the architect for the City Club building. The best that I can find online is this site, which points to Lord and Hewlett as the architects of the City Club building, and this site which lists them as the designers of the building's dedication in 1904. And here [pdf file] is a site on James Monroe Hewlett as "architect, muralist, designer,"
written by his granddaughter Anglesea Parkhurst Newman in 2009.

The designers of the building for the Algonquin Hotel are Starrett & van Vleck, who who designed many of New York's department stores, including: Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Abraham & Straus, and Alexander's.

The Harvard Club's original wing

...built in 1894, was designed in red brick neo-Georgian style by Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White.[Source: Wikipedia

McKim also built the Morgan Library, in mid-town Manhattan. Here's a (pictorial) list of buildings by McKim, with his partners Mead and White, which includes the beautiful Plaza Hotel by Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Algounin Round Table plaque on the Algonquin Hotel

The Harvard Club

Embracing Evil

The disgusting Quentin Tarantino was on a talk show last night being interviewed about his new movie Django.

In true advanced liberal fashion, it is a film denouncing whites, and specifically white men, glorifying blacks, specifically violent black men, and filling the film with scenes of extreme, bloody violence.

Tarantino sat like an overweight adolescent, with his baggy sweat shirt, backward baseball cap, and bloated belly, waving his arms around and speaking in hyper-speed to get his "points" across. He thinks he's the best thing around. But, he is travelling to the other side, where his smirks, twisted fingers and of course the content of his speech, indicate that he has embraced evil and is degenerating before our eyes.

I hadn't been to a movie theater in over a year, until I broke that spell this past December (in New York City, no less) when I went to watch Anna Karenina with a group. As I suspected, movies, or the experience of watching movies, has gotten worse. Movie theaters now engulf us with sound at high volume and huge panoramic screens making the characters reach out to our very seats to drag us into the hyper-real, demonic world in the screen. I found watching Anna Karenina to be an unpleasant, even violent experience. Keira Knightley, who performs as Anna Karenina, overwhelms the screen with her mad eyes and high velocity talking, baring her teeth at us in half smiles of evil. We are transported into her mad, and ultimately evil, world through the superior technology of the movie camera, and the superior environment of the movie theater. I've said that cinema is the ultimate artistic creation of man, both as a good thing (think of all those lovely, memorable characters and stories we've watched in movies) and as something evil.

I've read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina twice. I wouldn't have read it again if I hadn't enjoyed it, in the aesthetic sense and in a more deeper literary and moral sense. I've abandoned books unfinished because I found them badly written, or with evil and menacing purposes. I left Crime and Punishment, another Russian's chef d'oeuvre, unfinished because I couldn't handle the insidious evilness that lurked behind that book and its main character. It actually gave me nightmares.

Anna Karenina, as she was related to me by Tolstoy, was mostly a tragic character, rather than mad or evil. I think her suicide was her realization at how much she had deviated from the goodness of life, and she couldn't bear this anymore. Thus, I cannot empathize with Keiria's characterization, because her performance, and the personality she brings to the performance, give us an evil rendition of Anna.

Our twentieth century artists are adamant on embracing evil. But once they've crossed that line, it is evil that sinks its claws into them.

Keira Knightley as the teeth-baring, mad-eyed Anna Karenina

Take Five With Dave Brubeck

I just realized that Dave Brubeck had died. He died about a week ago on December 5, apparently on his way to an appointment with his cardiologist. I remember vaguely reading his name somewhere, but that was the day I was on my bus to New York, so most forms of communication would have been unavailable at least until the next day. I owned a cassette with Brubeck's Take Five on it, which I would play constantly. I even tried to play it, with both hands, simply from listening to the piece.

Steve Paiken, the great journalist with Television Ontario (TVO) had a piece on him this evening. He cleverly titles the segment "Take Fifteen." He brought in JAZZ.FM91 radio host Brad Barker, who looks like a neo-hippie, to talk about Brubeck's legacy. Barker talks in technical terms for part of the interview, which is interesting in itself, I've linked to the interview above, but here is what I found interesting in it. Paiken brings an old footage of Brubeck saying that he wanted the jazz public now (in the 1970s) to try "more adventurous rhythms."

Paiken asks Barker: "What do you think he meant by more adventurous rhythms?"

Barker answers: "I think that swing had become so prevalent and that 2/4 that he spoke of was the rhythmic thread of the jazz that had come before that I think he was feeling that it needed to progress beyond that, those swing feels.

Barker continues to talk about polyrhythmic music: ...that could combine the things that we knew, or the things that sounded familiar, and the way to bend them a bit to make them a little more interesting...."

Paiken asks: "Can you think of any music of the top of your head where he might have used this different time signature?"

Barker: "Well, obviously Take Five [in 5/4]...Really the best tunes that we know are in odd meters." Barker then demonstrated how to tackle a 7/4 meter: "Think of it as the phrase.It's quarter notes again, but it is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven [tapping on his leg] so it's really that phrase that takes you over as opposed to the trying to drill a beat right through it like one, two, one two, one, two. So you think of it in that whole phrase of seven, then you go to the next one.

Paiken: "That must be hard to write."

Barker: "It's hard to write, and then you have to think about the improvising the musicians are doing on top of it that are so used to playing their licks and the things they've learned over those meters that are ingrained in them from the beginning, in blues based music as jazz is.

Paiken: There's this phrase I saw as we were doing research for this..."he improvised with polytonality." What is that?

Barker: ...What Dave is saying is "you're going to play this in the key of C, but what I'm going to do is either write a melody or improvise in a completely different key than a C." And that way it will obviously sound very unique and different, and and it will take a very clever and musical mind to make that work without sounding very wrong all the time.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet (saxophonist Paul Desmond, drummer 
Joe Dodge, pianist Dave Brubeck and bassist Bob Bates)

Stupidity Without an Ounce of Originality

Mercer, as I've written before, doesn't have an ounce of originality in her. Her stupid article denouncing Hillary Clinton as "cowering" to avoid a confession through a feigned ill-health is taken from other unfounded statements around the web, including one by the creepy John Bolton.

This the kind of journalistic gossiping, out to ruin the credibility of "the enemy" that "right" minded writers like Mercer are engaging in.

Also, how can Clinton abstain from her duties? Isn't she going to present her statements when she gets better? In fact, that is exactly what she is slated to do in January.

John Bolton: Fox News Contributor

Toast of the Block

I forgot to mention in my post "Kidist's Best Of New in New York City" the Best Burger Place. I'm no real expert on burgers, but Toast's $10 burger (well, $9.95) fits the bill. The restaurant decor, some kind of faux Art Deco is spacious, in a bohemian (Art Deco) sort of way. And the best way to eat a burger I learned, is "medium rare." That way, there is no need to cover up the over-cooked, dry meat with all kinds of condiments. Toast (Downtown?) is on 105th and Broadway. Apparently, there's another on 125th Street.

One more thing. The Broadway Diner on 101st street, whose hot chocolate I praised at my Best Of post, has apparently been used for several movies, including George Clooney's Michael Clayton. As far as I can recall, there were also photos of old time movie stars on the wall, who had dined at the diner.

Who Are The People Who Design These Horrific Video Games?

Image from Call of Duty, the video game Adam Lanza obsessively played in his basement

Everyone is writing about how Adam Lanza was addicted to super-violent, super-realistic video games, and how he used to hole up in his basement room (more like a basement apartment) for hours on end playing these games, and how his mother let him stay there for those hours on end, until the final outburst (she must have known he played these games, since even their plumber knew he played them).

No-one has asked:

Who makes these video games? Where do they get their warped, violent, evil ideas from?

How do they go about their lives after spending hours creating them - drawing them, transforming them to digital images, making video sequences out of them, writing the codes for the game programs so that the games are sophisticated enough that intelligent teenagers won't get bored playing these games day in and day out?

Who promotes these games, after certainly having watched and played them, so that video "gamers" becomes aware of them?

Who writes the blurbs in the back of the videos, or the articles in the magazines, with glowing words?

Why don't stores, whose marketing departments know about their content, ban them from their shelves?

So, we are indeed not innocent in the evils of this world, as Larry Auster writes about the victims of the Connecticut murder spree: "I said that they were not innocent, and that they were not merely innocent victims." The closer we are to evil, the more indifferent we become to it, and worse, we promote and encourage it through the many channels, including the modern commercial system. We no longer become innocent in its midst.

Still, the fascinatingly horrific thing to contemplate is:

Who are these people who design these games, filling them in with the most violent scenarios, engulfing the lives of young teenagers with the most violent, realistic scenarios possible, under the guise of "games"?

Larry Auster starts to answer this question in his various posts at the View From the Right (look at his list "Entries on this page" for the articles).

Mercer's Definitive Views on Clinton's Ill-Health

Ilana Mercer
Gun-toting libertarian strong-woman
carrying her book, Into the Cannibal's Pot.
I briefly blogged on her book here.
[Image from her website]

I've blogged about Obama's Sidam Touch, where his close political aides seem to be falling on the wayside, including Hillary Clinton's recent fainting/concussion spell.

I wrote:

Hillary Clinton, Obama's prime acolyte, is now fainting on the job, and suffering concussions. The stomach virus story only shows how susceptible she has become to ill-health, with her non-stop, exhausting scuttles around the world, cleaning up after Obama.

Any observant writer can see that Hillary looks haggard, older and exhausted these days. She is clearly under the spell of the Obama "ideology" and is whirling around the world depleted of most of her energy, and much of her health.

It is evil to construe that she is feigning ill-health to get out of her duties. If there is anything we know about Clinton, it is that she is a hard worker.

Irrespective of her political position, I do feel sorry for Clinton. I even go as far to say that she's not doing this with much fervor or conviction, and that could be adding to her ill-health.

Here's Barely a Blog, a site I don't read anymore, but occasionally bring up to see what idiotic thing blogger colleagues I used to communicate with personally are writing. Mercer, the blogs author, interacted with me for a while until she rudely dismissed me in an email, and in a carefully camouflaged blog post. She has her on definitive views on Clinton's ill-health.

Here is what Barely a Blog's Mercer says about Clinton in her post "Concussed or Cowering" (Mercer is drawn to alliterations):

Mrs. Clinton was scheduled to “testify on December 20 before the House of Representatives and Senate foreign affairs committees on a report on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.”

Now comes the news that due to her condition—Secretary Clinton suffered “a stomach virus, became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion”—Clinton’s testimony would be postponed.”

It is quite possible that this strong-as-a-horse politician has fallen ill. But it is also possible that the woman is cowering, because a decree she and her Amazon warriors issued is responsible for rendering the Libyan embassy defenseless.

Let Not The Obamas Detract Us From the Beauties of Life

The Palm Room in the Plaza Hotel
[Photo by KPA]

I'm putting this on top once again. Below this post is more on the Obamas, via View From the Right and Patriot's Corner.

Read my "Kidist's Best Of in New York City" here.

Tribute to a Stupid Woman

I've wondered why Obama doesn't turn on his wife. Perhaps he does so in private. I've noted in previous blog posts that he is subtly (affectionately) mocking of his wife. So, I think Obama thinks he's much smarter than his wife, who despite her aggressive manner seems to be happily submissive towards him. He won't harm her much.

And it's one narcissist accommodating another. But like everything else, Obama is the bigger narcissist. He lets his wife look like the bully and the "angry black female" because it partly deters attention from his bullying aggressiveness, and also he agrees with her behavior. Plus, Michelle is hardly likely to (or able to) take off on her own, like those other punished acolytes I blogged about here, Hillary, Susan and Mitt (and Kerry).

The video above is via View From the Right, who linked to it from a blog called Patriot's Corner, who titles the post with the video with "Fine Tribute to the First Angry Black Woman Moochelle Obama".

So despite this ugly portrayal of Michelle as the perennially discontent black woman, it suits Obama fine for her to behave like this, and she in her inferior intellect, happily (angrily) obliges. What a stupid woman.

Kidist's Best Of in New York City

The Palm Room in the Plaza Hotel
[Photo by KPA]

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I thought it would be fun to do my own (modest) "Best Ofs" of New York City, after having spent a week there last week.

Best Hotel Lobby: The Plaza Hotel, on 59th and Fifth.
Best Hotel Bakery: The Plaza Hotel, at the lower level.
Best Hotel Bakery Item: The Hamentashen at the Plaza Hotel (apricot filling).
Best Hot Chocolate: Broadway Restaurant. Ask for whipped cream at 25 cents extra. The Broadway Diner has apparently been used for several movies, including George Clooney's Michael Clayton. As far as I can recall, there were also photos of old time movie stars on the wall, who had dined at the diner.
Best Pork Chops: West 107, on Amsterdam. For $13.50 you get the Grilled BBQ Pork Chops, which are listed under "From the Farm" on the menu. They are enough for two meals (share with someone, or take home a doggy bag). The side vegetables aren't spectacular, but they will do.
Best Burgers: I'm no real expert on burgers, but Toast's $10 burger (well, $9.95) fits the bill. The restaurant decor, some kind of faux Art Deco is spacious, in a bohemian (Art Deco) sort of way. And the best way to eat a burger I learned, is "medium rare." That way, there is no need to cover up the over-cooked, dry meat with all kinds of condiments. Toast (Downtown?) is on 105th and Broadway. Apparently, there's another on 125th Street.
Best Bagels: Broadway Bagel. Quick service, quiet and cheap.
Best Midtown Cafe: Europa Cafe. It does have a French cafe feel to it.
Best Midtown Diner: The Red Flame. Quiet and bright.
Best Irish Pub/Restaurant: Kennedy's. Despite a bit of a shaky start, the "Library" in the back of the restaurant provides a pleasant atmosphere for a group dinner.
Best Ethnic Restaurant: The Red Rooster Harlem, run by Ethiopian Chef Marcos, who's adds his own touches to "world" cuisine.
Best Museum/Gallery: The Morgan Library and Museum. Free on Tuesdays 5-7, but the adjacent McKim's room is free entrance Tuesdays, 3-5; Fridays, 7-9; Sundays, 4-6.
Best Museum With a Garden and a View: The Cloisters. Views of the George Washington Bridge (with the Hudson River) and the New Jersey Palissade from the garden.
Best Ceiling Mural: Grand Central Station.
Best Mini-Park: Strauss Park. With benches for sitting and contemplating.
Best Department Store: Bergdorf Goodman (no not Macy's). Bergdorf Goodman is understated, and has a beautiful entrance (don't mind the slovenly pedestrians in the linked image) with a doorman.
Best Christmas Window Display: Tiffany's. Disclaimer: I haven't actually been to see the Tiffany display, but Macy's, Lord and Taylor and Bergdorf Goodman have strange "pagan" themes to their windows, and have no luster (is it because of the paganism? I think so.).
Best Window Shopping Strip: No, not Fifth, but the adjacent Madison Avenue, where the many designer boutiques are located.
Best Bus Ride and Tour of NYC: The M4. Make sure to click "continue with the tour" at the bottom of the linked website to go on the tour from start to finish, starting at the Cloisters and ending at Penn Station.
Best of Best Of: Just walk down the avenues, look up at the buildings, take your time and don't mind the crowd, New Yorkers are friendly and polite.

Liberals Have No True Allies

It has occurred to me that liberals have no true allies or friends. I partly realized this politically just recently during Obama's vicious treatment of his liberal colleagues: Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, and the soon to be discarded John Kerry, which I wrote about here.

But, on a daily life basis, I've noticed that liberals are vicious with their own friends and family. Any slight, any apparent sign of disagreement, any deviation from their beliefs (which really amounts to their desires) by a friend, colleague or family member is noted, filed and used as future reference for a come back. Of course, the people who "slighted" this liberal are unaware of what they've done (who doesn't disagree with a friend, colleague or family member once in a while)?, and is shocked (shell shocked) at the underhanded betrayal.

Even those in constant and close proximity, like spouses, always seem to be on guard, with subtle fawning towards the more powerful liberal to keep the peace. But, these same fawners, if given the opportunity, betray through subtle, barely discernible, underhanded means.

So, liberals live in an isolated, narcissistic world. They don't know who their true friends are, and they cannot be trusted by those who consider them true friends.

Perhaps this is a more mundane scenario which precipitates the demise of liberals that Jim Kalb writes about in his The Tyranny of Liberalism.

Here is an excerpt from his essay The Tyranny of Liberalism:

As a self-contained system poorly rooted in reality, liberalism could fall apart like Soviet communism or the one horse shay of New England Calvinism

The essay is from the Summer 2000 issue of Modern Age, pp 241-252
The quote is on page 252
[Source - pdf file]