On November 1, 1790, Edmund Burke published his Reflections on the Revolution in France, predicting that the French Revolution would end in disaster. Though many have disputed his premises and reasoning, few dispute his prophecy, which proved spot on.
The Guess Who, a Canadian rock band, has continued over the years from its late-60s/early-70s heyday. Or hasn’t.
Depending upon your ontology.
Yes. Theory of being.
The original band, known best for the hit “American Woman,” was originally made up of Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Jim Kale, and Garry Peterson, and became one of the first big Canadian exports to American and world popular music. But Bachman left in 1970, at the peak of the band’s fame — to create Bachman-Turner Overdrive — and lead-singer Cummings left five years later. Now these two are suing Kale and Peterson and the corporation that is the band itself.
According to The Rolling Stone, they call the “current lineup a ‘cover band’” and object to the band’s usage of photos from its classic period to, in the words of the suit, “give the false impression that Plaintiffs are performing as part of the cover band.”
Wikipedia says the band broke up in 1975, but was revived by Kale and Peterson.
Now, this is none of our business; we can hope the courts adjudicate it justly. But because it reminds us of the Ship of Theseus, discussed as a thought experiment by Plutarch and Thomas Hobbes, it’s hard to let this one go. An old ship has its planks and other parts replaced piece by piece, over time. Is the all-new ship the same as the old?
Obviously, Bachman and Cummings don’t like being treated as so much old lumber. Regardless, wouldn’t there be an estoppel motion, or something like that, preventing litigation over the haecceity of a band named “The Guess Who”?
These eyes expected them to share the band, if not the land.
This is Common Sense — and I’m . . . Guess Who.
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You do not win by struggling to the top of a caste system, you win by refusing to be trapped within one at all.
Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth (1991), eighth chapter, “Beyond the Beauty Myth,” p. 290.
As if to perform a Day of the Dead act, Josef Stalin’s body was removed from Lenin’s Tomb on October 31, 1961.
Ireland, Canada, United Kingdom, United States and other nations celebrate Halloween on October 31.
The word Halloween or Hallowe’en dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin, meaning “hallowed evening” or “holy evening.” It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows’ Eve (the evening before All Hallows’ Day). In Scots, the word “eve” is “even,” and this is contracted to “e’en” or “een.” Over time, (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en shortened into Halloween.
It is one of those darker-themed celebrations, often conjuring up images of death and horror. Randall Carlson notes that this autumnal celebration is ancient and global, and speculates that it originates in ancient comet approaches that had terrifying and deadly results on the surface of the planet.
Inspiring, but the devil can bog us in details — under each rubric his elaborations sound more like fantasied ideals than anything like current practice. And for a man who got ahead by having “no enemies,” any real advancement would hardly conjure up consensus and comity.
Johnson acknowledges current government failure — at least in his fifth principle, which he explains entirely in terms of political fault: “Because government has refused to live within its means, America is facing an unprecedented debt and spending crisis. Federal debt now exceeds $33.5 trillion, and our current fiscal path is unsustainable and dangerous, jeopardizing our nation’s economic growth, stability and the security of future generations.” He goes on to express a congressional “duty to resolve the crisis.”
Yet, only standard Republican talking points are offered as back-up, with zero acknowledgment of the bipartisan difficulty of reducing spending even a smidgen.
Truth is, each of his principles is honored by the federal government only in the breach. While we may hope and pray that the new Speaker takes all of these serious enough to work to change course, we have to wonder: Does he have a prayer?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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I particularly reject what I call “ideaism,” which is the belief that you can explain the world by looking at what thinkers have said or ideological doctrine without knowing all that much about historical or policy specifics.
Richard Hanania, “Against Ideaism” [Hanania Newsletter, Substack], October 24, 2023.
Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s wife, was born on October 30, 1748.
On the same date two hundred twenty years later, American journalist, novelist and author Rose Wilder Lane died. Lane is perhaps best known, today, for her editorial work — some say “ghost writing” — of her mother’s Little House on the Prairie books for children. Her non-fiction The Discovery of Freedom was published in 1943, the same year as a similarly themed book, The God of the Machine, was published by her friend Isabel Paterson.
I have noticed that in the real world, the nominal “impact” of bending Paul Ryan’s ear, or whatever, which is the sad currency of the Respected Public Intellectual, is fool’s gold. Everyone takes it seriously and pretends it is real. Sometimes, rarely, it is slightly real. Generally everyone just pretends, and the pyrite vanishes in a bookseller’s season. Who reads the Respected Public Intellectuals of the ’70s, the ’80s, the ’90s?
Curtis Yarvin, the blogger previously known as “Mencius Moldbug,” in “Three Questions for Richard Hanania,” Gray Mirror [Substack].
On October 29, 539 BC, Cyrus the Great entered the city of Babylon as conqueror. His general policy of religious toleration would be extended to the exiled Hebrews, who were, not long after, allowed to return to their homeland.
On the same date in 1923 AD, the Ottomon Empire’s dissolution marked the start of the Turkish Republic.
On Wednesday, Paul Jacob introduced his new project, StopTheChinazis.org. Yesterday, Paul provided, on that site, a special feature, an extensive guide to Taiwanese history. Here is an outline of it:
“It might be time for the rest of us — like Nixon did in 1971 — to recognize reality: there is China and there is Taiwan.”
— William C. Fox, Exploring History
“Our experience is one of resilience. It is an experience of upholding democratic and progressive values, the existence of which is being constantly challenged. The vibrant democracy Taiwan is today, bears testament to what a determined practitioner of democracy, characterized by good governance, can achieve.”
— Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen