A personal journal with a few audio book reviews and some music from my "It Doesn't Suck" music list. "Hiber-Nation" is stories I read, because I like to read stories. That's all.
Show Theme: "Hot Swing" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Tschaikovski Opus 40" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat. Book Theme: "Friendly Day" from Kevin MacLeod
Episode Zero for the new We Should Talk More podcast with Lady J. Show Theme "Hot Swing" from Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com. Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 8 -- The End of the Household Gods: "The only place where it is possible to find an echo of the mind of the English masses is either in conversation or in comic songs. The latter are obviously the more dubious; but they are the only things recorded and quotable that come anywhere near it." Chapter 9 -- A Short Chapter: "Round about the year 1913 Eugenics was turned from a fad to a fashion. Then, if I may so summarise the situation, the joke began in earnest. The organising mind which we have seen considering the problem of slum population, the popular material and the possibility of protests, felt that the time had come to open the campaign. ... But as a matter of fact this is not the first chapter but the last. And this must be a very short chapter, because the whole of this story was cut short. A very curious thing happened. England went to war. This would in itself have been a sufficiently irritating interruption in the early life of Eugenette, and in the early establishment of Eugenics. But a far more dreadful and disconcerting fact must be noted. With whom, alas, did England go to war? England went to war with the Superman in his native home." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 7 -- The Transformation of Socialism: "Socialism is one of the simplest ideas in the world. It has always puzzled me how there came to be so much bewilderment and misunderstanding and miserable mutual slander about it. At one time I agreed with Socialism, because it was simple. Now I disagree with Socialism, because it is too simple." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 6 -- The Eclipse of Liberty: "If such a thing as the Eugenic sociology had been suggested in the period from Fox to Gladstone, it would have been far more fiercely repudiated by the reformers than by the Conservatives." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 5 --The Meanness of the Motive: "Now, if any ask whether it be imaginable that an ordinary man of the wealthier type should analyse the problem or conceive the plan, the inhumanly far-seeing plan, as I have set it forth, the answer is: "Certainly not." Many rich employers are too generous to do such a thing; many are too stupid to know what they are doing." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 4 -- The Vengeance of the Flesh: "By a quaint paradox, we generally miss the meaning of simple stories because we are not subtle enough to understand their simplicity." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 3 -- True History of a Eugenist: "He does not live in a dark lonely tower by the sea, from which are heard the screams of vivisected men and women. On the contrary, he lives in Mayfair." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 2 -- True History of a Tramp: "He awoke in the Dark Ages and smelt dawn in the dark, and knew he was not wholly a slave." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Part 2 -- The Real Aim Chapter 1 -- The Impotence of Impenitence "The root formula of an epoch is always an unwritten law, just as the law that is the first of all laws, that which protects life from the murderer, is written nowhere in the Statute Book." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 8 -- A Summary of a False Theory: "I have up to this point treated the Eugenists, I hope, as seriously as they treat themselves. I have attempted an analysis of their theory as if it were an utterly abstract and disinterested theory; and so considered, there seems to be very little left of it." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 7 -- The Established Church of Doubt: "Let us now finally consider what the honest Eugenists do mean, since it has become increasingly evident that they cannot mean what they say." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls ADDITIONAL NOTE: Check out what Chesterton had to say about news reporting. Sounds a bit familiar, huh?
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 6 -- The Unanswered Challenge: "Dr. Saleeby did me the honour of referring to me in one of his addresses on this subject, and said that even I cannot produce any but a feeble-minded child from a feeble-minded ancestry. To which I reply, first of all, that he cannot produce a feeble-minded child. The whole point of our contention is that this phrase conveys nothing fixed and outside opinion." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 5 - The Flying Authority: "It happened one day that an atheist and a man were standing together on a doorstep; and the atheist said, "It is raining." To which the man replied, "What is raining?": which question was the beginning of a violent quarrel and a lasting friendship." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
Finished editing this, then forgot to post it. (sigh) "Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 4 -- The Lunatic and the Law: "The modern evil, we have said, greatly turns on this: that people do not see that the exception proves the rule. Thus it may or may not be right to kill a murderer; but it can only conceivably be right to kill a murderer because it is wrong to kill a man." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 3 -- The Anarchy from Above: "A silent anarchy is eating out our society. I must pause upon the expression; because the true nature of anarchy is mostly misapprehended." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Chapter 2 -- The First Obstacles: "Now before I set about arguing these things, there is a cloud of skirmishers, of harmless and confused modern sceptics, who ought to be cleared off or calmed down before we come to debate with the real doctors of the heresy." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
The same subject continued... continued. The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
"Eugenics and Other Evils," by G.K. Chesterton, published in 1922. Narrator's Introduction: For the next few paragraphs I will speak for myself, to set the stage for G.K. Chesterton's book, and to suggest why I believe it is still an important book. I think G.K. Chesterton explains his book rather well in his introduction, but it might help to start with a sense of the time in question. Chesterton started work on Eugenics and Other Evils in about 1910, but it was not completed and published until 1922. In his own introduction he talks about the period before and after "The War." The war he refers to is now called World War One. We now have a distaste for the word Eugenics, largely driven by events in World War Two. But at the time this book was published, Eugenics was lauded to the skies as a wonderful idea, and Chesterton was nearly the only person saying in writing that Eugenics was in fact evil. A case could be made, and has been made, that today, though the word Eugenics is avoided, some practices that are in fact Eugenic practices, and some sciences that are in fact Eugenic sciences, enjoy great popularity and engender great public enthusiasm. To which practices and which sciences I refer, is left as an exercise for the reader. To the Reader: "...It was a time when this theme was the topic of the hour; when eugenic babies (not visibly very distinguishable from other babies) sprawled all over the illustrated papers; when the evolutionary fancy of Nietzsche was the new cry among the intellectuals; and when Mr. Bernard Shaw and others were considering the idea that to breed a man like a cart-horse was the true way to attain that higher civilisation, of intellectual magnanimity and sympathetic insight, which may be found in cart-horses...." Part 1 -- The False Theory Chapter One: "The wisest thing in the world is to cry out before you are hurt. It is no good to cry out after you are hurt; especially after you are mortally hurt." Comments to 218-214-CALL (218-234-2255) Contributions: https://www.paypal.me/grizzlysgrowls
I'm going to be reposting my old recordings of G.K. Chesterton's "Eugenics and Other Evils." I heard the other day that the idea is making a comeback. Again. And Chesterton said what needed to be said rather well. He could make a point, stick it in your gut, and make you chuckle when he did it. And, sad to say, it does need to be said. Again. Coming soon to a podcast near you.
Where I've been and what I've been doing and not doing. And where I'm going next. Show Theme "Hot Swing" from Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com. Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
Exhausted, all my tech is failing, including this podcast. Oh, did I mention I'm losing my hearing and half-blind in one eye? So, how's your year been going. See also one of my earliest podcast episodes, "Some Old Guy Whining." Show Theme "Hot Swing" from Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com. Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
I recently completed the Audible version of "Prince Martin Wins His Sword" for the author, Brandon Hale. While recording this rhyming book, I noticed a particular piece of music fit the rhyme scheme perfectly. And then I also noticed the promotional language on the book's page on Amazon also rhymed the same way. And the rest is history... a promo was born! Griz
Back in the saddle, with a few saddle sores. And a bit of news. And then, The Same Subject Continued. The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
Everybody agreed the Articles of Confederacy weren't working. Not everyone agreed how much needed to be changed. The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
Hello, welcome back for Federalist # 14, "Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered." You know, I do love reading these older works aloud for you. I like to think it adds a living energy to words to which you and I have paid far too little attention for far too long. I've mentioned that I don't read ahead very much, to keep the material fresh for me. I like suprises as much as you folks do. Much of the Federalist papers are rather calm, rather clerical, rather tame. The first part of this essay is much the same. But towards the end, there's quite a crescendo, lemme tell ya. This one purports to be written by James Madison, though the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society argues that most or all were written by Hamilton. That's possible. But it seems to me the more firey essays do seem to be attributed to Madison. So it's an intriguing question. And it's nice to find an intriguing question about something written 230 years ago. Hope I do it justice. Good day! The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
Hello, we meet again, this time for Federalist # 13, "Advantage of the Union in Respect to Economy in Government." Once again, the Federalist's primary argument for the Constitution is that it is the only way to preserve the Union, all the states working together. That argument is assumed throughout this essay. And once again, the Federalist gives us an answer to a question raised in our current era. Hamilton contends that there are functions that must be carried out by the national government, whether that nation be one state, one of three or more confederacies, or a nation comprised of all the thirteen states. With that in mind, a single government would be most economical, without duplicating necessary national functions three times, or thirteen times. Modern politicians often argue that the Federal government is too expensive and inefficient. I'd counter that people governing themselves is expensive and inefficient, and worth preserving. The alternative offered is not some better Federal government. It is a Federal government that doesn't actually perform the necessary work. When one completes half the work, or none of the work, one can sure save a lot of money. Monarchy or tyranny is relatively cheap, and can look a lot more efficient, what with the trains running on time, and all those parades of marching uniforms. But I digress. Let's let Mr Hamilton speak for himself. Good day! The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
We all tell stories, and listen to stories, and learn from stories. And our stories tell us, too. Show Theme "Hot Swing" from Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com. Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
Hello again. Tonight is Federalist # 12, which is all about Revenue. Or in other words, tax collecting. Naturally this one is written by Alexander Hamilton, the banker. He founded the Bank of New York. Later on, President George Washington appointed him as the first Secretary of the Treasury, and in that capacity he also founded the first Bank of the United States. So he would be the one to write an essay to convince the people of New York that the Constitution would be a great idea, because the government would be better at collecting taxes. I admit I got a bit of a chuckle out of that. Can't picture a modern legislator promoting anything with the idea it'd let the Federal government collect more taxes. Anyway, I found it a bit amusing. Then again, I also get many of the dirty jokes in Shakespeare. The modern debates on reforming the tax code, basically started with the work of Alexander Hamilton. But he does make some valid points. No government can do much without revenue, no one can, really. If it's got to be done, and it does, it ought to be done well. And he does say that most of that revenue would come from duties on imports, and not from landowners and especially not from farmers, who generally don't have much cash anyway. That had to go over rather well in a largely agrarian society. This is a short one, but has value of it's own. Good day. The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
Hello again. Tonight I'm recording Federalist #11. This is not the most exciting essay to the modern ear, being primarily about international trade, especially by sea. The ending does get a bit firey. I am not a trained historian, just a history fan, I suppose. In 1787 America didn't have much of a navy to speak of. And British naval power, or French for that matter, was much stronger. The only advantage we had was the very long way they had to travel to do much of anything to us, and the ongoing conflicts between Britain and France, which made conflict with us an inconvenient side issue in many ways. I find the coverage of American Naval potential interesting in the very different resources necessary for naval building in those days: tar, pitch, turpentine and the strong wood available from the southern states, oh, and some of the iron from the north, too. The essay also mentions hypothetically cutting off direct trade with Britain, and how it might put us in a strong position negotiating a trade treaty with them. Twenty-five years later we were at war once again with Britain, after cutting off trade, in part due to trusting France, in part due to our still lacking a strong enough navy to keep Britain from kidnapping our merchant seamen and impressing them into the British navy. We won again, largely due to the internal lines of supply also discussed here, which same have also been the foundation of every war we've won, in my amateur opinion. We didn't always build the best of anything, but we sure built a lot of 'em in a hurry. The most strongly worded part of this essay is at the end, suggesting a European opinion that America weakened anyone who went there. I wasn't around at the time, so I'll take Hamilton's word on that. We were still desperately vulnerable, and building a strong navy was probably a very good idea. But I believe what saved us was largely the French conflict with Britain, and our willingness to persist in fighting long enough that Britain couldn't sustain a war against us. And finally, it was the commercial side, internal and external trade, that allowed us to become a strong, viable nation. And the Union, providing a framework for our internal cooperation, was essential to our later external strength. The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme: "Canon in D" from Owen Poteat Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
Hello ladies and gentlemen. This is David Grizzly Smith. You probably guessed that, of course. I normally wouldn't do what I'm going to do tonight. This is rather unusual for Grizzly's Growls -- though Grizzly's Growls doesn't have a strict format, and besides it's mine, I can do what I want. As you know, I've been getting a few episodes ahead in my recording of the Federalist Papers. Tonight I recorded Federalist #14, the whole of which you'll hear when it drops on February 1st. Every time I've recorded a book, it seems, there's that one part I have to record two or three times. It gets me right in the heart, and I break down a bit trying to get the words out. So I do it over till I can finish it intelligibly, more or less. This time, so far at least, it was Federalist #14. It purports to have been written by James Madison, and I can believe that, it seems the most heartfelt essays came from Madison. Some sources'd say Hamilton really wrote them. I'd go with Madison, even so. The first part of the essay is along the workmanlike likes of those just prior. And then I got to the last part. And I could hear in the words the voice of a warrior for American independence, and American innovation, at a time when Kings and Queens were the order of the day for much of the world. And at a time when some in this country were arguing for dividing us up into fragments, rather than preserving the Union which made the American revolution possible. Seems to me there are those forces and those voices today who likewise would like to divide us. And we need words that express those fundamental values and that fundamental unity in which almost all of us believe. We are quarreling amongst ourselves, as families do sometimes. And there are certainly those who'd like to encourage those quarrels, to weaken us and strengthen their own grasp on their wealth and power over us. I think James Madison said it well, so I'm going to let him say his piece. If you're interested, the background music is Johann Sebastian Bach's "Prelude in C Major" played by Kevin MacLeod, the theme music for the whole series. Enjoy. And I hope you take it to heart, as I did. The original text from Congress.gov Book Theme: "Prelude in C Major" from Kevin MacLeod Show Theme "Hot Swing" from Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com. Comments via the https://www.speakpipe.com/grizzlysgrowls Comment Line: 218-234-CALL 218-234-2255 Contributions: https://www.patreon.com/grizzlysgrowls
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