I am apparently in the very elite category of never having had COVID(*). I’m also among my acquaintances in the very elite category of getting the booster the first week it is available.
I was randomly assigned Pfizer for my first vaccine, and stuck to it except for one Moderna shot after I read that the mix-and-match of vaccines gave added protection. Again, my poll of acquaintances points out that the effects of Moderna tends to be worse than with Pfizer.
In six or seven vaccinations I’ve never had any secondary effects, except on my second dose, which coincided with a big work milestone that got celebrated with significantly more booze (including three whiskies) than my baseline. I had a headache the next day (and a very dreadful flight from San Francisco to Houston) that lasted until 6 pm. It totally was a reaction to the vaccine.
(*) My doctor believes I have some sort of genetic natural immunity to COVID. He says at this time people that have not caught COVID, no matter how many vaccines, are as rare as black swans. Just like I have genetically very high cholesterol, and only massive doses of statins are probably keeping me alive.
I don’t believe this is accurate. I believe only post Constantine Christianity (up to Charlemagne or so) engaged in forced conversions in a massive scale.
For sure the Muslims have never required forced conversions to Islam, and even in the Spanish Reconquista the Christians did not force the Muslims to convert. (*)
(*) It’s true that Catholic Spain expulsed its Jewish population in 1492, and the remaining Muslims 150 years later. But these were economic decisions affecting people that were (2nd class) citizens of the state, not the result of a recent war.
Re Jerusalem, no one expects that Israel will give back the city. I would think it would be reasonable that Palestinians living in East Jerusalem should become (to the extent they are not) Israeli citizens.
Re the Right of Return, again, I don’t see a problem with this being an Israeli precondition for peace.
Now, a demilitarized Palestinian state is a different issue. Without an army how would a Palestinian state defend itself from potential Israeli incursions, be them IDF or just settlers claiming for Judea and Samaria? Would the Palestinian state be protected by the Jordanian, the Egyptian, or the Syrian army? Or is the idea that Israel would retain a permanent right to patrol and police inside Palestine? If so, will Israel also want to control the borders to make sure no arms are imported? To make sure of what? And how is that different from now?
Remember, we are talking about peace here. At the end of the process there are supposedly two separate sovereign nations at peace.
Again, friendly reminder. Versailles did include demilitarization obligations and economic restriction to make sure Germany would not be able to rearm itself. It did not work then, it would not work in Palestine.
“ I suppose it depends on what you mean by complete defeat of the Palestinians. To me it means something like the end of WWII where the winning side gets to more or less dictate the terms and the losing side accepts it.”
Can you spell out the terms you would like to dictate, or, alternatively, what terms do you think would Israel dictate?
Because I have the suspicion this is another gnome underpants issue. Most wars in history have ended with some territorial exchanges, very few of those including population displacements. But after those exchanges took place, either the two sides ended more or less how they started, or one of them essentially absorbed the other one.
So again, what are the terms that Israel would dictate? Incorporation of the WB into Israel? What about the WB population? If you want to remove it, where would you send it? Into third-party non belligerent countries?
Anything less than that is just for Israel to draw a Green Line and say “We keep this, you get that”. And as others have pointed, Israel can do that tomorrow.
And of course, there’s a historical example of victors dictating terms that had the objective of crippling the economy and military capability of the defeated to make sure they would stay subservient to the victors.
That was Versailles. It took only twenty years for that strategy to prove itself disastrous.
And the Allies learned their lesson. The peace terms imposed after WWII were significantly more lenient that Versailles, and more in line with all that had come before at least since Westphalia
As the Spaniard born husband of an Ulster Church of Ireland dude who grew up during the troubles, I can tell you that you are wrong.
The fanaticism in both sides, even in the Ian Paisley Presbyterians despising Anglican Church of Ireland of my in-laws, is still huge. I can tell you that my in-laws had a bigger issue with me coming from a nominally Catholic country than with me being a guy.
It took me years to get my husband to walk with me into a Catholic Church just to look at some paintings. And I believe both my in-laws died without knowing he once sat through a Mass, just out of curiosity. I’ll refrain to tell you what he thought of it.
Just today we were talking about the disposition of our remains, and he said he didn’t really want his ashes in my family’s niche, because it’s attached to a Catholic church.
The Troubles are not really in the past. It’s just that no one wants to the one that restarts them. And yes, the EU was a big relief valve and Brexit was a disaster to NI.
I don't know if you were intentionally traying to crack a joke, or if it was a happy accident. But "This is a cool heat map (and that is better than a warm heat map, because Global Warming)" is a really funny thing
Somehow my question became an exchange between (mainly) Jaybird on one side and several others on the other side. Jaybird apparently defined conservatism as calling a trans person only by their (assigned at) birth pronouns, and supporting Israel over Palestinians.
Since actual Democrats in a position of power support Israel over Palestinians, or at least support Palestinians less than they support the Israeli government, I have to conclude that, as per Jay it’d, if only trans people would go away, all conservatives would be Democrats, or at least indifferent between the two.
Because that would be a caricature of conservatives, after 50 plus comments I still do not know what policies conservatives other than Jaybird would want to implement that are different from what President Mayor Pete will be pursuing after January 2033.
Perhaps David has a take that’s different from Jaybird’s. Or perhaps I’ll see him in Mayor Pete’s campaign in 2032.
Really? I don’t doubt you but I’m surprised. My Houston inner suburb neighborhood NextDoor is full of puppies, free furniture, and recommendations for local restaurants. It’s, if anything, annoyingly sweet
I understand your issue with MAGA, one that more than 50% of the country shares. But I do not understand exactly what do you find so objectionable about the Democratic Party.
This is not a gotcha or a trolling question. I honestly want to understand where you stand and what separates you and me, politically. As a start, I am going to assume none of your objections are related to the Culture Wars, and I am not going to go there. If that assumption is wrong, I am happy to dig deeper in that area too. I would also point that, unlike the Republican party, the (relatively) far left tail is nowhere near moving the party in any substantial in their direction, neither in economic nor in social terms.
So, in a Left-Right classical economic axis, the Democratic Party's actual policies are probably to the right os the UK Conservatives -who are themselves to the right of Reform UK, a purely Culture War offshoot of the tories. The only material difference between the two in this axis is probably that the Democrats are more friendly to organized labor that the Tories. And this is, I think, a relatively new change. Neither the Clinton nor the Obama administrations were so labor friendly.
On a isolationist vs internationalist, the Republican party has for the longest time being at the isolationist end. As a non native that has lived in several countries, and married to someone from another culture, I am as cosmopolitan as it comes, so you'll find me in the internationalist end of the spectrum. But from reading your pieces, I believe I'll find you there too.
And maybe it's my European blood, but I find the Democratic let's try to reform and to address the causes approach to Law and Order to yield slightly better results than the throw the book at them punish and forget of the Republicans. Your mileage might be different in this matter, and we can discuss.
Since this is in hard numbers an urban country, and I am an urban guy, that was born in a big city and grew happily from baby to college bound in a (series of) high-rise building(s), I prefer a party that, to borrow a phrase, does not hate me, as Chip points above. I know you are more of a rural/exurban person, so that might be a difference between us.
I hope these few paragraphs show that this is not trolling, and I hope to hear your thoughts
Interestingly, England (and its successor states) has been the European state with the most regnant queens, six, not counting Lady Jane Grey. And in the case of Lady Jane, who would have been the first, she was not disqualified for being a woman, but for there being two women with a better claim that hers.
That in the 1550s no one in England was debating that women could be sovereigns on their own was quite amazing.
*J_A gets continues with his toes * 11, 12, …., 20
*J_A commandeers some of J_A’s spouse’s fingers* 21,…, 28, 29.
So that happened 29 years ago.
Is this the worst we have? Is this Like Douglas Emhoff (who apparently must be an antisemite Jew according to the GOP) cheating on his first wife before he met Kamala Harris?
If that’s all, I will feel quite safe if Walz ever gets his hand in the nuclear football
My UK born spouse (bit older than me, not that he’s happy about that) could teach Sargent Majors about bed making (*), and when in the UK, we don’t have a top sheet, the duvet cover is part of the sheet set and it gets changed weekly. But you have to remember that in the UK you essentially have to sleep with your windows open (**), and you really want to snuggle in a heavy duvet, even in summer.
When in the USA, though, we have a very light duvet and a top sheet, and the duvet cover does not get changed very frequently.
Millennials are discovering duvets the way their elders discovered other aspects of European life
(*) When I, trained by him for decades, make the bed, he still sneaks back and redoes it, because I’ll never make it to his standards.
(**) if you keep your windows tight shut the dampness will run amok and everything will get soon covered in mold.
It is very Japanese point of view centered, hence Blackthorne being less developed. Having the Japanese dialogues subtitled allows the show to follow and focus the politics of the time and the minds of the characters as they try to figure how to act to their best interest in a time that everyone recognizes is bringing massive change.
So the Japanese characters carry the show, particularly the female characters, Mariko becomes the true protagonist in this version, and Ochiba (the Heir’s mother, whose character is significantly increased compared to the novel) is a great counterpart to her. Fujiko is really well developed and brings a different perspective (I would watch a TV series centered around Fujiko’s point of view of these same six months). Surprisingly, too Kiko’s mistress is given more preeminence than in the book, and is tasked to carry the feminist/modern message to the others. This regrettably ate into Kiko’s screentime, but I approve of the change nevertheless.
Toranaga and Yabushige are very well developed and very well acted, too. We fully understand them and what their objectives are.
And the production values are above anything I’ve seen before on TV. Forget GoT, Rings of Power, anything you can think of. Nothing has been done as meticulously and as carefully and delicately as Shogun.
At the end of the day, limited by a finite budget, the producers were forced to reduce the number of episodes or reduce the production cost. To fully translate the book they should have had two more episodes. But I would rather cut episodes than cut their fantastic recreation of 1600 Japan.
I think minor tweaks could have improved TV Blackthorne within the constraints of the budget. The rest, as I said, are nitpicks and I understand why they did it that way.
Shogun, the book, is one of my favorite books, and I’ve read it several times in the last forty years. I liked the series in general, more so than the original series. I have a couple of nitpicks, and one serious criticism, though.
The big criticism: in the book, Blackthorne starts picking up and learning Japanese very early. It’s probably not made clear enough in the series, but before landing in Japan Blackthorne already speaks fluently at least four languages: English, Dutch (he is sailing as a senior officer in a Dutch fleet) , Portuguese, and Latin (in the book it’s made clear that many Japanese understand Portuguese, so he and Marino speak Latin when they want to express their more private sentiments). In addition he has enough Spanish to at least read the rutters. He’s quickly able to have basic interactions with most people, like the gardener, without Mariko doing the translation. Yes, he still mangles it, like the pheasant episode proves. Likewise he picks up the behavior (when and how to bow, for instance) very quickly.
The series made him more the stereotypical ugly White Guy, frequently angry and agressive and raising his voice, about to jump and punch someone, fresques lost about what was going on, and rarely saying a word in Japanese. The few scenes where it’s hinted he can be on his own (buying charcoal in Edo) are too discontinued for us to appreciate Blackthorne’s assimilation into the culture.
And then suddenly, in the last episode, he can speak a lot. To Fuji, to Toranaga, to the villagers. And the viewer is like “when did that happen?”. To me, it’s a disservice to the character, and the reason most viewers liked Blackthorne the least. 2024 Blackthorne stands up as a sore thumb.
And this brings me to my first nitpick. In the book Toranaga says that he appreciates the Anjin (Blackthorne)as his friend, the only friend he can have, really, because the Anjin will always be an outsider, and will never be able to compete with him. In the TV show, because Blackthorne doesn’t niponize enough, it really can’t build that relationship with Toranaga, and in his exposition to Yabushige Toranaga says that the Anjin is expendable, making it as Mariko saving Blackthorne’s life on her own. In the book, Toranaga is keen to protect the Anjin and get him out of Osaka alive, because the Anjin IS his friend.
The other nitpicks are about the characters of Omi, Kiku, and And Nagakado
Omi is a very large character in the book, probably larger than Yabushige, and we see how he leverages the fortuitous arrival of the Erasmus to his village into a meteorical rise in status. I know it’s difficult to get 1,000 pages into a TV season, but I miss the loss of Omi’s point of view.
Kiku, first, I think the actress was poorly chosen. She doesn’t exude the out of this world beauty and refinement that I expect of Kiku. TV Kiku is there as a backdrop for other people , OMI, Mariko, her Mistress, to express themselves.
TV Nagakado is another failed character. Book Nagakado is as hot headed, an$ lacks any political cunning, like his TV counterpart, but TV Nagakado is plainly stupid and buffoonish. Even his death is buffoonish (that’s the point where the series departs 5he most from the book).
But all of 5he above notwithstanding, Shogun is some of the best TV I’ve ever seen. Worth paying a month of Hulu to watch. Worth paying a year of Hulu if need be
I joined your (free) substack after reading this post of yours.
I’m happy I did. You write powerful pieces. I’m almost ashamed that I visited West Virginia attracted by th3 beautiful landscapes, and I spent hours driving the back roads because I loved the hills, forests, and rivers I was traversing, and had very little 5houghts towards the people who were living at th3 sides of the road.
A large part of the illegal immigration problem would go away if, as Bush Ii proposed, the USA would allow again large numbers of visas for seasonal or temporary migrants.
The reality is that many illegal immigrants would rather come to the USA for six or nine months a year, work, save money, and go back home, where their hard earned dollars would purchase a better quality of life for them. After enough years doing it, they would have enough money to have a house andset up a business in their hometown, and retire and grow old there. Their families will also stay home, reducing the need for schools, medical services, etc.
In the 50s, 60s, and 70s that used to be the pattern, but when crossing the border became difficult and dangerous, men could no longer cross for seasonal work. Once inside the USA , it was too dangerous and difficult and expensive to go back home. So instead, they brought their families and those that used to be temporary became permanent migrants.
Seasonal work visas would be the preferred solution of most illegal migrants as well as most low wage jobs US employers. But solving problems not in the interest of many politicians, so they make sure problems don’t get solved.
They have these things, called pens, that you can use to tick every item in the list until all the items are ticked; only then you are done and can go home, with the satisfaction of knowing you have the molasses, so to say, in the bag.
There is even an app in my phone that lets me put things in my list, and lets me tick them off, and they disappear from the list. Voila, when the list is empty, I can go home.
On an aside, I am a man, and I fully subscribe to the Men Don’t Ask For Directions rule. That’s what defines our gender. Without it, I don’t know what we would be.
Again, you are either being a troll or you are being ignorant of the Spanish language. Out of the goodness of my heart I’m going to assume you are not doing this on purpose, so here’s some information you might not be aware of, once more:
Spanish speakers know the difference between grammatical gender and biological (whether in the brain or in the chromosomes, we can ignore that for now) gender. Everything in Spanish (even the words “every” and “thing”) has a male or a female grammatical gender that has nothing to do with their biological gender. Inanimate things also have a grammatical gender even though they have no biology: stones are male and rocks, are female but mountains are female and mounts are male. And please be informed that both vessels and cars are male, so stop referring to ships as her (see, I’m improving your language, you can thank me later),
And, by the way, you know what grammatical gender does not exist in Spanish? The neutral gender, we are not Dutch, thank you very much.
So we do not get confused, or offended, when the proper grammatical gender is used for things that also have biological gender. We understand the difference between male or female people (or male or female whales) and are cool about it. I’ve only heard the word Latinx spoken aloud in conversation once. It’s not a thing outside of the stoned college dorm community. Keep it there.
We don’t need well meaning Americans that want to improve our machista language (again, what about male whales, can we please talk about the ballenx or the ballene. These are very intelligent animals (oh, my goodness, animal is a male word! We can’t have that, let’s start talking about the animalxes)).
And we also don’t need “conservative” (scare quotes intentional, I don’t see them conserving anything) keeping this silly debate ongoing, not out of respect for our language, but just so they have something to rant about. You know what these “conservatives” objection is,? It’s not the word LatinX. It’s the presence of Latinos in the USA (Go back to Canada, or to Cancún, Rafael Cruz, and get out of my city). The discussion about the word reminds them that we are here, and we aren’t going anywhere, and it pains them.
So now you know better, Jaybird. I trust you won’t stir this pot again in the future, with posts half of which argue for and half against the use of Latinx or Latinx or whatever stoned people will come up with next.
Americans telling Spanish speakers that they know better than us how our language should be spoken IS presumptuous. Latine is as stupid and as insulting as LatinX.
Aren't they worried that in Spanish eagles, otters, bees, whales, turtles, snakes, panthers, palm trees, grape vines, and many other creatures are grammatically feminine. Who is out there speaking for the insulted and diminished male whales?
The two translation styles succeed in capturing different aspects of the poems.
Wibur is better at capturing the rhythm of the poem, while Mezey is more faithful and the meanings are more precise. Mezey gives you the words of Borges, Wilbur gives you better poetry.
If it was a matter of accuracy, Mezey is a better translator, but traduttore, traditori, as the Italians say. If you want to read poetry, you are likely better off with Wilbur.
Now, if I wanted to translate the short stories, the answer might be different. Borges is a master of choosing the exact word to convey his very precise idea. I would be scared translating the exquisite nuance of his apparently very simple and colloquial sentences.
Fortunately, I don't have to
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “The COVID-Flu Cocktail: A New Fall Tradition”
I am apparently in the very elite category of never having had COVID(*). I’m also among my acquaintances in the very elite category of getting the booster the first week it is available.
I was randomly assigned Pfizer for my first vaccine, and stuck to it except for one Moderna shot after I read that the mix-and-match of vaccines gave added protection. Again, my poll of acquaintances points out that the effects of Moderna tends to be worse than with Pfizer.
In six or seven vaccinations I’ve never had any secondary effects, except on my second dose, which coincided with a big work milestone that got celebrated with significantly more booze (including three whiskies) than my baseline. I had a headache the next day (and a very dreadful flight from San Francisco to Houston) that lasted until 6 pm. It totally was a reaction to the vaccine.
(*) My doctor believes I have some sort of genetic natural immunity to COVID. He says at this time people that have not caught COVID, no matter how many vaccines, are as rare as black swans. Just like I have genetically very high cholesterol, and only massive doses of statins are probably keeping me alive.
On “Open Mic for the week of 10/7/2024”
I don’t believe this is accurate. I believe only post Constantine Christianity (up to Charlemagne or so) engaged in forced conversions in a massive scale.
For sure the Muslims have never required forced conversions to Islam, and even in the Spanish Reconquista the Christians did not force the Muslims to convert. (*)
(*) It’s true that Catholic Spain expulsed its Jewish population in 1492, and the remaining Muslims 150 years later. But these were economic decisions affecting people that were (2nd class) citizens of the state, not the result of a recent war.
"
Re Jerusalem, no one expects that Israel will give back the city. I would think it would be reasonable that Palestinians living in East Jerusalem should become (to the extent they are not) Israeli citizens.
Re the Right of Return, again, I don’t see a problem with this being an Israeli precondition for peace.
Now, a demilitarized Palestinian state is a different issue. Without an army how would a Palestinian state defend itself from potential Israeli incursions, be them IDF or just settlers claiming for Judea and Samaria? Would the Palestinian state be protected by the Jordanian, the Egyptian, or the Syrian army? Or is the idea that Israel would retain a permanent right to patrol and police inside Palestine? If so, will Israel also want to control the borders to make sure no arms are imported? To make sure of what? And how is that different from now?
Remember, we are talking about peace here. At the end of the process there are supposedly two separate sovereign nations at peace.
Again, friendly reminder. Versailles did include demilitarization obligations and economic restriction to make sure Germany would not be able to rearm itself. It did not work then, it would not work in Palestine.
"
@LeeEsq
You said
“ I suppose it depends on what you mean by complete defeat of the Palestinians. To me it means something like the end of WWII where the winning side gets to more or less dictate the terms and the losing side accepts it.”
Can you spell out the terms you would like to dictate, or, alternatively, what terms do you think would Israel dictate?
Because I have the suspicion this is another gnome underpants issue. Most wars in history have ended with some territorial exchanges, very few of those including population displacements. But after those exchanges took place, either the two sides ended more or less how they started, or one of them essentially absorbed the other one.
So again, what are the terms that Israel would dictate? Incorporation of the WB into Israel? What about the WB population? If you want to remove it, where would you send it? Into third-party non belligerent countries?
Anything less than that is just for Israel to draw a Green Line and say “We keep this, you get that”. And as others have pointed, Israel can do that tomorrow.
And of course, there’s a historical example of victors dictating terms that had the objective of crippling the economy and military capability of the defeated to make sure they would stay subservient to the victors.
That was Versailles. It took only twenty years for that strategy to prove itself disastrous.
And the Allies learned their lesson. The peace terms imposed after WWII were significantly more lenient that Versailles, and more in line with all that had come before at least since Westphalia
On “Open Mic for the week of 9/30/2024”
As the Spaniard born husband of an Ulster Church of Ireland dude who grew up during the troubles, I can tell you that you are wrong.
The fanaticism in both sides, even in the Ian Paisley Presbyterians despising Anglican Church of Ireland of my in-laws, is still huge. I can tell you that my in-laws had a bigger issue with me coming from a nominally Catholic country than with me being a guy.
It took me years to get my husband to walk with me into a Catholic Church just to look at some paintings. And I believe both my in-laws died without knowing he once sat through a Mass, just out of curiosity. I’ll refrain to tell you what he thought of it.
Just today we were talking about the disposition of our remains, and he said he didn’t really want his ashes in my family’s niche, because it’s attached to a Catholic church.
The Troubles are not really in the past. It’s just that no one wants to the one that restarts them. And yes, the EU was a big relief valve and Brexit was a disaster to NI.
On “Why a Trump Loss is Best for Conservatives”
@KenB
I don't know if you were intentionally traying to crack a joke, or if it was a happy accident. But "This is a cool heat map (and that is better than a warm heat map, because Global Warming)" is a really funny thing
Or, I am a fan of dad's jokes
On “Vice Presidential Candidate Debate: Sen JD Vance vs Gov Tim Walz”
By the way, @Jaybird, thank you for this. Great summary
On “Why a Trump Loss is Best for Conservatives”
Somehow my question became an exchange between (mainly) Jaybird on one side and several others on the other side. Jaybird apparently defined conservatism as calling a trans person only by their (assigned at) birth pronouns, and supporting Israel over Palestinians.
Since actual Democrats in a position of power support Israel over Palestinians, or at least support Palestinians less than they support the Israeli government, I have to conclude that, as per Jay it’d, if only trans people would go away, all conservatives would be Democrats, or at least indifferent between the two.
Because that would be a caricature of conservatives, after 50 plus comments I still do not know what policies conservatives other than Jaybird would want to implement that are different from what President Mayor Pete will be pursuing after January 2033.
Perhaps David has a take that’s different from Jaybird’s. Or perhaps I’ll see him in Mayor Pete’s campaign in 2032.
On “Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory”
Really? I don’t doubt you but I’m surprised. My Houston inner suburb neighborhood NextDoor is full of puppies, free furniture, and recommendations for local restaurants. It’s, if anything, annoyingly sweet
On “Apalachee Killer’s Father Now Charged”
“ In fact, the homicide rate continued falling for 16 years after the Columbine shooting, and didn’t start rising again until 2015, when…..
…. Donald Trump descended the golden escalator; or was it when…..
…. Confederate symbols were banned after the Charleston massacre ; or was it when…..
…. The Supreme Court issued their Obergefell decision ; or was it when…..
…. the Nucler Deal with Iran was signed ; or was it when…..
…. A married couple massacred 14 in a party in San Bernardino ; or was it when…..
…. Pope Francis visited America ; or was it when…..
….. Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender?
I mean, there are so many reasons I can think of that can really make someone murder others. Me, I think it was the escalator thing.
By the way, I missed the Make Prisons like America Again Act of 2015. Do you mind sending a link to it?
On “Conservatives for Kamala”
@David_Thorton
I understand your issue with MAGA, one that more than 50% of the country shares. But I do not understand exactly what do you find so objectionable about the Democratic Party.
This is not a gotcha or a trolling question. I honestly want to understand where you stand and what separates you and me, politically. As a start, I am going to assume none of your objections are related to the Culture Wars, and I am not going to go there. If that assumption is wrong, I am happy to dig deeper in that area too. I would also point that, unlike the Republican party, the (relatively) far left tail is nowhere near moving the party in any substantial in their direction, neither in economic nor in social terms.
So, in a Left-Right classical economic axis, the Democratic Party's actual policies are probably to the right os the UK Conservatives -who are themselves to the right of Reform UK, a purely Culture War offshoot of the tories. The only material difference between the two in this axis is probably that the Democrats are more friendly to organized labor that the Tories. And this is, I think, a relatively new change. Neither the Clinton nor the Obama administrations were so labor friendly.
On a isolationist vs internationalist, the Republican party has for the longest time being at the isolationist end. As a non native that has lived in several countries, and married to someone from another culture, I am as cosmopolitan as it comes, so you'll find me in the internationalist end of the spectrum. But from reading your pieces, I believe I'll find you there too.
And maybe it's my European blood, but I find the Democratic let's try to reform and to address the causes approach to Law and Order to yield slightly better results than the throw the book at them punish and forget of the Republicans. Your mileage might be different in this matter, and we can discuss.
Since this is in hard numbers an urban country, and I am an urban guy, that was born in a big city and grew happily from baby to college bound in a (series of) high-rise building(s), I prefer a party that, to borrow a phrase, does not hate me, as Chip points above. I know you are more of a rural/exurban person, so that might be a difference between us.
I hope these few paragraphs show that this is not trolling, and I hope to hear your thoughts
On “The Differences in Identity Politics Between America and Britain”
Interestingly, England (and its successor states) has been the European state with the most regnant queens, six, not counting Lady Jane Grey. And in the case of Lady Jane, who would have been the first, she was not disqualified for being a woman, but for there being two women with a better claim that hers.
That in the 1550s no one in England was debating that women could be sovereigns on their own was quite amazing.
On “Tim Walz Tapped to be VP Kamala Harris Running Mate”
A DUI in 1995
*J_A counts with his fingers* 1, 2,….., 9, 10
*J_A gets continues with his toes * 11, 12, …., 20
*J_A commandeers some of J_A’s spouse’s fingers* 21,…, 28, 29.
So that happened 29 years ago.
Is this the worst we have? Is this Like Douglas Emhoff (who apparently must be an antisemite Jew according to the GOP) cheating on his first wife before he met Kamala Harris?
If that’s all, I will feel quite safe if Walz ever gets his hand in the nuclear football
On “Weekend Plans Post: GenX is, apparently, the last generation to use a top sheet”
My UK born spouse (bit older than me, not that he’s happy about that) could teach Sargent Majors about bed making (*), and when in the UK, we don’t have a top sheet, the duvet cover is part of the sheet set and it gets changed weekly. But you have to remember that in the UK you essentially have to sleep with your windows open (**), and you really want to snuggle in a heavy duvet, even in summer.
When in the USA, though, we have a very light duvet and a top sheet, and the duvet cover does not get changed very frequently.
Millennials are discovering duvets the way their elders discovered other aspects of European life
(*) When I, trained by him for decades, make the bed, he still sneaks back and redoes it, because I’ll never make it to his standards.
(**) if you keep your windows tight shut the dampness will run amok and everything will get soon covered in mold.
On “Throughput: Fireball Edition”
ThT1
The Portuguese are really foul mouthed hehe. 😁
Jokes aside, it was amazing to behold. I think I said “Fish” just watching the video😇
On “Do Your Down-Ballot Homework”
One great resource for all the down ballot races is the League of Women’s Voters. That’s my go to resource, and I am a dude.
At least in Texas they research every race, no matter how small (and I had 100, not 99 or 101) candidates and issues to vote on in November 2022)
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Three Body Problem”
Please, please, watch it. It’s amazingly good.
It is very Japanese point of view centered, hence Blackthorne being less developed. Having the Japanese dialogues subtitled allows the show to follow and focus the politics of the time and the minds of the characters as they try to figure how to act to their best interest in a time that everyone recognizes is bringing massive change.
So the Japanese characters carry the show, particularly the female characters, Mariko becomes the true protagonist in this version, and Ochiba (the Heir’s mother, whose character is significantly increased compared to the novel) is a great counterpart to her. Fujiko is really well developed and brings a different perspective (I would watch a TV series centered around Fujiko’s point of view of these same six months). Surprisingly, too Kiko’s mistress is given more preeminence than in the book, and is tasked to carry the feminist/modern message to the others. This regrettably ate into Kiko’s screentime, but I approve of the change nevertheless.
Toranaga and Yabushige are very well developed and very well acted, too. We fully understand them and what their objectives are.
And the production values are above anything I’ve seen before on TV. Forget GoT, Rings of Power, anything you can think of. Nothing has been done as meticulously and as carefully and delicately as Shogun.
At the end of the day, limited by a finite budget, the producers were forced to reduce the number of episodes or reduce the production cost. To fully translate the book they should have had two more episodes. But I would rather cut episodes than cut their fantastic recreation of 1600 Japan.
I think minor tweaks could have improved TV Blackthorne within the constraints of the budget. The rest, as I said, are nitpicks and I understand why they did it that way.
But yes, please, watch it. Like, today.
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Shogun, the book, is one of my favorite books, and I’ve read it several times in the last forty years. I liked the series in general, more so than the original series. I have a couple of nitpicks, and one serious criticism, though.
The big criticism: in the book, Blackthorne starts picking up and learning Japanese very early. It’s probably not made clear enough in the series, but before landing in Japan Blackthorne already speaks fluently at least four languages: English, Dutch (he is sailing as a senior officer in a Dutch fleet) , Portuguese, and Latin (in the book it’s made clear that many Japanese understand Portuguese, so he and Marino speak Latin when they want to express their more private sentiments). In addition he has enough Spanish to at least read the rutters. He’s quickly able to have basic interactions with most people, like the gardener, without Mariko doing the translation. Yes, he still mangles it, like the pheasant episode proves. Likewise he picks up the behavior (when and how to bow, for instance) very quickly.
The series made him more the stereotypical ugly White Guy, frequently angry and agressive and raising his voice, about to jump and punch someone, fresques lost about what was going on, and rarely saying a word in Japanese. The few scenes where it’s hinted he can be on his own (buying charcoal in Edo) are too discontinued for us to appreciate Blackthorne’s assimilation into the culture.
And then suddenly, in the last episode, he can speak a lot. To Fuji, to Toranaga, to the villagers. And the viewer is like “when did that happen?”. To me, it’s a disservice to the character, and the reason most viewers liked Blackthorne the least. 2024 Blackthorne stands up as a sore thumb.
And this brings me to my first nitpick. In the book Toranaga says that he appreciates the Anjin (Blackthorne)as his friend, the only friend he can have, really, because the Anjin will always be an outsider, and will never be able to compete with him. In the TV show, because Blackthorne doesn’t niponize enough, it really can’t build that relationship with Toranaga, and in his exposition to Yabushige Toranaga says that the Anjin is expendable, making it as Mariko saving Blackthorne’s life on her own. In the book, Toranaga is keen to protect the Anjin and get him out of Osaka alive, because the Anjin IS his friend.
The other nitpicks are about the characters of Omi, Kiku, and And Nagakado
Omi is a very large character in the book, probably larger than Yabushige, and we see how he leverages the fortuitous arrival of the Erasmus to his village into a meteorical rise in status. I know it’s difficult to get 1,000 pages into a TV season, but I miss the loss of Omi’s point of view.
Kiku, first, I think the actress was poorly chosen. She doesn’t exude the out of this world beauty and refinement that I expect of Kiku. TV Kiku is there as a backdrop for other people , OMI, Mariko, her Mistress, to express themselves.
TV Nagakado is another failed character. Book Nagakado is as hot headed, an$ lacks any political cunning, like his TV counterpart, but TV Nagakado is plainly stupid and buffoonish. Even his death is buffoonish (that’s the point where the series departs 5he most from the book).
But all of 5he above notwithstanding, Shogun is some of the best TV I’ve ever seen. Worth paying a month of Hulu to watch. Worth paying a year of Hulu if need be
On “On Cleaning Out My Writing Intake”
I joined your (free) substack after reading this post of yours.
I’m happy I did. You write powerful pieces. I’m almost ashamed that I visited West Virginia attracted by th3 beautiful landscapes, and I spent hours driving the back roads because I loved the hills, forests, and rivers I was traversing, and had very little 5houghts towards the people who were living at th3 sides of the road.
I’ll try to do better in the future. Thanks.
On “The Statistical Side of Immigration”
A large part of the illegal immigration problem would go away if, as Bush Ii proposed, the USA would allow again large numbers of visas for seasonal or temporary migrants.
The reality is that many illegal immigrants would rather come to the USA for six or nine months a year, work, save money, and go back home, where their hard earned dollars would purchase a better quality of life for them. After enough years doing it, they would have enough money to have a house andset up a business in their hometown, and retire and grow old there. Their families will also stay home, reducing the need for schools, medical services, etc.
In the 50s, 60s, and 70s that used to be the pattern, but when crossing the border became difficult and dangerous, men could no longer cross for seasonal work. Once inside the USA , it was too dangerous and difficult and expensive to go back home. So instead, they brought their families and those that used to be temporary became permanent migrants.
Seasonal work visas would be the preferred solution of most illegal migrants as well as most low wage jobs US employers. But solving problems not in the interest of many politicians, so they make sure problems don’t get solved.
On “Fear and Loathing in Aisle Eight”
They have these things, called pens, that you can use to tick every item in the list until all the items are ticked; only then you are done and can go home, with the satisfaction of knowing you have the molasses, so to say, in the bag.
There is even an app in my phone that lets me put things in my list, and lets me tick them off, and they disappear from the list. Voila, when the list is empty, I can go home.
On an aside, I am a man, and I fully subscribe to the Men Don’t Ask For Directions rule. That’s what defines our gender. Without it, I don’t know what we would be.
On “Open Mic for the week of 4/8/2024”
It pays to speak Spanish to the Spanish speaking community, if you want them to buy your products.
As Jaybird pointed out, LatinX and Latine are English words, not Spanish.
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Again, you are either being a troll or you are being ignorant of the Spanish language. Out of the goodness of my heart I’m going to assume you are not doing this on purpose, so here’s some information you might not be aware of, once more:
Spanish speakers know the difference between grammatical gender and biological (whether in the brain or in the chromosomes, we can ignore that for now) gender. Everything in Spanish (even the words “every” and “thing”) has a male or a female grammatical gender that has nothing to do with their biological gender. Inanimate things also have a grammatical gender even though they have no biology: stones are male and rocks, are female but mountains are female and mounts are male. And please be informed that both vessels and cars are male, so stop referring to ships as her (see, I’m improving your language, you can thank me later),
And, by the way, you know what grammatical gender does not exist in Spanish? The neutral gender, we are not Dutch, thank you very much.
So we do not get confused, or offended, when the proper grammatical gender is used for things that also have biological gender. We understand the difference between male or female people (or male or female whales) and are cool about it. I’ve only heard the word Latinx spoken aloud in conversation once. It’s not a thing outside of the stoned college dorm community. Keep it there.
We don’t need well meaning Americans that want to improve our machista language (again, what about male whales, can we please talk about the ballenx or the ballene. These are very intelligent animals (oh, my goodness, animal is a male word! We can’t have that, let’s start talking about the animalxes)).
And we also don’t need “conservative” (scare quotes intentional, I don’t see them conserving anything) keeping this silly debate ongoing, not out of respect for our language, but just so they have something to rant about. You know what these “conservatives” objection is,? It’s not the word LatinX. It’s the presence of Latinos in the USA (Go back to Canada, or to Cancún, Rafael Cruz, and get out of my city). The discussion about the word reminds them that we are here, and we aren’t going anywhere, and it pains them.
So now you know better, Jaybird. I trust you won’t stir this pot again in the future, with posts half of which argue for and half against the use of Latinx or Latinx or whatever stoned people will come up with next.
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Americans telling Spanish speakers that they know better than us how our language should be spoken IS presumptuous. Latine is as stupid and as insulting as LatinX.
Aren't they worried that in Spanish eagles, otters, bees, whales, turtles, snakes, panthers, palm trees, grape vines, and many other creatures are grammatically feminine. Who is out there speaking for the insulted and diminished male whales?
On “POETS Day! Jorge Luis Borges as Translated by Richard Wilbur”
The two translation styles succeed in capturing different aspects of the poems.
Wibur is better at capturing the rhythm of the poem, while Mezey is more faithful and the meanings are more precise. Mezey gives you the words of Borges, Wilbur gives you better poetry.
If it was a matter of accuracy, Mezey is a better translator, but traduttore, traditori, as the Italians say. If you want to read poetry, you are likely better off with Wilbur.
Now, if I wanted to translate the short stories, the answer might be different. Borges is a master of choosing the exact word to convey his very precise idea. I would be scared translating the exquisite nuance of his apparently very simple and colloquial sentences.
Fortunately, I don't have to
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