William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. died today at the age of 82. He is remembered has having done more to popularize conservatism in post-New Deal America than anyone other then Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Pat Buchan called him the "spiritual father of the movement' while Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. called him "the scourge of liberalism". William Buckley took Mr... Schlesinger's comment as a compliment and with characteristic good cheer wore it as a badge.

His career began in earnest after having spent two years in the army, He attended Yale University. He found himself feeling alienated by the secular-humanist ethos of the university. He attacked this in his first book "God and Man at Yale" (1951). The book caused a stir and established the author’s reputation.

Following a brief stint in Mexico in the employ of the CIA, Bill Buckley returned to politics. Mr. Buckley and His brother-in-law wrote a defense of Senator Joe McCarthy called "McCarthy and his Enemies" (1954) in which they argued that he was heading "a movement around which men of good will and stern morality can close ranks."

In 1955 Mr. Buckley started the National Review as a voice for "the disciples of truth, who defend the organic moral order". Circulation increased from 16,000 in 1957 to 125,000 in 1964. The magazine offered a forum to many conservatives, like Russell Kirk and Robert Nisbet. It also launched the careers of several young writers, including Garry Wills, Joan Didion and John Leonard.

The National Review led Bill Buckley being offered the a syndicated newspaper column in 1962. At the height of its popularity it ran in more than 300 newspapers. In 1966 Bill Buckley became host of a television program called "Firing Line". Its format was that of a traditional debate. The program made Mr. Buckley a celebrity. He style was snobby but enthusiastic with a quick and withering wit. Because of his distinctive mannerisms he was one of the most mimicked men in America.

William F. Buckley Jr. died today at the age of 82. He is remembered has having done more to popularize conservatism in post-New Deal America than anyone other then Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Pat Buchan called him the "spiritual father of the movement' while Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. called him "the scourge of liberalism". William Buckley took Mr. Schlesinger's comment as a compliment and with characteristic good cheer wore it as a badge.

His career began in earnest after having spent two years in the army, He attended Yale University. He found himself feeling alienated by the secular-humanist ethos of the university. He attacked this in his first book "God and Man at Yale" (1951). The book caused a stir and established the author’s reputation.

Following a brief stint in Mexico in the employ of the CIA, Bill Buckley returned to politics. Mr. Buckley and His brother-in-law wrote a defense of Senator Joe McCarthy called "McCarthy and his Enemies" (1954) in which they argued that he was heading "a movement around which men of good will and stern morality can close ranks."

In 1955 Mr. Buckley started the National Review as a voice for "the disciples of truth, who defend the organic moral order". Circulation increased from 16,000 in 1957 to 125,000 in 1964. The magazine offered a forum to many conservatives, like Russell Kirk and Robert Nisbet. It also launched the careers of several young writers, including Garry Wills, Joan Didion and John Leonard.

The success of the National Review led to Bill Buckley being offered a syndicated newspaper column in 1962. At the height of its popularity it ran in more than 300 newspapers. In 1966 Bill Buckley became host of a television program called "Firing Line". Its format was that of a traditional debate. The program made Mr. Buckley a celebrity. He style was snobby but enthusiastic with a quick and withering wit. Because of his distinctive mannerisms he was one of the most mimicked men in America.

Mr. Buckley’s reputation for wit and humor are well known. I am hard pressed to choose just one example but perhaps his self depreciating remark when ran asked as a candidate for the Conservative party for Mayor of New York will do well enough. When he was asked what he might do should he win the election he said, he would demand a recount.

He will be missed.

Thanks.

New Words: Terms that May Not be Endearing

English has always been a bit of a mongrel. It has Germanic origins, with French and Latin added for flavor. Words from many other languages have been added as the British Empire grew. The fast pace of technological change has also made a significant contribution. English speakers have always found ways to bend and twist the language to make it more useful and more amusing in describing the people, places, things and events that make up our daily lives.

Here are few examples I found while searching the Internet today.

Anti-Fonzi: Uncool. (A bit dated don't you think?)

Billary: Pertaining to Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Blankle: A common US colloquialism for blanket that was added in December to the Oxford English Dictionary. Something about always gathering at the ankle and leaving the rest of you quite cold, I believe.)

Bullshot: An artificial screenshot used to promote a computer game. (Others might call it marketing, but one mans marketing is another mans fraud.)

Celebufreak: A freak with fame.

Godzone: A humorous name for New Zealand, taken from the first two words of a popular description of the island nation as "God's own country".

Henchgoon: An administrative assistant.

Latte Liberal: A dismissive term for a fashionable liberal. (the way the word is used today I thought liberal was a dismissive term.)

Locavore: Someone who eats food grown and produced locally.

Nanoblahblah: Nanotechnology nonsense. (My favorite variation on the theme is, Nanobabble, I think it's the same thing, people keep talking about technology until you go away.)

Obesogen: a chemical that causes weight gain.

Tapafication: The tendency of some restaurants to serve small tapas like portions.

I always enjoy language and would welcome your sharing variations that you have come to know and love.

Thanks.

A Good Idea, Regarding Mortagages

In a recent Sunday New York Times there was an article that should be read by everyone who is currently applying for the job of President of the United States. It was titled "From the New Deal, a Way out of a Mess", by Alan S. Blinder. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/business/24view.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=holc&st=nyt&oref=slogin)



It discusses a government agency created in 1933 to address a problem similar to one faced by many families today, foreclosure. The name of the agency was the Home Owners Loan Corporation, (HOLC). It provided help to families who were in danger of loosing their homes, by providing refinancing with more affordable loans. It provided this financing to home owners for a limited period of time. The agency even showed a small profit when it was dissolved in 1960.

This sounds like a program that directly addresses one of the fundamental problems in the economy today. The sub-prime mortgage crisis. If that is the case, why are we not hearing more discussion of programs and propositions like this? Good Question!

I suspect that it might represent to obvious a solution, to a problem that if we ignore can only become worse.

Please read it and think about it.

Thanks.

A two Story Snowman spotted on Pleasant View Road

It is winter and I certainly feel my fair share of discontent. The snow continues to fall as do the temperatures. In the beginning of February the groundhog did not see his shadow, and so this continues.

Just a week or so ago, we had the honor of breaking the record for snow accumulation. The previous record was 76.1 inches. Now in mid February, we have had more then 79.1 inches. (I really believe we ought to just round it on up to 80 inches, who’s going to notice.) This marvelous achievement was followed by an incredible week of bitter cold.

Well this weekend we were lucky enough to have some sunshine and moderate temperatures. That means that people were out busily enjoying the heat wave and chipping out the sewers so there was someplace for the water from the melting ice and snow to melt. I took a break from all the fun to take a ride to the other side of town so I could get a picture of this snowman. It is out on Pleasant View road maybe a mile past Mineral Point.

The two story snow man is dedicated to all the fun we have been having this winter. The hat is three tractor tires stacked on top of each other and the carrot like nose is a large orange traffic cone. Isn't wonderful what you can do when faced with so much snow and so little you can do about it!

By the way we are expecting a few more inches of snow this evening.

Enjoy!

My First Post

This is the first posting to what I hope will be an interesting and diverting place for myself and other to visit.


For quite sometime, I have been playing with the idea of starting a blog. It seemed such an egotistical thing to do! Create a place where I can explore any issue I want, air any grievances that takes my fancy. Let me rephrase that, a place where I can publicly say anything I want on any subject that I want and expect that someone would care to read it. Just the notion that someone might care to read it seems a little ridiculous to me, but I have finally done it.


So here I am with this brand new web site and suddenly I have nothing to say. That seems a bit odd. Everyday for the past week I have telling myself to save all sorts of transient thoughts for a quick little note to the web site, the blog that was coming. I had grand visions of writing lengthy scholarly dissertations on many of the hot topics of the day:


- Obama versus Clinton

- McCain versus Huckabee

- Are we in a recession

- or which young actress America would most like to see naked?


Well, as you can see from the list of topics, I seemed to have stored those ideas in some brain cells that have fallen victim to the large quantities of wine I drank last night. That being the case the best I can do for my introductory remarks is make clear to all of you just how unqualified I am to discuss any of these topics.


I am a 58 year old business consultant who lives in Madison Wisconsin. I have opinions that I always seem to be expressing as colorfully and loudly as possible. At least that is the impression that my wife children leave me. It seems every time I open my mouth they develop an urgent need that requires their leaving the room. I often find myself delivering my lectures on the important issues of the day to the furniture.

Of course, this has led me to believe that my arguments are very persuasive. In the end the furniture receives my words with a respectful silence. This I interpret as an experience similar to the shock and awe that President Bush is always talking about.

In reality, it is really a demonstration of how incredibly dumbfounding stupid these opinions are. In that sense it must be very similar to the experience President Bush has each time he speaks. In reality the ideas are so ill informed that even the furniture is frozen in an embarrassed silence.


In the outside world I am more circumspect. I have learned over the years to keep my own counsel. That sharing my opinions can have a decidedly unpleasant effect on my relationship with others. So perhaps it is only natural that when presented with a real opportunity to voice my opinion, I can not for the life of me remember having any.


Thanks.