Comments on: Open thread 2/7/2025

By: Richard Cook

Richard Cook — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:39:54 +0000

Selfy

The American people were made monkeys of willingly. A chance to show how high on the moral high ground and not racist we are. Clownathon.

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 15:32:51 +0000

King Charles’s slow withdrawal from Christian belief mirrors that of the Church of England, of which he is the titular head.

By: Snow on Pine

Snow on Pine — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:08:44 +0000

A powerful dissection of King Charles slow withdrawal from his duty/role as “Defender of The (Christian) Faith” amid his increasingly voiced and open admiration for Islam.*

* See https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/a-king-who-doubts-his-faith-cannot-offer-spiritual-leadership/

By: Art Deco

Art Deco — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:05:46 +0000

The only aspect that I see along those lines is that they greatly expanded the role of Mrs Hall, and gave Helen a younger sister, possibly to appeal more to a female audience. And there are parts to the story that are not in the original books. But I have read that those books were not entirely, shall we say, non-fiction, so that doesn’t bother me.
==
Alfred Wight’s son has made clear that the books were inspired by memoir but were not memoirs. Events and characters were transferred from one time period to another (sometimes by as much as 30 years), were conflated, were amended. Per the younger Wight, there was a fairly precise observable correspondence between ‘Granville Hicks’ and Denton Pette, the actual local veterinarian who inspired him. Donald Sinclair (“Siegfried”) was irritated at how he was portrayed in the books and irritated with what Robert Hardy did with his character. We don’t always see ourselves as others do; the younger Wight has said the original was rather more intense than the character, not less. OTOH, Bryan Sinclair (“Tristan”) was rather amused at how he was portrayed and rather liked giving public lectures. One thing I think may differ from the books and the television programs would be the relative ages of the characters. Robert Hardy was 15 years older than Christopher Timothy and 22 years older than Peter Davison. Donald Sinclair was actually only four years older than his brother and five years older than James Wight.
==
You can see the adjustments in the character ‘Calum Buchanan’. His inspiration, Brian Nettleton, was not a contemporary of James Wight or Bryan Sinclair, but a half-generation younger. His fiancee was a Scot; he was actually from Leeds. He did not work for the practice from 1948 to 1952, but from about 1954 to 1958. He did get married at the end of his tenure. However, his fiancee had not been one of Bryan Sinclair’s girlfriends and had not worked for the Ministry of Agriculture. Byran Sinclar got married in 1946 and remained so until his death; he fathered three daughters. The future Mrs. Nettleton was 19 years younger than Bryan Sinclair and had been employed as a lab technician at the veterinary school in London; Brian Nettleton met her ca. 1952 when he was a student and she was appended to him long distance the whole time he worked in Thirsk. Brian and Martha Nettleton did decamp to Nova Scotia after they married, but not so he could take a government job. He bought a veterinary practice there and he and his wife founded the local cattle auction.
==
Joan Wight did employ domestic help for periods of time, but there was no analogue to ‘Mrs. Hall’; she was an invention.

By: Marlene

Marlene — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 04:49:42 +0000

Rufus, I must second this from Philip Sells:
“Rufus, that was a really great exposition on marriage, I thought.”
!!!

Also, I too wish Shirehome a wonderful cruise trip! May it be refreshing and enlightening, in all good ways.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 03:38:17 +0000

And THIS extraordinary, MUST-READ post—another courageous, noble, hard-hitting, no-holds-barred, cri de coeur—by changer Sasha Stone SAYS IT ALL.

“Why I Will Never Regret My Vote for Trump;
“So stop asking.”—
https://www.sashastone.com/p/why-i-will-never-regret-my-vote-for
H/T Powerline blog.

Several of many key grafs (RTWT):

…That’s all it’s been for ten years now, emotional blackmail to convince us that Trump really is that bad while offering nothing in return. They have addressed nothing. They have fixed nothing. They have offered only a fanatical cult and a rigid ideology of an oppressor/oppressed mindset, and then demanded everyone go along with it, or they’re racists, homophobes, bigots, Nazis….

…The Democrats can’t snap out of it even if they wanted to. Gavin Newsom can’t sell anything but hate and hysteria. Even Jon Ossoff, a guy I once supported and fought for, must sell the same thing because they have nothing else….

[Emphasis mine; Barry M.]

By: Mr Bill

Mr Bill — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 03:32:12 +0000

Niketas Choniates: I have watched the first three seasons of the new All Creatures, and have greatly enjoyed it. I don’t see any effort to diversify the cast (no black farmers in the Yorkshire Dales). The only aspect that I see along those lines is that they greatly expanded the role of Mrs Hall, and gave Helen a younger sister, possibly to appeal more to a female audience. And there are parts to the story that are not in the original books. But I have read that those books were not entirely, shall we say, non-fiction, so that doesn’t bother me.

By: Philip Sells

Philip Sells — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 03:27:04 +0000

Rufus, that was a really great exposition on marriage, I thought.

Good wishes, Shirehome, on that cruise! Will be interested to see what you report back.

I recently learned that there are thoughts of creating a passenger rail line running north-south through the lower peninsula of Michigan. That intrigues me.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:47:19 +0000

And in the latest “e pluribus unum” news…

‘Texas [DPUSA] Lawmaker Goes Mask Off: Non-Whites Can “Take Over This Country”;
‘Gene Wu, [Democrat] member of the Texas House of Representatives, encouraged select racial groups to engage in an intersectional struggle against their shared “oppressor.”’—
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/02/resurfaced-remarks-show-texas-lawmaker-pushing-racial-power-politics/

Hmm, it looks like some are already chomping at the bit!

https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/02/visitors-to-las-vegas-home-of-secret-china-linked-biolab-report-mysterious-debilitating-illnesses/

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:10:42 +0000

Raskin’s an utter embarrassment.
Moreover, he has no sense of shame—a lethal combination, though par for the course in his party, certainly…)

And no, one shouldn’t blame the son because of the father (but maybe in this case…or perhaps one can blame the father for the sins of the son?)

Re Max “Mitvah” Blumenthal, the strange thing was that over the past while he was starting to—most unexpectedly (shockingly?)—make some sense…at least on certain topics. Enough to make one wonder what was going on.
But it couldn’t last, I guess (Maxed out?) and he seems to have reverted to good old recognizable sordid form…