Modesty Blaze, Pt. 2

The dark night of Islamophobia has descended upon the Bay Area, as Muslim women find themselves victimized at the workplace, unable to pursue their chosen profession because their employer will not allow them to wear headscarves. The name of this Amerikkkan employer? Abercrombie & Fitch?!

A federal civil rights agency sued Abercrombie & Fitch on Wednesday on behalf of an 18-year-old woman who said she applied for her first job at the company's store at the Great Mall in Milpitas and was turned down because she wore a Muslim head scarf.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission went to court against Abercrombie & Fitch last year over a similar incident in Tulsa, Okla. In Wednesday's suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, the agency again accused the Ohio company of discriminating on the basis of religion.

"This retailer that targets a youth market is sending the message that you cannot aspire to their 'All American' brand if you wear a head covering to comply with your faith," said William Tamayo, the agency's regional attorney.

You may recall a similar complaint made by a San Mateo woman last February. It's an odd trend to say the least. These girls are modest and devout enough to insist on wearing a headscarf, yet they insist on enforcing their right to get a job at Abercrombie & Fitch, a retailer that is ... not known for its modesty or sympathy for the religiously devout. Just wait, after we have gay marriage, the new "civil right" propagated by the Left will be sharia-compliance.

History & Style: The Secrets of the Cadillac

In the midst of a cheeky deprecation of the Cadillac Catera, Car Lust explains the origins of the Cadillac logo. It's obviously some bit of imported heraldry, but the meaning behind the logo has its own fascination, and gives you an idea of the vast mental gulf that separate the founders of GM and the MP's who are running the company now:

The shield in Cadillac's traditional shield-in-a-wreath emblem uses the actual coat of arms of the man the car was named after, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, the French nobleman who founded the city of Detroit. In the upper left and lower right quadrants of the shield, there's a trio of black, duck-like birds. The official term for them in heraldry is "merlettes." Merlettes are a symbol of the Holy Trinity, and their presence in the coat of arms indicates that someone in old Antoine's family tree did something brave in one of the Crusades.

Ducks on the Cadillac logo?? I didn't believe it until I took a walk around the neighborhood to find a 15 year old Caddy. Whaddaya know! There really were ducks on the logo! (the "modern" logo, of course, has substituted some Mondrian-style black bars for the little guys).

Albert Sloan and co. may have been rapacious industrialists who helped pave America and destroy the planet. But, they also had a sense of history and style that allowed them to grab and hold the public's imagination. They were "car guys" in the best sense of the word, and it is clear that they would have had no place in the modern GM. Too bad because they could do the one thing that is in short supply right now: sell a lot of cars.

Good Points

A lot of good points being made across the Blogosphere today:

Republicans ecstatic over the anti-Obamacare results in Missouri should temper their enthusiasm, since the status quo was and remains unsustainable. Repeal will not be enough. If Americans want to "keep" their current health care, they need to accept that they will have to actually pay for it. (Cafe Hayek)

Just because someone is a left-wing historian with an axe to grind, doesn't mean their research lacks merit. US involvement in the Korean Peninsula during the Cold War has actually inspired some useful historical writing from progressive types, as the "official" record has been hopelessly white washed. (Marginal Revolution)

The Obama Administration's approach to the "Birther" issue - mockery, combined with deliberate opaqueness that only encourages further "questions" - has had the opposite of its intended effect. The number of people who aren't sure whether Obama was born in the US is at 58%, at least in one poll. (Legal Insurrection)

In the wake of the Crash of '08, the US needs to do more than pass regulatory "reform," or build up balance sheets. Its regulators, finance pros, and ratings agencies need to rebuild their tattered reputations, or see themselves replaced by foreign competitors more willing to make bearish (i.e. rational) calls on US financials. (Ampontan)

American media outlets may be more numerous than ever, but they keep failing to report the same stories; namely that New Age/Leftist ideas and philosophies can be just as destructive and anti-human as anything you could point to on the Right. (The Macho Response)

Liberals like Paul Krugman claim to hate deflation because it creates a "downward spiral" that is hard to get out of. The truth is they hate the benefits of deflation: debt becomes more expensive, savings increase, and private capital formation encourages self-determination. So much easier if liberals could just artificially goose the economy with "stimulus" and zero per cent interest rates, and then inflate away all of the debt that their schemes generate. (Market Ticker)

If you are in New York City and want to talk to beautiful women, you need a Vespa and some blue shoes. At least that's what you need this summer. (The Sartorialist)

There's no scandal quite like a Republican bikini scandal. Apparently, the Left thinks this will kick off some sort of hypocrisy buzz. What they don't realize is that Republican bikini scandals remind people that the hot women are all on the right side of the aisle. (The Other McCain)

"When I Paint My Masterpiece" is one of Dylan's best songs from his post-accident semi-retirement period. It's also one that isn't well understood. (Brendan Bernhard)

While we can all put on an appropriately glum face on the anniversary on Hiroshima, it's worthy of comment that civilian battlefield deaths among our allies, including one battle that took place on American soil, have been forgotten despite their exceeding the toll from the atomic bomb. (The Belmont Club)

Life Is Not Fair. (The Leader of the GOP)

Et Tu, Murakami-San?

I swear, there must be some provision in the average creative person's publishing contract requiring them to make anti-Israeli pronouncements. What else would have caused Haruki Murakami to give a speech decrying Israel? The Blindness of the Israeli Intellectual Left

Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, who accepted the 2009 Jerusalem Prize for foreign writers, delivered a reception speech implicitly comparing Israel to a wall and Palestinians to eggs broken against it. In this tidy, fabricated scenario, Murakami, apart from churlishly insulting his benefactors whose award he should honorably have refused, forgot that there were 20,000 “eggs” in Sderot broken against a “wall” of Palestinian rocket fire and that thousands of Israeli “eggs” were smashed post-Oslo. He emerged from this simple-minded fiasco with egg on his face, plainly unable to differentiate truth from fiction.

I am not going to stop "liking" Murakami's books over this. But, there is absolutely no reason - outside of an attempt to curry favor with western leftists - for him to take any position on Israel. Whatever happens in Israel has absolutely no effect on Japan. There isn't even a cultural connection like the one that underlies America's connection to Israel. Murakami would be better off looking in his own back yard - has he ever had anything to say about Burma? - than looking to the Middle East for material for his portentious Serious Man Of Letters Pronouncements.

Lady Cab Driver

Here's a brilliant idea that would never be allowed to work here in the United States: a ladies-only cab company with pink taxis and female drivers: "Girl Taxi" Service Offers haven To Beirut's Women

These days the (Beirut's) transport staple is facing some serious competition from a growing army of female taxi drivers, dressed in stiff-collared white shirts, dark shades, pink ties and small pink flowers tucked into their flawlessly coiffed hair.

All of them drive for Banet Taxi, or "girl taxi" in Arabic. It is Lebanon's first cab service for women, by women. You can't miss the company's signature candy-pink cars.

"I chose pink because the first idea that comes to mind when you see pink is girls," says Nawal Fakhri, 45 years old, founder of Banet Taxi.

It would never be allowed to work in the US because of rampant corruption and cartelization in US cities that keeps the number of taxi medallions artificially low. It would never work because someone would inevitably bring an equal protection claim. And, it would never work because it would turn into a ridiculous "bold 'n' brassy" post-feminist statement, which would not work with the frankly feminine atmosphere that Fakhri tries to maintain in her cabs:

The company is part of a regional trend. Entrepreneurs across the Middle East have recognized the business potential in offering secure transportation options for women. Banet Taxi follows on the heels of successful women-only transportation models in Dubai, Tehran and Cairo.

In Beirut, the growing company is a sign the private sector is succeeding where the politically volatile public sector fails.

"I like being one of the few female taxi drivers in Lebanon," says Maya Buhaidai, 34, as she takes a sharp turn on a windy road in the mountains overlooking Beirut. "And I like the work. It's easy, it's fun and I get to talk and laugh with my passengers."

As the sun sets, Ms. Buhaidai drives passenger Lamia Samaha, 37, from a suburb on the mountain slope to the busy central Beirut district of Hamra. Along the way, they chat about the news, TV shows and children.

"I am at ease because I am accompanied by a woman. I sometimes find men hard to handle," says Ms. Samaha, causing her and her driver to laugh heartily.

At last, a cab safe for girl-talk! Fakhri, by the way has made back her original $200,000 investment and expects to earn at least that much this year. Lebanon may bear the oppressive weight of Syrian occupation and religious fascism, but in Beirut at least there is enough room for women to find their own corner of freedom.

The Kid Is Not My Son

Well, I started this week by snootily declaring that I don't like to write about tawdry gossip, but now I see I have been covering Chris Brown/Rhianna, Mark Sanford, and now the death of Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson Suffers Massive Heart Attack

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

Jetting around the 'net, I see that the Youtube video almost everyone is linking to is "I Want You Back," whose title and bouncy spirit seem doubly poignant today. Jackson wasn't just consumed by fame. His life charts one of the basic changes in American pop culture from breezy low-budget fun to an over exposed, drug addled "spectacle" dependant on $$, rather than inspiration to survive.

Still, Jackson's legacy is a strong one. I could listen to the rhythm guitars on "Thriller" and never hear better chicken-scratching. And tell me you can walk into a mall, hear the opening beats of "Billie Jean," and not want to reach for your red fedora! Jackson is gone (mercifully for him, I think), but his best music will reasonate for a long time.

Poor Boy Beneath the Stars That Shine

Today is Bob Dylan's 68th(!) birthday. He is one of America's most misunderstood cultural heroes. For many, he is still nothing more than a "protest singer," even though his protest era lasted for maybe 18 months. The complexity and depth of his songs lend themselves to endless analysis and 5-starred Rolling Stone reviews, yet the reams of analysis never fail to miss the humor and pathos in many of his songs.

Unlike virtually all of his contemporaries, Dylan continues to add to his canon. Here's a good version of "Po' Boy," a deceptively simple song from 2001 (released on 9/11, in fact) full of humor, sadness, and an old-timey swing. Po' Boy (2004). Louis Armstrong should have lived long enough to sing it...

Where the Girls Are

Back in the Eighties, PJ O'Rourke once made this perceptive comment about beautiful women and American social trends: 

"It's not that looks matter per se. It's just that beautiful women are always on the cutting edge of social trends. Remember how many beautiful women were in the anti-war movement 20 years ago? In the yoga classes 15 years ago? At the discos 10 years ago? On Wall Street 5 years ago? Where the beautiful women are is where the country is headed."

Well, these days the beautiful woman are going into ... debt collections!

Brenda Edwards is one of DCM (a debt collection law firm)'s top collectors: 

Melanie Ellston works at DCM processing claims:

Kathy Wolfe makes recordings for robo-calls to delinquent debtors: 

And, so does Orla Johannes: 

Pretty soon you won't be gettin' any lovin' unless you are a repo-man or a foreclosure auctioneer. If you are an out of work "Master of the Universe," you are now looking at a grinding life of involuntary celibacy. Where the women are, the men will follow. 

That'll Be The Day When I Die

Today is the 50th(!) anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly, or "The Day The Music Died." Many have wondered how such an unassuming kid from Lubbock, TX could make music that could inspire the likes of The Beatles and The Stones. 

The answer is simple: Holly made music the right way. His songs were simple, but filled with inventive melodies and rhythms. His odd sense of style served notice that he was no fashion plate singer. And he never strayed from the guitar-bass-drum format that is the heart of all good rock music.

It's hard to know what we lost with him. Maybe he would have turned to drugs, added a sitar to the Crickets' sound, made records filled with 20 minute "jams." That could have happened. 

But, I'll bet he would have ended up closer to a career like Chuck Berry's: a fixture on the Oldies circuit, a great guitarist welcome on anybody's stage, and still able to raise the roof whenever he liked. Holly would have been just 38 years old when The Ramones (inadvertent geniuses like Holly) arrived. I think he would have been right there to welcome them and their successors.

The guitar solo from "That'll Be The Day" was one of the first things I learned to play on the guitar. I've played that solo almost every day since then. so I think I'll play it now. And, if you are going to listen to anything today, don't listen to Don McLean. Listen to Buddy's actual songs and think of all the music that we missed.

The Return of Home Field Advantage

A lot of people are wondering out loud, "What are our lives going to be like in the coming recession years?" Tyler Cowan suggests that we may have to look to simpler pleasures: board games, walks in the park, etc. We apparently will turn away from our Hummer homes and NBA box seats. That might happen, but I suspect what will really happen is our houses will get a little smaller and those NBA seats may become cheap enough so that the real fans can return to courtside. And it's about damned time. 

One of the corrosive aspects of American popular culture has been the relentless corporatization of everything. I don't mean to complain when, say, private business is brought in to improve a benighted area as was famously done in Times Square. But all things fun - sports, big time stadium rock concerts, NASCAR, even skateboarding(!) - have been turned into mega-events only affordable to corporate interests, especially financial ones(that at least will change!). In a symbolic sense, true fans are locked out in favor of their bosses and bankers. Think of Montgomery Burns trying to mix with ordinary joes by saying "How about that local sports team." Now, think of that attitude carried over to every aspect of life. The effects of this phenomenon have been best described by Bill Simmons as the demise of home-field advantage, and it is ugly in its enforced blandness.

The corporatization of everything has turned its participants into corporate drones themselves; look at Tony Romo or Alex Rodriguez listlessly droning at their lockers. The alphas of our society have been reduced to the level of mimics  blandly reciting platitudes like PR flacks, rather than going off half cocked as their more "colorful" predecessors may have once done. America is all about energy, but too often it has allowed this vitality to be sucked away in favor of some HR department-style of discourse. If the Crash of '08 and the Great Recession of '09 bring about a return of a more untrammeled popular culture (sans vulgarity, of course), that would be a positive.  

Laura Heads Off Into the Sunset

I've already said my blogging farewell to the President, but I think special mention should be made of his wife, Laura. 

In a lot of ways, she was the best part of his administration: cool, understated, very intelligent, witty. Best of all, she absolutely refused to engage in a pity party when asked the inevitable questions about "How do you feel about all of your husband's critics?" Instead, she would smile patiently (while also turning the corners of her mouth down), lower her voice just a touch, and say "Well, there's always criticism..." But, with the tone of her voice she would express what she REALLY thought, which was deep deep disapproval. I have a lot of relatives in Texas - most of them women - and, believe me, if The Left knew what Laura Bush thought of them, they would hang their heads in shame.  

Whether she intended to or not, Laura Bush is the quintessential GOP woman of her era, just as Pat Nixon and her cloth coat were once the exemplars for the Greatest Generation. 

When I see Laura Bush, I also see women like my mother and all of my aunts - Republicans all, and exact contemporaries to Laura - who were smarter, funnier, more dignified, more fun, more youthful, more stylish, better read, better educated (even if it was at at SMU and UT), better able to handle their men, and much more confident than their dour, pioneering  "sisters" on the other side.

Truth be told, I was more offended by the Laura = Stepford Wife jokes than I ever was by the Bush = Hitler ones. W could take care of himself, but Laura never asked for this role. But, once it was thrust on her, she always carried herself well. She didn't make many "political" statements, but when she did she was spot on. Believe it or not, she was the administration's clearest eyed spokesman for the oppressed citizens of Burma, going as far as to publish an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. She was also a clear voice for women's rights in the third world, an area where most of the western world's brassy, loud mouthed feminists often couldn't find on a map, let alone in their hearts.

I love that Laura Bush was a librarian, and made it her cause to support reading. Maybe that's a more "typical" first lady cause, but she really threw herself into it - setting up the National Book Festival, giving speeches about the importance of reading, and best of all discussing her favorite books. Her favorite book was "The Brothers Karamozov," and her comments about it showed that she had read it many times, and thought about it quite a bit. Maybe she didn't reform healthcare, but she did show the world what a sophisticated thinker a "regular" person can be. Michelle Obama appears to be preparing to follow Laura's path, rather than the activist role that seems to be the default position for Democratic First Ladies. I like to think it's because of Laura's understated example that this is the case.

And, unlike a lot of political marriages, it was clear that she and her husband really loved one another. I suspect the most interesting White House conversations of the last 8 years - especially in the dark days after 9/11 - took place in the private quarters after the last door had been shut against the world. 

So, good bye Laura. You have a lot of years ahead of you and I know that you will live them well.

A Question I Had Never Thought To Ask

What’s The Matter With Vogue?