Cultural Criticism

If Democrats were wieners...

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To Burqa or not to burqa, that is the question…

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A little FYI for FGM...

Currently Reading:

Quite possibly the greatest work on England's Anglo-Saxon past ever written, this weighty tome is history's equivalent of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. In fact, Stenton exhibited an almost Tolkien-like obsession with this subject as he spent a lifetime revising and updating his monument to England's post-Roman and pre-Norman history.

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A Sample of Old English Poetry:

Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum...

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And it's got something for everyone: You want blood-thirsty pagan religions? Anglo-Saxon England has got blood-thirsty pagan religions. You want a clash of civilizations? Anglo-Saxon England has got several. You want maps? Anglo-Saxon England has got maps. You want exotic sounding barbarian names? Anglo-Saxon England has got exotic sounding barbarian names. You want drama, betrayal, and violence? Anglo-Saxon England has all that and more in over 700 pages of densely printed text.

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Listen to a sample of Beowulf in Old English!

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The only complaint I have is the poor quality paperback edition that Oxford University Press has condemned this magisterial work to languish in. When I first encountered this book - it was at a local library near NOB Norfolk during my Navy days (it may have been the Old Dominion University library, but I can't remember) - I beheld it in all its hardcover, dust-jacketed glory. Tragically, the current OUP paperback edition is a poor - and overpriced - substitute. If you can, try to locate it at a nearby library, or better yet, you can purchase a used copy in very good condition through Alibris or Amazon for less than the paperback. So be a barbarian hero like Beowulf by living vicariously through Frank Stenton's masterpiece!

This book is absolutely terrifying and should be required reading for everyone in America. It's essentially a history of the Ottoman Empire and how it utilized imperialism to fulfill Islamic tradition, which essentially means Sharia. It's a brilliantly written, 128 page book by a Bernard Lewis-type former professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. And what I mean by "Bernard Lewis-type" isn't good as Itzkowitz also minimizes the "Islamic" in the Ottoman Empire. However, in attempting to do so, he instead amplifies it. Highly recommended, this is an outstanding supplemental source when reading anything by Bat Ye'or and illustrates the dangers the West - especially Europe and Russia - faces from a resurgent Turkey.

It took me a while to get around to this book as I just finished up Itzkowitz's Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition and have gotten through about a quarter of Stenton's Anglo-Saxon England. So far, I've gotten to page 25 in Quicksand and I have to say that Wawro is definitely my kind of historian: accurate, precise, to the point. However, while Wawro condemns one hundred years of American Middle Eastern policy and is unsympathetic to the state of Israel's existence (he contemptuously places its founding within the context of Theodore Herzl, Zionism, and the power politics of imperial Britain), nowhere does he mention that what is occurring there is actually part of the historical process. All I can say is read Stenton and you will quickly learn that what defines a nation and its history IS the Clash of Civilizations. Intellectuals have a risible double-standard in regards to Israel, whose very existence they impugn as an example of American colonialism and/or imperialism. Yet these same geniuses never demand that Turkey return Cyprus to Greece, that the Turks who were settled in the Balkans by the Ottomans in order to replace the native non-Muslim populations should "go home" to Asia Minor. Or even better, for the Muslims of Central Asia, North Africa, and the Levant to return those areas to Christianity. The Jews reclaimed Israel and Judah for themselves and the Muslims couldn't stop them. William the Conqueror's Normans conquered England in 1066 and the English couldn't stop them. Cnut and his Vikings conquered England from the Anglo-Saxons in 1016 and the Anglo-Saxons couldn't stop them. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes conquered Britain from the Britons in the 5th century and the Britons couldn't stop them. Yet in 1066, Harald Hardrada of Norway and his Vikings attempted to conquer England and was defeated. And then in 1588, the Spanish attempted to invade England and met the same fate as Hardrada. Notice a pattern? Here, let me spell it out for you: If you don't want to be some other culture's bitch, then don't lose to them. Therefore I have no sympathy for the Muslims as I won't for the Israelis after they get bred out of existence in Palestine within a hundred years because they want to act like self-absorbed, 21st century Europeans. To paraphrase Sherman, History is hell.

Currently Watching:

This movie is the best movie of 2010. In fact, it's the best movie I've seen since J.J. Abram's Star Trek. Sure, it lacked all of Avatar's stylistic and special effects appeal, but conversely it proved that exceptional characters, exceptional actors, and an exceptional story are still what make movies exceptional. Toys with a real message of friendship, loyalty, duty, commitment, honesty, love, and the consequences of hate; the most permanent and basic elements of the human condition marvelously - and creatively - presented as only Pixar can. I'm still laughing over the accidental discovery of Buzz's Spanish-language setting and the resultant pandemonium that ensued as he attempted to "seduce" Jessie the Cowgirl with his sexy tango/seizure hybrid. I can also say with pride that I didn't cry or even get misty-eyed at the end of the flick. I'm not sure if this is the end of the Toy Story franchise, but if it is, what a way to go.