Death shall have no dominion

Beautiful homes for books

Our increasingly post-literate age honors books possibly less than ever in Western history: the ruling Greek family's library at Alexandria, Egypt, collected books (which were scrolls at the time) from all over the known world. Rich Roman senators prided themselves on their personal collections. Public libraries once had a mission to enlighten and uplift the public, and some librarians still believe they carry the torch of knowledge, but must be frustrated by the tendency to devote increasing shelf space to best sellers, popular magazines, and DVDs.

Those of us who are avid readers also enjoy libraries, but can be dismayed by sterile, businesslike (or occasionally showily offbeat) modern designs. Except for the contents, many are newly built libraries are indistinguishable inside from bank branch offices or grocery stores.

These photos (tip of the hat: graphic art site FFFFOUND!) were built in old times for people who considered books to be treasures. Point conceded in advance: they are not comparable to public libraries, since they were associated with aristocrats or august private institutions. But anyone whose spirits rise a little when entering even a humble neighborhood branch library can enjoy in imagination what it would be like to have any of these spaces to read or browse in.

FFFFOUND! — what an awful name for an interesting site — unfortunately doesn't include identifying captions for the photos. I recognize the location pictured above, though, having visited it. It's in Prague, designed in the 18th century for the Strahov Monastery.

Some other artistically designed libraries:

I'm less sure about this one, but it reminds me of the library in the monastery at Melk, Austria, which I saw decades ago.

No idea where this is. Judging from the somewhat severe neo-Romanesque style, I'd date it to the late 19th century.

This job ran over budget, so as you can see they had to cut back on the decoration.

Late Victoriana in excelsis. The influence of the machine age has already left its mark. But dig the staircase and railings.

This, too, looks familiar. Is it the library at King's College, Cambridge?

The West has never been the redistributionist, egalitarian paradise that President for Life Obama would like America to Change into. If it had been, I doubt any of these libraries would exist.

When did the English surrender their liberty?

England's St. George flag:
"Racist symbol"

An English football supporters' club had its banner confiscated because it included the flag of St. George, which represents England and is part of the Union Jack. The officials who took the flag said it "could be viewed as a 'racist symbol.'" (Tip of the hat: Dennis Mangan.)

The Arsenal [football team] spokesman said: “Arsenal as a club prides itself on being inclusive with respect to all nationalities, cultural and ethnic groups.

“We have therefore decided that in order for all of our fans to enjoy their experience at Emirates Stadium, we are asking that only flags without any national emblems, are displayed within the stadium.”

There is nothing in the news story to indicate that the people whose flag was taken had any response, other than the usual grumbling. It's the typical reaction to every heavy-handed official act against English or British national pride. The beaten-down mopes mutter "political correctness gone mad," etc., and wait for the next insult. Rinse, repeat.

While a body might well get into trouble for flying the St. George flag, rest assured you can trash it to your heart's content, provided you belong to a sensitive, protected group.

The nation whose empire once extended around the globe now apologizes not only for the empire, which on the whole improved life everywhere it operated, but for its own existence. How has it come to this? Let's work backward in time, looking for causal factors.

We can start with the "New Labour" government that came to power in 1997. The "New" meant basically that, while a hard-left party in other ways, it dropped its overt socialism and made nice with corporate capitalism.

And instead of waving the bloody shirt on behalf of The Workers, who showed a disconcerting tendency to put revolutionary ideals to one side, the canny Labour tacticians instead opted for the latest, and most effective, Marxist ploy: recruiting a new population from the Middle East and Africa including huge numbers of Muslims, a perfect clientele of "disadvantaged minorities" for the all-encompassing nanny state. One of the results was a further marginalizing of the indigenous working class into a permanent non-working underclass.

But while the New Labour regime has been, in my view, devastating for English self-respect, it was only the culmination of a long process. Immediately following the country's victory in World War II, it showed its appreciation to Winston Churchill by replacing him with a socialist prime minister and parliament. Key industries were nationalized, bureaucratic control reigned. Margaret Thatcher's government undid most of the overt nationalization, but Mags was neither a social conservative nor a proponent of limited government.

Further back in time. Before the war, communism and socialism were all the rage in academic, artistic, and ruling class circles. A ring of Cambridge University graduates (the most famous: Burgess, Maclean, Philby, and Blunt) was recruited to spy for the Soviet Union from their positions in the Foreign Office and MI-6, the secret intelligence agency.

But English leftism's vogue didn't begin in the 1930s, either. As long ago as the late 19th century, the Fabian Society of socialists was influential, and included such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells.

Why did socialism magnetize them in the first place? Aside from the usual psychological factors you find in artistic-intellectual culture — a need to rebel, to feel superior to the dreary conventional bourgeoisie — the industrial revolution had destroyed what there was of a social safety net for the rural population now forced to work in factories. It bred terrible slums and working conditions. Further, there was almost no way to escape from the working class if that's what you were born into.

I admire Victorian and Edwardian England in many ways, especially its artistic climate. It was one of the more genuinely civilized times and places in world history. But there is no denying it had a dark side. Social class differences will (I think) always exist, but they shouldn't be insurmountable. The wretched condition of most of the urban and rural poor of the time led to a reaction that is still with us, having been transformed into multi-culturalism and political correctness, and a government addicted to rules, numbers, and bureaucracy.

So, for over a hundred years, with minor time-outs for world wars, the statist left has been on the march in England. And it has been wildly successful, especially once it dropped the idea of nationalizing the means of production and substituted a strategy of regulation, regulation, and more regulation; subservience to the European Union (another nest of authoritarian collectivists); plus in recent years population replacement.

I don't wonder that the English character has been transformed into a complaining, ineffectual submissiveness. Tell me it won't happen to Americans under President for Life Obama. No. Show me.

Beware of pickpockets. Especially in government

Revenue Department SWAT team prepares for
action in suspected illegal right turn incident.

The Washington Times reports that three suburbs of Washington, D.C. plus Virginia Beach "are preparing to stimulate public spending with new red-light camera programs. This is part of a push to fill government budget shortfalls by ramping up tickets for moving violations."

It's no news that states and municipalities count on fines for infractions of regulations, ostensibly designed for public safety, as cash cows. But many people are not aware how big a business this is, and how it has become a form of stealth tax. And, for any leftists who chanced on this site, you should be especially aggrieved — it is a highly regressive tax, stomping the poor more heavily than the rich.

With the possible exception of "gotcha!" red light cameras, most of the regulations are reasonable, and in better financial times the discretion of police added a further check against abuse. But with the country's economic graveyard spiral continuing, and dragging localities with it, governments are relying on fines to make up what they don't collect in tax revenue from people and businesses no longer making money.

I had my own epiphany on stealth taxation recently when I was clocked for having an inspection sticker on my car that was out of date. By six days. I was in violation of the law and the officer had every right to issue me a ticket. Had it been for, say, $25 I would have considered justice done. In fact, the fine was nearly four times that, which I don't think is reasonable. It was official larceny.

Here is a list of violations of traffic and similar offenses in Fairfax Country, Virginia (one of the locations that will soon have cameras seeing red) along with their associated fines and "processing fees." The processing fees are in many cases way in excess of the fines. It figures that the state or county government set the penalties "too low" for the authorities' needs, so they topped up the fines with these additional fees.

Some examples of what you can be nicked for in Fairfax County: "Drinking in public" (aren't restaurants and bars public places?), $97; "Trespassing at [sic] cemetery at night," waking the dead I guess, $107; "Impeding traffic by slow speed," $92; "Causing or permitting vehicle to be driven more than 13 hours in a 24-hour period" (depriving the vehicle of its rest?), $92; "Failure to obey traffic lights," $162 — this is why the revenue hawks love red light cameras; "Failure to dim headlights on parked vehicle" (If your lights drain your battery, we'll drain your wallet!), $82; etc., etc.

I am not suggesting that improper driving should be tolerated, and a fine commensurate with the act uses Professor Edward L. Thorndike's Law of Effect to drive home (pun intended) the lesson. But when the fines degenerate into highway robbery (pun intended again — help! How can I stop doing this?), a generalized, cynical disrespect for the law is one consequence.

A republican form of government speeds into a danger zone (ultimate fine and processing fee, unlimited) when it starts to look on its citizens not as people to whom it has a duty of care, but as marks who are there for bureaucrats to shake down. Should that happen on a wide scale, as looks likely in the economic debacle, we will lose something even more important than money.

Hey, who you f------ sayin' 'Good day' to, mate?

Ocularly challenged, but a champion in the
Flying Animal Special Olympics.

British bobbies have been strongly cautioned about their speech.

Thousands of police officers have been issued with a 140-page 'diversity handbook' containing tips such as 'Don't lean on a disabled person's wheelchair'.

The guide points out that it is unhelpful for officers to cover their mouths when talking to somebody who is lip-reading, and suggests the phrase 'blind as a bat' may cause offence.

Quite right. Bats are notoriously sensitive about their eyesight. And don't think you can get away with whispering the phrase in the ear of another officer. Bats have terrific hearing.

The book also points out that cheery traditional greetings such as 'hen', 'pet', 'love' and 'my dear' should never be addressed to a woman, the guide [says].

And officers are reminded that a woman who is provocatively dressed and 'paying attention to passing vehicles' may not necessarily be a prostitute.

Of course not. She might be a 12-year-old schoolgirl waiting for her mother to pick her up in the car.

Reflecting Light has obtained an advance copy of a supplemental edition of the guide. It can be revealed that the next iteration will include the following.

Do not use the phrase 'good day'. This may cause offence to a member of the public who is feeling distressed, implying as it does that you are capable of making the most of time but she-he is not.

Should you find yourself in the presence of an amputee, do not ask, 'Can I give you a hand?'

Regardless of a citizen's age, particularly if the citizen is a woman, do not hold the door or assist the citizen in crossing the road. This could easily be interpreted as ageism or a slight against the person's physical condition. Even should you be tempted, as in the case of an 85-year-old woman attempting to make her way across the Cromwell Road, to offer special assistance, the correct terminology is, 'Right, move your arse, get on with it'.

Use extreme care in uttering the word 'exceptional'. This might imply that others are less than exceptional. There are no exceptions to Equality.

No matter how provoked you may be in the heat of an incident, do not utter such oaths as, 'Oh, Christ'. This is deeply offensive to our Muslim citizens. If intense expression is uncontrollable, however, you are encouraged to exclaim, 'If Allah wills it so'.

And that's the news from Country Wobegone. Have a good, uh, have a day.

Fiat money

Obama to Chrysler: Sell yourself to Fiat
or we'll shoot this car.

The production of America: The Remake is bang on schedule. The president of the United States now holds the power of life and death over two of our traditional titans of car manufacturing. One day he tells the top dog at General Motors to hit the bricks. The next day he orders Chrysler to sell a large part of itself to Italy's Fiat. With every passing day, we move closer to a state-directed economy of the kind we were fighting a Cold War against not that long ago.

Because of the size of Chrysler's debt and costly union benefits, many observers believe that Chrysler may first be piloted through bankruptcy to restructure the company and eliminate the bulk of these obligations. … Fiat would later be allowed to increase its stake to a maximum of 49%, with much of the rest being held by unions and lenders in exchange for restructuring Chrysler's debt and worker benefits.

If Fiat wanted to increase its stake above 50%, Chrysler would first have to pay back its bail-out loans, according to the conditions set by Obama on Monday.

"The conditions set by Obama." Jesus.

According to one critic of aid to the auto industry, Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker, the Obama approach is basically giving Chrysler away to Fiat.

Obama to Chrysler:
We know where you live.

Aside from a quick injection of money into Chrysler, how is this supposed to help it? Fiat is not a respected brand. It probably survives only through government favoritism from the kind of political deal making that Italy is famous for. You rarely see Fiats on the road even in Europe outside Italy. Nor is Chrysler apt to sell many cars in Italy or Europe, until it comes up with a new line of vehicles designed for local conditions, which SUVs and big fat sedans are not.

Fiat was probably the wallflower of the international auto maker party, the only one Obama could get to dance with Chrysler. So what does the company bring to the table?

"The Italian automaker's cutting-edge technology in the production of fuel-efficient vehicles," says the story. This is hard to take seriously. I mean no disrespect to Italian engineers, who command the admiration of sports car and luxury brand buyers, and maybe they have come up with a nifty idea or two. But surely American engineers could do just as well if not better, provided Chrysler made a serious commitment. Which they should have done years ago, and still might today if the only alternative was bankruptcy with no federal skirts to hide under, a condition that concentrates the mind wonderfully.

So is this Obama's plan, to muscle troubled American companies into offering themselves to non-U.S. companies? Mergers and takeovers usually take place when the acquirer targets a successful company, not one that's just bought a cemetery plot. But Obama's idea of economics seems to be depending on the kindness of strangers, like China and Saudi Arabia, to keep buying U.S. debt. One source estimates we will have to sell $2 trillion worth of Treasury paper in the next year to fund bailouts.