"But at Least It Is My Life"

Charles Fried offers a brisk and energetic account of what it is to lead a life:

Everything that matters to a person or to persons in general, everything humanly of value, is first of all experienced by individual persons. I now take the next step; and it is a large one. Everything that matters to persons, that is humanly significant, is chosen by individual person, one by one. Here, as I use the word responsibility, it is I who may be accused of dealing in metaphors, but consider the sense in which a belief—a quite ordinary belief—can be said to be chosen by the one who believes it. The matter of belief, whether it is what a person directly perceives of the outside world or what others tell him, must somehow come to a man's consciousness, and there he must weigh ;it, decide whether to credit or to dismiss it as an illusion, a mistake, a falsehood. Overwhelmingly, these judgments are snap: almost everything I see I accept as really there without giving it a second thought, but I do give it a first thought. Mostly if someone tells me a simple thing like “Take your umbrella, it is raining,” I do not pause to consider whether to accept that it is in fact raining. And yet I must take in what was said and make a snap judgment that the person who is talking to me is in earnest or joking, a normal observer or a madman. I may judge credulously, impetuously, foolishly, or ignorantly, but these are all modes of belief and they are mine.

And so it is with my judgments of what I should do, what is good or bad, right or wrong. However much my choice may be influenced by prejudice, emotion, fear of others, it is still I who must choose before I act. And the beliefs, choices, and actions that make up the human world are those of individuals—discrete points of perception, thought, judgment, and choice. They may coalesce in cultures, spirits of the time, but these are made up of individual ;perceptions, conclusions, choices, actions. And each individual experiences these as ineluctably his, whatever else they may be. In this sense he is responsible for all of them.

--Charles Fried, Modern Liberty 20-1 (2007)

Birthday: Ludovico Ariosto

Le donne, i cavallier, l'arme, gli amori,
le cortesie, l'audaci imprese io canto,
che furo al tempo che passaro i Mori
d'Africa il mare, e in Francia nocquer tanto,
seguendo l'ire e i giovenil furori
d'Agramante lor re, che si diè vanto
di vendicar la morte di Troiano
sopra re Carlo imperator romano.

Of dames, of knights, of arms, of love’s delights,
Of courties, of high attempts I speak,
Then when the Moors transported all their might
On Afric seas, the force of France to break;
Incited by the youthful heat and spite
Of Agrament their king, that vowed to wreak
The death of King Tayano, lately slain,
Upon the Roman Emperor Charlemagne.

—Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Canto I, I,

Sir John Harrington trans. (A Midland Book, 1963)

The real wonder about Ariosto’s poetry is how he found time to do it at all. The eldest of 10 children, his father died when he was 24, leaving him the head of the family. He took service under Cardinal Ippolito (I) d'Este, and later under the Cardinal’s brother, the duke. He spent most of the rest of his life scribbling his manuscripts in odd corners of space and time. By the time of his death in 1553, he had indeed achieved recognition, not only for Orlando, but also for a miscellany of satires, stage comedies and other works.

Ludovico Ariosto, born September 8, 1474, Reggio Emilia, Italy.Reggio Emilia, Italy.

This Just In: Confederates March on Washington

The country is turning out raw material for history very fast, but it's an inferior article. Rebellion is on its legs again, East and West, rampant and aggressive at every point. Our lines are either receding or turned, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. The great event now prominently before is is that the South has crossed the Potomac in force above Washington and invaded Maryland and occupied Frederick, proclaimed a provisional governor, and seems advancing on the Pennsylvania line. No one knows the strength of the invading column. Some say 30,000, and others five times that. A very strong force, doubtless, has pushed up the Potomac to cut off the rebel communications. If it succeed, the rebellion will b e ruined, but if it suffer a disorganizing defeat, the North will be at Jefferson Davis's mercy. I dare not let my mind dwell on the tremendous contingencies of the present hour.

--George Templeton Strong, Diary, Sunday, Sept. 7, 1862
[The Battler of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history,
was fought on September 17.]

This Just In: First Performance of Hamlet

Four hundred and one years ago today, the first dateable performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet—aboard the sailing vessel Red Dragon, anchored off Sierra Leone, as recorded in the log of its captain, William Keeling:

1607 September 5th
I sent the interpreter according to his desire abord the Hector whear he brooke fast and after came abord me wher we gae the tragedie of Hamlett.

...as reprinted in Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor eds. Arden Third Series Hamlet 53 (2006). A text of the play had been entered in the Stationers’ Register in 1602; date of first London production unknown, maybe 1601.

Well, God dild you. They say the owl was a baker’s daughter. Lord, we know we are but know not what we may be. God be at your table.

—Hamlet IV, v (the mad Ophelia shortly before her suicide).

Off to Central Asia: Map

Travel plans for the month:


View Larger Map

“There's No Time to Waste Then, Is There?”

I’m off for Central Asia, to look at some of the cities along the Silk Road. I’ve done the Eastern (“Chinese”) portion, from Chang’an (Xi’an) across to Kashgar. It would be fun to plow straight on west over the mountains, but I think I’ll pass on that and instead just drop in by plane. Not knowing whether I will have—or want to use—internet access, I’ve put up a few “anticipatory location posts” to sketch out the framework as scheduled over the next several weeks. Meanwhile, for starters:

…the caravan had settled into the dull routine of desert travel: long, hot stages through a featureless landscape with an indifferent inn at the day’s end if they were lucky; problems with sick camels; cold desert nights; searing daytime heat; dust storms and floods that arouse without warning; and the continuing threat of bandits.

—Susan Whitfield, The Silk Road 44 (“The Merchant’s Tale”) (1999)

Or in the immortal words of Omar Sharif: “If the camels die, we die. And in twenty days they will start to die.” And as Peter O’Toole responded: “There's no time to waste, then, is there?”

Cool Graphic: The Cost of War

Another cool graphic: the cost of war (link). I see that Iraq is third behind Vietnam, and closing fast. Pointer: Barry Ritholz.

Whose Says So?

BBC trots out a dependable warhorse: a menu of "bad grammar" (link). We can look forward to the dependable followup warhorse: a shouting match over which of these are really "bad."

Okay, I'll take the bait. I admit I am not bothered by "for free" (v. "for nothing"), or "on foot" (for "by foot"), or even "stadiums" (for "stadia"). "I" for "me" may betray a certain shakiness in structure, but it rarely obscures meaning. My recollection is that in some foreign language classes, I even learned names for certain items of "bad grammar"--think "accusative by attraction"--and if it has a name, I guess it has a place at the grownup table.

But some solecisms trench upon useful distinctions that should be maintained. "Fewer" v. "less:" it may matter whether we are talking about number or volume. "Affect" v. "effect"--now, those really are different, and I would keep it so.

I admit to being a bit ticky-y myself about some things. I bend every effort to not split an infinitive (tee hee), even though I know we do it only in a misguided imitation of unsplittable Latin. I'm pretty careful about saying "none is" rather than "none are"--and I am amused tht there is a good argument that my reasoning is misguided, and that in any event, the plural form has been around since the time of King Alfred.
'
But what about "anyone else's"--in a grammatically pure world, shouldn't it be "anyone's else"--and have you ever heard anybody actually say "anyone's else"--?

But Remember: Family is Off Limits

Bristol Palin's boyfriend plans to join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention.

--AP, Per MSNBC (link)

Palin the Debater

I'm listening to the last Alaska governorship debate, featuring the Person Best Qualified to Replace John McCain (link). She's good. She's comfortable in her own skin; she's well-briefed; she doesn't run away from her strong anti-abortion and anti-stem-cell positions, but she's not particularly bellicose or confrontational about them either. Indeed, the most interesting thing about the debate for me was its overall high quality--three candidates, all capable of responding to a range of (seemingly) well-formed questions on state issues which any non-Alaskan is likely to know zilch about.

This says about bupkas on the question of how she would face issues affecting a president, but it certainly counsels that one would be unwise to underestimate her. Anyway, we'd better get used to her; David Frum argues that win or lose, she is going to be around for a while.

In the contest for the palm as best Palin commentary of the day, a surprise winner: David Brooks, for his shrewd appraisal of Palin and also of McCain (link).

Bonus: there's an Intrade contract up on the possibility of a Palin withdrawal; it trades at this moment at 13.9/12. Obama for president is trading at 61.7/61.1.

Here She Comes! There She Goes!

The NYT smells blood in the water.

Morning afterthought: But Josh Marshall offers one very good reason to predict that she won't quit.

You Think?

I have a hunch the McCain campaign wanted to get out as much bad news about the Palins as possible on a day when a hurricane reached U.S. shores.

Steve Benen at Political Animal (link). Also see his spot-on commentary re what the press cares about (link).

This Just In: Germany Prepares for War

... Germany is storing enough of what it already has to last out a two years’ siege (just in case Russia marches through Czechoslovakia); and what Germany hasn’t got, it is brilliantly inventing. Thus articles marked Reine Wolle (pure wool) now contain twenty-five per-cent pure wool and seventy-five per-cent pure something else. Automobile tires are an Ersatz composition of old rubber and a coal-oil compound, are very good indeed, cost ten percent more than the real article, and, like it, are at the moment unprocurable. ... Though edible grains may no longer be fed to livestock, even this summer's exceptionally fine wheat, rye, barley, and oat crops will not suffice for man, and winter bread will contain corn.

--Janet Flanner, The New Yorker, September 1, 1937

Terry Teachout and Buce: Together Again

When I was first living on my own and earning the princely sum of $37 a week, I decided to tone up my squalid existence with a bit of classical music. I bought three LP records: Schubert's "Trout" Quintet; Mozart's Horn Concertos, and somebody's (Toscanini's?) rendering of "Wagner's Greatest Hits." I can't imagine what prompted me (pretty much untutored) to make such an auspicious beginning. Is there anything more affable than the "Trout"? I wonder what I would have though had I known that I was about the same age as Schubert was when he wrote it. My only real regret is that (particularly with the Mozart) I had started with pretty much the best there was--all downhill from there.

And the Wagner: I loved the tune-y parts. I can still hum duh-DAH, duh-DA, duhduhduh DA DA DA DA DAAAA Dyum, if you get my meaning. But somehow in the turmoil between that time and the time I started paying serious attention, I lost my taste for the Big W. Not that I haven't tried: I've listened to Tristan--in a castle, at that--and I've even read Brian Magee's estimable and instructive book about it. I sat through Meistersingers and Flying Dutchman--the latter of which appears to have at least the virtue of being Not Too Long. But for the most part, this Wagner stuff pretty much makes me puke.

Imagine my delight, then to have my taste validated by a distinguished critic. That would be Terry Teachout, and while I don't suppose I can say he is a partner maybe, still I'd certainly say that he is a soulmate:

... Time was when I pretended to keep an open mind about Richard Wagner--but no more. He is not now and never has been my cup of tea, and I plan, insofar as possible, to go through the remainder of my life without ever attending another public performance of his music. Nor do I see any reason to explain why. You've heard it all before, from others if not from me: countless distinguished critics and composers have been staunch anti-Wagnerians, publishing reams of articulate prose about his aesthetic demerits. ...

Source: "I Don't Do Wagner," originally published in 1997, republished lately. In fairness I should add that he apparently does enjoy stuff like this:

Privacy and the Palins

Hilzoy has a characteristically sane take on Bristol's pregnancy. Hilzoy observes that the Palins have asked that the media respect the childrens' privacy. Hilzoy observes (link):

I plan to honor that request. It's easy, in the midst of a political campaign, to forget that the people involved are, after all, people. Some of them -- Sarah Palin, for instance -- place themselves under a media spotlight of their own free will. Others -- her daughter, for instance -- wind up there through no fault of their own. Imagine yourself in her position: there you are, seventeen years old, pregnant, unmarried. Maybe you understand what happened and why; and maybe your parents and friends do as well. But zillions of bloggers and reporters and pundits are about to make the most personal details of your life into a political issue, and they don't understand it at all. And yet, despite that, they are about to use you and your unborn child to score points on one another, without any regard whatsoever for you and your actual situation.

I want no part of this. None at all. To those of you who think otherwise: that's your right. But ask yourself how you felt when Republicans scored points using Chelsea Clinton, who didn't ask to be dragged into the spotlight either.

As far as I'm concerned, it's fair game to consider Sarah Palin's statements about her daughter's decision, and to compare them to her own views about abortion. That's a story about whether or not Sarah Palin sticks to her beliefs when they affect her own family, not about her daughter. But it is not fair game to use her daughter, or any of her kids, as pawns in a political argument. To my mind, this extends to using her daughter as evidence that abstinence-only education doesn't work: presumably, no one thinks that it works 100% of the time, and that's the only claim to which this one counterexample could possibly be relevant. (That's why God created large-scale studies.) Likewise, I think that arguing about whether Sarah Palin is a good mother is out of line: we have no idea at all what arrangements she and her husband have made for child care, how their relationship works, and so forth. Assuming that Sarah Palin would have to be her children's primary caregiver is just sexist.

Comment: That last "to my mind" seems true enough, but somewhat beside the point: it doesn't argue against invasion, it just argues that this case is not good evidence. I think any thinking person would have to agree--as they say about the Virgin Mary, it happens in the best of families.

As to the rest, I somewhat-teeth-gnashingly agree. Be nice if pigs fly we got a little cooperation on this one, though. For example, isn't time to stop trotting that poor Down's-syndrome child out at every possible media opportunity.

Update: Jonathan Zasloff fulminates:

Can you imagine ... what would be the right-wing's reaction if this had been Barack Obama's 17-year-old daughter? It would take racial coding to a whole new level. For that matter, can you imagine what their reaction would be if the Democratic Presidential candidate had cheated on his first wife, who was disabled, in order to marry a younger, prettier heiress? And if the Vice-Presidential candidate's teenaged daughter had had sex and a child out of wedlock? Or if the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate chose to run for national office while attempting to raise a six-month-old infant with Down's Syndrome? ...

Translation: he's reduced to impotent rage. Right on, bro, me too.

Update II: Robert Stacy McCain (sic? The evil twin?) takes a different view:

Since the McCain campaign has released a statement declaring that 17-year-old Bristol Palin now faces "the responsibilities of adulthood," might I be so bold as to suggest that they arrange a press conference where Bristol can attempt to address the horrible embarrassment she's caused her parents?

Excuse my paternal (and political) indignation but I am in no mood for pleas that the media respect anyone's privacy at this point. I don't think it an exaggeration to say that this girl (and her boyfriend) have caused a crisis of global significance, and if her parents are serious about "the responsibilities of adulthood," Bristol ought to face the consequences, including about 45 minutes in front of the klieg lights while reporters shout stupid questions.

It's not Bristol's fault her mother was picked as the GOP running mate, but she certainly should have understood how her personal behavior would reflect on her family.

Source: The fire-breathing wingnut-lefty -- um, American Spectator. I guess this makes me more persuaded that Hilzoy is right.

Nostalgia Note: You know, this is one (albeit secondary) reason why I left the newspaper biz. I simply did not enjoy sticking my nose into other peoples' tragedies and misfortunes. Okay, maybe I enjoyed it too much, but I wanted to get away from it.

Whatever it Takes

Dame Helen Mirren on cocaine (link):

Dame Helen revealed that she took cocaine until the early 1980s, when she would have been in her late 30s.

She claimed that she only gave up the drug after the Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie was caught, and found to be making money from the Class A drug.

Sisterhood is Powerful: Maureen on Miss Congeniality

Forget about all the nasty things Republicans are saying about their veepinee (link, link, etc.) Count on Maureen Dowd to rally round.

Oh, no, wait, Maureen is only quoting the candidate herself. Facing Putin. At the Bering Strait:

“Back off, Commie dude,” she says. “I’m a much better shot than Cheney.”

Link. Wonder if she is a better shot than Cheney? My guess is probably so.

McCain the Crap Shooter

Nearly everybody who keeps on politics, keeps up on Charlie Cook. And I don't know anybody who thinks he is a partisan. Here's Charlie on you-know-what:

If you put the pictures of every Republican governor in the country on a dartboard and thrown a dart, the chances of a better selection might be higher

But It's Not the Base: Charlie again, on what McCain can hope for from the woman a heartbeat away:

Clearly, concerns about the base drove this decision. But it would appear that Palin's selection was driven more by fear of alienating the base by choosing a Lieberman or Ridge than by the need to put starch in the shorts of party members. McCain has consistently polled stronger among Republicans than Barack Obama has among Democrats. Although many Republicans don't particularly love McCain and might not run full speed to the polls, they'll likely show up out of disdain for Democrats and Obama. Four years ago, Republicans were running roughly even with Democrats in party identification. Today, they are somewhere between 7 (NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll) and 13 (Pew poll) points behind. The question seems to be, "Can Palin help McCain get the lion's share of independents?" and not, "Can she solidify his base?"

Required Homework Assignment: Michael O'Hare on Craps v. Poker.

History Note: Who? Who?

Link.

But Is Argentina Really That Big?

Cool map of Africa (link). H/T Tom McMahon.