"There came a smell off the shore like the smell of a garden."
-- John Winthrop, off the New England coast, 1630
Thanksgiving
If John Winthrop was in clined to find godly favor in the wilds of New England, other newcomers didn't see the signs the same way. William Bradford landed a decade before Winthrop. "What could they see," he wrote of the Pilgrims confronting the new land, "but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men?"
Half of them died that first terrible winter in Plymouth, and if it weren't for constant human reinforcements, New England might have stalled out. In the end, though, Winthrop proved right: The colonists had arrived on a continent of awe-inspiring abundance. With ingenuity and commercial pluck, they tapped its vast riches in what would become history's greatest adventure in wealth-creation.
It all started with the natural windfall. There was the sheer amount of land, much of it arable, which allowed for an ever-westward march. There was the game, the deer and the buffalo, and the smaller animals hunted and trapped for fur. There were the fishing grounds, alive with the cod that the settlers soon were exporting to Europe and the West Indies in prodigious quantities. And there were the trees that -- with an assist from the handy ax -- yielded homes, warmth, fences and ships.
But it was the nature and mores of the people that mattered most. They weren't given to sitting still.
"The Pilgrims," Ted Morgan writes in his book "Wilderness at Dawn," "are our first example of that restless mobility that was supposed to have originated on the frontier." By the time they came to the New World -- from England via Holland -- it was because they had no place else to go.
Early on, the Pilgrims grasped a basic point about economic motivation. In 1623, they rejected their initial system of collectivism; each family got its own plot of land. Bradford called it "a very good success, for it makes all hands very industrious." They had learned "the vanity of that conceit of Plato's . . . that the taking away of property and bringing community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing."
The economic historian John Steele Gordon points out that Puritan merchants often wrote at the top of their ledgers, "In the name of God and profit." The settlers who poured into New England included tradesmen of all sorts, bringing their hustle and shrewdness. They quickly resorted to technology to make up for the relative absence of labor.
The first sawmill opened in 1634; a dozen were operating by 1650. John Winthrop's son took an interest in industry and established an ironworks in the 1640s. By 1700, Boston trailed only London as a ship-building city in the British Empire. "By the end of the Colonial era," Gordon writes, "the colonies were producing one-seventh of the world's supply of pig iron."
As our Founding Fathers knew in their bones, this represented the merest beginning, situated as we were in what George Washington called "a most enviable condition."
Paul Johnson writes in his magisterial "A History of the American People" that 300 years after Winthrop's arrival, "the United States was producing, with only 6 percent of the world's population and land area, 70 percent of its oil, nearly 50 percent of its copper, 38 percent of its lead, 42 percent each of its zinc and coal, and 46 percent of its iron -- in addition to 54 percent of its cotton and 62 percent of its corn."
This triumph came with painful fits and starts, of course. Even immediately after the American Revolution, a brief recession hit and people worried about the young country already losing its purpose. The incredulous comment of one observer has remained an apt rebuke to pessimists about the US future across the centuries: "If we are undone, we are the most splendidly ruined of any nation in the universe."
[Bangla Daily Star] Jamaat-e-Islami which once termed the freedom fighters miscreants, cowards and agents of India now moves to honour five "brave freedom fighters" selected by the party.
The party which strongly opposed the birth of Bangladesh and whose leaders were directly or indirectly involved in killing the country's intellectuals, has taken up 'elaborate programmes' to mark the Victory Day and the Martyred Intellectuals Day in due honour.
The programmes of Jamaat includes "cooperation and assistance to paralysed freedom fighters and giving honour to five brave ones for their important contributions to the Liberation War", says a party press release.
The release, however, does not mention the names of the freedom fighters.
Muktijuddher Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee strongly condemned the Jamaat move and desrcibed it as hypocritical and audacious. It also vowed to resist such move until trial of war criminals are held and Jamaat apologises to the nation for its misdeeds during the Liberation War.
Talking to The Daily Star, Shahriar Kabir, acting president of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said, Jamaat, the main opponent of our Liberation War, does not have any right to observe the Victory Day until it publicly apologises for its misdeeds.
"We'll resist Jamaat wherever we see them observing any programme during the month of victory," Shahriar, also a veteran freedom fighter, vowed.
"There will be no cooperation with them [Jamaat] until trial of the war criminals is completed," he added.
He also urged all freedom fighters to resist Jamaat if they "dare to taint Shaheed Minar or national memorial in Savar".
In a statement, Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami on Monday said, "The month of victory starts from December 1. The great Victory Day and the Martyred Intellectuals Day also lie in this month. The role and significance of this month are unlimited in our national life. We remember those brave freedom fighters with honour who sacrificed their lives and were paralysed and affected for the sake of the country."
Nizami also called upon all to be united in the month of victory and observe the Martyred Intellectuals Day on December 14 and the Victory Day on December 16 with due respect.
The party has announced to hold discussion, rally, milad and doa mahfil to mark the days.
It would also hoist national flag at all its office, says the press release.
Jamaat's mouthpiece the daily Sangram covered a speech by Golam Azam in 1971. The report quoted Azam as saying: "Pakistan is the house of Islam for the world Muslims. Therefore, Jamaat activists don't justify being alive had Pakistan disintegrated," in his address to a reception of Jamaat ministers at defunct Hotel Empire in Dhaka.
Jamaat incumbent Ameer Nizami, who was the chief of Islami Chhatra Sangha, student wing of Jamaat in 1971, said in an article, "Sacred land Pakistan is the home of Allah for establishing His rules."
Nizami, who has succeeded Golam Azam, had also labelled the freedom fighters as "khodadrohi" [rebels against Allah].
He said in that article, "The cowards [freedom fighters] who are against Allah have attacked this holy land [Pakistan]."
The Sangram quoted him on September 15, 1971 as saying: "Everyone of us should assume the role of a Muslim soldier of an Islamic state and through cooperation to the oppressed and by winning their confidence we must kill those, who are hatching conspiracy against Pakistan and Islam."
Records show that Jamaat formed Razakar and Al-Badr to counter the freedom fighters. Razakar force was established by former Jamaat secretary general Moulana Abul Kalam Mohammad Yousuf, while Al-Badr comprised the Islami Chhatra Sangha activists.
Anticipating sure defeat, the Pakistani forces and their collaborators -- Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams [mostly leaders of Jamaat and its student front] -- picked up leading Bangali intellectuals and professionals on December 14 and killed them en masse in an attempt to intellectually cripple the nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Australia is leading the revolt against Al Gores great big AGW conspiracy just as the Aussie geologist and AGW sceptic Professor Ian Plimer predicted it would.
ABC news reports that five frontbenchers from Australias opposition Liberal party have resigned their portfolios rather than follow their leader Malcolm Turnbull in voting with Kevin Rudds Government on a new Emissions Trading Scheme.
The Liberal Party is in turmoil with the resignations of five frontbenchers from their portfolios this afternoon in protest against the emissions trading scheme.
Tony Abbott, Sophie Mirabella, Tony Smith and Senators Nick Minchin and Eric Abetz have all quit their portfolios because they cannot vote for the legislation.
Senate whip Stephen Parry has also relinquished his position.
The ETS is Australias version of Americas proposed Cap and Trade and the EUs various carbon reduction schemes: a way of taxing business on its CO2 output. As Professor Plimer pointed out when I interviewed him in the summer, this threatens to cause enormous economic damage in Australias industrial and mining heartlands, not least because both are massively dependent on Australias vast reserves of coal. It is correspondingly extremely unpopular with Aussies outside the pinko, libtard metropolitan fleshpots.
Though the ETS squeaked narrowly through Australias House of Representatives, its Senate is proving more robust thanks not least to the widespread disgust by the many Senators who have read Professor Plimers book Heaven And Earth at the dishonesty and corruption of the AGW industry. If the Senate keeps rejecting the scheme, then the Australian government will be forced to dissolve.
For the rapidly increasing number of us who believe that AGW is little more than a scheme by bullying eco-fascists to deprive us of our liberty, by big government to spread its controlling tentacles into every aspect our lives, and scheming industrialists such as Al Gore to enrich themselves through carbon trading, this principled act by Australias Carbon Five is fantastic news.
Where they lead, the rest of the worlds politicians will eventually be forced to follow: their appalled electorates will make sure of it.
#1
Canadian judges have a nutty streak. Of course they do wear powdered wigs just like the judges in Britian.
A couple of years back, a few copies of one of the Harry Potter books (#6) was released early, and when some Canadian judge found out, the judge issued a court order that it was illegal for the people who obtained the books, to read the book, or discuss what was read until the release date.
I could see it then. Some neighbor who had a grudge with some household, saw a kid reading the book through a window. Called the RCMP, and these guys in their spiffy uniform are seen entering a house and dragging some 10-year-old and his book to a squad car.
In the above case we don't know who might be hiding behind a tree at some golf course somewhere... Golfers beware... Adam Sandler shouldn't travel to Nova Scotia, because he might face arrest for inciting disobedience to a court order.
#2
In addition to loading their golf carts with clubs, balls, and tees, they brought along 28 cans of beer, a bottle of tequila, and some marijuana. After nine holes, Mr. Hayter, bought more beer.
Indeed, a long course will do that.
Posted by: Perry Stanford White ||
11/26/2009 7:50 Comments ||
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#3
Now, if he'd outlawed golf,period, I'd be with him.
Posted by: Big Sheth7183 ||
11/26/2009 12:32 Comments ||
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#4
The way I play golf, I'd need to bring a couple of cases of beer.
More from the tree-ring circus of Climate Research Unit "peer-reviewed" computer code:
Specify period over which to compute the regressions (stop in 1960 to avoid the decline that affects tree-ring density records)
Hmm. All sounds very scientific. By the way, the CRU may be in East Anglia but it gets money from the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA which means you, Mr. and Mrs. America. Which makes it a domestic news story. Sadly, many U.S. newspapers evidently lack the resources to cover the story, but a reader copies me a letter he sent to the New York Times offering to help out:
Dear Mr. Broder,
Very nice article today on the upcoming Copenhagen meeting. I've heard about the cutbacks at the NYT and I guess it's gotten so bad that they no longer allow internet access to reporters. So my news tip is that apparently, there's some kind of development regarding the scientists behind the global warming data, involving emails or something like that. Some of the papers in the UK are reporting on it and even a few here. If you are not permitted to go online to find them, I could email you a few examples in pdf format. Even better, I could download the file containing the emails and other documents themselves, burn them onto a CD, mail the CD to you, and then once you had access to the primary source material you and your colleagues would be able to do your own reporting and investigating. None of this is to imply in any way that this stuff I've heard about could have any possible relevance to a meeting aimed at a global warming agreement based on conclusions based on data that may have been let's call them ambiguous. Just thought you might be curious is all, and I'm always happy to help out when I can.
Scientific progress depends on accurate and complete data. It also relies on replication. The past couple of days have uncovered some shocking revelations about the baloney practices that pass as sound science about climate change.
It was announced Thursday afternoon that computer hackers had obtained 160 megabytes of e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in England. Those e-mails involved communication among many scientific researchers and policy advocates with similar ideological positions all across the world. Those purported authorities were brazenly discussing the destruction and hiding of data that did not support global-warming claims.
Professor Phil Jones, the head of the Climate Research Unit, and professor Michael E. Mann at Pennsylvania State University, who has been an important scientist in the climate debate, have come under particular scrutiny. Among his e-mails, Mr. Jones talked to Mr. Mann about the "trick of adding in the real temps to each series ... to hide the decline [in temperature]."
Mr. Mann admitted that he was party to this conversation and lamely explained to the New York Times that "scientists often used the word 'trick' to refer to a good way to solve a problem 'and not something secret.' " Though the liberal New York newspaper apparently buys this explanation, we have seen no benign explanation that justifies efforts by researchers to skew data on so-called global-warming "to hide the decline." Given the controversies over the accuracy of Mr. Mann's past research, it is surprising his current explanations are accepted so readily.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Mr. Mann admitted that he was party to this conversation and lamely explained to the New York Times that "scientists often used the word 'trick' to refer to a good way to solve a problem 'and not something secret.'
Any explanation for the words "to hide" in the same sentence?
#2
This makes me so proud to be a Penn State grad (see my long used Rantburg handle for subliminal messaging to BCS 2010 Bowl Bid commitee)-
Anyway, lived through this verklempt back during the other famous PSU grad brouhaha- Valerie "I am James Bond" Plames glorious run of fame/shame...
Fortunately we have one alumni whose actions I can point to that still make me Penn State Proud at times like this:
#3
...and prostitutes often refer to the word "trick" to refer to a way "turn" a problem into something good, and "not something secret"... except to the guy named John's family.
#5
The emails look bad enough, but I understand that some of their "model" code was also released, including comments by the programmer(s) which might lead an objective observer to conclude that they've been generating whatever answers they want. (No surprise to us here, of course.)
It will be interesting to see if the major scientific journal editors have enough self respect left to expose the fraud. Personally, I doubt it.
#6
badanov... another handle with a long Rantburg history.
Of course the BCS bid would have been easier if the team would have been more ready for the OSU game. Better team won that night.
However, PSU travels well, turns on more TV's than Iowa, TCU, Boise State etc.
And frankly, the story of Joseph Vincent Paterno, who turns 83 on Dec 21, is one College Football will not see the likes of again...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Scientific progress depends on accurate and complete data. It also relies on replication. The past couple of days have uncovered some shocking revelations about the baloney practices that pass as sound science about climate change.
