Category Archives: English

Beethoven Represents The Best Of The West

Art, Christianity, COVID-19, Culture, English, Music, The West

Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner, Debussy, César Franck, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky (Russian), Elgar, Fauré and more—they embody The Best of The West, not the Woke perverts, the Covid goons; rap, reparations, and the critical race bile ~ilana

THE TRUE MEANING OF THE WEST is not our ugly, grubby, tit-for-tat politics and even ghastlier culture, in which our kids, liberal and conservative, are allowed to wallow.

It’s not the Woke, postmodern perverts degrading the language, literature, music, art and sciences.
It’s not the COVID cartel and its army of goons, medical and bureaucratic, devoid of intelligence and bereft of proficiency in anything but the use of coercion.

The meaning of the West is not to be found in the staged acts of ugly exhibitionists and filthy pornographers who bedeck our cultural and sporting events, the likes of loud, lousy Lizzo, a mountain of meritless flesh, and Sam Smiths Sicko—degenerates who are all engaged in publicly approved indecent exposure and tuneless yelping, that not even the Auto-tune magic software recording technology can correct.

These are cultural interlopers, frauds and freaks.

Beethoven is The West. Beethoven is an example of the best of the West.

“Ode to Joy,” inspired by Friedrich Schiller’s eponymous poem, is but the soundbite in Symphony No. 9. Sublime as it is, “Ode to Joy” is the popular tune in a more magnificent whole.

One should not seek out exclusively the Ode of the Finale—the fourth movement—without assimilating the typically ballsy build-up by Beethoven throughout the preceding Allegro (first movement), scherzo (second movement) and Adagio (third).

Music is Man. Like nobody else, Beethoven instantiates this truth in all his Symphonies. (Listen to No. 5 here, conducted by the great Herbert von Karajan, and tell me this is not so.)

To share with you, I have a fine performance of “Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ‘Choral’ (1824).” It is that of The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Barenboim’s intensity during the performance and the perfection he wrung so effortlessly from these young musicians—beautiful in face and form, hailing from far flung countries across the Middle East and North Africa—led me to suspect this setting was more than just a celebrity conductor—one of the greatest, for sure—parachuted in for a night.

Indeed, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is a product of the vision of Maestro Daniel Barenboim and the less talented more verbose Edward Said, a Palestinian intellectual. The impetus of the collaboration, I imagine, was to foster peace through music. Done.

Not Allah or Jehovah ever inspired this kind of transcendence. Christianity did. This is The West, not the Woke perverts, the Covid goons; rap, reparations, and the critical race bile

It’s men like Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner, Debussy, César Franck, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky (Russian), Elgar, Fauré and more—they embody The West. They and these young performers furthering the work of the Lord.

Sad anecdote: Beethoven had composed the sublime work utterly deaf.

Via Britannica:

According to one account of the event, the audience applauded thunderously at the conclusion of the performance, but Beethoven, unable to hear the response, continued to face the chorus and orchestra; a singer finally turned him around so that he could see evidence of the affirmation that resounded throughout the hall.

Performative Contradiction: Pipsqueak Declares Pat Buchanan ‘Not A Great Writer’

Argument, Conservatism, Critique, Culture, English, Intellectualism, Logic, Reason

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‘Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent’ ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein

This is rich! (In-hysterics emoji)

Against the backdrop of the retirement of the superb Patrick J. Buchanan, some cipher—that’s a melodic word for a zero, a nobody—at The American Conservative, which I recommend avoiding like spam for penis extensions, one Declan Leary declares that Pat Buchanan “was not a great writer.”

Mr. Buchanan is a very fine writer! Spare and strong, easily great.

Let’s see: A nullity, Declan Leary, implies Buchanan was a mediocre writer, and does so while writing—nay embodying—mediocre, nondescript prose. I’m in stitches here.

Leary is still a pipsqueak, but you don’t grow talent. You either have it or you don’t. It is self-evident that Leary’s prose is never going to be anything but nondescript. (Experience Declan for yourself in “Against ‘Buchananism.’”)

I do declare that Declan Leary is engaged in something of a performative contradiction.

“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent,” said Ludwig Wittgenstein, a great analytic philosopher.

*Lawrence Auster and I were first to denounce the American Conservative.

* Screen picture credit

UPDATE II (6/15/023): The Curse of Ham: Pious Political Correctness Perverts The Hebrew Testament

Ancient History, Argument, Christianity, English, Hebrew Testament, Religion

If you are reading translations of the Tanach (acronym in Hebrew for all books of the Hebrew Bible: Pentateuch or Torah, Prophets and Writings)—you’re likely reading a lot of porcelainized nonsense

Funny thing how Christian commentary “changes” what my Hebrew Bible says, plain and simple. (I am sure politically correct, Americanized rabbis will join in this textual finessing.)

See, not only can I read Biblical Hebrew perfectly well—I’m looking at the tract now—but my Israeli teachers decades ago confirmed the commentary that claims Ham and descendants were cursed.

Ham did something unspeakable to his father, Noah. Noah, cursed him and descendants.

And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.

19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.”
Genesis Chapter 9

But not according to King James commentary, which is still better than most. Accordingly, the biblical author didn’t know what he was saying. Ham’s descendants were never cursed in the Hebrew Bible.

Yeah they were. It says so in Genesis 9:24.

That’s why I say: If you are reading translations of the Tanach (acronym in Hebrew for all books of the Hebrew Bible: Pentateuch or Torah, Prophets and Writings)—you’re likely reading a lot of porcelainized nonsense.

UPDATED (11/28/022): Interesting thread on LinkedIn.

ME: The biblical tract doesn’t say today’s blacks originated in Ham. And I, of course, claimed nothing of the sort. I said quite clearly that Ham and descendants were cursed in the Hebrew Bible, and pious scripture should not develop creative ways of pretending they were not.
I don’t know who Ham begot. I do know that his excuse-making defenders say he begot the greatest civilization ever. ? Why, of course. Next they’ll claim ancient Egyptians were really Africans. Wait a sec, they have already.
Ask Mary Lefkowitz, Greek classicist, author of “Not Out Of Africa: How “Afrocentrism” Became An Excuse To Teach Myth As History.”

AND:

Yes, let us demonize non-aggressor Noah for objecting to his abuse. I have not disputed your point. I only questioned the hubbub of white-noise commentary around what seems to be straightforward biblical text.

The Illiterati Strikes: Stupid, Slothful And Nasty

America, Culture, Education, English, Etiquette, Ilana Mercer, Intelligence

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The letters-to-the-editor came quick and steady. Some were repulsively nasty. None of the authors could read, reason or write. All had the attention span and concentration powers of a gnat (with apologies to the gnat community).

For some reason, the image conjured by the bare-fanged fury of one letter writer is of Lisa Simpson, transformed into a mountain of immobile, doughy flesh, in “Mama’s Watching Her Stories.”

Unable to read or comprehend a paragraph, the writer, Annemarie, launched into a sneering screed:

If you haven’t yet realized your egregious error—if only one is present—William is the elder grandson of Elizabeth, married to Kate, who together have three children. Harry is married to Megan Markel and they have two children. I couldn’t even finish your commentary as I began questioning other statements you made as I read. Sorry Ileana, but your credibility is shot with me: in my estimation you now rank right up there (or should I say ‘down there’)with the rest of the “woke” media—you have list all credibility with me. I am extremely disappointed that the editors at WND allowed this column to get into print because your dismal transposition reflected badly on them as well.

My reply about the words (in “Bar Meghan Markle From The Great Lady’s Funeral“), which the dolt was unable to read and comprehend:

It’s sad that you’d rather shoot your mouth off nastily, believing you are being clever, than read with care.

Here is the correct excerpt, without your imagined contortions. You appear unable to deal with, 1. A long sentence. 2. An em-dash in the middle of it. 3. Capital “B”.

Omit the em-dash— it’s like a clause—and you’ll get the “correct answer.”

Next time, read, and re-read before dashing off a hateful note to someone who toils thankless for liberty with her capable WND editor. I’ve separated the paragraph into sentences to make it easier for you.

William worked as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot.

Before marrying that dolt from Tinseltown—Meghan Markle, who imagined she was a match for the queen of England—young Prince Harry had served in Afghanistan, and wore his Afghanistan Campaign medals on his brother’s wedding day. …

To my surprise, there were more such letters.

And, Boobus Americanus is headed for the voting booths.

An aphorism from one of Oscar Wilde’s plays came to mind. I paraphrase: “She thought that because he was stupid he’d be kindly, when kindliness requires imagination and intelligence.”

Stupid is usually mean.

* Screen picture credit @ Reddit.