Nous Sommes Arivee

We're here. Directly south of that location is Le Louvre, and directly west, L'Arc de Triomphe. Le Tour Eiffel is a bit to the southwest. If you zoom in and cebter on it, you can see people, the image is so clear. Braved the traffic in Paris. Took a while, but I finally located the hotel and, and we've had a few hours sleep. About 8 pm local, so we're headed out to roam around. More later.


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And…They’re Off!

Three weeks in Europe: France, Spain, and Italy, to be exact. Our ride: Boarding momentarily. Looks like an on-time departure. San Fran to Paris in a bit more than 9 hours. I'm looking forward. In my experience past, the French do air travel right. Updates, pics, and travel log to follow. Stay tuned.


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The Project

So I finally, finally closed on that project. The land and its Grapes of Wrath style apartments are mine. Here's what it looks like now: And here's what it will look like in about a year's time (same architect, same design, though probably a different color, eh). In the immediate, I've got to spend about the next six months in supplication to the various local commissars -- seeing as they are doubtless all very wise, experienced and successful real estate developers themselves. Progress reports to follow.


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Rights, Again

It bears repeating. Billy sends out an email on something "profoundly simple and simply profound," i.e., on the essence and nature of man's natural rights. This turns on the fact that our minds are our unique and exclusive mode and method of our survival. Look: we don't have wings, or dominating natural weapons like claws or fangs or poisons, or enormous speed and agility. We're not like other animals, equipped in such ways for survival. Because of what we are, we have to think our way through the world. We have to identify by a process of reason the values that sustain and further our lives. There are, however, two crucial aspects of this on which are founded the entire domain of politics -- which is nothing more or less than the study of how to treat each other in social contexts: 1) Reason is not autonomic. It doesn't work except by a deliberately self-initiated process. 2) It is not infallible. It can and does fail, sometimes. Neither of these two things relieves us of the responsibility to think at all times to the best of our ability. Here's the thing: some people are sometimes better at it than others....


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