The Crowhill Journal

The boys drink and review Yuengling’s Oktoberfest beer, then discuss Jack London and his amazing character, Wolf Larsen.

London was an incredibly prolific writer, with 23 novels, 3 plays, several works of non-fiction, some poetry and a huge collection of short stories.

In The Sea Wolf, we meet Wolf Larsen, the captain of a sealing schooner. Larsen is a fierce, aggressive, brutish and cruel man, who is also an autodidact, and a convinced materialist who places no value whatsoever on human life.

P&C reflect on Larsen’s worldview, whether it’s a necessary consequences of materialism, and how it touches on existentialism.

Durham has scored his first point in the investigation of the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe. Kevin Clinesmith has pled guilty to making false statements in documents used to obtain a surveillance warrant against former Trump aide Carter Page.

But get this.

Attorney General William Barr hinted Thursday that the indictment was coming in the Durham probe, though he said it was not “earth-shattering.” He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that other “significant” developments will happen in the Durham probe closer to the election.

IOW, they’re planning an October surprise.

I have mixed reactions to this.

October surprises are unfair, because you only hear one side of the story. That’s the whole point, of course. You want to whack your opponent with something ugly that will stick through the election, thus influencing the results.

It doesn’t matter if the accusation is true, and they’re often not. It only matters if it’s effective. It’s a dirty trick that works, and has become part of the game.

From that perspective, I don’t like it. I’d rather people played fair.

On the other hand, politics is a dirty game, and the world is a dirty place. An honorable, fair, gentlemanly fellow with lots of Boy Scouts awards might not be the best choice for a guy who has to stand up to Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, etc. Or, to put it another way, do we really want a guy who plays fair?

The Trump administration has brokered a deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that normalized ties between the countries. Israel agreed to suspend the plan to annex the West Bank.

Perhaps the most important part of this (from my not very well informed perspective) is that the Palestinians no longer hold a veto over these decisions.

Here’s a 5-minute take on it from NPR.

Scientists at the University of Maryland have discovered a new type of flame that might be able to burn fossil fuels without producing soot.

It’s a very interesting development, and I find it somewhat surprising that we’re still discovering things like this. You’d think we would already know a lot about fire and combustion, but … who knows what’s lurking out there, yet to be discovered.

The reaction from environmentalists will be telling. You would hope they would say, “Great! We can reduce pollution from fossil fuels!” But the more likely reaction will be, “This is awful. It minimizes the incentive to shift away from fossil fuels, and just keeps that awful industry going.”

This is amazing to me, but it seems many people don’t have the basic awareness to try this very simple check on themselves. Reverse the race / sex of a statement and see if it seems right to you.

For example, I just read this on LinkedIn.

“Big day! Participated in my first in person meeting in MONTHS! Leave it to a bunch of women leaders to pull it off!”

Say “leave it to a bunch of male leaders” and see if that doesn’t set off alarm bells. But why not the other way?

Then there’s this. Georgia Store Suggests $20 Refundable Deposit For White Customers To Shop There

There are elements of the left that are taking things in exactly the wrong direction, as hilariously illustrated in this video.