Monday, June 13. 2005
Blogs replace journals and diaries for college students needing to vent "So I'm taking a Neuro Anatomy class this semester, and the Prof announced a quiz after only 2 lectures and one lab. The quiz is covering the entirity of the spinal chord/brain stem organization including facial nerves. Yes, we tried to cover all of that in two classes. Tried. Oh my god, I'm gonna die." Piece here: Click here: The Chronicle: 6/17/2005: Inside the Student Mind Comment from Editor: Neuroanatomy is not for crybabies.
Iranian Blogs There are two blogs which I follow for the evolving (one hopes) situation in Iran: Regime Change Iran and Student Committee for Democracy in Iran. One thing is clear, which is that Iran is neither ideologically nor culturally insulated from the rest of the world, despite the efforts of the govt.
The Endless Tour Dylan Reviews in the NYT: The most recent from his current tour here: Click here: Dylan Gives the People What He Wants - New York Times , and the previous one from his short tour with Merle Haggard here: Click here: The New York Times: Premium Archive
Stock Up on Canned Goods (ie beer) 74 mph breezes. Hurricane season is already upon us, and lovers of strong weather get excited by watching tropical breezes from the African coast evolve into monster storms. It's not that storm lovers want to see people hurt, but that they find the power of nature both exhilarating and humbling. It is like feeling the hand of God. We follow the tropical patterns on the NOAA hurricane site, which provides transcriptions of the survelliance reports from NOAA's G-lV and P-3 aircraft. What a great job those pilots have. Very cool. Stormtrack is a storm enthusiast who was clearly disappointed by Arlene's half-hearted performance.
Academic Freedom What does it mean, exactly? Confederate Yankee has the details, with the Shortell situation as the case in point.
 The Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Dr. Bob clearly has a thing about bridges, both the architecture and the engineering. He has a fine series, with lots of photos, on the construction of his local suspension bridge. That's a lot of polpo. Why a photo of a Pacific Giant Octopus? Read it.
Congrats Congrats to the Bird Dog nephew Andy, whose graduation from Pittsfield (MA) High School we attended yesterday, at Tanglewood. Darn good acoustics for the fine HS band.
 James Kilgo's Deep Enough for Ivorybills. Timely in a season in which the "extinct" Ivorybill has been found alive. A modern classic of Southern literature by a hunter-naturalist-armchair philosopher. Getting lost in the swamp is something to which all outdoor-people can relate, either literally or metaphorically. A 1988 review from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
"Though he never glimpses the rare, regal Ivorybill wodpecker, James Kilgo's lifelong urge to "go deep" has grown into this thoughtful book of autobiographical sketches...This is a book not just for hunters, birdwatchers, or naturalists. It's for everbody who senses, or perhaps remembers, that the woods have more to offer than a splotch of shade on a deck." Image from Peterson's Field Guide
Jesus in China Check this link fast - it will expire soon. From Chronicle of Higher Education.
Bolivia facing a breakdown Civil War predicted in Bolivia. Chaos has started, the Indian factions are up in arms and Mesa has lost control and no one capable seems to be in the capital to take over and implement order. Latin America's problems increasing and the Bolivarian Revolution led by Hugo Chavez from Venezuela is lingering like a bad smell everywhere that political strife is taking place. For an update on all things going on in this land locked nation check out Publius Pundit who has done a great job researching the papers and blogs covering the situation.
In DC on Tues. with nothing to do? Hey - that includes all of you politicians. An interesting conference: Libertarianism in Pop Culture. Wish I could make it. Click here: Libertarianism in Contemporary Pop Culture
New Yorkology: Visiting NYC this summer? Here: Click here: NewYorkology: A New York Travel Guide In Denial about China? From Powerline and and others. EU Unravels Further with France and Germany ganging up on the UK, in Yahoo Jazz in June: The Vision Festival in NYC: NYSUN Why Gun Rights Matter, In Zimbabwe, from Winds of Change Climate Alarmism, Murray at Tech Central Dylan Tour, May-July. How does he keep up this pace? JihadWatch: A useful website.
"I love deadlines. I especially love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Sunday, June 12. 2005
I asked for wisdom...and God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for prosperity...and God gave me brain and brawn to work.
I asked for courage...and God gave me danger to overcome.
I asked for love...and God gave me people to help.
I asked for favors...and God gave me opportunities.
I asked for strength...and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.
I received nothing I wanted...I received everything I needed. Anon.
Friday, June 10. 2005
Termites, and Bob Dylan Absolutely no connection between the two. Just a random note from your editor (recent drawing of Bird Dog by Norman Rockwell on right): 1. Despite our name, we are not a Dylan blog, but we are very fortunate to have The Dylanologist on our highly-paid staff. We welcome his frequent or occasional thoughts on Dylan's life, work, performances, etc. Or on any other music, or any other subject. 2. Termites: This topic deserves a thoughtful essay, but not right now. We are coining, copywriting, appropriating, and otherwise using the useful term "Termites" for any person, organization, movement, concept, etc. which is, or appears to be, motivated by a desire to take a bite out of the foundations of traditional American culture, values, morals, religion, traditions, or the Constitution itself. We at Maggies aim to be part of the pesticide brigade, sprayers loaded with verbal DDT against those who would like to bring down this precious structure we have inherited and for which we Americans are blessed by having been assigned the job of custodian and steward.
 Today, the Dylanologist is pleased a new addition to Maggie’s Farm: the Bob Dylan album review series. Beginning today, with new installments appearing (almost) every Friday, The Dylanologist will cast a critical eye on each of the song and dance man’s albums, from the introductory “Bob Dylan” up to 2001’s widely acclaimed effort “Love and Theft,” or at least as many as he can cover before exhaustion sets in. Reviews will NOT be posted in any sort of chronological order, but according to the Dylanologist’s mood and current listening preferences.
This week’s review tackles one of Dylan’s most maligned albums, “Empire Burlesque,” released in 1985. The 1980s are generally considered to have been Dylan’s weakest decade, a time when his well of creativity at last dried up after a long fertile phase. While it’s difficult to point to any albums from that time that are as consistently good and well-structured as Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, or even Street Legal, many of the individual songs on these albums are excellent in and of themselves, even if the albums on which they are found can’t rank with Dylan’s greatest works. Familiar themes are illuminated on several of the tracks. The classic-film-quoting “Seeing the Real You At Last,” for example, a jaunty rocker that Dylan has often featured in superior form in concert, references failed relationships. On “Clean-Cut Kid” Dylan makes his only explicit statement about Vietnam, though the anti-war sentiment here is not so much different from that on “John Brown.” “Trust Yourself” is a fairly direct plea to his audience, in much the same vein as “It Ain’t Me Babe,” while the haunting acoustic closer “Dark Eyes,” a throwback to Dylan’s pre-electric days in the early 60s that nonetheless does not feel out of place as the last song on the album, features provocative lyrics tethered to a simplistic melody. One of the biggest criticisms of Empire Burlesque, however, has not been the songwriting but rather the production. In a bid to capture a “contemporary” sound, which he achieved with somewhat greater success on 1979’s Slow Train Coming, Dylan brought in a crack production team that layered synthesizers and thumping electronic beats over Dylan’s competent lyrics and melodies. The result is a sound that has not aged well over the years, showing all too plainly its mid-80’s origins.
Continue reading "Album Review: Empire Burlesque"
Deano: Crazy, or Crazy Like a Fox? Larry Elder makes a case to call in the men in white coats, (in Town Hall), as have many others, but Dean isn't crazy. Nor is he a calculating fox, although clearly he hopes that being provocative might help with fund-raising. The truth is that he is simply miscalculating something. In the Northeast, there are millions who think and feel and speak exactly as he does. I encounter them everywhere in our Blue States, from Nantucket to Maine to Boston to Hanover to Newport to, of course, NYC. Trust me, you Red-Staters out there - his views and words are entirely ordinary, and I doubt he knows what the fuss is about, since he's right in sync with everyone he knows. His miscalculation is that you can't take that kind of self-righteous, sneering, arrogant, nasty, condescending talk and juvenile name-calling nationwide. It doesn't play in Peoria. But it plays just fine up here, I'm sorry to say.
Quotes from Janice, from Right Thinking. She is better than I thought. And more on The Deal by Pejmanesque Canada's Health System in crisis: Be grateful Hillary failed. Ankle Biter the first, I think, to pick this story up, and more from Right Thinking. Nerds are best lovers: Instapundit has link. Olasky on David Horowitz's cancer, and prayer, in Town Hall Portland, Maine Schools ban Evil, Evil Boy Scouts: The Termites are at it again, nibbling away at sanity. In Intell. Conservative Restless Leg Syndrome: It is real, fairly common, highly annoying, treatable, and may correlate with ADD and ADHD. In Science Daily Intelligent Design in the news: One by Pinkerton at Tech Central and one by Brewton at Intell. Conservative. My view on the subject? Aw, you don't care what I think. These are excellent discussions. Inequality in America. Powerline has it right - these guys are experts on the subject. Ben Stein on The New Yorker, in The American Spectator. It's about the Termites in the Press. Rule 18 of the Al Quaida Handbook: You must claim you were tortured: John Leo in Town Hall.
When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Anon.
Thursday, June 9. 2005
The president in Bolivia resigns and the President in Brazil holds a meeting about corruption and faces accusations of taking bribes. President Bush speaks at the OAS meeting in Florida and condemns Chavez in not so many words and proclaims that democracy is ahead for Cuba regardless of Castro's intentions to keep the "RED SICKLE" rolling. It's Salsa time in Latin America. News | canada.com networkLA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - President Carlos Mesa, his 19-month-old government unraveling amid swelling street protests and a crippling blockade of the Bolivian capital, announced his resignation in a nationally televised address Lawmakers had hoped to calm tensions in a country where anti-globalization anger runs high. But the tax increase touched off fresh demands for the nationalization of the oil industry and a new constitution giving more clout to Indians, who represent about half the population. A historian turned politician, Mesa had no political sponsorship when he was thrust into the presidency in October 2003. He succeeded former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who resigned after street protests over plans to export the country's natural gas reserves left at least 56 people dead
More Radical Chic? Is this still in fashion? Palling around with Fidel's friends in NYC? Disgusting. Michelle has story. How can this possibly be cool in 2005? Unless muderous psychopathic dictators are your cup of tea.
Stalin Fascinating book review by Fairbanks in Claremont. I knew he was evil, but he was interesting evil.
The Harvard Details Sounds like ScrappleFace, but this is real: The report on women in the sciences and engineering recommends that doctoral students in those fields (and eventually grad students in all departments) be required to complete a training course with a component on gender bias. The report also recommends that search committee members undergo mandatory training in implicit bias. Implicit bias (a concept pioneered by Harvard psychologist Mahzarin Banaji, among others) refers to supposed unconscious or hidden prejudices that don't manifest themselves overtly. Read entire on FIRE
The Holy Roman Empire, Forestalled Gwynnie has been fascinated by the European Constitution controversy. It seems simple to her. A structure would be created under which the European kings and rulers are compelled to elect a supreme ruling body to which their sovereignty is subordinated and which is not accountable to the needs or desires of their own people. In return, the states of the electors are protected from external and interstate competition and strife. She recalls it all happened exactly that way once before. It lasted from 800 to 1806 AD and it was called the “Holy Roman Empire”. Because the emperor was not accountable to anybody except for being routinely confirmed by electors upon whom he devolved great riches, the succession of the emperor became largely hereditary and ended up for the last 400 years in the house of Hapsburg. Gwynnie thinks that it was clearly the intention of the French that the house of Chirac and the elites of France considered themselves uniquely suited to filling the lost role of the Habsburgs and leading a proud return to French rule of both the lands won and lost by Napoleon and also of his traditional opponent England. She thinks that a large part of the French “non” to the Constitution was the realization that France would not be ruling the EU, and would have no more than equal status to all those grubby little nations east of the Rhine and the Rhone, and south of the Pyrenees. Recall Monsieur Chirac’s comments February 18, 2003 (as translated from Le Monde): The French president, Jacques Chirac, denounced the ex East-European countries hoping to enter the EU on Monday evening, saying that they had "missed a good opportunity to shut up" by aligning themselves with the warlike position of the USA in the Iraqi crisis. "These countries have been at the same time, let's say, not very well brought up and a little careless of the dangers which come with a too-rapid alignment with the American position", said M. Chirac at the end of the special summit at Brussels. M. Chirac warned the candidate EU members that they were risking making their membership more difficult. "I find that Romania and Bulgaria have taken their decision to act this way too lightly, when their position as regards Europe is already very delicate. If they wanted to reduce their chances of EU membership they could not have found a better way", insisted the French president to the press.
"If, on the first important issue, they give their point of view independently of all consultation with the others who they wish to join, well, that's not very responsible behaviour. . . So I believe they have missed a good opportunity to shut up." Oui, realize your true inferior status and elect me emperor. I’ll let you into my club and agree to throw you some bones. Regarding France's refusal to adhere to the Maastricht Treaty requirement on budget deficit limits, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin had stated that creating jobs in France was his priority, not satisfying "this or that office or country!" -- by following rules France had once said were critical to the European Monetary Union. Gwynnie believes that that statement was France’s true “non”, and that last week’s vote was merely ratification by the French worker/parasites who thought the deficit crisis was a close call (imagine if France could be compelled to live up to its treaties)! Only the “little people . . .“
Well, Bird Dog, I have got myself a problem. You know I am not a church goer even though my great great grampa built the building, or I should say helped build it, but it just isn’t my cup of meat, you might say, but they can bury me in there churchyard, that’s OK with me, sooner or later either is OK because my life philosophy is just keep on keeping on as my Paw would say which is a mans duty in this life. But for several years now those church ladies have been a bit on my case because I guess I am an eligible widower or maybe they see me as an object of pity living alone in skwaler on the old homestead here in the Northeast Kingdom. Well what they did is send a delegation of ladies with hats up here like they do every year collecting money to fix the steeple or whatever which I do and this time they want me to come with them on a church trip to Paris and Lourdes and some other church places which maybe for you rich folks in southern New England is no big deal but up here it is like a trip of a lifetime which Korea already was enough for me. Join the Army and see Korea. Ayup, shure did. Well they at first wanted to go to the Holy Land but they got scared of the diper-head bombers, so they said, and would do that in five years maybe – yes, maybe, if they are still alive then, I think to myself. I suspect some of those nice wrinkled widows just have desines on me as a widdower but I don’t know why an old coger who aint any good company and hardly takes a shower and is half grumpy at least half the time. I know they see me shaved and in a necktie sittin in church and praisin Jesus and reformed without my whiskys and smokes etc. and my bachelor bad habits and peeling wallpaper and grilled coon suppers or bear suppers and loaded rifles all over the place and approx. ten mangy mongrels crappin on the walk and everywhere else you might think to place your boots.
Continue reading "The Yankee Farmer Speaks: The Church Ladies and Paris, France"
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