The Tragedy of America's Disappearing Fathers

Juan Williams wrote an excellent article for the WSJ, The Tragedy of America's Disappearing Fathers

When fatherless young people are encouraged to write about their lives, they tell heartbreaking stories about feeling like "throwaway people." In the privacy of the written page, their hard, emotional shells crack open to reveal the uncertainty that comes from not knowing if their father has any interest in them. The stories are like letters to unknown dads – some filled with imaginary scenes about what it might be like to have a dad who comes home and puts his arm around you or plays with you.

They feel like they've been thrown away, Mr. Myers says, because "they don't have a father to push them, discipline them, and they give up trying to succeed . . . they don't see themselves as wanted." A regular theme of their stories is that they feel safer in a foster care home or juvenile detention center than on the outside, because they have no father to hold together the family. There is no one at home.

The numbers are devastating:

The extent of the problem is clear. The nation's out-of-wedlock birth rate is 38%. Among white children, 28% are now born to a single mother; among Hispanic children it is 50% and reaches a chilling, disorienting peak of 71% for black children. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly a quarter of America's white children (22%) do not have any male in their homes; nearly a third (31%) of Hispanic children and over half of black children (56%) are fatherless.

This represents a dramatic shift in American life. In the early 1960s, only 2.3% of white children and 24% of black children were born to a single mom. Having a dad, in short, is now a privilege, a ticket to middle-class status on par with getting into a good college.

Children need both parents. No matter the age of the child, they need a mother and a father:

The odds increase for a child's success with the psychological and financial stability rooted in having two parents. Having two parents means there is a greater likelihood that someone will read to a child as a preschooler, support him through school, and prevent him from dropping out, as well as teaching him how to compete, win and lose and get up to try again, in academics, athletics and the arts.

Add to that, children need a home where both parents are present:

Maybe most important of all is that having a dad at home is almost a certain ticket out of poverty; because about 40% of single-mother families are in poverty.

Go read the rest.

The bottom line is, a society that denigrates the importance of men's roles, particularly that of fathers, can not survive.

Let's thank every good father we know, and appreciate what we can learn from them.



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The Retrosexual Manual: How To Be A Real Man

Via Brutally Honest, House of Erasthotenes celebrates The return of the real man.

I like that. At the same time, I didn't know real men had gone away, but never mind that.

Apparently someone's published a book called The Retrosexual Manual: How To Be A Real Man. The Daily Mail has details:

You have strong arms which come in handy whenever bottles need opening, cases need carrying, or a girl just feels like gazing at a strong, muscular limb.

Oh yes. I gaze at nearly every opportunity.

Among the icons listed in the article is

DCI GENE HUNT: A Regan for the modern age, singlehandedly responsible for reminding women what they're missing. All his best quotes are winners, such as: 'Don't move. You're surrounded by armed bastards!' Verily, the lord of all Retrosexual Men everywhere.

Hunt was played by Philip Glenister in the excellent BBC series Life On Mars, starring the very sexy John Simm. Here's a clip:


But back to retrosexual men, Erathosthenes asks,

What's the cause and effect there? Metaphorical? We're hungrier for a bigger car, so we're also hungrier for more manly-men, to emulate if we're male and to genetically-splice if we're female? Could be that, too.

Dr/ Joy Bliss of Maggie's Farm realizes how difficult it is for boys to become men,

Think about it: we women have far more latitude in how we can be, and in our respectable choices in life.

I agree with her. How about you, gentle readers? Do you feel that women are less restricted than men in their respectable choices in life?



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One question for my readers,

Is there a "shortage of eligible men"? Or is it more a case of a "shortage of men that women find acceptable"?

If there is, is it mostly among an age group, or generalized?

(Yes, that's three questions, and yes, I've been reading Porretto, as always)



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Waxed Ford, in a metaphorical kind of way.

Via Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters, Harrison Ford thinks that having his chest hair waxed is a metaphor for the environment. Or something.

Really: he had his chest hair removed, and now he's Access Hollywood's green star of the week

In an effort to showcase the pain involved in deforestation, Harrison willingly subject himself to the painful process of stripping his chest of all its follicles.

Having worked with CI for 15 years, it was Harrison's hope that his trip to the salon might just shock people into thinking "green."

Like Noel, this is what I think about instead,


And now for a word of advice to the guys:
Chest waxing is a fad, and the reason it's being promoted is that we are obsessing in a culture of eternal youth and unmanly men.

If you have chest hair, ANY woman you are after who does not like men with chest hair is probably the wrong woman for you. Think about it, can you possibly live for any length of time with anyone who is not going to be interested in sex unless you go to the waxing salon every four weeks (or more often if necessary)? If that's the kind of demands she's going to make from the start, what else are you going to have to put up with? Do you really want someone who is that high maintenance?

And look at Harrison: Doesn't he look like he's wearing a hair bra?


Does anyone really believe this can possibly save the environment?

Victor Davis Hanson has more sensible ideas for A New Environmentalism.

And he probably didn't get his chest hair waxed.

(h/t Maria)


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The power of words

Today Siggy has an absolutely beautiful post, From the Author of SC&A: "And I will make of thee a great nation".

The post is extraordinary for a number of reasons:
First of all, it starts with an indictement of the political and fourth estate characters that populate the airwaves today; certainly not one Abraham Lincoln among any of the candidates.

The post also features an excerpt of one of the most stirring texts I've read, one which was unkown to me until now: the eulogy of Abraham Lincoln given by Rabbi Isaac M Wise, delivered in Cincinnati Ohio, on April 19, 1865.

Siggy asks,

Would the candidates for the highest office in the land today be worthy of these words? Could words such as the ones that follow, be written today?

Among these extraordinary words, one also can appreciate Siggy's admiration for his father, who clearly is a hero to his son; not the unconditional love of a little child towards his dad, but the admiration of a grown man to his father.

How many fathers can make that claim?

Or to paraphrase Siggy, how many fathers today are worthy of those words?

Go read the post.



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"What do you see as the nature of a man?"

One of the best things about blogging is the excellent people you come in contact with. As I have repeatedly said, Siggy, who I have never met and don't even know what he looks like, has been a most supportive friend of my blogging and podcasting. Shane Borgess of (link has sound) Political Vindication and Political Vindication Radio also is another great guy I would have never come across if it weren't for blogging and am honored to count him as a friend.

(You can see that Shane is very handsome. If you want to know what Siggy looks like, ask him - don't ask me.)

Yesterday Siggy and Shane discussed how we create men and women in our society. Shane asked Siggy the question, "What do you see as the nature of a man?"

This is not a trivial question. The answer to how we see as the nature of a man defines how we as a society raise our childen, behave in every relationship (be it familial, professional, or sexual), and what we expect from other societies.

Siggy explained that men want to protect and solve problems. Women want to communicate: with great nuance when they raise children, and in a protective way. Shane said, "Men want to solve problems, women want to talk about them". Shane also saw independence as another factor in men's nature.

Do men want monogamy? What are the conditions for monogamy? Do men want to be idealized by their wives?

Is there such a thing as love as first sight?

You must listen to the entire podcast.

My special thanks to Shane and Siggy for having this wonderful conversation.

UPDATE
Husband of the year



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Beware of Swedes wearing skirts

Sturdy skirt a hit with Swedish workmen

This men's skirt in heavyweight cotton has other advantages. It is undoubtedly refreshing - or at least mildly alarming - to feel a cooling breeze running up your legs during a long, sweaty day hammering in plasterboard or installing a new floor.

That breeze's gonna run up your ...legs, alright.

Via Ace, of course.

For more undoubtedly refreshing - or at least mildly alarming - conversation, listen to this morning's podcast with Laurie Kendrick.


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People's Sexiest Man Alive: Matt Damon?

I'm having internet connection problems but here's one for you to debate: People Mag thinks Matt Damon's the sexiest man alive.

Matt didn't make it to my list, but Clive did.

Now, if only Clive would get himself into a good movie...

More (and more serious) blogging later.


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Not-remote control

I have lived all my life scrupulously avoiding trying to explain why people do things: I focus on what they are doing.

Trying to figure out what people are actually doing is difficult enough for me. Simple person that I am, if it quacks, waddles, has a flat beak and looks like a duck, I accept that it's a duck and proceed accordingly.

I know people who would analyze whether the duck is an ugly swan, or whether it wants to make you think it's a duck but isn't, or whether it's a duck who's struggling to get its inner sheep to come out to play. While pondering these scenarios might be interesting, for the greater part they are a huge waste of time: you still have a duck.

Beyond a certain point, I stop looking into motivation, psychology or idiosyncrasies and simply try to accept what is there as best I can. Needless to say, mine is a very simplistic approach, as you surely noticed from this post last year.

Having said this, at times I succumb to the temptation of trying to explain why some people do some things. Recently I've been thinking about the issue of control.

A couple of weeks ago I posted the opening to the Kenneth Branagh film of Much Ado About Nothing, which starts with,

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no moe,
Of dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leafy:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.

At that time a woman friend (an old friend from pre-blogging days) had been watching the movie and we conversed about whether Shakespeare shortchanges men ("Men were deceivers ever… The fraud of men was ever so"), and whether Shakespeare offers valuable advice.

We both agreed that the advice is priceless, and worth living by. She wished she had learned of it earlier.

But we agreed for different reasons: she agreed because she has been treated badly by the men in her life, who indeed were deceivers ever. I have lived a much more protected life and my experience has been much better, and as I am an optimist and have been very independent from a very early age (I graduated high school at age sixteen by completing all the requisite courses because I didn't like my all-girls' school), I'm all for being blithe and bonny and letting go of sighs and woes, and avoiding hanging one’s life on someone else's whims and wishes.

My friend, whose second husband had just left her, also talked about The Rules. The Rules essentially says that women should live the best lives they can and let men chase them.

Sounds good to me. I've been married for decades so I wouldn't know whether The Rules work in today's convoluted courtship capers. The Rules has been accused of being manipulative but I would wager that the fact still remains that men still like to chase women and women still want to be chased.

The problem comes up when one is trying to control the other.

A lot of women want to dominate everyone around them. They are driven mostly by insecurity but also by anger, and sometimes the wish for power. Most men actively resent domineering women and can be driven to all sorts of crazy behavior out of spite. Some men want to dominate, too. While independent women like myself are not interested in domineering men, some domineering men see this as a bull sees a red cape and charge ahead.

Whether it's on a personal relationship, a professional situation, or just general everyday interaction, nothing puts me off more than a guy who’s trying to control me.

It seems to me, however, that the more appealing men are those who allow women to be all they are without trying to control them, which makes the woman more willing to surrender at the right time. The least controlling the guy, the better.

Why do some guys have this urge to control, then? Is it insecurity, anger, the desire for power over others, as it is in women, or is there more to it? Why do some guys seem to charge full speed ahead near independent women?

Yesterday I was talking to a male friend, who explained that independent women sometimes scare and anger men. Frustrated men need to compete and dominate: "some men need to dominate first before they can share. Others, better adjusted, are not threatened by those kinds of things," my friend explained, "It's pretty straightforward."

So I ask you, dear readers, what is your opinion?


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Luke, I am your father

Deep-voiced men have more kids, study shows.

A bunch of Harvard/Mc Master/Fla. State scientists figured a nifty way to go on a junket to Tanzania: Go looking for "one of the last true hunter-gatherer cultures", record the guys saying "Hujambo" (Hello), and then check out who has the most offspring. The deep-voiced guys do, at least in that neck of the woods (savanna?).

From there the researchers jumped to a conclusion that every Patrick Stewart fan already knew: Women prefer men with deep voices.

In case you didn't know already, yes, I certainly do.

"In previous studies, they have shown that women find deeper male voices to be more attractive, judging them to be more dominant, older, healthier and more masculine sounding."

Spend thousands of dollars, travel across the world, bother the natives, and reach that conclusion. Sweet.

I thought everybody knew that men with deeper voices are more masculine sounding.

But then, you know what they say about men with deep voices.

The researchers would have saved the airfare to Africa if they had called The Anchoress and me. We would have told them that

baritones won out over tenors.

One particular baritone comes to mind.

On the downside, the researchers also claim that

Men, on the other hand, find higher-pitch voices in women more attractive, subordinate, feminine, healthier and younger sounding.

That probably means two things,

• Hillary's screeching may not be putting people off
• I probably need to raise my pitch to get more podcast listeners

On the other hand, when it comes to the podcasts, Siggy's on the baritone range.

But in more serious matters, Patrick Stewart's playing Macbeth in London. I think he looks better without a mustache, but I'm hoping the production moves to Broadway. Patrick Stewart is a force of nature on stage.

And for a bald guy in his sixties, he's hot. Very.

It's all in the voice, isn't it?


Technorati: Patrick Stewart, Bryn Terfel
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The Bear necessities

UPDATED
Bear sings!

Maria sent me this:
Reuters's Andrew Wallenstein is shocked, SHOCKED! that Bear Grylls spent a night or two in a motel:

But this British adventurer is now the subject of an investigation by U.K.'s Channel 4, which already has confirmed that Grylls checked into motels on a few occasions when he was depicted on TV having slept under the stars.

Considering how, when I watch the program, I sit there hoping Bear would be staying in a motel, I'm actually relieved to hear it.

Andrew's outrage comes from his belief that,

"Wild" restored a sense of realism to being marooned and sold us on the fantasy that we could learn the actual skills for survival.

Perhaps the show restored Andrew's belief that he could learn the actual skills for survival. Every time I've watched that show it has restored my belief that I would have been dead by the first ad break.

I look forward to the 3rd Man Vs Wild season.

Go for it, Bear.

UPDATE
Bear sings!

Thank you to the friend (and Bear fan) who prefers to remain anonymous.



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It will never happen:

Updated
I'm opening a new category today: "It'll never happen".

This category will include quotes that will never, ever cross the lips of a straight married man speaking to his wife.

The first two:

"I know what we can do next: Let's take you shoe shopping!"

"Is that the only store we're going to?"

Feel free to add your own (and keep it clean).

Update
Baron Bodissey:

"You were much prettier when you were younger."

Obviously the Baron values his life.

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred:

"Sure, I'd LOVE to go to the Ice Capades!"

"I've said it before, I'll say it again- indigo is YOUR color!!"

"You know, we'd have a lot more fun if we brought your mother along"

"Sweety, would you please hold the TV remote?"

"Wow- those Manolo's really are worth the money!"

"You know, I have idea. Why not clean out the garage and turn it into a craft center. After we set that up, we could get a coordinated garage storage system, maybe in the that pale aubergine color you like so much."

"Can we talk? You really don't listen to me anymore and that's starting to hurt my feelings."

"You know, Oprah said...."

"I don't care what Mary says about Jenny Craig. She's still chunky."

Hmmm... Siggy shares my dislike of ice skating, crafts, and Oprah....

And don't miss the comments section!

Update
A gentleman who doesn't want to be named emailed,

Hon, why don't you watch some more HGTV?

Those words will never be uttered at casa de Fausta.

Francis Porretto:

"Yes, I know there's lipstick on my collar, dear. What do you think of the shade?"

"You know, you really don't have enough shoes. There's a sale at Nordstrom's just now. Busy?"

"If you need more closet space, we can always convert the garage. I don't really need all those power tools."

(In reply to the most annoying question my wife asks me -- and she asks it repeatedly) "For dinner? How about gazpacho, leeks vinaigrette with shrimp, marinated zucchini, a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Rouge '59, and for dessert maybe an orange mousse?"

Keep them coming!



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The necktie dilemma

Updated
Jeff Jarvis is Cutting the ties that bind

I haven't worn a tie in months, maybe even a year. It may have something to do with my partial unemployment and attempts to act heretical when I have to go to church, but even while still an executive, I all but stopped wearing them. A suit with a shirt became my uniform: my Conde Nast protective coloration, a friend said. I’m ready to throw them out and I’m wondering whether it's possible that at long last, the tie is out.

Jeff has links to other articles discussing the untied situation.

Here in Princeton, wearing a necktie depends on your occupation.

Most of the professors at the University do not wear ties, but it varies by department: the school of engineering, for instance, is near-unanimously without neckties, as are the natural sciences departments. The English department has a more diverse neckwear component, with the Medievalists wearing neckties (a legacy from the hoods?) and others not wearing neckties.

Local lawyers and bankers, however, wear neckties. FBI agents wear neckties unless going undercover.

There are professions that should wear neckties: officials in all the branches of government should out of respect for their office. This may be a revolutionary concept among some, who through their behavior show little or no respect for the office they hold.

On TV, my favorite necktie-wearer is economist Larry Kudlow, whose snazzy pattern-on-pattern neckties and suits look great without looking fussy. Yesterday Larry was wearing a light-color summer suit, pink shirt and coordinating striped necktie that looked crisp and elegant. Here he is in bankers' stripes:


Now look at Kudlow: Custom-made shirts and suits, French cuffs, cufflinks, Windsor collars and silk ties like his spell one thing: M-O-N-E-Y, and they should, considering that's what his program is about. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Kudlow briefly a couple of years ago and up-close his are top-quality clothes. And most importantly, he is completely comfortable in them.

The Husband hasn't worn a necktie since our son's Confirmation last year. Prior to that ocasion, I can't remember the last time he wore a necktie. For many years he deplored having to wear necties to work.

I asked Nick Hilton his opinion on the matter of why so many men hate wearing neckties, and he says that men usually hate neckties if they wear mass-produced shirts. The problem is not the necktie, but the shirt collar. Nick believes that men who wear custom-made shirts are more comfortable since the custom shirts shrink during the first five launderings only, but lower quality shirts continue to shrink for the life of the garment. All the same, The Husband won't wear a tie unless he absolutely has to.

I prefer a man wearing a very nice suit without a necktie to a man wearing an ill-fitting suit with a necktie. Call it the Horatio look:

A manly, well-dressed look, but with nothing superfluous.

I like that in a guy.

It also helps that Horatio is soft-spoken, but I digress.

Does this mean that fashion has degraded?

I think not. I think it has evolved to a more practical phase.

Would the gentlemen care to comment, please?

Updated, Sunday 15 June
Rob Bluey answers the question. Here's Rob (on the right) having a great time while wearing a necktie


Erik:

Since I sweat easily AND since I don't like sitting/standing around in a soaking (or a wet) shirt, I prefer a cool suit without a necktie and without the top shirt button closed...

technorati: David Caruso
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Did you listen to the Father's Day podcast yet?

Here it is: My guests are Tony Woodlief and David Bernstein.

This week the Woodlief family welcomes a new member. Congratulations!

Tony Woodlief on being a father

In today's podcast i had the pleasure of talking to Tony Woodlief, the author of the wonderful pamphlet, Raising Wild Boys Into Men: A Modern Dad's Survival Guide


In the podcast, Tony tells us,

At first I made the mistake of trying to write the pamphlet I thought people would want instead of the one I really had inside, and that's always a mistake for me, and [my editors] said, just tell the stories about your children, and your own story because that really is more interesting and appealing.
... The stories of the children are really telling another story about my own upbringing and the struggle I had about trying to figure out how to grow up to be a man, not really having a father and home to look up to.

He tells all those stories and more. The point that comes across is,

"Real men come from wild fidgety loud hardheaded boys"

In today's Opinion Journal, Tony expands on that point,

The trick is not to squash the essence of boys, but to channel their natural wildness into manliness. And this is what keeps me awake at night, because it's going to take a miracle for someone like me, who grew up without meaningful male influence, who would be an embarrassment to Teddy Roosevelt, to raise three men. Along with learning what makes a good father, I face an added dilemma: How do I raise my sons to be better than their father?

What I'm discovering is that as I try to guide these ornery, wild-hearted little boys toward manhood, they are helping me become a better man, too. I love my sons without measure, and I want them to have the father I did not. As I stumble and sometimes fail, as I feign an interest in camping and construction and bugs, I become something better than I was.

In his blog, Tony links to Adam Bellow's article, The proxy patriarch
Adam Bellow had a famous father, but stepdad Papa Joe proved to be his true guiding light

Joe never tried to take my father's place or pressed himself on me in any way. But over time, he got into my life and into my heart. He did this basically just by being there in all the most important moments. It was Joe who attended my high-school theatre performances and graduation ceremonies. It was he who drove me out to college every fall and picked me up each spring, loading my bulky stereo and enormously heavy record collection into the family wagon.

Go read all of it.

And to all the dads and stepdads out there, happy Father's Day.

Update, Saturday 16 June: On Monday's podcast Gates of Vienna and Sigmund, Carl and Alfred will be talking about the Dancing Eurabians. Please join us at noon Eastern Time.

Click here for today's podcast.
You can order Raising Wild Boys Into Men: A Modern Dad's Survival Guide directly at the link.


Technorati: Tony Woodlief
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On time for Father's Day, tomorrow's podcast: Raising Wild Boys Into Men

Tony Woodlief, author of Raising Wild Boys Into Men: A Modern Dad's Survival Guide will be my podcast guest tomorrow at noon.

His pamphlet, the latest in The New Pamphleteers series, asks,

How does a hapless 21st century dad raise four young sons to manhood without taming their natural wildness? Modern society seems more interested in turning wild boys into mild boys, rather than harnessing their natural aggressiveness in traditional male virtues like protecting the innocent and seeking justice. Author Anthony Woodlief describes his near-obsessive quest to find books, toys, movies, and other resources that teach boys to develop their character without losing what he calls "The Cowboy Gene." In the course of that struggle, he finds out the true meaning of fatherhood.

I just finished reading and this is a must-buy for your dad. Tony writes about what it's like having three young boys and what it means to be a man, certainly one of the greater questions of our day.

His easygoing style and approach makes this a most delightful pamphlet to read, and to give. At only $4, you should buy one for everyone you know.

We'll be talking about it tomorrow at noon, and if you would like you can call in (646) 652-2639.

Join us!

Update, Friday, 15 June
Here's the link to the podcast
and follow-up post

Cross-posted at Heading Right



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Bear sightings

Yesterday three dozen people came to my blog from googling "Bear Grylls", plus two who were searching for "Bear Grylls naked".

At first I was puzzled as to why the sudden interest, but later last night when I was watching Mythbusters, I realized that Bear's new season starts tomorrow.

I'm sorry to dissapoint the latter two, but here's a shirtless Bear Grylls YouTube:


Monsters and Critics World Premiere Friday, June 15, 9 PM ET/PT

EVERGLADES: This premiere episode finds host Bear Grylls stranded in the swamps of the Florida Everglades, where each year at least 60 tourists need to be rescued. With more than a million alligators, thousands of snakes and even black bears roaming these waterlogged lands, the area has more than its share of hazards. Bear demonstrates how to keep alligators at bay, deal with vicious razor-sharp grass and find stomach-churning food that will keep you alive if you find yourself stranded in this beautiful but dangerous destination.

The first thing I'd do if stranded in the Everglades would be calling my sister on the cell phone, since she lives in the area. But then, she'd probably come along so then the two of us would be stranded.

The Phoenix is quite insulting, calling Bear "English boy adventurer".

Over on the Discovery Channel, English boy adventurer Bear Grylls backflipped off a chopper into the ultramarine waters of the Pacific, swam two miles to a desert island, scaled a cliff, descended through the root system of a banyan tree, and finally found a hospitable little cove, where he subsisted for a few days on coconuts and tiny fish ( MAN VS. WILD , Friday at 9 pm). A juicy turtle passed within harpoon range, but Bear courteously forwent a feast on account of the turtle's position on the endangered-species list. Both Bear and Criss, as they go about their respective tasks, make a selection of animalistic grunts and coughs. Shinning down the coconut tree seemed particularly hard on Bear, who grimaced against the chafing bole and warned the viewer against it "as a bloke."

Last month Bear glided over Everest

Flying over the top of the world A British Everest summiteer has become the first man to fly higher than the top of the world in a powered paraglider.

Bear Grylls, who at the age of 23 became the youngest British climber to scale Mount Everest in 1998, achieved a feat that had been deemed impossible by many critics prior to the mission.

The Telegraph carried his arcticles,Flying into a dream and has a video you can watch here

Here's a selection of books authored by Mr. Grylls,


I haven't found Man Vs Wild on DVD yet, but when I do I'll link to it.

Meanwhile, if Mr. Grylls is reading this, please email me at faustaw-at-yahoo-dot-com. I'd love to have you as my podcast guest.
-------------------------------------------------
In other diversions, I have become addicted to Facebook. I'm learning the ropes and just this morning asked a question, but then I made a mistake and the question got sent to all my friends, which probably means I've annoyed everyone early in the morning. My apologies to all.

Jeff Jarvis (who is a lot better at figuring out Facebook than I am) has a terrific post, Facebook: the platform of people?

Does Bear Grylls have a Facebook page? Well, I looked and there are dozens of Bear Grylls Facebook pages. Will the real Bear Grylls please stand up?

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-------------------------------------------------

Did you listen yet? and today's items

I'll post more about Venezuela later today, but here's the morning round-up:

Did you listen yet?

Last Monday my guests were Dymphna and Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna and Siggy co-hosted. Listen to a most enjoyable podcast, and tell your friends. If you listened already, go back and listen again.

Soldier's Family Needs Immediate Help

Victor Davis Hanson writes about The Global Immigration Problem

The moment illegal immigrants arrive, a sort of race begins: Can these newcomers become legal, speak the host language and get educated before they age, get hurt or lose their job? If so, then they assimilate and their children are held up as models of diversity. If not, the end of the story can be welfare or jail.
...
Governments in countries such as Mexico and Morocco usually care far more about their emigrants once they are long gone. Then these poor are no longer volatile proof of their own failures, but victims of some wealthy foreign government's indifference. And these pawns usually send cash home.

Don't miss also The Legal Visa Crunch: The Senate bill is worse than current law for skilled immigrants.

And Now...British Academia

Investor's Business Daily continues its series on Jimmy Carter, Friend of dictators

Via Red State, Sen. Byrd: "Allowing the public to actually see earmark requests...isn't a good idea"


We beat global warming, and "Al's the guy!"

Via Larwin, Ace posts that Jon Corzine didn't think of wearing a seat belt, and zoomed down the turnpike going 90 miles an hour, but he's going to keep you from getting fat. Maybe Corzine should call Michael Moore for diet tips.

Mitt gets heckled in New Hampshire for being a Mormon. Harry Reid better stay away.

Also from Ace, some fool at Newsweek thinks wussy men are hot. Where is Pullo when we need him?
Here's a short list of other non-wussies. And the ever-popular Swiss.

Speaking of wusses, Betsy has The humbug that is John Edwards, who, by the way, may have some trouble getting some of the treasure money as Spain sues over shipwreck bonanza

Harry Potter theme park planned in Orlando. It'll take real magic to duplicate the terrain and the weather, for sure.

And last, but not least, The Studied Linguist (a poem)

In praise of William Powell

William Powell was not the best-looking guy in the Hollywood stable of stars. His nose was too big, his hairline receeding, his chin was weak and he didn't look good in a swimsuit.

But he certainly was one of the most appealing.

For starters he had a wonderful voice. He got his big break in pictures in 1929, when the studios were looking for good actors that sounded good, as the talkies were the latest sensation but the technology of the times made eveyone sound 1/2 octave higher than their real-life pitch.

Powell was an actor of great presence, not because he was tall (6'), but because he projected integrity. As his IMDB biography said,

Powell could play any role with authority, whether in a comedy, thriller or drama.

On the surface, William Powell was a man of contradictions: He was funny but never was a fool. He was born in the 19th century, but embodied the sleek modernism of the 20th century Art Deco era in the Thin Man movies (of which the first one was the only one slightly based on the Dashiell Hammet novel). He was a character actor who was a leading man.

He seduced you with your eyes wide open.

In our days when men are protrayed in film, TV, and media as bumbling fools, Powell would have been entirely dismissed because he always was the grown-up. He was the father figure who actually played the title role in Life With Father.

I was thinking about William Powell because this morning AMC was playing How To Marry A Millionaire. The movie's a showcase for its female stars but Powell stole it from them. He plays a rich old guy who brings Lauren Bacall to the altar (at the time, the real-life Powell was 62 years old, and she was 29), fully aware that she was marrying him for his money. Yet at the very last moment, because he loved her, he set her free to marry the man she loved. And you knew she was a fool for not loving him.

William Powell: A manly man, for our times.

Here are Mr. and the by-then-ex-Mrs. Powell in a great scene in My Man Godfrey: "... and I'm grateful to you because you helped me to beat life"


The IMDB has a slide show.
Related post here.