Sean Penn gave me a college memory earlier this week: He was down in Argentina, pronouncing on “the Malvinas.” That’s what the Argentines call the Falkland Islands. And that’s what the people around me in college called them too.

Why would the Left have sided with a junta (Argentina) over a liberal democracy (Britain)? Well, mainly because they viewed the conflict as a brown-white thing. (Of course, many Argentines would die to think of themselves as brown.)

Sean Penn said, “The world today is not going to tolerate any ludicrous and archaic commitment to colonialist ideology.” Would that include self-determination for people?

(For an article on Penn and the Falklands, go here.)

‐I was not surprised at the news that Oliver Stone’s son had converted to Islam, while in Iran. Similarly, I would not have been surprised at news that Oliver Stone’s son had become a conservative evangelical Christian. Maybe you know what I mean.

Incidentally, Sean Stone converted in the city of Isfahan. Do you know the song by Fauré, “Les Roses d’Ispahan”? Beautiful thing, found here, for example.

‐Into my inbox yesterday landed an e-mail from National Review. It said, “Please find a special message from one of our advertisers, Santorum for President. Please note that the following message reflects the opinions and representations of our advertiser alone . . .”

Okay. The ad was a letter from Santorum himself. It began, “Dear Patriot.” “Dear Patriot”! And how do his rivals address their letters? “Dear Traitor”?

The letter continued, “This past Tuesday night, we did it again! We shocked the moderate establishment and pulled off what the media elites said was impossible . . .”

Yeah, that moderate establishment. Who would they be? People who endorsed Arlen Specter for president?

‐Regular readers know that I write a lot about laogai, the Chinese gulag, and the crimes therein. I also write about the extreme delicacy with which Free World governments treat the Communists in Beijing. Extreme delicacy is something different from diplomacy.

A PRC big named Xi Jinping is coming to tour America. Apparently, he will be the next No. 1. All I ask is that our governing officials do what Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, said we should do. He said (and I paraphrase), “When going about your engagement, pause every once in a while to ask yourselves, ‘How will it look to the boys in the camps?’”

‐This is an old story: When an important guest or guests are coming to town, a dictatorship clears out the rabble, making things look as nice, normal, prosperous, and harmless as possible. As I wrote about at length, the Chinese Communists did this before the 2008 Olympics. The dissenting, the sick, the poor, the unsightly — all banished.

There is a word for this, kind of a clunky one: Potemkinization.

The Cuban Communists are going about this now, in preparation for a visit by the pope. Read about it here. I don’t know about the visitors to the Beijing Olympics, but this pope strikes me as someone not easily fooled.

‐For years, I said, “When will the ‘international community’ get serious about genocide in Darfur? When there are too few Darfurians left, really, to matter.” I’m afraid I have the same bitter feeling about Syria.

A thousand here, a thousand there — ho-hum.

‐Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, made a statement in response to recent events: “The Iranians and Hezbollah are determined to disrupt Israeli life and to act against Israelis all over the world. They want to strike at Israelis, and we must act against this terror front and continue to brace for other challenges we face.”

We must act against this terror front and continue to brace for other challenges we face. Israelis have been able to say this — have had to say it — ever since 1948.

‐Bear with me while I walk down Memory Lane, because the walk will be relevant to today. Some years ago, I witnessed Vladimir Putin and Michael Dell (the computer magnate) on a stage at Davos. Dell asked Putin what the world at large could do to help Russians, especially students, get online.

Putin responded (I paraphrase), “We don’t need any help. We are a strong country. Invalids need help, children need help, developing countries need help. Our computer experts are as good as anybody . . .”

I happened to be sitting near some Russian journalists. They whooped with delight.

National pride is a very, very powerful thing. Now, as you may know, Americans have been adopting Russian children by the tens of thousands — just as we adopt from China and from Third World countries.

Did you see this news item? “Russia’s Foreign Ministry is asking the government to suspend adoptions of Russian children by U.S. nationals following an ‘incessant string of crimes’ allegedly committed by American adoptive parents.”

Uh-huh. This smells to me like wounded pride, rather than genuine concern at American pervs. Pride plays an outsize role in human affairs.

‐The headline said, “Police: Man wore ‘Scream’ mask in Miss. robberies.” I thought of the Edvard Munch painting. Then I read, “Police have arrested an Indianapolis man in connection with two convenience store robberies in Mississippi where the thief wore a mask like the one used by the villain in the 1990s slasher flick ‘Scream.’”

Ah.

By the way, Paul Johnson says that Munch’s painting is “the most often-reproduced and influential single image of the twentieth century.” (You will find these words in Johnson’s Art: A New History — magisterial, original, brilliant.)

Hang on, just Googled — the movie guy looks like the painting, pretty much.

‐Corporations are always talking about “giving back” — giving back to “the community.” I watched some of the golf tournament at Pebble Beach on television over the weekend. This is the old “Crosby Clambake,” now sponsored by AT&T. And all I heard was that AT&T was “giving back to the community.”

Oh, please — as though the company owed the community anything. As though the company had “taken” from the community and had to “give back.” As though the company had committed some crime, and had to pay restitution.

You know what AT&T should give? Good and affordable telephone service (and related services). In a free economy, benefit is mutual: A company, serving the public, benefits; and the public, receiving the service, benefits.

Gratitude and benevolence are wonderful, but, for heaven’s sake, a company is not a charity. It should not masquerade as one. Capitalism is not a crime, damn it. It is usually a blessing.

Why am I, who have never done squat in the field of capitalism and who seem to have little talent in that direction, always defending capitalists, who cannot, or will not, defend themselves? I don’t want AT&T “giving back to the community.” I want them to sell me a cellphone that I can hear on, at long last . . .

‐I sometimes talk about what might be termed “word inflation.” The grandest, most dramatic words are used for small things — for things those words don’t fit. Give you a recent example.

A headline said, “Daniel Radcliffe upset over ‘Harry Potter’ Oscar snub.” Okay. The article said, “Radcliffe broke from his generally pleasant media demeanor recently to tear into the Academy over its failure to adequately honor the final Harry Potter film.” Whoa, what did he say?

He said, “I don’t think the Oscars like commercial films, or kids’ films, unless they’re directed by Martin Scorsese. I was watching ‘Hugo’ the other day and going, ‘Why is this nominated and we’re not?’ I was slightly miffed.” He added, “There’s a certain amount of snobbery. It’s kind of disheartening. I never thought I’d care. But it would’ve been nice to have some recognition, just for the hours put in.”

Um, this is “tearing into”? Really? To say you were “slightly miffed”? To say, “It’s kind of disheartening”? To say “it would’ve been nice to have some recognition”?

Words like “tear into” should be reserved for — you know, tearing into.

‐I know a little about Norway, having written a history of the Nobel peace prize (due out next month). It is Norway that gives the prize. But do you know who knows a whole lot about Norway? Bruce Bawer, who moved there some years ago. He has now written an “e-book,” The New Quislings: How the International Left Used the Oslo Massacre to Silence Debate About Islam.

Bawer makes a lot of people in Norway, the rest of Scandinavia, and Europe at large uncomfortable. There’s a good reason for that: He cuts very close to the bone. He holds up a mirror, I believe, from which many would rather turn away.

‐The love letters of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning have now gone online. (To see an article, go here.) Are they worthwhile? Insert “let me count the ways” cliché here. In other words: Yes. Very.

‐Why don’t we end with a name? Couple days ago, I read about our envoy to North Korea: Glyn Davies. Now, here’s what I like so much about the name — and it’s inseparable from something I like a lot about America: A “Glyn Davies” could be a Welshman; or he could be an American. It would be pretty hard for him to be anything else.

A generalization, but legit, I hope you agree. At any rate: Thanks for joining me, and check you soon.

#JAYBOOK#