Bush, such as his major misstep re vulcanization versus balkanization-.
Earth, n. The privileged planet. Consider: If our sun and its planets were not located on a spiral arm of our galaxy but, further toward the center, we would have been blinded by the effulgence of the galactic center, and astronomy could never have developed. Also, a few degrees warmer or colder would have made our planet on the order of Venus or Mars. That would have meant either too hot for life to have developed, or too cold.
Earth Day, n. Evidently, according to recent reports, more important to Obama and company than is Easter Sunday. But then, why in the world would a closet Muslim hold any value for Easter?
Earthworm, species Annelida, n. Even one of these, when repeatedly receiving an electric shock after each making of a wrong turn in a tunnel, will eventually choose the right course. Would that modern American liberals had as much sense.
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East is East, and West is West, n. And never the twain shall meet, no, nor border no breed nor birth, though three fat men may sit a while, from the antipodes of the earth, while sitting together amusing themselves, discussing the range of their girth.
Ebonic, n. Plague that America narrowly avoided in the decades of the 80"s and 90"s.
Economic Fascism, n. It was 1962. United States Steel had just raised their prices. This action was not looked upon favorably by the Kennedy administration. Thus, on the one hand, we had President Kennedy, and on the other, Roger Blough, Chairman of U.S.
Steel. What ensued over a period of days was visits by the F.B.I. to various and sundry, thanks to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The outcome of that confrontation was but the first and most, to that date, blatant example of American economic fascism in action.
Economics, n. Not the science of plenitude, but rather the science of scarcity. Tradeoffs are involved.
Eco-fascists, n. They really don"t care about property rights or citizens" rights. They will, unless stopped, trample over all of our rights, including our ability to protect our own property from some bureaucrat who decides that our property contains wetlands that need to be governed by some federal agency. These masters of our lives are pretty much described by a watermelon: Green on the outside, and very much red in the interior.
The Economy, n. There can be no perfect system for managing an economy in a free society. Indeed, if the society is to remain free,
there can be no system at all, other than the totality of transactions freely undertaken in an open market. (See Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Thomas Sowell.)
That said, the following has to be crowned as the most outrageous public statement ever uttered regarding the economy. Thus, last week in this month of June in the Year of Our Lord 2011, this from DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: „We own the economy. We own the beginning of the turnaround and we want to make sure we continue that pace of recovery, not go back to the policies of the past under the Bush administration that put us in the ditch in the first place." Unbelievable! Considering that she speaks for the Obama administration that has gotten us so far in debt the last two years that we"ll likely never be debt-free again, there is no doubt who the „we" she refers to is.
I submit that no one other than a megalomaniac with messianic aspirations in connection with a tyrannical government would be so self-assured as to be able to make such a statement. And low and behold, it took the Obama administration only a few days to attempt some damage control over this fiasco. Thus, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, responding to Wasserman-Schultz, tells us comfortingly that „We all own the economy. We all work together in Washington to improve the economic situation."
Due to such conditions/considerations as those preceding, what the economy is really missing is commercial loan activity; in other words, a willingness by corporate boards to part with cash. And why is that? Why, simply because bankers and board members aren"t cretins when it comes to business decisions.
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Corporations and investors are tasked with the tremendous burden of forecasting their businesses and investments twenty or thirty years down the road. Why then expect them to make investment decisions that could be well turned against them during the next fiscal year under the current administration? It"s ultimately as simple as saying „Who says A must say B," thanks to James Burnham and his „The Managerial Revolution." No rational expectation of a just return on investment? Then, no investment. Then, no new job creation.
Ecumenism, n. A coming together concept among various Christian religions, which is anathema to a Muslim, be he of the supposed moderate sort, or a religious extremist.
„Live by my faith in Allah, or pay taxes, or die." The understanding of this abomination is not to be taken lightly. There are approximately one and a half billion Muslims in the world, and they are, unless they are stopped, going to kill us and destroy Western Civilization.
Eden, n. Even if we could rediscover it, would we want to live there? Could we live there? I doubt it. Perfection is not given to humans.
Edifice Complex, n. State of mind that plagues architects.
Educated, adj. Be as leery as you would be with a used car salesman whenever some tells you that he is educated. Nonsense! Education is a lifelong process. Needless to say, there are of us some who can claim, with some justification, to be becoming educated. That is all that we can claim, college degrees notwithstanding.
Education, n. From the Latin „e," meaning out, and the Latin verb „duco," thus to lead out.
All too often in present day America, not only in K-12, but also our colleges and universities, it has been replaced by indoctrination; the order of the day being not to teach students how to think, but what to think. In contrast, the true road to becoming educated lies in the continuing application of innate intelligence to ever-expanding fields of knowledge.
Educaction: a Further Note. A number of years ago, I was in a training section, in a federal agency, with approximately twenty fellow federal employees. One of the facilitators/instructors told me that I had been able to achieve a degree in political science at age forty-two after five years of night school, only because someone else had failed. In other words, my hard work had produced a college degree for me only at the expense of someone who did not succeed. I asked the facilitator to justify her comment. She couldn"t. Hers is the type of mind that says much about what is wrong with American culture/society. Read: Liberalism versus original thinking.
Education, Schools of, n. It occurs to me to wonder just how many of America"s voting public are aware that the students of so-called schools of education, whenever compared with their counterparts in any other academic field have, invariably, the lowest S.A.T.
scores, and the lowest G.P.A."s. And these are the young people who are supposedly going to teach our children? Audio-visual arts, or advanced basket weaving, anyone? I should mention, just in passing, that whenever I hear anyone say that he is educated, I feel sorry for him, for education is a lifelong process, not to be completed until the last dying breath. I am so engaged, much, I hope, to my betterment.
Eel, n. Perhaps as edible as a goldfish, but then again, perhaps not.
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The Eisenhower Years, n. All right. Allow me to put it simply, so that a semi-literate can understand it. The Kennedys called his administration the know nothing years, the stagnant years. Well, I"ve got a flash for the Kennedy admirers, or perhaps two flashes, namely: There was no missile gap, as John Kennedy claimed time and again during the 1960 presidential campaign. Nixon knew better but, due to international security concerns, he was not in a position to refute Kennedy"s charges.
America could have destroyed the Soviet Union many times over, without incurring the ultimate risk. Further, during the Eisenhower administration, we didn"t lock our house doors at night, nor did we lock our car doors. Why would we? We still lived in a civilized society. Praise be for the Kennedys.
Effective vs. efficient. N. There is w whole world of difference. Thus, efficient denotes doing things right, but effective means, doing the right things.
Efflorescent, adj. If you don"t know the difference between this adjective and effervescent, you are doomed.
Ego, n. From the Latin for „I." Essentially means the thinking, deciding self, a concept much in disrepute among modern American philosophers. But think about it: In saying „I love you," the first word is „I."
Egoists, n. We are all, to one extent or another, egoists (not necessarily egotists), even though some of us don"t recognize that fact, while others who do won"t admit it.
Eidetic, adg. From the ancient Greek „eidos," meaning form or shape. The type of memory that, while not photographic, remembers forms and shapes, thus contributing to perhaps more memory than the average. The type of memory that your poor excuse of a lexicographer has been able to muster to date.
Albert Einstein, n. Developer of the special and general theories of relativity, together which pretty well turned Newton"s laws concerning gravity and planetary motion upside down. Famously said, in his rejection of quantum theories, which did not seem to fit with his theories of relativity, that God does not play dice with the universe. That said, God may very well engage in an occasional hand of poker.
Elections, n. Please do not expect them to create a good or democratic government.
Witness the current administration (I write this in mid 2011.). See, for example, William Gairdner"s „The Trouble With Democracy."
Electric cars, n. Obama"s answer to the continuing energy crisis. So, you buy one of these little monsters. It doesn"t use much gas, but you"ll be lucky to get up to 30 miles per hour on a freeway, and then have to stop after around five miles to recharge the battery which, composed of things like zinc, cadmium, and lead, is rather heavy. And just who is going to supply these recharging stations?
Elephantiasis, n. A growth experience.
Elucidate, v. To explain in order to make clearer. Doesn"t seem to work for some people.
Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, effective January of 1863. Lincoln"s best effort, but why extend that effort of freedom only to those states that were currently in rebellion?
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T. S. Eliot, n. One of the twentieth century"s great poets. See especially his „The Waste Land." For a fuller exposition, see Russell Kirk"s „The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot."
Rahm Emmanuel, n. Ex congressman from the sad, sad state of Illinois. Ex official in the Clinton administration. Ex Chief of Staff to Barak Obama, and recently elected mayor of Chicago. (They deserve each other.) But perhaps most importantly, ex ballet dancer. I can"t help wondering just what he would have put into his cod piece, if he in fact wore one.
I recall that when he was a big kahuna with Clinton, he was given to jumping on the desk of a secretary and screaming at her. And oh yeah, let"s not forget that he was also an investment banker.
And there"s also a meeting with the Obama cabinet, early on, when a woman in the National Security Counsel took issue with the Obama regime proposing to treat gay couples cohabiting as having pretty much the same rights as married people (that is, one man and one woman), it came as no surprise that Rahm Emmenual got up from his seat and called the woman who protested a right-wing whore. So much for his character and emotional balance. And yeah, he"s now the Mayor of Chicago, which certainly deserves him.
Emotions, n. This from the protagonist of „The Way of Kings," a splendid fantasy novel I am currently reading. „A man"s emotions are what define him, and control is the hallmark of true strength. To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child."
And yet there are those among us who recoil at the very thought of reading fiction, especially fantasy fiction.
English, n. Most wonderful of languages. I must, however, differ from those who consider it a monolithic tongue, due to the fact that, in its present state, it has evolved from the ancient Briton, the Roman Latin, the Anglo and Saxon as well as the Frisian, the Norse, and of course French, after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, which resulted in the reign of the Plantagenets that lasted for two hundred years and resulted in the Court of England speaking French accordingly.
Enhanced Interrogation, n. The techniques of which, including water boarding (which is not torture) are anathema to liberals but, truth be told, have given us the information required to have nipped many planned terrorist attacks in the bud.
Enis, n. Elvis"s younger brother"s name. When found out by the media, caused Elvis"s mother to have a nervous breakdown.
Ennui, n. Go ahead. Distinguish it from tedium or boredom.
Enormity, n. For God"s sake, not to be confused with enormousness, which deals with size, and not with evil.
Entitlement Mind Set, n. Created and incentivized by Obama"s political heroes and mentors and pushed out of all reality by him. In the warped mind-set that constitutes modern day liberalism, begging is now acceptable and encouraged behavior. After all, what do the beggars and their liberal supporters have to lose, with a beggar-in-chief at the helm?
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Entomologist, n. Person who is always bugged.
Entropy, n. Did it ever, do you think, occur to modern American liberals, that the known universe is eventually going to run down, and that after all those billions of years to come, we will, regardless of political persuasion be subject to heat death?
Environmental fascists, n. Do you have a recognized wet zone in your back yard? Then stand by. The Environmental Police (Or would Environmental Fascists be a more accurate description?) will soon be paying you a visit.
Environmental Protection Agency, n. Brainchild of the supposedly conservative Nixon administration. Aptly described as a weapon of mass disruption in denying drilling permits for new domestic proven oil reserves. It seems that recently, this agency"s only raison „d etre is at all costs to deter, dissuade, and defeat any hope of providing energy independence to America.
The eco-fascists (green on the outside and red on the inside) have had their day in court.
This is indeed „war by another means." It has become the moral duty of all Americans who retain their freedom, to gather the political forces that will be required to put a stop to it.
Epistemology, n. The branch of philosophy dealing with the theory of knowledge: mother of all the sciences.
Joseph Epstein, n. Prominent author and educator. He is right on target when he reminds us that a wise man once said that each day he picks up his newspaper in eager anticipation, and puts it down in disappointment. The wise man continues, telling us that non-news is treated as news, real news is all-too-often overlooked, and the news that is reported is handed to us with too many instances of bias. Sounds like a pretty good description of the New York Times.
Equality, n. Doesn"t exist, except for equality before the law. A wise statesman of the last century reminds us that those countries that stress equality over liberty have a worse track record in regard to liberty than do those stressing liberty over equality have in regard to equality.
And further: Why have we as a nation let ourselves be seduced by the misbegotten idea that complete equality is an ideal to be achieved? If everybody were in fact equal in all respects to everybody else, the idea of achievement would be a nonsense. We are unequal in a multitude of ways. We are good at some things, and not so good at others. Can you imagine any NBA team hiring only short, white men? I didn"t think so. The only way we will ever be equal in our achievements would be for an almighty government to mandate such equality, and to enforce it by treating us unequally.
Equinox, n. Does it really matter whether it is the vernal or atumnal? I suppose it depends on whether one is more fond of spring, or fall.
Equivication, n. What you can expect from a liberal who has not the means to deal with a reasoned conservative assertion.
Eradicate, v. Literally, to pull out by the roots, radish or not. All too often describes the activities of the Liberals in Congress and the Administration in attempting to jettison the Constitution.
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Erogeneous, n. The areas of the human body that are susceptible to sexual arousal.
Eros, n. The downfall, perhaps, of many civilizations.
Erudition, n. It has been opposed for many reasons for lo these many centuries. Let"s, however, be honest here. Erudition is, in any rational world, the substance of an intellectual investigation into the world of ideas.
Ethereal, adj. Condition in which you find yourself after having absorbed too much ether.
Ethical Administrations, n. For those who have in any way believed Bill Clinton"s claim to have had the most ethical administration in history, I urge a careful reading of the following: „Absolute Power," and „The final days." If these works are accurate, Clinton"s administration was, excluding the present administration, far and away the most corrupt in American history.
Consider: He made the southern one third of the state of Utah a National Historic Preserve. Never mind that the area in question was the largest producer of clean bituminous coal in the country at that time. No more coal mining. And guess what country was the second largest producer of such coal: Right. Indonesia, from which several large contributions to his reelection had already been received.
To add insult to injury, when Al Gore was questioned about his presence in the Oval Office when a Chinese gentleman presented Clinton with a briefcase containing $600,000
in campaign contributions, he of course maintained that he had had to excuse himself to visit the restroom due to having drank too much iced tea. Pretty convenient. Also, when Gore was questioned about his having made contribution requests from his office in the West Wing, in clear violation of the Hatch Act and other federal laws, his response, laughable, was that there was „no legal controlling authority."
Ethical Dilemmas, n. Can it ever be justified to do something horrible in order to accomplish something wonderful? Is it true that the ends sometimes justify the means?
Ethical Principles, n. Why would a serious political thinker, and even more so a competent philosopher, object to the very notion of universal ethical principles? Human beings across cultures do share some basic guidelines as to how they should live. Thus: Thou shall not rape, nor sleep with thy mother.
Eternity, n. A very long time. I once heard it described this way. „Suppose our planet was made entirely of iron atoms, all touching one another. Now suppose a giant bird flew out of the cosmos once every thousand years and bit off one atom of iron. The time it would take the bird to eat the very last atom would be but the beginning of the first second of eternity."
Etruscans, n. I have it on reputable authority that, without understanding the Etruscans, you will not be able to understand the Romans, which inability to understand will leave you bereft of the understanding of the rise of Western Civilization.
Eugenics, n. In the 1930"s the Nazis corresponded with Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Her organization eventually became NARAL, the National Abortion Rights Action League, which has become the premier organization for the abortion of black babies. I mean, God Forbid that we should permanently contaminate the gene pool.
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Want to try around fifty million over the course of the last century? Where, oh where, is Jessie Jackson when you need him?
Euphemism, n. Perhaps the keystone in the arch of political correctness. And just why is it that the honest and forthright use of language is considered inappropriate in
„progressive" circles? The answer is simplicity itself: Don"t rely on those afraid of the truth to express the truth.
Evanescent, adj. Lasting only a little while, but even then perhaps too long.
Eve, n. History"s first woman, and probably the most damned, especially by certain organized religions, down through the ages. She may, however, have gotten a bum rap, due to the fact that rumor has it that apples didn"t yet exist, and that the fruit she offered Adam was actually a pomegranate.
Evil, n. Does it exist? Ask your fellow humans. Recall that Madison tells us that in order for evil to succeed, it is only necessary that the good do nothing. And let us not forget C.S. Lewis in his „Men Without Chests" chapter in his „Mere Christianity." Thus, once man has managed to conquer the entire known universe, he will have nothing left to conquer except other men. And finally, the cause of evil is evil itself. Evil therefore being its own cause, its cure does not lie in the application of traditional social policies.
Eviscerate, v. Tot take the guts out of your opponent, specifically, to act like a predominant liberal Democrat politician.
Evolution, n. Theory which, accepted as fact by far too many, especially scientists and left-wing intellectuals, has yet to be proved. Think about the microscopic rotifer with the rotating tail. That tail needs to rotate if the organism is to survive. A tail in half rotation would not get the job done. A more convincing case could be made in regard to the human eye. Either it"s all there, or it isn"t. It wouldn"t work in the throes of an evolving process.
Evolutionary Psychology, n. In his „How the Mind Works," Stephen Pinker would have us believe that he can retroactively read the mind of early man trudging the African savannah, and that this ancestor of us all would have been gratified by a clear sky due to the fact that he would be better able to spot predators than would be the case on a cloudy day. Doesn"t leave much room for esthetics, does he? I think Doctor Pinker would have been well-served in consulting Aristotle. This is, in my not so humble opinion, another example of an intellectual farce.
Exception That Proves the Rule, n. Nonsense concept, acceptable only by so-called liberal intellectuals. Exceptions do not prove rules. Things happening according to the rules prove the rules.
Exercising, n. An absolutely wonderful activity, which I support wholeheartedly, provided only that other people are doing it.
Exhaustion, n. State of a hydrocarbon particle after it has passed through an automobile"s catalytic converter.
Expectations, n. Why, pray tell, do our realizations usually not measure up to them?
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Explanations, n. Any system that purports to explain everything (Marxism?) will in reality explain nothing.
Extremism and moderation, n. Barry Goldwater was right in 1964, and he remains right today: „Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue. Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice."
Extremes, n. The difference between the extreme right and the extreme left amounts to no more than a difference in labels. They are not at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Think of a circle where they converge at 180 degrees from moderation.
F
Facts, n. Irrespective of the teachings of most modern American philosophers (I of course exclude Ayn Rand and Robert Nozik), they do exist. If you drop a ball bearing, it will end up on the floor, and that"s a fact. Reality has a habit of catching up with us.
Lord Falkland, n. Eighteenth century British statesman and namesake of the Falkland Islands (not the Malvinas, as Argentina would have us believe), and let us never forget the American President who in 1982 helped Margaret Thatcher retake them after Argentina invaded. Nor should we forget the current President who sides with Argentina in the ongoing controversy over those islands.
Lord Falkland speaks to us with this sage advice: „When it is not necessary to do anything, it is necessary not to do anything."
Familiarity, n. We are told that familiarity breeds contempt. We are also told that absence makes the heart grow fonder. These two dictums seem to complement each other quite well.
Fanatic, n. Not to be confused with phonetic.
Fantasy and Science Fiction, n. To my way of thinking, a type of story-telling that has finally, over the past several years, found itself enfolded from time to time in the arms of
„serious literature."
It is worth remembering that A. E. Van Vogt, one of the greats in the genre, prefaced one of his collections of short stories in the mid sixties with the statement that surveys showed that the typical reader of fantasy-science fiction had an IQ above 120, and included professionals such as engineers, doctors, and lawyers. Having been addicted to this type of reading since the early fifties, Van Vogt"s observation helped me feel vindicated.
Farce, n. Somewhat farcical. Thus, Obama"s knockoff of the recurring mantra in „Star Wars:" May the farce be with you.
Farmers, n. A breed who has fed this and too many other nations to count for these past hundred years. One can"t help wondering why they are looked down upon by the
majority of America"s liberal so-called intellectuals. After all, every now and again scientists are oh so excited when discovering facts that farmers had known, after plowing and seeding, for generation after generation.
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Howard Fast, n. Author of „Spartacus," a novel which, while treating with the trials and tribulations of the rebel gladiators in first century B.C Rome, does not fail to inflict upon the reader the author"s collectivist, yea, communist, proclivities.
Father, n. Just what does it mean to be one? For starters, it can mean walking the floor at midnight with a baby that can"t sleep. Then there is the repairing of a bicycle wheel, and oh so much more important, guiding a young person through the rocks and shoals of adolescence toward adulthood. Holding tight when everything seems to be falling apart: that"s the essence of fatherhood.
Fatherhood, n. I recently came across a Yiddish proverb that says a lot about fatherhood in very few words. Thus: „When a father gives to his son, they both laugh. When a son gives to his father, they both cry."
Fattest Knight at King Arthur"s Round Table: Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from eating too much pi.
Fatuous, adj. Condition of being overweight.
FBI, n. Due to recent procedural changes, proceeding from the Clinton Administration onward, could now be characterized as „Feed Basket Information."
The Federal Budget, n. Or rather, the continuing lack thereof. On April 15th of this year 2011, the Republican House, bless them, passed a sensible budget that includes both tax decreases and entitlement cuts. No so the Democrat Senate, which refuses even to consider the House budget, and has not passed a budget of their own for two years running.
All this while Obama dithers, saying this about the budget (and debt ceiling) one day, and that on another day. And this gem, from Charles Krauthammer"s latest column: „And what have been Obama"s own debt-reduction ideas? In last week"s news conference, he railed against the tax break for corporate jet owners six times." (My note: And all this while he lives rent-free in a pretty good house, while Michelle and the girls use Air Force 2, which is indeed another jet, to gallivanting all over the world on vacation after vacation, staying in world-class hotels at taxpayer expense.)
Krauthammer continues: „I did the math. If you collect that tax for the next five thousand years – that is not a typo it - would equal the new debt Obama racked up last year alone.
To put it another way, if we had levied this tax at the time of John the Baptist and collected it every year since – first in shekels, then in dollars – we would have 500 years to go before we could offset half of the debt added by Obama last year alone." This writer rests his case.
Federal Funds, n. Any time you encounter the use of that term to describe the money used to bail out a certain activity or area of the country, you need to bear in mind that federal funds are nothing more than someone"s money, including your own.
The Federalist Papers, n. If you haven"t read them, you have no right to call yourself an educated American.
Feedback, n. Surely better than backfeed.
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Fear, n. „We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Said by FDR early in his first administration. Now, I ask the independent-minded, somewhat intelligent reader: „What in the world does that mean?" I maintain that it is nothing more than logical implausibility personified.
Felicity, n. State of happiness, derived from the Latin „felix," meaning happy. Would that more, many more, of the citizens of these United States were so adept at the use of our common language as to make them both proud and happy.
Feminests, n. Two types. One is the radical Gloria Steinhem, who says that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. Compare her with Christina Hoff Summers, sad to say, but only an equality feminist, who says that the wars against boys are in insult to humanity.