Today saw the US opening of the new James Bond film “Spectre.” If you think you don’t have anything in common sartorially with the Savile Row-dressed spy, think again. Bond is known for enjoying both knit and grenadine ties, just like you probably do. Chris Sharp muses further.
* * *
There is something quaint in the notion of going to bed with women who want to kill you, which is why I admit to being simpatico with the old Bond. The playboy spy has fueled a thousand feminist essays, and has disappeared like the Balkan Sobranie cigarettes he used to smoke. Give me a guy who knows his way around Montego Bay — now that’s the Bond for me.
Being and Englishman, James Bond was not one to dress in the Ivy League Look. But he does have some overlapping tie taste, namely his grenadines and silk knits. The expert on all thing sartorially related to Bond is the website The Suits Of James Bond. Founder Matt Spaiser writes, “A staple of the Connery Bond wardrobe is the dark solid tie. In ‘Dr. No’ and ‘From Russia With Love’ that tie was always a navy grenadine from Turnbull & Asser.” Spaiser also points out Bond opts for a knit tie in “Goldfinger.”
My own introduction to grenadine was twofold. The first was in the books of Alan Flusser, and the second was that we carried them when I worked at the Country Couple in Ithaca, New York. The ones we stocked were by Ferrell Reed, and the ones procured for myself are still in service.
In 1982 John Berendt wrote a piece on the grenadine tie for Esquire, calling it “a masterpiece of male elegance.” Grenadine was scarce in the ’80s, with only three family mills making the notoriously difficult fabric. Currently the names Seteria Bianchi and Fermo Fossati are spoken of with the utmost reverence.
Paul Winston ties in both grenadine and silk knit are in the sweet spot for readymade, and Sam Hober has the mail order made-to-measure market cornered. Regardless of what you might think of Bond past, present or future (black, gay, female?), consider adding a grenadine tie to your collection, and break it out when you feel like living dangerously. — CHRISTOPHER SHARP
Image by Chipp Neckwear, which has the best deal on grenadines at just $55.
I think all of us should start referencing British style more in our wardrobe, American clothiers no longer produce a classic nor attractive product. Whereas CTshirts, Barbour, Turnbull and Asser, MnS, and other Briton brands culminate the trad British country style-American WASP, Prep, Trad, etc-better than does Brooks Brothers.
James Bond will never be gay nor black. If the US production companies ruin one of the last British senses of pride I will personally write to the Queen to declare war on this over sensitive, PC, liberal guilt country they call America.
I inserted the links into Chris’ piece and a couple of them were to the Telegraph. Seems to be plenty of anti-Bond or change-Bond talk going on in the UK.
I met with an editor today who’s an Englishwoman who said Daniel Craig looked visibly uncomfortable doing the sex scenes with the Bond girls (typically there are three per movie). He’s certainly been outspoken in the media about being sick of the role.
A “diversity” Bond?
What next? Snake and Goat replace Ratty and Mole in “The Wind in the Willows”?
Bond is Scottish
If you could own only one tie, you would not go wrong with a navy silk grenadine.
Only half Scottish, Rick, I believe Fleming conceived Bond’s mother as Swiss. But as far as I know she was a big fan of grenadine ties. Blue ones, apparently. Probably because her hubby was Scottish…..
Anyone remember Balkan Sobranie, whether in cigarette or pipe tobacco form. I remember when the pipe variety was sold in every drug store. Just never tried it. Stuck to plebian Half and Half, and “upgrade” Flying Dutchman, and Borkum Riff.
I see the new Balkan Sobranie listed on websites, usually sold out, or at hugely inflated prices.
At least Daniel Craig “looks” like Bond. I think a retro bond movie, set in the 1960’s, with an actual plot, would be a welcome relief from all the video game nonsense.
Never owned a Grenadine tie, will look into correcting that oversight.
Cheers!
I smoke mostly balkan mixtures. There are many excellent replicas of Sobranie, as well as wonderful balkan mixtures in their own right. However, if you’re used to those burley or sweetened drugstore blends, it would be like going from a pina colada to a very peaty scotch.
I have been a rabid Bond fan my entire life. Since Mr. Craig took the role, I’ve seen 1 of his films. He suffocates the role with his brooding. I understand Fleming’s literary creation was dark in nature; Craig just fails to excite. Imagine an Ivy Style Bond, ala The Good Shepherd with more OCBDs and sex appeal.
Just as a point of interest: The Russian word “sobranie” (Cyrillic: Собрание)means “collection”, “gathering”, “assembly”.
It is a word in several Slavic languages for “parliament”.
In the case of tobacco, the meaning has been extended to “mixture”, “blend”.
Thus, technically speaking, “Sobranie Blend” or “Sobranie Mixture” is tautological.
Well, not so much tautological as redundant and repetitive, just as expressions like ATM machine are.
Well actually, since Sobranie Mixture is a bilingual example, it would be more like The La Brea Tar Pits, la brea being Spanish for ‘the tar,’ or Noto Hanto ‘Noto Peninsula’ (in Japan), with noto being the Japanese rendering of Ainu not ‘peninsula,’ and hanto being Japanese for ‘peninsula.’
Henry
writing from the Department of Redundancy Department, Linguistic Study of Language Division
@WFBJr
I was with my wife the first time I saw Daniel Craig’s poster for Casino Royale in the theater and immediately stated to her that he looked like he was doing a version of Le Tigre or Blue Steel (Zoolander reference). I was ready not to like the movie but was pleasantly surprised. Having read and re-read the Fleming novels, I felt he represented the character very well. Bond is supposed to be something of a bastard and Craig pulls that off. His second Bond movie was regrettable. Skyfall, I think, ranks up there with the first four Connery movies. A bonus at the end was not having to look at Judy Dench as M any longer, truth be told.
Opinions on whether Vesper, the female character in Casino Royale looked intensely sexier in the scene in which she appeared to have no make up. Wooof!
Will
Now, now, HenryContestwinner, we can’t have two of us doing that sort of thing on the same page. Made me smile, anyway. Well done, old bean. Note to selves: must start taking life more seriously. Then again…
@GodSaveTheKing
I picked up a Turnbull & Asser tie on eBay (not a grenadine).
That is one nice piece of silk. Apparently they retail for $200 — I believe it.
Oh, please just call me “Henry,” BG. (That name was taken at Gravatar, so I had to come up with something else. Still not happy with my nom de Style de Lierre. Henry Myriad? Nah.)
Oh, I forgot to add the kanji: 能登半島, for those who care, with 能登 being obvious 当て字.
Oh now you’re just showing off, just Henry. As for those who care, well this may come as a shock, but though I care greatly for Japan and its culture, I very much leave kanji to others. My motto’s always been: a little learning is a dangerous thing. So there.
From Black Russian With Love
@Henry Contestwinner
Tautology in Acronyms
Sometimes there is tautology with our use of acronyms, causing words to be repeated. Example: ATM is an Automated Teller Machine, so saying “machine” again is redundant. Other examples are:
•CD-ROM disc
•DVD disk
•GPS system
•HIV virus
•ISBN number
•PIN number
•Please R.S.V.P. (Please is already in the French phrase for this abbreviation)
•RAM memory
•RAS syndrome
•SARS syndrome
•UPC code
•VIN number
Read more at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-tautology.html#ubYUGeCsvs1ysRGS.99
I’m curious why everyone gets up in arms over the thought of a “black” James Bond? I mean, Jesus, Moses, and various historical characters have been played countless times by white actors. What’s the big deal?
If they remake Shaft, can the actor be Vietnamese?
Nice crack, DCG.
@Tautologist
Can you set us straight on “hoi poilloi”? Hoi means “the,” right? So should we say “the hoi polloi” or just hoi polloi.
Actually, maybe we should be asking Richard.
I think Shaft as a “transgender” Vietnamese works. The plot revolves around “him” searching for just the right one.
Wait a minute–you’re saying neither Moses nor Jesus were white?
Mind is blown.
“was,” rather.
I don’t know anybody who wears grenadines or silk knits.
The notion that the Hebrews of the Bible were black is a bunch of modern nonsense, without any basis in fact.
Five different races live in Africa, including North African Caucasians. North African Caucasians are closely related to the Semitic people of the Middle East, and both groups are part of the same continuum that Europeans are a part of. Ancient Egyptian art depicts Egyptian men as ruddy and Egyptian women as fair, while their enemies to the south, the Nubians, are black. DNA analysis shows that for the most part, the people who live in the Middle East and North Africa now are decendants of the people who lived there in antiquity.
That Joseph was able to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt to hide until Herod died shows us not that Jesus is black, but that He is Caucasian. That Judas had to identify Jesus by kissing Him shows that the untransfigured Jesus is physically non-descript, and blended in with the surrounding people, who were not black.
Ryan, perhaps people are bothered about the idea of a black actor playing James Bond for the same reason people are bothered about white actors playing Charlie Chan, or white actors in blackface.
It’s not the same people getting “up in arms” about these things, however.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyeswere as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Totally sounds like a description of Barry Gibb to me…
@all
All I know is that when I die and they lay me to rest, I want to go to the place that’s the best. I want to be recommended to the spirit in the sky.
Will
We can’t always trust artistic (regardless of their date) as being true to fact. Saying Egyptians are Caucasians is akin to saying Americans are Caucasian; both are melting pots and made up of diverse ethnic ancestry. Many early Egyptians shared cultural linkage to the Baltic region (N. Levant), however the Nubians also impacted “Egyptian” heritage and culture as well due to the mass “immigration” which took place as a result of the Saharan drought. Hatshepsut resembles Tiger Woods, while Ramses II was fair skinned and red headed. Cleopatra is often portrayed as white due to her Greco-Persian parentage, yet there’s no way to truly tell as her mother’s ethnicity is unknown. Many historians claim Tut was black, while others say his cranial structure is inconclusive and his nares belie that claim as they’re more aryan in shape. Christ being hid in Egypt was akin to a Jew being hid in NY; very easy to accomplish due to the multi-cultural makeup of Egypt.
Grenadine ties, James Bond, tautology, homosexuals and black people, Jesus and Moses…Calgone take me away!
Ryan, the risen Jesus is Christ in His full glory, and although He retains His human nature, He no longer resembles the people amongst whom He lived. (For those not up on their Bible studies, Ryan quoted John’s description of Jesus as He revealed Himself to John when He commanded John to write what we now call the Book of Revelation.)
WBBjr, I did not intend that my arguments were exhaustive, and you bring up many good points. Having said that, the notion that the Hebrews were black remains risible.
Tautologist,
I believe your use of tautology is not quite right. While all the examples you cite are repetitive, they do not fail to add more information through the use of a different word, as do tautological phrases such as widow woman or free gift.
It’s always great to see fanboys get up in arms about the details of fictional characters, treating them as if they were actual people.
@Henry agreed. I too find the notion laughable.
Dear Idiot,
The Hebrews are fictional? Jesus is fictional? I’ve never heard anyone make the former claim, and even atheist scholars are in near-unanimous agreement that Jesus of Nazareth walked this Earth.
Surely Idiocracy is referring to Bond and not Jesus.
Jesus is, for all intents and purposes, a mythical character. There probably was some sort of Jewish leader named Jesus and, yes, he is briefly mentioned all of two times in contemporary documents. But treating the Jesus of the New Testament as a historical figure is like treating King Arthur as a historical figure, or thinking that Henry V actually had a goofy, drunken friend named Falstaff.
And I’m pretty sure James Bond isn’t real either.
@Idiocracy
I will pray for you.
Will
@Idiot, outside of the Bible he is mentioned a total of 3 times, thank you very much. While you are busy pontificating about the facticity of Christ, it may do you well to maintain your own factual soundness. No one ever contests the historical accuracy of Alexander the Great’s biography, even though it was written far longer after his death (400 years) than what Christ’s was (within a decade), and with fewer corroborating storytellers. Bruce Metzger (a rather tradly princetonian) elucidates this point well in his works on higher criticism.
I’m not up on this and would be very interested to know the three contemporary historical references.
Also, very proud to have created a place on the web — shall I call it a safe space? — for men to talk about grenadine ties, James Bond, and the existence of Jesus.
@Tautologist: The list of redundant phrases you cite are all examples of RAS syndrome (Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome). They are pleonasms similar to but not identical to tautologies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAS_syndrome
The biography of Alexander the Great might have been lost and then reconstructed centuries later, but there are surviving texts from numerous Hellenic generals containing long descriptions of firsthand interactions with Alexander as well as the military campaigns they undertook on his behalf. Alexander the Great’s childhood and personal life might be a bit murky, but his existence as a public figure is well documented.
Who else referred to Jesus other than Josephus and Tacitus? At any rate, those two references are enough to substantiate the following: (1) There was a Jewish leader named Yeshua who had a brother named James who was stoned to death. (2) Pilate crucified someone who was claiming to be the messiah.
If you really want to stretch logic, you can pretend that those two references are connected and conclude that there was a Jewish leader named Yeshua who thought he was god and was crucified for it. As I said above, that historical person has less to do with the Jesus of the New Testament than the historical Henry V has to do with Shakespeare’s Henry V.
My point is not that there wasn’t any sort of historical Jesus, but rather that 95% of what people accept about Jesus is unverifiable and sounds kind of ridiculous to an outsider. So if some other sect wants to go and add to the mythology and claim that Jesus was black, why not? Is that more ridiculous than claiming there is some actual evidence of the virgin birth?
@Idiot, your original comment stated that Jesus was only mentioned two times. He’s mentioned 3 times by 2 authors; yes, pedantic on my part. Your premise that these Generals testimonies regarding Alexander are somehow more legitimate than Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John’s testimonies regarding Jesus strikes me as inconsistent. Along the same lines as Alexander’s generally accepted existence despite inconsistent corroborating evidence, there’s a 1300 year gap between Plato’s existence and the mere 7 copies of manuscript evidence supporting his existence. 114 fragments of the Textus Receptus exist from 50-100 AD, 5366 copies of parts of the NT, and over 19,000 manuscripts in other languages, including 325 complete New Testaments all less than 300 yrs from Christ. Your jump to the Immaculate Conception is a digression and a red herring.
Has anybody seen the damn Bond movie yet?
@Idiot: James Bond actually is (was) real. He was an ornithologist who wrote Birds of the West Indies (1936). Ian Fleming borrowed the name for his 007 character.
To piggyback on WFBjr’s comment, the Books of Matthew and John are eyewitness accounts, and since Mark was Peter’s amanuensis, that makes three eyewitness accounts. Luke is widely considered to be one of the finest historians of the ancient world, and his Books (Luke and Acts) are based on his interviews of eyewitnesses. There is no basis for excluding these accounts of Jesus’ time on Earth—unless, of course, one is an anti-Christian bigot, in which case it’s all “superstition” (I cannot even imagine the mental landscape of someone who cannot differentiate between something as trite as “walking under a ladder is bad luck” versus something as magnificent and intellectually challenging as the Scriptures).
@WFBJr – The testimonies of generals and others regarding the existence of Alexander the Great are far more credible because they are more numerous and don’t attribute magical properties to Alexander the Great. The apostles have a vested interest in propagating the mythology of Jesus in a way that most who encountered Alexander the Great do not.
Same thing with Plato. I have no desire to debate the existence of Plato with you because it doesn’t matter. Even if there was no historical Plato, there would still be the philosophy that is attributed to Plato, which is all anyone cares about.
And my jump to the virgin birth is exactly the point. When people try to make Jesus black or whatever, they are not claiming historical Jesus, they are claiming all of the magical woo woo. They are just creating a different version of a myth that suits their needs in the way that your version of Jesus suits your needs.
If you want to believe that Jesus died for your sins, bully for you. Those are your beliefs and you’re entitled to them, but they aren’t facts of history, so manufacturing some ridiculous rage over people who have similarly unverifiable beliefs about Jesus being black or whatever is ridiculous.
And honestly, if a white Jesus or a white James Bond is really what white supremacists need to get through the night, the white race must be pretty pathetic.
@William Richardson – Why would anyone watch this blasphemous drivel? It’s set in contemporary times. Everyone knows the true Bond would be nearly 100 years old now. #notmybond.
@Henry Chickendinner
Why does it always have to be bigotry? Nobody can even have an opinion these days without being labeled a bigot. You Christians are so sensitive. Stop trampling on my freedom, you freedom-hater. This Christian Correctness has gone too far.
Dear Idiot,
Perhaps you missed that part of WFBjr’s post where he pointed out the massive amount of evidence, in the form of fragments as well as complete copies of various books of the New Testament, in addition to the non-Biblical sources, that attest to the historicity of Jesus, but perhaps that doesn’t matter, because you admit His existence yourself. Since we’ve gotten that settled, the next issue is resolving who He was. In the trichotomy made famous by C.S. Lewis, Jesus was one of three things: liar, lunatic, or lord. (Last I checked, Wikipedia’s summary was accessible and accurate.) Since you deny his Lordship, please justify your decision, based on the evidence available. Oh, and I won’t accept your handwaving dismissal of “magical woo woo,” by which I assume you mean the supernatural. How do you know there are no supernatural events in the history of creation? All you have are assertions, and no arguments based on fact or logic.
I am so happy that you have accepted you new sobriquet, because you certainly act as one. “Freedom-hater”? “Christian Correctness”? I’m about to bust a gut! The war on Christmas is real, because it is a front in the war on Christianity. In case you hadn’t noticed, Christianity is being forced from the public square, and its adherents are being demonized left and right. (I just found out that fundamentalism is a “mental disorder” in our New World Order.) And then you get incenced when we protest? The gall!
It doesn’t always have to be bigotry, but the asininity of your comments certainly inclines that way. If you can express your opinion without being dismissive and self-righteous, then please, by all means, do so. If not, perhaps you would be happier commenting at someplace such as Salon.com or the Huffington Post, whose echo chambers will comfort you, no doubt.
@William Richardson
Kudos on the Greenbaum reference.
Man, you religious moonbats really are sensitive, aren’t you? Anyway, I’m sure you love pretending that there is a war on Christmas. You can’t defend your ideas, so you have to fall back on some pathetic little persecution complex and act like everyone is out to get you.
This country is 70% Christian, 80% of Congress is Christian, every President elected thus far has been Christian, 39 of the 50 sitting Governors are Chrstian, there are over 400,000 tax exempt Christian churches in this country, Christmas is a Federal holiday, late term abortions are illegal, there are over 500 Christian-affiliated colleges and universities, and morons like Kim Davis are treated like heroes by millions.
Quit your whining, you big baby. And here’s 5 bucks. Go buy yourself a sense of humor.
Last comment I’ll make. I’ve spent 20 years studying extant languages and manuscripts and thoroughly enjoy theological discussion. If by vested interest you mean being slaughtered or tortured for their accounts, yes, Matthew, Mark and John were conspirators of the first order. Similar to our Founding Fathers (whom I esteem almost as highly) their stand and signature resulted in bankruptcy and even death. Many revisionist historians hold our Founding Fathers in a contempt similar to the way they hold the authors of Scripture. Finally, Christianity is a plurality and not the majority it once was so please excuse our pining. It’s similar to the pedantic demands of my trad comrades; heritage lines just aren’t the same. If you were raised in a good mainline home, from a family that’s been here for more than a couple centuries, what you see going on around you feels less “Christian” by the day.
The direction of the nation over the coming decades is Hispanic, who are often strongly Catholic. Will that strengthen Christianity in America?
@Idiocracy
You read like a most unhappy person. Perhaps you would benefit from getting to know, I don’t know……………………………….Jesus.
Jesus is just alright with me. He took me by the hand and lead me to the promised land. Dooby Brothers.
And the only time I have ever been to a church is for weddings!
Will
@Christian
I may be Hispanic. But Jesus is Jesus.
It may be Hispanic. Morning hands.
Great question CC. I’ve been doing some research on this myself. While it would seem that’s so, the trend line for the retention of 2nd generation Hispanic Catholics is dropping. http://cara.georgetown.edu/staff/webpages/Hispanic%20Catholic%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
In 2006 the retention rate was 82% and now it is 71%. Hispanic Catholics do tend to retain their faith at a higher rate than non-Hispanic Catholics. We can hope that some of the attrition is a result of the younger generation assimilating into mega churches or mainline congregations.
I am encouraged that our newest additions to the melting pot bring with them religiosity (Charles Murray and Richard Brookheiser wrote about the positive impact of this extensively) and thus a respect for law and order and the family unit.
You know what’s more obnoxious than the “War on Christmas”?
The ‘War on the “War on Christmas”‘.
One problem, Christian, is that American culture is based on Protestantism, and Mexicans are (as you note) predominantly Roman Catholic. Beyond the historical enmity between the two groups, the Roman Church not only teaches many things that differ from Protestantism, but the effects of those teachings result in very different societies; compare Protestant England, Scotland, and Holland to Roman Catholic France, Italy, and Spain, for instance.
Furthermore, as I understand it, the Mexican version of Roman Catholicism has numerous influences from the indigenous culture that are not necessarily compatible with traditional Roman teachings. This could cause friction with un-Mexified Roman Catholics. The massive influx of Mexicans has probably saved some dioceses from closing churches, but possibly at the cost of chasing away non-Spanish speakers from churches that have become predominantly Mexican. If they have an effect on American Christianity beyond that, it is not likely to be beneficial to American Protestantism as it has been practiced, unless it results in the next Great Awakening, in which case it might be the Roman Catholics who suffer.
All just conjecture, of course.
WFBjr, the assertion that Mexicans bring “a respect for law and order and the family unit” is not supported by the facts. For example, Hispanics are over-represented in the prison population, i.e., the percentage of Hispanics in prison is larger than the percentage of Hispanics in the general population. Also, their out-of-wedlock birthrate is higher than the population at large.
Let us not forget that tens of millions of Mexicans and other Hispanics in the United States are here in violation of our laws; those who work violate about half-a-dozen of our laws every day. Beyond that, Hispanic gangs are a huge problem in the communities where they are found. Around where I live, Salinas, California is the murder capital of its county; by no coincidence, Salinas not only has numerous Hispanic gangs, but the dominant language of the city is Spanish. (Salinas actually has a higher per capita murder rate than nearby San Jose, which is much larger.)
The massive influx of illegal aliens from south of the border has lead to the spread of certain contagious diseases that were once either virtually eliminated (e.g., whooping cough, measles) or unknown because they were tropical (e.g., malaria, Chagas disease). Mexicans have a “macho” tradition of drunk driving, with predictable consequences: car crashes resulting in injury and death to innocent Americans (there are websites dedicated to this phenomenon).
Beyond that, the glut of unskilled and low-skilled labor has depressed wages at the low end of the job market for decades; it also makes it harder for unskilled and low-skilled Americans to find work.
Many Mexicans and other Hispanics are not assimilating to American culture. Even into the fourth generation, many speak Spanish at home (how many fourth-generation American-born Germans, Italians, Poles, Swedes, etc., speak or spoke their ancestral tongues?). The preponderance of businesses catering to Mexicans—grocery stores, beauty salons, magazines, radio & TV stations, etc.—further shows that rather than assimilation, it looks more like colonization.
Those are just some of the reasons why I am not sanguine about “our newest additions” to America.
Salinas, eh? Home of tanimura and antle, I know the place well. Your community has certainly experienced an inordinate amount of stress due to these changes. Yes, I understand that immigration places a lot of stress on various aspects of our society. I also understand the vast differences between Latin (I include France, Portugal and Italy in that designation as well) and Anglo values and ethos. Alas, what can be done as the camels snout is already showing?
What can be done? How about stop making it worse? People approach the illegal alien problem as though there were only two choices: mass deportation or mass legalization. There are other many options. For example, the one our ruling class has chosen—do nothing—is neither of those two. People also say that “deportation won’t work.” How can anyone say that when we haven’t even tried it?
Actually, we did try it, and it worked. During the Eisenhower Administration a program called Operation Wetback* was put into place. It was a concentrated effort by the Border Patrol to find, process, and deport illegal aliens. In addition to the over one million illegal aliens deported in just the first year, it is estimated that seven or eight times as many illegal aliens “self-deported,” i.e., left the country of their own volition. Ultimately, the program failed because nothing was done to stem the influx of illegal aliens.
Donald Trump talks about building a wall along our southern border. The idea is not new. Perhaps not many people remember now, but a few years ago, Congress already authorized just such a wall; however, they never got around to funding it (surprise, surprise). Unlike the Berlin Wall, which was designed to keep Germans in, a wall along our border would keep invaders out.
Due to the health, economic, and societal damage illegal immigration has caused, not to mention the security threat, we would be justified in militarizing our southern border (some argue that our troops should be home, defending their own country, rather than fighting with, and dying for, Moslems in the Middle East). A combination of enforcement of our existing laws and a secure border would, over time, not only stop the current trend of increasing numbers of illegal aliens in America, it would reverse it.
Just because the camel has stuck his snout under the tent, it doesn’t mean you can’t whack his snout with a brick.
*Even Cesar Chavez used the term wetback for Mexican illegal aliens; it was not considered derogatory at the time.
Incidentally, while the wall would be a strong symbol of our desire to enforce our southern border, the only way it would be effective is for it to be patrolled, 24/7. Physical barriers only go so far; it requires people to stop people from getting through those barriers.
As an addition to the discourse on Black Egyptians, I just finished a great documentary by PBS called “Rise of the Black Pharaohs.” It seems archaeology is telling us that sub-Saharans dominated and ruled Egypt for 100 years.
Having seen Specter with my wife during the Thanksgiving holiday, I believe that it is time for the James Bond franchise to end. I think it was on the same level as The Godfather. The Godfather III that is. What a lost opportunity. When I first heard the movie was to be called Specter, I imagined a new series of movies featuring cool villains, sexy Bond girls and villainesses, sharp suits, Aston Martins and glamorous travels. When at the end of the credits, we were informed that James Bond would return, my reaction was “Who cares?”
Perhaps Mr. Elba, a handsome fellow but, I think, very un-Bond, will manage to do better.
William Richardson
I too saw “Spectre” over the weekend and while there are always some things to criticize, overall I had a great time with it.
You didn’t think there was a cool villain (played by the actor credited with the greatest villain performance of all time?), sharp suits, and you didn’t notice an Aston Martin or glamorous locations?
@Christian
True, those elements exist in Spectre. However, they all seemed to be slapped together in a ham-handed way. Was Blofeld an evil mastermind mostly because he was forced to share his parent’s affection with Bond as a boy? Does not Bond fall in love a bit quickly? The fellow inside MI6 trying to shut down the 00 program wasn’t too obvious either. The Aston Martin DB5 at the end seemed a bit much as I thought they did away with it in Skyfall.
I did like the Aston Martin chase scene and I am trying to figure out a way to equip my VW Turbo Diesel Stationwagon with the flame thrower feature. I thought the label baby junior buttons on the prototype car were funny too.
My wife thought the fellow singing the Bond theme was the same guy who dressed and sang like a woman during the finale of Dancing with the Stars.
I wouldn’t go on and on except that I had such high hopes for the Bond franchise after Skyfall. When all is said and done, it does not really matter that much.
I wish you good luck in your new endeavor.
Will