President Biden: "I don't think much about Vadimir Putin." Americans should ask him how he plans to end the Ukraine war.

 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressuring the U.S. and NATO to supply his country with Western-manufactured missiles that can strike deep inside Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the West not to give Ukraine these weapons. Putin has said plainly that the Western allies will be at war with Russia if they allow Ukraine to use NATO-supplied long-range missiles to attack his country.

Some NATO nations seem to think Russia is bluffing. Political leaders in Canada and Great Britain want to grant Zelenskyy's request and send long-range missiles to Ukraine. The Dutch and the Czechs have also signaled their support for sending Zelenskyy the missiles he demands.

President Biden isn't on board yet. A few days ago, he confessed, "I don't think much about President Putin." I suppose he's distracted by more important issues than nuclear war.

Americans, however, should think a lot about President Putin and Russia. We should ask ourselves what our country's response would be if Iran used Russian long-range missiles to wipe out American military bases in the Middle East. Wouldn't we consider such an attack an act of war by the Russians?

Uncle Sam is already neck-deep in the planet's most significant military conflict since World War II. Ukraine could not have inflicted such heavy casualties on the Russian army and navy without American weapons, American technology, and American military support.

Millions of Russians and Ukrainians have died or been wounded in this senseless war, and millions more are refugees. President Biden admits that he doesn't think much about Vladimir Putin. Maybe it's time for Americans to ask Mr. Biden what the hell we're doing in Ukraine and how he plans to bring this tragic conflict to an end.

The politics of joy?

90 Seconds Movie Review: Winchester '73 is the Perfect Western Movie (Rock Hudson Plays a Native American War Chief)

In one of his most famous tunes, David Allan Coe listed the five essential themes for a perfect country and western song: trucks, trains, mama, prison, and getting drunk.

What themes are necessary for a perfect Western movie? A heroic cowboy, a thick-headed sidekick,  bloodthirsty Native Americans, a virtuous damsel in distress, and a villain wearing a black cowboy hat.

By this definition, 'Winchester '73' is the perfect Western movie.  Jimmy Stewart embodies the heroic cowboy with his usual "ah shucks" charm. Millard Mitchell, known as High Spade, is Stewart's trusty but slow-witted sidekick. Shelley Winters is perfectly cast as the virtuous damsel in distress, and black-hatted Stephen McNally appears as the hardhearted villain. Combined with the unique plot (built around a clinical obsession with a Winchester rifle), these elements make 'Winchester '73' a must-watch for any Western movie fan. 

Who plays the part of the vengeful Native American?  To my delighted surprise, Rock Hudson, adorned in warpaint, shows up as Young Bull, the laconic war chief of a Plains Indian tribe.

What's not to like? Indeed, 'Winchester '73' is not just a personal favorite but also ranks seventh on a list of top 20 Western movies of all time. Rotten Tomatoes, a trusted review aggregator, gives the movie a 100 percent rating based on 28 reviews, further solidifying its status as a classic Western movie.

If you don't like Western movies, don't watch "Winchester '73." If you like them, this Jimmy Stewart classic is the movie for you.

I will close with this short reflection. Seeing Rock Hudson in warpaint illustrates Woody Allen's famous line: "Eighty percent of success is showing up."

I doubt Rock was thrilled about dressing out as a Native American, but he showed up anyway. In his wildest fantasy, I'm sure he never envisioned himself being cast as Elizabeth Taylor's husband in "Giant," another classic Western movie.

Rock Hudson as Young Bull: Just showing up

WalletHub's bullshit study ranks Massachusetts as the best state to live in

WalletHub published a bullshit study ranking Massachusetts as the best state to live in and Louisiana as the worst. I've lived in both states, and I can assure you that WalletHub got the story all wrong.

Massachusetts is not the best state to live in--it's the worst. Housing costs and taxes are high, and its citizens have a depressing tendency to elect idiots to public office. 

Elizabeth Warren, for example, is a native Oklahoman who couldn't get elected dogcatcher in her native state.  She landed a cushy job at Harvard Law School by claiming to be a Cherokee, and then the Bay State fools elected her to the U.S. Senate.

Louisiana, it is true, also attracts idiots to public office, but we don't take them seriously. We would never indulge in the fantasy that Elizabeth Warren is a viable presidential candidate. 

WalletHub ranked Louisiana as the worst state to live in; in fact, it's one of the best.  Let's look at cuisine. Massachusetts boasts of Boston baked beans, Yankee pot roast, and clam strips--vile dishes all.

In Louisiana, you can dine on jambalaya, boudin, crawfish etouffee, chicken-and-sausage gumbo, fried catfish, shrimp po'boys, Natchitoches meat pies, beignets, red beans and rice, and banana foster.

How about the people? I found most Massachusetts residents to be arrogant, mean-spirited, and provincial. There's a reason other New Englanders call them Massholes.

On the other hand, Louisianans are known the world over for their friendliness and hospitality. Its culture is so life-affirming and genial that some people say Louisiana is the only place where you can leave the United States without a passport. 

Sports and recreation? Who'd you rather root for--the New Orleans Saints or those friggin' New England Patriots? As for college football, Louisianaians have the LSU Tigers. Does Harvard even have a football team?

WalletHub also misanalyzed some other beautiful states. It ranked Texas as the 36th best place to live and Mississippi as one of the five worst states.

Space does not permit me to give these two states the robust defense they deserve. Thus, I will end this essay with just three questions: Which state has the best barbecue—Massachusetts or Texas? Which state is most friendly to deer hunting with dogs—Massachusetts or Mississippi?

Finally, which state has the worst regional accent? Massachusetts, of course. Actually, this was a trick question. People in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi don't speak with an accent.

Boston in winter: Is this the best state to live in?

'The Terror' Netflix story of the Franklin expedition: Hubris, mutiny, cannibalism and a revolting sociopath. You'll love it!

 "The Terror," season 1, is an AMC drama series that can now be viewed on Netflix. The 10-episode story is loosely based on Sir John Frankin's nineteenth-century Arctic expedition and Dan Simmons's novel of the same name.

Sir Franklin hoped to crown his naval career by discovering a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. In 1845, his party of 129 men left England in two ships, the Terror and Erebus. Not a single member of that ill-fated crew survived. This gripping tale is the foundation of "The Terror," season 1.

"The Terror" AMC series contains all the essential elements of a British naval disaster story: murder, mutiny, insanity, suicide, starvation, euthanasia, and cannibalism. What's not to like?

In addition, the series includes a monstrous animal that stalks the expedition and devours several crew members. The animal is an enormous polar bear on steroids, but the crew refers to it simply as "the creature."

Mike Hale, who reviewed "The Terror" in the New York Times, liked the series but had some reservations. "The heart-of-darkness framework," he wrote, depicting "hubristic Europeans" who become lost in the new world and descend into savagery, was "constructed with intelligence and finesse." Nevertheless, in Hale's view, the series's story is "obvious and generally tedious."

 I disagree with Hale's gentle criticisms. I found the "The Terror's" narrative both fascinating and gripping. The series's supersized polar bear was genuinely frightening, adding a layer of suspense and thrill. Polar bears, after all, are the only animals in North America that stalk humans, and they can run as fast as a horse. Those bears don't need to be supersized to be terrifying.

I agree with Hale that the "The Terror" narrative is obvious, but only if viewed superficially. At a deeper level, the Terror crew's disaster is a complex story that can be interpreted in many ways. For example, it can be seen as a case study of poor leadership and faulty decision-making. It's also a cautionary tale about the massive destruction of a once well-disciplined organization by a single sociopath. The stark landscape of ice and treeless tundra is a story in itself that evokes a bleak assessment of the modern human condition.

Screenwriter David Kajganich affirms the oft-repeated observation that people's true character is only revealed under extreme stress. As the series progressed through its ten episodes, some of Sir Franklin's crew descended into cannibalism, while others rose to almost Christ-like status through sacrifice and suffering.

As someone who once spent time in Alaska's Yupik and Inupiak communities, I can attest that the series's depiction of the Inuits is accurate. They are gentle but resolute people with almost no record of violence before their introduction into the so-called civilized world.

In short, "The Terror" is an entertaining adventure story. I found it totally satisfying, except for the last episode, which was a bit confusing. This is only a minor criticism, however. Overall, "The Terror" is a triumph.

What's not to like? Hubris, a sociopath, cannibalism, and terror

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Antisemitism stalks college campuses. It must be ruthlessly stamped out

 Last spring, American college campuses were roiled by anti-Israel protesters who disrupted commencement ceremonies, vandalized university buildings, and shut several universities down.

Apologists for these hoodlums argue that the protesters are outraged by Israel’s actions in Gaza, where thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas. Protesters have charged Israel with genocide, and they’ve called for universities to divest from all companies doing business with the Jewish state.

These protests died down at the end of last year’s spring semester, but the anti-Israel movement reared its ugly head again on college campuses this fall. Students at the University of Michigan elected a slate of student officers who vow to stop all funding for university student groups until the university divests itself from Israel. At Columbia, vandals threw red paint on a campus statue--symbolizing Palestinian blood.

It’s impossible to discern the motives of individual protesters, but some have expressed antisemitic and racist sentiments, openly praising Hamas and even calling for the destruction of Israel.

Make no mistake. Antisemitism runs rampant at many American universities, and our most elite schools now harbor students and professors who are racists and bigots. We can expect antisemitism to become more virulent and violent during the upcoming academic year.

Antisemitism is not a fringe movement on college campuses. Anti-Jewish bigotry has become embedded in American higher education and threatens to infect our entire society.

During the 1920s and 1930s, antisemitism flourished in the universities of Eastern Europe even before Hitler gained power in Germany. As scholar Ezra Mendelsohn observed, “universities all over East Central Europe were centers of anti-Semitism.” Some Romanian universities were shut down in 1922 due to anti-Jewish violence.

Mendelsohn offered two explanations for antisemitism at European universities prior to the Second World War. In some Eastern European countries, he wrote, “young and impressionable students were attracted to the new militant, anti-pluralist nationalist movements, which combined xenophobia, anti-communism, and antisemitism with an idealistic campaign directed against the compromise-prone, venal political and economic establishment.” 

In addition, he observed that universities were turning out graduates who could not find decent jobs. Thus, the "new intellectuals” of pre-war Eastern Europe were driven to antisemitism by economic insecurity.

America’s college leaders need to face the fact that growing antisemitism among college students and professors will infect all American society if it is not checked. In my view, professors who promote antisemitism should be fired. Students who openly support genocide against Jews and Israel should be expelled, and anyone who uses violence and vandalism to advance racism and bigotry should go to jail.

Columbia's alma mater statue was vandalized

Will the President of Joy Improve the Lives of Ordinary American Men?

 I edit most of my writing through Grammarly. Whenever I type ‘elderly,' my faithful editor reminds me that some people are offended by the word and suggests I substitute the word 'older.'

This is the world we live in. Our society is sensitive about what we call old people, but we're not concerned about the quality of their lives.  In particular, we aren’t interested in the health and welfare of older men.

Richard V. Reeves published an op-ed essay yesterday about a health crisis among American men. According to Reeves, "The life expectancy gap between men and women widened from less than five years in 2010 to nearly six years in 2002."

Why are men dying at an earlier age? Reeves reports that men's life expectancy is going down due to "deaths of despair," most notably suicide and drug poisoning, and to higher death rates from COVID-19.

Men take their own lives at four times the rate of women, and this disparity in suicide rates increases with age. Among people aged 75-84, men's suicide rate is 7 times higher than the rate for women.

Alcohol abuse also contributes to “deaths of despair” among American men. The Centers for Disease Control reported that male deaths attributed to alcohol abuse increased by 26.8 percent between 2016-2017 and 2020-2021.

The Biden-Harris administration has done virtually nothing to address the growing disparity between mortality rates for American men and women and the high suicide rate for men, and older men in particular. President Biden and VP Harris have shown more concern about the right of gender-confused boys to play girls' basketball than the rising mortality rate for the nation's male citizens.

If Harris is elected "the president of joy, " things may change. Perhaps she'll distribute some of her joy to ordinary American men. 

Somehow, I doubt it. If Harris becomes president, her joy zone will be restricted to her base: Hollywood, the intellectual and media elites, the financial class, and the DEI crowd.  Average American men will see their quality of life continue to deteriorate. And suicide rates for elderly men will remain high.

Cheer up! The President of Joy will solve all your problems.

Harris-Trump Bring Excitement and Ectasy to Presidential Campaign: The Russians Aren't Feeling the Joy

You got no right to take my joy, I want it back.

Joy by Lucinda Williams

Posing as vaudeville comedians, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz wrapped up the Democratic convention last week. Harris waved her arms like a seance conjurer, and Walz strutted and gesticulated around the DNC stage like a game show host.

What was the convention’s theme? Not the economy, not crime, not the nation’s border. No, the theme was joy. 

Kamala Harris is “the president of joy,” Bill Clinton told the convention delegates. He knows a lot about joy. He spilled some of it on a blue dress when he was president. 

New York Times columnist Patrick Healy observed that joy is not a strategy for winning an election, but Healy may be wrong. Harris is ahead of Donald Trump in the polls, even though she hasn’t granted an interview with a real journalist since becoming the Dems' presidential candidate.

Harris is dodging the press because she's afraid a reporter might ask an inconvenient question, which is this: What the fuck are we doing in Ukraine? Such a question might dampen the joy that currently infuses Harris’s frenzied supporters.

Americans whose minds have been turned to Jello by the New York Times, WaPo, and CNN are enthralled by Harris’s clownish behavior, but the Russians aren't feeling the joy. They've suffered over a half million casualties inflicted by NATO weapons, including American cluster bombs, Abrams tanks, uranium-depleted artillery shells, and Bradley fighting vehicles.

If Harris wins the November election, she will find that joy doesn't travel well. I doubt Harris’s cackle will charm Vladimir Putin into surrendering Crimea. 

The politics of joy in Ukraine