Unca Darrell

MAY 30 / What did Abraham Lincoln say about . . .

. . . how to be a good lawyer?

Sometime in the 1850s, historians say, Abraham Lincoln wrote "Notes for a Lecture on Law," addressed to young attorneys just starting in the profession. It's a fine read if you have the time. Otherwise . . .

MAY 29 / I, Obamus

LINGUISTS at the University of Virginia put William Jefferson Clinton at the top of their narcissism index -- my label, not theirs -- followed by . . .

MAY 28 / Amen

"THREE BOOMER presidencies are enough," writes William Kristol. He is referring, of course, to Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama.

Last week, Bloomberg's Mark Halperin convened a focus group of Iowa Democrats to discuss Hillary Rodham Clinton. They were Ready for Hillary. Indeed, they were enthusiastic about the prospect. But when Halperin asked them to name an accomplishment of Hillary as secretary of state . . .

MAY 27 / The great divide

THIS IS THE GREAT DIVIDE in the U.S. [read United States] today. It is not between blacks and whites -- or rich and poor; it is between the elites in California or New York and ordinary people . . . . The pundits who cannot imagine how . . .

MAY 26 / Three reasons Democrats say "climate change" . . .

. . . is a national security threat.

First, if global warming climate change can be recharacterized as a threat to national security, then the entire national security budget can be raided for progressive social and economic projects.

Second . . . 

MAY 25 / For Lady Di and me, Memorial Day came early

ON MAY 3, we witnessed two soldiers from the Czech Army placing a red-white-and-blue wreath on a memorial to the 16th Armored Division. This event of May 3 was part of the city of Pilsen's Liberation Festival, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of that city from German occupation by American soldiers.

Take note also that the Houston Chronicle ran a Memorial Day editorial today -- not without its faults, but respectable. The newspaper's editorial board is mostly wrong about most things, but at least it has largely quit withholding its approval from standard American holidays, celebrations, and remembrances, usually by ignoring them. That's progress.

MAY 22 / The carelessness of the privileged

UNCA D ATTENDED a social event last night. A considerable number of guests were high-net-worth individuals. The thing for the well-off to do these days, it seems, is to be the first in their circle to travel to Cuba.

Notes were being shared by those who had been with those who are soon to go. Considerable comment was made on the lovely old 19th-century buildings in Havana, and -- unavoidably -- on their visible ruin. The decaying premises had a deep aesthetic appeal to the travelers. The consensus is that if one is to visit Cuba, one should visit quickly, before modernity or prosperity arrive and sweep away such beauty.  

The subject prompted this unlovely quip:

MAY 21 / It's about time somebody said this

FOR STARTERS, the Clinton Foundation is not and never has been a charity. Bill and Hillary created it in 2001 as a vehicle to assist their continuing political ambitions, in particular Mrs. Clinton's run for the White House. Any good the foundation does is coincidental to its bigger role as a fund-raising network and a jobs program for Clinton political operatives.

MAY 20 / Is the party over in China?

A CHINESE SCHOLAR writing under a pseudonym ("Youwei") argues that modern Chinese prosperity rests on easy reforms that have already been made. Continued reform is unlikely, Youwei says, because "there is not much potential for further evolution within China's present authoritarian framework."

 

MAY 19 / Unca D has gone in the YouTube bidness

HERE IS MY first video, shot Sunday, May 3, at Maranatha United Methodist Church in Pilsen, Czech Republic. It was a special service of remembrance for the liberation of western Czechoslovakia by Patton's Third Army on May 6, 1945.

 

The YouTube video has higher resolution than this copy. See the original at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAcT3ASVJEE.