Saturday, April 30. 2005
 The NYT Utters the G word
Too bad that it takes the power of miracles to move the souls of doubters and unbelievers. Isn't mere existence enough? But in this case, the amazing Ivory Bill: "It's huge and beautiful. "A whacking big bird," Roger Tory Peterson wrote, nearly two feet long with a three-foot wingspan, black and white with a streak of red on the male's pterodactyl crest and a fearsome glint in its yellow eyes. To see an ivory-bill left people thunderstruck; their exclamations inspired its nickname: the Lord God bird. It's alive. The word miracle is overused, but what else explains the survival in the 21st century of an animal considered lost to history so long ago? The ivory-bill was mourned as a mythologized victim of intense predation and habitat loss, of hunters and collectors, of the leveling of millions of acres of Southern forests into pulp and sawdust. Somehow it has endured." Read entire.
Friday, April 29. 2005
 News Junkie Posting
After these months, I am still trying to self-define my role on Maggie's Farm. We're not a Hot News blog, and I cannot compete with Instapundit - how does he find the time to provide the service he does? Does he have a team of elves? Must be. Plus all the hot tips he receives via email. As for Taranto, I assume it's a full-time job. Some good gig - getting paid to surf the web. For the time being, I will just march on, and see where the path leads. To fame, riches, and chicks, no doubt - or why bother? And speaking of gaining fame, riches, and fillies, the photo is of triple-crown winner Secretariat in 1973 - see piece below, on the bottom of the pile. I know Bird Dog saw him once in the flesh, retired, at stud like The News Junkie, and happily grazing at Keeneland. Conservative Environmentalists Of course there are millions of them around. They tend not to be "the sky is falling" hysterics, nor do they equate capitalism with rape of the land. Socialist nations have been far worse. Jonah Goldberg: "The truth is that nobody is anti-environment. I have lots and lots of conservative friends and colleagues. I go to many of the most sinister right-wing meetings and parties. I've simply never heard anybody say they want to hurt the environment. No matter how many pave-the-planet jokes conservatives tell to annoy liberals, the truth is none of them really wants to." Read entire. TCS: "Semper Infantilis" " In its April 25 edition, Washington D.C.'s newest newspaper ran an article from Joanne Cronrath Bamburger decrying the growing presence of military recruiters in American public schools. It seems that the No Child Left Behind Act contains a clause that requires public high schools to allow military recruiters on campus. That's bad! "In promoting this type of recruiting effort," Bamburger writes, "our government apparently realizes what advertisers and marketers have known for years -- teens are fertile ground for influence because they still are at a point in life where impulse can overrule rational thought. So it's not a leap to worry that our children also might be unduly and dangerously swayed in these times by a call to patriotism. It's not a stretch to imagine that when they sign on the dotted line for boot camp, our children have focused more on the well-cut uniforms and group camaraderie and not on the long-term, and possibly deadly, consequences of even a short stint in the military." Calls to patriotism! Camaraderie! Well-cut uniforms! Oogah-boogah-boogah! Such starry dreck too well deserved the Rath of Cron." Read entire.
Here's an idea - recruit via the AARP Magazine? Scott's Paean to Zell Miller Scott at Powerline loves Zell. Us too. Cash in at Denny's (unless you're white) The ongoing Denny's scam. Hate Speech New Sisyphus takes the subject on, and I could not agree more: "We understand that freedom of speech is painful to liberals. We know what you're going through, having had to live through the era when you controlled the public debate and no dissenting voices to liberal orthodoxy were allowed into the hallowed halls of CBS News or the New York Times. Hate speech codes are nothing more and nothing less than an attempt to criminalize one's political opponents and should be resisted by all who care for liberty, be they right or left." Read entire wise, lawyerly, thoughtful piece.
L.A., Mexico Story making the rounds. Thanks, Michelle. Designer Babies in Englistan This is what happens when you abandon your moral compass for the noble principle of "whatever works." The Death of Canada by Austin Bay - a funny piece which might be prophetic (thanks Instapundit): "Oil-producing Alberta might join the United States and instantly find common political ground with Alaska, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. Canada's struggling Atlantic provinces might find statehood economically attractive and extend the New England coastline. A rump Canada consisting of "Greater Ontario" -- with remaining provinces as appendages -- might keep the maple-leaf flag aloft. As for poor, isolated Newfoundland: Would Great Britain like to reacquire a North American colony?" Read entire. Steyn Applauds Multiculturalism The great movie buff loves multiculturalism in the movies. 3000 Words/Day A piece on prolific writers, featuring Alexander McCall Smith, author of the wonderful #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Apparently writing too much can saturate your market, and writing too little will send readers away. Wish I had that dilemma. Secretariat If we have any frozen cells, I will place my bets on Secretariat. This will be great fun for the Kentucky horse country.
Wednesday, April 27. 2005
Pray for Laura First Tony Snow, now Laura Ingraham. Tough year for a couple of my favorite people. You Go Girl! Air America Fires a Gun! We covered the Air America Follies last week, but now they have really pooped in their pants. And who knew extreme leftys had guns to shoot? Are they legally registered? Can You Believe This? A North Carolina college course: "One text required in Christensen's 9/11 course holds that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States were orchestrated and carried out by U.S. government elites. The course teaches that the official story about Sept. 11 is the result of "government involvement in the cover-up." The attacks were used by neo-conservatives in the Bush administration, acting on behalf of pro-Israel Zionists, as "a catalyst for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the attack on civil liberties in the United States," according to the course's syllabus." Read entire. Against the "Ownership Society" There is an argument against the Bush idea. I do not agree that we need less, not more, ownership, but Kuttner does make the case as well as it can be made for the role of government in everything. Guess you could call it the "Dependency Society": "...in reality, America’s long tradition as a society of owners has been substantially the result of activist government -- making social investments, taking regulatory initiatives, and shielding individuals from economic risks beyond their personal control. Today’s conservative program for an ownership society, by contrast, transfers hazards back to individuals at a time when people are already bearing increased risks. Bush has done us a favor by putting this idea in play. It invites us to devise a program for a true ownership society, built on broadened social investment. Reclaiming a proud tradition, we could broaden America’s middle class by once again expanding education and homeownership, resuming the march toward secure retirement income and health care, and raising the real incomes on which a middle class depends." Read entire.
Virtual Vacation Start the morning right. Click here for a non-stop NY to Tahiti vacation. Click here: NYC to Tahiti Nonstop
Playground Brawl As reported here on the 21st, the antics on Wall Street continue to amuse and baffle Maggie's Farm. One often hears that "fiction is stranger than truth" but it's true we just can't make this sort of thing up. John Thain must have been sleeping through the meeting that created the merger between NYSE and Archipelago Holdings because how else could he think he wouldn't be chastised for bringing in his old firm? Honestly where is the smarts, John? Langone, Mack and Druckenmiller also seem to be rubbing their hands together smelling a coup but I think this is going to get uglier as more and more people become involved. Clearly Mr. Thain must have thought the same thing or he would not have kept it under wraps until announcing it publicly. But New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is on the heels of anything that moves so it is highly unlikely that we have heard the last of this. Stay tuned to this channel for more on the "Boys from Downtown."
Tuesday, April 26. 2005
Tennis, Anyone? We have all heard about "Club cows," but this is ridi culous. Story here. AP photo. I like the way he is gallantly jumping over the net to congratulate the winner. But why does the other seem to be yielding the field in a fearful manner?
CT Gays Gay Patriot is pleased to see CT dealing positively with the civil union issue. Why should gays be insulated from the trials and tribulations of legally committed relationships? Share the joy! I know that Maggie's is not of one mind on the matter, but I'm the Bird Dog in Chief. It ain't "marriage."
Street-Fighting in Iraq An unclassified report from the field concerning small squad operations in Iraqi urban areas, with detailed tactical advice. Fascinating.
A Little Prick for Pregnancy Acupuncture for infertility here. Is Zapatero Going Down? He deserves to, but never should have been elected anyway. (PM of Spain, if you forgot his name. Should be called Mr. Lucky.) Hamilton on Appointments Federalist 76. Thanks, Real Clear Politics. NYSE Scandal? Watch this story unfold - we first posted on it on the 21st, thanks to Opie. Now John Mack joins the fray. Who is Against Bolton? You know how The Chairman feels. You won't believe this. From Taranto. Fat is Good Big fat surprise. They changed their mind about obesity being a problem - it's just morbid obesity that's a problem. Why didn't the CDC just say what they knew - that fat is unattractive? Click here: TCS: Tech Central Station - Whoppers and the End of an Epidemic AD/BC Removing BC and AD from historic time. Maybe some academics just don't have enough to do. Reporters fired for Drinking Beer And all along I had thought that drinking was part of their job description. Crazy.
Monday, April 25. 2005
 Must be a member of Ducks Unlimited - The World Leader in Wetlands Conservation.
Bill Weld Returns A run for gov of NY? He is putting out feelers. He is a good guy. Thanks for the tip, New England Repub. BBC Corruption The BBC takes a page out of the CBS playbook to advance the Leftist cause. If you considered their veracity before, will you ever again? "The BBC was last night plunged into a damaging general election row after it admitted equipping three hecklers with microphones and sending them into a campaign meeting addressed by Michael Howard, the Conservative leader." Read entire. The Tories are going too easy on the govt.-supported BCC. NYSE Heats Up Watch the action as Thain, Grasso, Paulson, etc. get ready to fight in the big stadium here. Lots of $, pride, etc. at stake. Roe V. Wade David Brooks argues that Roe v. Wade resulted in a catastrophic example of legislating from the bench. Am I naive to think that rights are about protecting the people from the govt.? Personally, I find the idea of abortion disgusting and sad, but that's irrelevant. What is relevant is the will of the people, which has not been heard. "The fact is, the entire country is trapped. Harry Blackmun and his colleagues suppressed that democratic abortion debate the nation needs to have. The poisons have been building ever since. You can complain about the incivility of politics, but you can't stop the escalation of conflict in the middle. You have to kill it at the root. Unless Roe v. Wade is overturned, politics will never get better. " Read entire here. Internet Hunting Last post I'll do on this ridiculous subject. The target shooting seems harmless enough, but literally killing via the internet and remote-controlled firearms seems like a travesty of the idea of sportsmanship, and which California is now banning. Those Evil Christians What is it with the Christianophobics? I can't tell whether they are sincere, and therefore paranoid to a degree, or whether they are being tastelessly provocative, or whether it is more cynical target-practice using American institutions for bulls-eyes. This isn't a Christianity I see around me. This example from Charles Cutter: "...it’s necessary to understand the fundamental goal of the fundamentalist Christians: To deny basic human rights to segments of society they deem unworthy in their god’s eyes. They believe that Americans should reject the Constitutional concept of equality in favor of their religious caste system. They seek to legally stigmatize all non-fundamentalist Christians. Historically, Christianity has been used to justify such atrocities as the genocide of Native Americans and the institution of slavery; current favorite targets include women, gays, atheists, and pro-choice supporters." Read entire if you can stand it. Raising the Hoop We thought we raised them big in the US. Click here: FOXSports.com - NBA Playoffs- Great 'tall' of China: 7-foot-8 Sun eyes NBA We may still think the Chinese tend to be short people but what the heck are they putting that bowl of rice? The NBA has three players and now comes the fourth "big guy" on the block. No telling when they will have to raise the hoops.
Friday, April 22. 2005
Fishing First trout expedition of the year, leaving noon today for the weekend. Where's my waders? Where's my wooly-buggers? Where's my brain? The Next Clinton Scandal Just when the news was getting boring...don't hold your breath for the MSM to get on this case, despite FBI involvement. Thanks to Scott at Powerline. Piece here. Greg Parke for Senate Got to be an improvement on Jeffords, who is retiring. Read here.
Thursday, April 21. 2005
 The Wave of the Future: The Big Merger Click here: The New York Times > Business > Goldman Seals a Deal, and Its Status I understand we are always standing on the brink of the future. But this merger smells of nepotism. Of course, John Thain was instrumental because his allegiance is to Goldman the company which put him on the map and made him a zillionaire. I feel bad for the traders and seat holders who are going to be looking for jobs that no longer exist. Don't get me wrong, my feelings are not for the ones that made the millions and billions but for the guy on the floor yelling his head off that was just earning a living. Like the egg cream at the counter, the 5 & 10, and the penny candy, another memory has been made. At least the Plaza will remain and won't Eloise fans be glad.
The New Food Pyramid What kind of idiot would look to the govt. to find out what to eat? The last one suggested 8-11 servings of grains, cereal, pasta, and bread/day. The new one is visually incomprehensible. It says I should have 3 cups of milk and 2 cups of fruit. Cups of fruit? What the heck - I'm having coffee for breakfast. Dunkin Donuts. Soros' Five Year Plan Exposed All very hush-hush. Hans Nichols reports: "George Soros told a carefully vetted gathering of 70 likeminded millionaires and billionaires last weekend that they must be patient if they want to realize long-term political and ideological yields from an expected massive investment in “startup” progressive think tanks." Read here. Benedict Joseph Bottum in the NYP: "Benedict XVI understands his predecessor's support of both democracy and life — because he understands what ties these issues together. The encyclical that John Paul II issued in between, Veritatis Splendor ("the splendor of truth"), insisted that there are certain moral markers about human life and human behavior that cannot be argued away. A grown-up, serious people doesn't abort its babies. A grown-up, serious people doesn't murder its sick and old. And a grown-up, serious people doesn't destroy the structure of the family just for the sake of easy sex." Read entire here.
Wednesday, April 20. 2005
Blogthings Cool stuff. What Kind of English Do You Speak? I turned out 40% General American, 40% Yankee, and 10% Dixie. Try it. Plus their other entertaining quizzes.
 Style Wars
"Difficult art"? Spare me that condescension. I ain't stupid, and I'm not rich enough to be taken in by art industry hype. I like sporting art and I like Picasso, but if I could have one picture to look at daily, it would be a Cezanne. Any Cezanne. But conceptual art - gimme a break. Most of it could be said in one trite sophomoric sentence. And I did see Bouys, or however you spell it, live in Greenwich Village years ago. He wore a fedora and a raincoat, and seemed psychotic. James Panero previews the NY Art Fairs: "Anti-aesthetics is the new aesthetic. Untraditional materials, styrofoam for one, stands in for technical innovation. While we once complained that “my kid could paint that,” now it’s a problem if your kid couldn’t paint it, stack it, bash it, eat it, heckle it, play it on his Gamecube, tune into it on the Spice Channel, or fingerpaint it in his sleep." Nice, balanced piece here on the contemporary art scene - which means New York. Political Style And, speaking of style, Jay Cost has a good point here with which I strong agree. Style is important in national politics, and Hillary, for one, ain't got none. They used to say, in the old days, that people vote for the person they want in their living room every night - meaning on the MSM. Walmart Style How many times have you guys seen a sweet-lookin lady in the supermarket, and just longed to say hi, but chickened out? And how many times have you gals seen a single-looking hunk in the same place, and yet did nothing? Oh, man - the wasted opportunities in life. Big ouch. But finally, it seems, at least Walmart has made itself an official dating destination. Here.
Kudos to Bird Dog You got it right yesterday morning, big guy. You know all! And a very powerful Ratzinger sermon/homily that hit me hard and did me good. Conservatives are Writing! The sky is falling! Here. Ratzinger Election Not a Mandate You nailed it this time, Scrapple-buddy. Here. No-one is Flying Air America Hmmm. Don't those folks already have their Pacifica stations? And NPR? The sad, sad, story here. Habemus Papem: Hewitt, the New Pope, etc. Hugh Hewitt has outdone himself. Always good, but on this subject he has been inspired.
 The Truth, Finally
Read this! That smart Dartmouth boy John Hinderaker gets it. What the Left really wants, but cannot get via the ballot, so must get via the courts. No wonder the court issue is such a hot one - the Left wants the courts to run the country because they have given up on the voters. This from a recent Yale conference on the Constitution: "It is time for progressives to set a constitutional agenda for the 21st Century. In 1987-88, the Reagan Justice Department produced a white paper known as "The Constitution in 2000" which, by taking a long view rather than focusing on the immediate issues of the day, was immensely successful in influencing the Constitution under which we now live. If progressives are to rehabilitate that Constitution, they must now, more than ever, articulate constitutional ideals capable of inspiring the next generation."
Note that it is a "constitutional agenda," not a legislative agenda. This is WRONG WRONG WRONG! If I had any slightest doubt about the rule change to end court-nominee filibusters, my doubts are now erased, sort-of, mostly... John's essential piece here.
Tuesday, April 19. 2005
 Scam City
Every MD in America knew that the trial lawyers pulled off a huge scam with the silicone breast implant deal. Destroyed one fine and innocent company, and had every con-woman and deranged hypochondriacal female in America in on it. And isn't it just fine to now look at the science, and to find out that silicone breast implants are harmless? Personally, I feel the purely cosmetic use is ridiculous - accept what God gave you. Speaking as a fellow, trust me - whatever you have is very nice and very lovely indeed, especially if you have a good heart. But for breast cancer reconstruction - well, it's important to lots of women. The silicone is better than saline, many folks feel. I want to see all the $ returned, including the zillions that ended up with folks like that jerk who ran with Kerry - what was the name of that greasy sleazeball trailer-trash guy with the hair? Read here.
Ratzinger's Homily The focus of the homily is on Friendship with Christ. Thanks to Hugh Hewitt: CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER HOMILY AT THE MASS FOR THE ELECTION OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF At this hour of great responsibility, we hear with special consideration what the Lord says to us in his own words. From the three readings I would like to examine just a few passages which concern us directly at this time. The first reading gives us a prophetic depiction of the person of the Messiah - a depiction which takes all its meaning from the moment Jesus reads the text in the synagogue in Nazareth, when he says: "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing" (Lk 4,21). At the core of the prophetic text we find a word which seems contradictory, at least at first sight. The Messiah, speaking of himself, says that he was sent "To announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God" (Is 61,2). We hear with joy the news of a year of favor: divine mercy puts a limit on evil - the Holy Father told us. Jesus Christ is divine mercy in person: encountering Christ means encountering the mercy of God. Christ's mandate has become our mandate through priestly anointing. We are called to proclaim - not only with our words, but with our lives, and through the valuable signs of the sacraments, the "year of favor from the Lord." But what does the prophet Isaiah mean when he announces the "day of vindication by our God"? In Nazareth, Jesus did not pronounce these words in his reading of the prophet's text - Jesus concluded by announcing the year of favor. Was this, perhaps, the reason for the scandal which took place after his sermon? We do not know. In any case, the Lord gave a genuine commentary on these words by being put to death on the cross. Saint Peter says: "He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross" (1 Pe 2,24). And Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians: "Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree,' that the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Gal 3, 13s). The mercy of Christ is not a cheap grace; it does not presume a trivialization of evil. Christ carries in his body and on his soul all the weight of evil, and all its destructive force. He burns and transforms evil through suffering, in the fire of his suffering love. The day of vindication and the year of favor meet in the paschal mystery, in Christ died and risen. This is the vindication of God: he himself, in the person of the Son, suffers for us. The more we are touched by the mercy of the Lord, the more we draw closer in solidarity with his suffering - and become willing to bear in our flesh "what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ" (Col 1, 24).
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Blogs  Wondering how folks find the time to keep up with their Really Big Blogs, like Powerline and LGF. Must take hours every day to produce those things. Must be an obsession or ego trip or writing compulsion or whatever. Or probably just a wholesome hobby. But don't quit, guys - we rely on ya. Stay crazy.
Here, we just do what we can, semi-sanely, with good humor. But the b-world is wonderful, democracy in action, a writing universe for the unpublished and unpublishable. What a wonderful world !
NYT - Please Hire Steyn We have tried to say these things, but Mark does it better, as always: "The root of the Pope's thinking - that there are eternal truths no one can change even if one wanted to - is completely incomprehensible to the progressivist mindset. There are no absolute truths, everything's in play, and by "consensus" all we're really arguing is the rate of concession to the inevitable: abortion's here to stay, gay marriage will be here any day now, in a year or two it'll be something else - it's all gonna happen anyway, man, so why be the last squaresville daddy-o on the block?' Read entire here. Hillary Watch She is crafty but not wise. Why is she so scary? Or is she just a Repub fund-raising tool? As that, she excels. I think folks find her scary because she is a shrill, ruthless bitch. However, she does not wear well. Overexposure will damage her, and her false modesty is grating: "The former first lady and her top aides steadfastly maintain that her focus is on winning a second Senate term. In fact, they have stopped talking publicly about the White House and 2008. But Republicans say her sights clearly are on the presidency and they are determined to make sure she never gets anywhere near an Iowa nominating caucus." Read piece here.
Monday, April 18. 2005
Monitors Holy Cow. I always thought the computer was the important thing. Really like my new Dell flat whatever 17 or 20" monitor or whatever it is. It makes 8 pt. type legible at a distance. Dell slams you for the height-adjustable feature, but I don't know why they bother making them without it. Who wants to have to look up at a screen? I am always behind the tech curve. If you are too, check here.
The Holy Grail of Ancient Greece Not a minor story. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, rescued from the dump, have had a breakthrough, with possibly early versions of the Gospels, not to mention Homer, Hesiod, the Greek playwrights, etc.: "Now, in a breakthrough described as the classical equivalent of finding the holy grail, Oxford University scientists have employed infra-red technology to open up the hoard, known as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and with it the prospect that hundreds of lost Greek comedies, tragedies and epic poems will soon be revealed." Read entire here.
The Death Tax We are agin it. We like the idea of being able to hand stuff down to the kids, especially land that has been in the family for generations. As an attorney, it breaks my heart to see families forced to sell grandpa's farm, or country place, to developers to rape the land to cover his estate taxes. In my experience, the extremely wealthy never pay them anyway - it's more professionals like me, or small business owners and farmers, who end up paying them. So, I ask myself, do we have this death tax as just one more source of $ for the govt, or as social engineering, ie to prevent prosperous, but not ultra-rich, families from accumulating capital, assets, independence and choice? If the latter is the goal, there's an easier way - a marginal income tax rate of 100% for everything over $150,000. Or make it 100,000 - what the heck. Don't screw the family and heirs - let's just screw the poor slob who is working and saving his whole life to build something, while he's still alive to feel the pain...and to vote. Two good and convincing pieces on the subject; one from WSJ and one from The View from 1776.
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