Take a break from the horrors of the world as commented upon in this blog, and enjoy this little video, made known to me by my cousin Henry, of two greats meeting one another, Walt Disney and Serge Prokofiev. The composer plays snatches from his piece for children, an accompaniment to the Russian folk tale, Peter and the Wolf. Disney later created an animation of the work.
Click on the YouTube image to take you to the video.
Kudos to YouTube poster yensidun
Douglas Murray, of the New York Post, in his latest column, gives us a good account of the latest so-called conservative to turn against Donald Trump, the wretched Tucker Carlson. In these eyes, there is no loss as I have always regarded Carlson as, to use an underused word, a larrykin of the first rank. Other possibilities, using better known words, might be fatuous blabbermouth or, horse’s ass. Take your pick.
The mystery is why so many seemingly conservative Republicans, e.g., Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Todd Young, Venezuela. Key figures include Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Todd Young and a plethora of others, have not only disassociated themselves from the president, but have denounced him so vehemently that this blogger cannot help wonder if there is more to their dislike of him than his war policies.
Perhaps there is. The ex-New Yorker has known about, and been a fan of, Donald Trump since he first became known to the public in a loud feud with then-Mayor Ed Koch over a botched City project in Central Park that had dragged for years. Trump’s office overlooked the mess and he grew tired of looking at it. He was a loudmouth then, as now, and the mayor was nearly his equal, which assured the feud got plenty of public attention. Trump eventually won the dispute, and he and his loud, disputatious ways have been before the public for over 40 years. He has also been the object of loathing by many for 40 years.
For some, Donald Trump’s manner is intolerable, or lately has become so. Lately, it seems to have triggered many who formerly supported him, to not only disavow the man and his policies but, for some of them, to embrace appallingly disparate points of views and those responsible for them. An extreme example of this is, unsurprisingly, Tucker the halfwit’s enthusiasm for the loathsome Oswald Mosley, of England, and his British Union of Fascists, a description of which is hardly necessary.
The pox on them all.
h/t Fr Rutler
Not just any actor, either. Rather, the estimable, outrageously comic John Cleese, who has a warning for England.
With Mr Cleese’s warning, let us hope more people in the UK, US, and everywhere else in the civilized world, who up to now have been ambivalent, dismissive, or even ignorant of the evils of Islam, will heed the urgent message of John Cleese.
Thanks to Fr Rutler
From the New York Post
Iranian police commander pleads with Israeli agent ‘please come help us’ in dramatic leaked call
A senior Iranian police commander recently told an agent of Israel’s renowned Mossad intelligence service “I swear on the Koran I’m not your enemy” and begged the Jewish state to “please come help us” overthrow the Islamic Republic, according to the contents of a leaked phone call.
The Iranian police commander’s action may be better understood when considering the following.
The call, reported by the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, was one of several placed by Israeli intelligence threatening Iranian security officials and their families by name if they did not stand aside in the event of a popular uprising to overthrow the mullahs.
Still and all, if there’s even a trace of sincerity hiding in the expediancy of the police commander’s plea, it shows the efficacy of President Trump’s order to take out high players in the Iranian government. Not long ago, no Iranian official would have dared the following on the telephone,
1. Speaking with anyone at all in Israel.
2. Speaking with an official of Masad in Israel.
3. Conceding that Masad and Israel had him and his colleagues, if you’ll pardon the vulgarity, by the balls, and please help.
The brutal regime in Iran appears to be losing its grip. While the evidence above is hardly sufficient to confirm it, consider the following; not long ago, any Iranian official, indeed, any Iranian at all, thanks to brutal internal intelligence, would certainly have faced hideous penalties, including death or disfigurement, should he have been caught doing what the police commander did.
One of the small tragedies of war is the friendships that may suffer from it.
An old and dear friend of many years, one whose encouragement of my blogging is a major reason why the Taos Tatler is still around, have pretty much seen eye to eye on matters religious and political. Recently, however, we have come to disagree sharply on a political issue, President Trump and the war in the Middle East.
My friend believes this war, instituted by the president, to be immoral and that this country has no business being in that part of the world. I believe the opposite, that Iran, et al., are the immoral ones, hideously so; that Khomeini and all Muslim extremists are a danger to the US and other parts of the world, only held back by their lack of means. That will certainly change in time. It would be folly were this country not to take severe preemptive action to neutralize these enemies. Donald Trump is the only high ranking politician who has shown no reticence to do it. I support him fully.
As should be plain by now, my friend and I are poles apart on this matter. I pray our friendship will survive the disagreement.
*****
The last conflict as controversial as the present one was the Viet Nam war, which this blogger well remembers. Other than superficial similarities between the two wars, study reveals their great differences, the foremost being the Viet Nam war as fought was unwinnable.
Meet Yuja Wang, whom people I respect say is a superb concert pianist. Likely so, but I will have to listen to her play myself. Noteworthy in this reel however, is not her playing, but how this concert artist dresses for a performance. It speaks for itself.
What a pity; old-school concert dress, white tie for men, evening gowns for women, survived well after other public events dropped it. Ms Wang, though, bowdlerizes concert dress to that of a strip bar. Brava diva!
Below is an excerpt from the opinion of Judge Lawrence VanDyk in a recent decision of the 9th Circuit of Appeals against a rehearing of the case. Regrettably, it is a dissenting option.
The estimable website proprietor Peter St Onge Ph.D, has written a better introduction to the opening of the dissent than this blogger can.
I don’t feel like going back and re-reading Gorsuch’s opinion in Bostock, but when I did read it I remember marveling at how Gorsuch was so caught up in his legal philosophy that he didn’t even address the fact that he was forcing a funeral home director in this conservative town to have his male employee meet with the bereaved dressed in drag.
I don’t think Judge VanDyke would have overlooked that. If I were the president, I would regard this as a promising first audition for SCOTUS:
Opening of dissenting opinion by Judge VanDyke in Olympus Spa v. Armstrong
Warning: vulgar language alert
With thanks to William J. Tighe
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Father Rutler sent the link below, with an accompanying note, which follows:
Muslims will not like this. They would have preferred the good old days with von Karajan conducting the Horst-Wessel Lied.
This link is to an item on Norman Lebrecht’s splendid website, Slipped Disc with news that the Munich Philharmonic has just announced the appointment of Trombonist Elai Grisaru Drori from Petah Tikvah, Israel.
Not that it will calm Middle East Muslims’s ever-raging against Israel and Jews, but the Munich Philharmonic, like so many German orchestras, is still atoning for its sins of 80 years ago, particularly its choice of conductors. There are two, Siegmund von Hausegger and, a real prize, Oswald Kabasta, an active Nazi supporter, who, like von Karajan, led many spirited performances of the Horst-Wessel Lied and signed all his letters, “Heil Hitler!” Kabasta’s stock declined shaply after the Allies’s victory and he committed suicide soon after.
So it is safe to assume the Munich Philharmonic and all German orchestras will continue their policy of hiring Israelis and Jews from everywhere else, however it distresses the Muslims.
Oswald Kabasta & the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Vatican
In a posting yesterday I wondered if a Detroit Democratic party official who quit her position, and the party itself, because of its anti-Christian positions, marked the beginning of a mass exodus from the party. While there is no solid evidence of an exodus yet, there is ample evidence of party members running scared.
The Patriot Journal has pointed out a trend among Democrats running for office; they are running as independents so to disguise their affiliation with the party of the radical left. An example is provided.
A candidate named Seth Bodnar, the former president of the University of Montana, is running for the Senate as an “independent.” He claims his campaign represents “all Montanans” and that he’s building a coalition of “independents, of Republicans . . . “
Who, exactly, is he trying to kid? Let’s follow the money—or in this case, the staff. It turns out Bodnar’s campaign is run by staffers for former Democratic Senator Jon Tester. This isn’t an independent movement; it’s a rebranding of the same old liberal machine. They are putting a fresh coat of paint on a rotten structure, hoping voters will be fooled.
Apparently, this is a ploy catching on with Democratic candidates. It’s a ploy however that cannot last long. When every Democratic candidate and his cousin starts using this trick, the voters will catch on and and not only will that ruse lose effectiveness, those employing it will be exposed as the cynical liars they are, thus at an even greater disadvantage than before. They will be looked upon as losers, which is precisely what they are.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has declined to renew conductor Andris Nelsons’s contract. The orchestra management offered the following explanation why. (Readers are invited to decipher.)
[T]he decision to not renew his contract was made by the BSO’s board of trustees because, beyond our shared desire to ensure our orchestra continues to perform at the highest levels, the BSO and Andris Nelsons were not aligned on future vision.”
However one deciphers the gobbledygook above, management made serious a mistake. The BSO, despite being a world-class orchestra, has been sloppily managed for some time now, and this is not management’s first poor decision. In this case, the biggest error in firing Nelsons was not only his his popularity with the musicians, management apparently didn’t even consult with them before announcing its decision.
Having been in and out of the music scene most my life, I can testify musicians can be compared with actors in their temperament. The BSO management, by not consulting the raison d’etre for their jobs, could well regret this heavy-handed move.
—
The late George Szell, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, and the man who made the Cleveland Orchestra what it is today, could be described as a tyrant, were it not for his charges who adored and respected him. Because of that, one visiting conductor described his experience when first standing before them as “not facing the orchestra, rather as being stared at by a hundred little Szells,” and Szell of course was never fired. Nelsons’s replacement may not face as chilly a reception by the BSO players, but a good chance of skepticism by them to make him uncomfortable. He will have to work hard to earn their acceptance and respect.
George Szell
Note: The Taos Tatler will be writing in the first person here on in, beginning with this post. The third person is simply too awkward for me.
Addendum
Lorna McGhee, Principal Flute of the BSO, addresses the BSO board in her blog, from Norman Lebrecht’ s Slipped Disc.
[T]here has been no communication. And what could possibly be bettered? As far as I am concerned, the decision not to renew Andris’ tenure is a form of artistic suicide. It represents the greatest squandering of artistic capital I have ever witnessed. I believe we are making a terrible mistake.The seismic magnitude of the Board’s decision is not to renew Andris’ contract is to my mind, akin to firing Karajan from the Berlin Philharmonic. That is the scale!
Read the whole thing. It’s pretty damning.
THE TAOS TATLER. 