The Daily Mull - Ken Watts

To My Readers

Ken Watts — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:48:01 +0000

THIS IS JUST A NOTE to reassure you that I haven't disappeared from the face of the internet.

I am well, and only facing a minor technical problem.

My DSL has been down for a week, and will probably be down for at least another.

It's a hardware problem with the phone company, and requires them to send out a technician, which they are in no big hurry to do.

This doesn't keep me from posting—I can always make a trip between clients to the Starbucks near my office for that.

I am amazed, however, at how much I have come to rely on the internet to do the research for my posts.

I have discovered, over a very frustrating week, that most of my research and writing takes place in odd moments between client visits, on my computer, which is normally connected to the world out there.

Since I pride myself on accuracy—even making sure that the daily quote was actually written by the person it's attributed to, then citing, and linking to, the correct book—it turns out that my posts are research intensive.

The internet makes all this an amazingly productive use of those moments between clients, when it works.

So I only managed one post last week, and won't make any promises about how many I'll manage before this is fixed.

As always, I can offer you the option of signing up for the free newsletter, in the sidebar at the right, which will alert you to any posts I do make in the next couple of weeks.

Or you can continue your normal visits to the site to browse the four years of posts that are already here.

Pick one you know you like, scroll to the bottom, and check out the list of related posts and quotes. One thing will lead to another.

Anyway, that's the story, just so you know.

I hope to have this fixed and be back up and running at my normal pace soon.

Thanks,

Ken [read more]

There's not a day goes by...

Ken Watts — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:57:22 +0000

The Shawshank Redemption

There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should.

I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't.

That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left.

Frank Darabont [read more]

Billy's Story

Ken Watts — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:26:07 +0000

THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT Billy is that he's fictional—a sort of composite of a group of our kids who are in prison at this very minute.

Billy is much like most adolescent boys.

Like half the kids he represents, he was never in trouble with the law prior to the incident that sent him to prison.

Like more than half of the adult males you know, he was capable of doing stupid things as a teenager.

If you don't remember one thing you did as a kid which could have got you into big trouble if you had been caught, just ask your friends what they did.

Kids don't have the judgment or experience that adults have, and consequently they make mistakes.

They're also easily influenced.

In Billy's case, as in way over half of the cases of this kind, the influence was an adult.

The adult was Thomas—his favorite uncle, whom he had worshiped his whole life. [read more]

It is impossible to go through life without...

Ken Watts — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:07:24 +0000

The Ministry of Fear

It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.

Graham Greene [read more]

A Few Words about the Mosque at Ground Zero

God — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:02:26 +0000

ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I was reluctant to take on this whole blogging thing, when Ken first started nagging me about it, was that I've done this kind of thing before.

Not a blog, exactly—and not in this universe—but I do have enough experience along parallel lines to know that eventually it gets me drawn into local politics.

I generally try to stay above all that.

But sometimes my tolerance for sheer stupidity and for fundamental dishonesty just runs thin.

So I'm going to step in, and point a few things out: [read more]

Beck's summer-long multimedia campaign centered on three lies...

Ken Watts — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:09:04 +0000

Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance

Beck's summer-long multimedia campaign centered on three lies. When the White House tapped Jones to advise on green jobs, he was neither a self-avowed communist nor a black nationalist.

Beck also twisted and then disregarded the known facts of Jones's 1992 arrest. He said that Jones had been arrested for participation in the 1992 Los Angeles riots and was a "convicted felon." Both claims were false.

The easily accessible truth was that Jones was arrested while working as a volunteer legal monitor during a protest in San Francisco. Never mentioned by Beck was the fact that the state of California later declared Jones's arrest unlawful. After an investigation and a hearing, the state dropped all charges against Jones and awarded him a settlement.

Alexander Zaitchik [read more]

A Sort of Defense of Conservatives

Ken Watts — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:48:16 +0000

THIS IS THE FINAL INSTALLMENT IN MY REPLY TO Chris, which begins here.

I would have the same reaction, if the real world were like the fantasy land invented by right-wing media.

I want to end with a defense, of sorts—not of the conservative pundits like Glenn Beck, who are financed by the super-wealthy to mislead voters—but of the normal, everyday, conservative, who is being misled.

Last time, Chris, I pointed out that although conservatives are just as caring, and just as bright, as liberals, they live in a world of misinformation.

This is because people who provide that information (the Fox pundits, talk radio hosts, runners of websites, campaign managers, and writers of propaganda emails) only care about winning an argument or an election, and care nothing for the facts.

So, if someone believes that: [read more]

False words are not only evil...

Ken Watts — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:02:53 +0000

Phaedo

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Plato [read more]

The Different Worlds of Conservatives and Liberals

Ken Watts — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:47:33 +0000

THIS IS THE EIGHTH INSTALLMENT OF MY REPLY TO Chris, which begins here .

I ended yesterday's post, Chris, by suggesting that when it comes to basic values:

Neither conservatives or liberals want anyone to suffer,
Both conservatives and liberals want people to get the sense of independence and satisfaction that comes from standing on your own two feet and working hard,
We both want the United States to prosper, and that
Conservatives and liberals are equally intelligent.

I hope you won't disagree with any of that.

In fact, the only difference between a liberal and a conservative is the information they base their different conclusions on—the world of ideas they live in.

Liberals live in (no offense, but there's no way of saying it without saying it) the real world, where [read more]

It is a capital mistake to theorize before...

Ken Watts — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:31:48 +0000

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [read more]