Detoxification

Scott Johnson has posted on the Powerline blog a way of detoxifying from last night's State of the Disunion address given by someone whose name conveniently escapes me. His post features a video of Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institute commenting on all issues big and small. A lot of it is right on ... some of it is not Sowell at his best ... but it is 50 minutes better spent than watching that haughty high-hat huffing and puffing last night. Grab a cup of java and a donut and enjoy this low-key return to economic and social sanity ... see:  Powerline Blog.

This fellow thinks and speaks So well.

Diaspora

I've had trouble in the past remembering this great word. It means an ethnic group that has been displaced to a new environment ... something like the French Acadians being moved from Maine and Canada by the British to Louisiana to become Cajuns. I am reminded of this word in a Powerline story by Scott Johnson (not my favorite in this stable of stallions) about the bigger Jewish problems that have come from the latest Gaza aggression against them.

Fortunately most of this blog entry is quoting from and an address by The Times journalist Melanie Phillips (see: Wikipedia Entry) speaking to an Israeli audience about the growing anti-Israeli feelings sweeping England and Europe ... see: Powerline Blog. This woman is a clear thinker and a clearer speaker ... and, although her address is a little long, it's worth going off in a corner and listening to it all ... it might just open your mind a tad.

You might then understand better how it feels to be a member of a minority Jewish diaspora.

An Exaltation of Larks

Scott Johnson has written a blog about what assemblages of animals (venery) are called ... leading up to his name for a grouping of Democrats. Venery is a very interesting subject ... James Lipton (of Inside the Actors Studio TV program) once wrote a book about it called An Exaltation of Larks. If you, dear reader want to delve deeper into this subject, I have found a source that is maybe even more complete than Mr. Lipton's... see: USGS Site.

Back to Mr. Johnson ... he concludes in his blog that, because of the poor way they are running our country, a grouping of Democrats should be called "an embarrassment of Democrats"  ... see: Powerline Blog. Not bad ... however there are other possible venery options for these blue state politicians. I would like to suggest one of the following:

- a handout of Democrats
- a polit bureau  of Democrats
- a hackarama of Democrats
- a pork barrel of Democrats
- a swamp of Democrats
- a cronyism of Democrats
- a self-serving of Democrats
- a hyphenation of Democrats
- a taxation of Democrats
  or even
- a new world order of Democrats

Stay tuned ... I might come up for some venery names for Republicans ... obviously some of the above might also apply.