It's Presidents' Day Weekend. I said I'd be blogging some presidential book, so here goes.
See Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., at Amazon, In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson.
Friday, February 17, 2017
Sven Beckert, Empire of Cotton
The blurb for Sven Beckert, at Amazon, Empire of Cotton: A Global History.
The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Sven Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today.
In a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful politicians recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to make and remake global capitalism. The result is a book as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist.
Walter Johnson, River of Dark Dreams
The blurb for Walter Johnson's book, at Amazon, River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom.
When Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Territory, he envisioned an “empire for liberty” populated by self-sufficient white farmers. Cleared of Native Americans and the remnants of European empires by Andrew Jackson, the Mississippi Valley was transformed instead into a booming capitalist economy commanded by wealthy planters, powered by steam engines, and dependent on the coerced labor of slaves. River of Dark Dreams places the Cotton Kingdom at the center of worldwide webs of exchange and exploitation that extended across oceans and drove an insatiable hunger for new lands. This bold reaccounting dramatically alters our understanding of American slavery and its role in U.S. expansionism, global capitalism, and the upcoming Civil War.
Walter Johnson deftly traces the connections between the planters’ pro-slavery ideology, Atlantic commodity markets, and Southern schemes for global ascendency. Using slave narratives, popular literature, legal records, and personal correspondence, he recreates the harrowing details of daily life under cotton’s dark dominion. We meet the confidence men and gamblers who made the Valley shimmer with promise, the slave dealers, steamboat captains, and merchants who supplied the markets, the planters who wrung their civilization out of the minds and bodies of their human property, and the true believers who threatened the Union by trying to expand the Cotton Kingdom on a global scale.
But at the center of the story Johnson tells are the enslaved people who pulled down the forests, planted the fields, picked the cotton—who labored, suffered, and resisted on the dark underside of the American dream.
Donald Trump Press Conference: Making the President Great Again
From Michael Goodwin, at the New York Post, "Sorry media — this press conference played very different with Trump's supporters" (via Memeorandum):
Sorry media — Trump's press conference was a smash hit with his supporters https://t.co/2kVIVYxCfH via @nypost
— Michael Goodwin (@mgoodwin_nypost) February 17, 2017
Maybe it’s not a coincidence that Barnum & Bailey is folding its tents this year. After all, how could the circus possibly compete with Donald Trump?Still more.
The president proved once again that he is the greatest show on Earth. Lions and tigers and elephants are kid stuff next to his high wire act.
Next time, the White House ought to sell popcorn.
Amid feverish reports of chaos on his team and with Democrats fantasizing that Russia-gate is another Watergate, Trump took center stage to declare that reports of his demise are just more fake news.
Far from dead, he was positively exuberant. His performance at a marathon press conference Thursday was a must-see-TV spectacle as he mixed serious policy talk with standup comedy and took repeated pleasure in whacking his favorite piñata, the “dishonest media.”
“Russia is a ruse,” he insisted, before finally saying under questioning that he was not aware of anyone on his campaign having contact with Russian officials.
Trump’s detractors immediately panned the show as madness, but they missed the method behind it and proved they still don’t understand his appeal. Facing his first crisis in the Oval Office, he was unbowed in demonstrating his bare-knuckle intention to fight back.
He did it his way. Certainly no other president, and few politicians at any level in any time, would dare put on a show like that.
In front of cameras, and using the assembled press corps as props, he conducted a televised revival meeting to remind his supporters that he is still the man they elected. Ticking off a lengthy list of executive orders and other actions he has taken, he displayed serious fealty to his campaign promises...
Danes Should Not Become the Minority in Denmark
Well, those racist Danes!
At Breitbart London, "Parliament: Danes Should Not Become the Minority in Denmark":
At Breitbart London, "Parliament: Danes Should Not Become the Minority in Denmark":
In some communities Danes are already the minority https://t.co/kozQYW3ZcC— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 15, 2017
The Folketing, Denmark’s unicameral parliament, has passed a resolution stating that Danes should not become minorities in Danish communities, as figures show the migrant and migrant-descended population are now a majority in Brøndby Strand and Odense.PREVIOUSLY: "Rotten in Denmark: 'Growing domestic consensus that large-scale Muslim immigration is incompatible with European social democracy...'"
“Parliament notes with concern that today there are areas in Denmark where the number of immigrants from non-Western countries and their descendants is over 50 percent,” the resolution states.
“It is parliament’s opinion that Danes should not be a minority in residential areas in Denmark.”
Denmark, like many other European countries, saw a surge in sexual assaults and harassment by migrants after they began to arrive in large numbers.
Rafi Ibrahim, a Syrian who has been settled in Denmark for many years, told reporters that the new arrivals find it difficult to control themselves around Western women.
“If they see a girl, they go nuts. They simply can’t handle it,” he said.
“In Syria and many other countries, it is not normal for a strange woman to smile at you. Those girls who are harassed aren’t necessarily scantily-dressed or drunk. Sometimes it is enough just to be a girl.”
Danish immigration minister Inger Støjberg confessed in late 2016 that “integration in Denmark has failed”, following a damning report on criminality and unemployment in thirty-one increasingly migrant-dominated ghettoes...
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Alan Taylor, William Cooper's Town
This is such an amazing book.
I really need to read it again. I read it back in grad school, shortly after it came out in 1996. A phenomenal work of history.
At Amazon, Alan Taylor, William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic.
I really need to read it again. I read it back in grad school, shortly after it came out in 1996. A phenomenal work of history.
At Amazon, Alan Taylor, William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic.
Sebastian Gorka Responds to Attacks on His Credibility (VIDEO)
Gorka's a freakin' patriot.
Leftists have no credibility. All they have is character assassination, 24/7/365.
It's downright pathetic.
At Hannity's last night, and buy his book, Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War.
Leftists have no credibility. All they have is character assassination, 24/7/365.
It's downright pathetic.
At Hannity's last night, and buy his book, Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War.
Anonymous Spies Ousted Flynn. That's Deeply Worrying
Following-up from yesterday, "Trump Administration in Crisis."
From Damon Linker, at the Week:
From Damon Linker, at the Week:
The United States is much better off without Michael Flynn serving as national security adviser. But no one should be cheering the way he was brought down.Keep reading.
The whole episode is evidence of the precipitous and ongoing collapse of America's democratic institutions — not a sign of their resiliency. Flynn's ouster was a soft coup (or political assassination) engineered by anonymous intelligence community bureaucrats. The results might be salutary, but this isn't the way a liberal democracy is supposed to function.
Unelected intelligence analysts work for the president, not the other way around. Far too many Trump critics appear not to care that these intelligence agents leaked highly sensitive information to the press — mostly because Trump critics are pleased with the result. "Finally," they say, "someone took a stand to expose collusion between the Russians and a senior aide to the president!" It is indeed important that someone took such a stand. But it matters greatly who that someone is and how they take their stand. Members of the unelected, unaccountable intelligence community are not the right someone, especially when they target a senior aide to the president by leaking anonymously to newspapers the content of classified phone intercepts, where the unverified, unsubstantiated information can inflict politically fatal damage almost instantaneously...
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Jackie Johnson's Storm Warning Forecast
Watch, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Partly cloudy Thursday with clouds increasing and showers expected Friday. Jackie Johnson reports."
Kate Upton Makes Cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017
Well, I guess those "diva demands" didn't cost her after all.
She's simply spectacular, and Sports Illustrated knows who's its money-maker:
She's simply spectacular, and Sports Illustrated knows who's its money-maker:
Kate Upton is 🔥 🔥 🔥 in #SISwim2017 https://t.co/wVRPR6wgPa pic.twitter.com/3BiiH3ecTa
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 15, 2017
Welcome back, Kate! 👙 😍 https://t.co/t0MikbwyWn pic.twitter.com/Xgp1rGK1Lh
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 15, 2017
Kate Upton tells all in her first interview as a three-time #SISwim cover model https://t.co/IhRtYe54SG pic.twitter.com/RpTMRuWZuF
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 15, 2017
OH hello Kate Upton! https://t.co/RaVyY5IjJH pic.twitter.com/oqTo6e6uK5
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 15, 2017
Caroline Glick, The Israeli Solution
President Trump is supposedly "backing off" the so-called "two-state solution" to the Middle East peace process.
We'll see, although this reminds me of Caroline Glick's book, The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East.
We'll see, although this reminds me of Caroline Glick's book, The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East.
Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
I love this book.
I'm breaking out my copy today, in preparation for my lectures this week on the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention.
At Amazon, The Radicalism of the American Revolution.
More blogging tonight.
I'm breaking out my copy today, in preparation for my lectures this week on the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention.
At Amazon, The Radicalism of the American Revolution.
More blogging tonight.
New Guidelines Recommend Exercise, Over-the-Counter Medications for Back Pain
I'm picking up my walking regimen, hopefully to help with my own lower back pain, which is mostly from laying around in bed too much nights and weekends. I need to get out and walk, to work those muscles. It felt good on Sunday when I went for 90 minutes. I even got my heart rate up a little.
In any case, at USA Today, "Forget the drugs, the answer to back pain may be Tai chi, massage."
And here's Dr. Tara Narula, for CBS This Morning:
In any case, at USA Today, "Forget the drugs, the answer to back pain may be Tai chi, massage."
And here's Dr. Tara Narula, for CBS This Morning:
Trump Administration in Crisis
I normally wouldn't describe things as a "crisis," but one of the pieces I read yesterday noted that it wasn't just Michael Flynn. Democrats are out for blood. The leftist media is agitating and organizing to destroy the administration. It's a coup. Next on the chopping block is Kellyanne Conway. Then Reince Priebus. After that it's President Trump himself. Impeachment talk will escalate.
Of course, there's literally no evidence that U.S. security has been comprised. Leftists are just picking up where they left off during the transition. They're bringing back the "Russian card" to annihilate the newly sworn-in administration. They couldn't defeat the insurgent populist Trump in the election, so they'll use extra-electoral means. They're going to use extra-constitutional means, in fact, because the opposition to Trump is looking like an armed revolt. It's a rebellion. Street protests and anarchist violence are cheered by the progs in D.C. Campuses are the training grounds of the revolution. Far-left members of Congress demonize and delegitimize the elected government at every turn. Nancy Pelosi's Robespierre in a skirt.
Yesterday's Memeorandum thread was perhaps the longest series of articles on a single topic I've ever seen at the site. All alarmist too. Today's top headline is from the sensational yellow-journal rag, the New York Times, "Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence."
See Ed Morrissey, at Hot Air, for more, "NYT: FBI probing Russian intel contacts with several Trump campaign officials."
And at Free Beacon, via Stephen Green at Instapundit, "SHADOW ADMINISTRATION: Former Obama Officials, Loyalists Waged Secret Campaign to Oust Flynn."
Also, from Glenn Reynolds, "YEAH, THE FLYNN RESIGNATION’S AN EMBARRASSMENT, but Obama had his failed appointments, often tinged with scandal..."
More at CBS This Morning, "Report: Trump associates repeatedly contacted Russia before election," and "Trump had known "for weeks" Gen. Flynn had misled White House."
Of course, there's literally no evidence that U.S. security has been comprised. Leftists are just picking up where they left off during the transition. They're bringing back the "Russian card" to annihilate the newly sworn-in administration. They couldn't defeat the insurgent populist Trump in the election, so they'll use extra-electoral means. They're going to use extra-constitutional means, in fact, because the opposition to Trump is looking like an armed revolt. It's a rebellion. Street protests and anarchist violence are cheered by the progs in D.C. Campuses are the training grounds of the revolution. Far-left members of Congress demonize and delegitimize the elected government at every turn. Nancy Pelosi's Robespierre in a skirt.
Yesterday's Memeorandum thread was perhaps the longest series of articles on a single topic I've ever seen at the site. All alarmist too. Today's top headline is from the sensational yellow-journal rag, the New York Times, "Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence."
See Ed Morrissey, at Hot Air, for more, "NYT: FBI probing Russian intel contacts with several Trump campaign officials."
And at Free Beacon, via Stephen Green at Instapundit, "SHADOW ADMINISTRATION: Former Obama Officials, Loyalists Waged Secret Campaign to Oust Flynn."
Also, from Glenn Reynolds, "YEAH, THE FLYNN RESIGNATION’S AN EMBARRASSMENT, but Obama had his failed appointments, often tinged with scandal..."
More at CBS This Morning, "Report: Trump associates repeatedly contacted Russia before election," and "Trump had known "for weeks" Gen. Flynn had misled White House."
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Molly Haskell, Steven Spielberg
I suppose Steven Spielberg's a flaming leftist. I don't really know for sure. I do know that I'm inclined to forever cut him some slack, since he directed perhaps the greatest war movie of modern times, "Saving Private Ryan." What is more, "Band of Brothers" is perhaps the most important television miniseries every aired. I feel that strongly about these productions. The grit and realism of war, in both fiction and non-fiction portrayals, will be preserved for future generations. It's a monumental gift to history and memory.
In any case, at Amazon, Molly Haskell, Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films.
In any case, at Amazon, Molly Haskell, Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films.
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