Shalom from Yeshiva
I'm in yeshiva for the summer (and likely the fall and early winter) so I don't have much time to post (do I ever?) but kellev sent me a nice "nudge" to get me to post. I have a LOT of stuff saved and I really want to post Michael Novak's recent NR article about "Economic Reds" but it'll take some time to find it. In the meantime...
Thomas Sowell's thoughts on a passing scene... Fantastic! As always, of course.
And Sowell again on taking America for granted.
And some good-humored French-bashing (even w/ Sarkozy, old habits die hard!)
A taste:
The sedentary French - and that would be most of ‘em - are asking the same thing of their president, which would have been fine back in the ‘60s. But a few things have happened since then, both in the world and in medical research. We live in a time in which vigorous exercise is recommended for a minimum of an hour, six days a week. The Mail & Guardian surveyed the athletic habits of ten government leaders, and of them, only Germany’s Angela Merkel does nothing but walk. Even the porcine Hugo Chavez claims to play softball at midnight.
It leads me to wonder if the old jibe about teachers is really more about the French: Those who can, do. Those who can’t… are French. It’s far easier to sniff in disdain from one’s Louis XIV armchair than to slog 5, 10 or 20 miles in the rain. “Every time you see him on TV, he’s jogging,” groused Serg Dombierer, a vineyard worker, to Reuters News Service. “He doesn’t like eating; he doesn’t like drinking; he doesn’t represent the culture of France.”
Eating and drinking… this is the sum of France? If so, it explains a lot, including why France’s gold medals in the 2004 Olympics were mostly for fencing, and why it’s been 22 years since a Frenchman won the Tour de France. When one is deficient in an area - oh, say, athletics - it’s a lot easier to mock the competent than to do something about your own failings.
Thomas Sowell's thoughts on a passing scene... Fantastic! As always, of course.
And Sowell again on taking America for granted.
And some good-humored French-bashing (even w/ Sarkozy, old habits die hard!)
A taste:
The sedentary French - and that would be most of ‘em - are asking the same thing of their president, which would have been fine back in the ‘60s. But a few things have happened since then, both in the world and in medical research. We live in a time in which vigorous exercise is recommended for a minimum of an hour, six days a week. The Mail & Guardian surveyed the athletic habits of ten government leaders, and of them, only Germany’s Angela Merkel does nothing but walk. Even the porcine Hugo Chavez claims to play softball at midnight.
It leads me to wonder if the old jibe about teachers is really more about the French: Those who can, do. Those who can’t… are French. It’s far easier to sniff in disdain from one’s Louis XIV armchair than to slog 5, 10 or 20 miles in the rain. “Every time you see him on TV, he’s jogging,” groused Serg Dombierer, a vineyard worker, to Reuters News Service. “He doesn’t like eating; he doesn’t like drinking; he doesn’t represent the culture of France.”
Eating and drinking… this is the sum of France? If so, it explains a lot, including why France’s gold medals in the 2004 Olympics were mostly for fencing, and why it’s been 22 years since a Frenchman won the Tour de France. When one is deficient in an area - oh, say, athletics - it’s a lot easier to mock the competent than to do something about your own failings.