Wednesday, March 5. 2008
Main Street, Cascade, Idaho. July, 1941, from Shorpy 
Tuesday, March 4. 2008
Buy the slaves to free them. Not a bad notion, with no lives lost and cheaper than war.
 In San Francisco, of course. Ye oldest profession, is it not?
Is this is where the Libertarian rubber meets the moral, umm, road? Sometimes I wonder whether sexual intimacy has become the moral equivalent of defecation, in this pomo world. But maybe it always was: we are just apes, right?
Read this guy's story, at Dr. Bob: I totally despised you. I believe that the Good Shepherd loves to keep watch over his lost sheep.
The Washington Post is mocking the climate conference in NYC this week. Here at Maggie's we are skeptical about APW, as we are skeptical about most scientific claims (although we do accept the notion of a spherical earth). The only reason we write as often as we do about climate is because the subject has been hijacked by people with socio-political agendas. Were it not for that, we'd only be mildly curious. In any event, we suspect that some warming would be a boon to the world economy and food production, and we suspect that the coming Ice Age will be the real threat to humanity in the northern hemisphere. A graph from Powerline's piece on the conference, which does not extend back to the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago: 
And, just for fun, here's the big picture. As the graph shows, we remain in an extended cold spell, historically - in a tiny little interglacial which doesn't even make a dent on a graph with this time scale. As every money manager knows, the way to lie with graphs is to select your time frame. The earth is shivering (graph reads right to left in time): 
From Mediocracy: Steven Pinker has become a bit of a hero for those not entirely seduced by the mediocratic project. He is perhaps the only prominent academic prepared to trumpet the idea that ability is at least partly inherited. This idea has, apparently, become highly controversial, a fact which a visiting Martian might find rather bizarre. When the Financial Times reviewed The Blank Slate, it treated Pinker as some kind of firebrand radical, referring to his "dangerous work", and that it "would be best if it didn't get into the hands of those who would use it to terrifying ends".
and ... if people's sense of well-being comes from an assessment of their social status, and social status is relative, then extreme inequality can make people on the lower rungs feel defeated even if they are better off than most of humanity ... The medical researcher Richard Wilkinson, who documented these patterns, argues that low status triggers an ancient stress reaction ... Wilkinson argues that reducing economic inequality would make millions of lives happier, safer, and longer. (ibid) An example of pseudo-rationality: in this case, an incomplete analysis that looks cogent but is actually biased. What it leaves out is (a) that we can only reduce ex post (= after the event) inequality by changing the rules of the game, and (b) that this is certain to have its own associated costs, which are left out of the equation. The need to compete for status is no less likely to be an important human drive than the need for status itself. If you make it harder for people to win, that may also generate stress. While there is plenty of research purporting to show the stressful effects of inequality, I doubt there is much (if any) looking into the stressful effects of intervention, restrictions, red tape, or deselection on ideological grounds (the flip-side of affirmative action).
Mediocracy thus presents an excellent case of pseudo-rationality in which the human costs of an intervention are ignored. In my experience, failure to enter these costs into calculations generally results in further problems which also end up begging for another government intervention to try to correct. Thus governments and agencies grow, on the fertile soil of their own manure.
 The link to neoneo this morning about the religious-like fervor of the Obama "movement" led me to this link: How can I recognize a false teacher? It says it all, but unfortunately does not link to the scriptural quotes.
Uncentered souls are often attracted to "movements" - but I think some of Obama's appeal is simply to Dems who dislike and distrust Mrs. Clinton. The promise of heaven on earth will gain no traction with me because I have been around the block once or twice. If Obama fails, it will be because he will be exposed as a phony: it's beginning to happen. And speaking of phonies, here's one more of these fake memoirs. Why don't these folks just label their books as fiction?
 Can you dig it? The blog has been a little shaky because we were "Digged" last evening. We weren't prepared for that kind of volume, which was up to a dizzying peak of 15,000 visits/hour. It's interesting to see that Digg has a world-wide reach. A hearty "Howdy" to any Digg readers who explore Maggie's beyond that one linked piece (the bear release mishap). Chavez sent $300,000,000 to the FARC. In essence, Chavez and Correa have been waging a covert war against Colombia. I doubt this comes as a complete surprise to President Uribe. Most voters should not vote. I agree. French Presbyterian youth have a new tactic against the police. James Lovelock: It's too late. We're doomed. Meanwhile, Weather Channel founder blasts the newtwork for climate fraud. Insty noted this book on Erotomania, Stalking, and Obsessive Love, written by a Psychiatrist who was targeted by an obsessive stalker. Eco-snobbery: The hip new snobbery Sexual incompatibility and marriage trouble. Politics as religion. Neoneo Fascism is appealing to Liberals and Conservatives. Pajamas. Not to me: without an anchor to windward in libertarianism, the rocks of statism are always a danger to the freedom our government was set up to guarantee. Three rules for understanding Canada-US relations. Conrad Black: Justice Denied As American as... Chinese Food? From a review of a book by Jennifer Lee: Given, as Lee points out, that there are about 40,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S., "more than the number of McDonald's, Burger Kings, and KFCs combined," Chinese food might be our national cuisine. "Our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie," she writes. "But ask yourself. How often do you eat apple pie? How often do you eat Chinese food?"
Who Speaks for Islam? From a discussion of the new book: The politicization of scholars, experts and media commentators post 9/11 has created a minefield for policymakers and the general public. Many are caught between the contending positions of seemingly qualified experts as well as a new cadre of Islamophobic authors and their revisionist readings of Islam and Islamic history. Today, we now have a new empirically grounded tool that enables us to go beyond the limited interpretations and opinions of experts when asking: What do Muslims think, what do they care about, and what do they want?
h/t, Theo. Photoshop is fun. 
Monday, March 3. 2008
 Our friend Norm found this image of Bach. It's a good, solid face. I'd like to also see the image with a wig of the era.
Article here.
 Christina Hoff Summers on the dearth of women in math and science, as quoted in a piece at Attack Machine:
Math 55 is advertised in the Harvard catalog as “probably the most difficult undergraduate math class in the country.” It is legendary among high school math prodigies, who hear terrifying stories about it in their computer camps and at the Math Olympiads. Some go to Harvard just to have the opportunity to enroll in it. Its formal title is “Honors Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra,” but it is also known as “math boot camp” and “a cult.” The two-semester freshman course meets for three hours a week, but, as the catalog says, homework for the class takes between 24 and 60 hours a week.
and “I guess you can say it’s an episode of ‘Survivor’ with people voting themselves off.” The final class roster, according to The Crimson: “45 percent Jewish, 18 percent Asian, 100 percent male.” Why do women avoid classes like Math 55? Why, in fact, are there so few women in the high echelons of academic math and in the physical sciences?
Read the whole thing.
From the WSJ: ...tomorrow the eyes of America will be on these two states moving in different directions. Ohio has an economy burdened by high taxes and work rules that impose heavy costs on employers. Texas embraces free trade, keeps taxes low, doesn't impose unions on business and has tooled itself for 21st century global competition. Ohioans may not like to hear this, but for any company considering where to locate a new plant or move an existing one, the choice between Ohio and Texas isn't even a close call. The challenge for our national economy in a world of competition is to become more like Texas and less like Ohio.
We got linked by Neatorama. They are one of those blogs that links random interesting stuff, like GrowaBrain does. I had not known about them before, but they must have large readership because they are sending us hundreds of linkers per hour. We had a similar mini avalanche from Bits and Pieces over the weekend. Health warnings for cheese? Maybe it would be easier just to paste a generic sticker on every product and every food in the world: "Caution: Use with care. This item might be dangerous to your mind, spirit, or body." Who are the new Soviets? Media, education, and Hollywood The enduring power of ethnic nationalism. Foreign Affairs. Yes, humans are tribal creatures, and feel more in common with those with shared values, customs, assumptions, and world views. It is difficult to know whether to trust people with different views of the world.
Moonbattery reports: A moonbat cult calling itself Re-create 68 plans to liven up the Democrat convention in Denver this summer. Its schedule reflects an ambitious agenda.
Here's a practice run, in Berkeley in February (h/t, Wizbang). Note the peaceful and tolerant attitudes of the moonbats (WARNING - DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE A HEART CONDITION):
Reposted from 2005 Everything is so scary. You can drown in the bathtub, you can cut yourself with a chain saw, you can choke on a steak, you can spill hot coffee in your lap, you can slice your finger with a paring knife, you can get fat from eating bread, you can get hit by an SUV, you can get heart disease from french fries, you can get blinded by a tennis ball, you can get brain-death from watching TV, you can catch mono from kissing a girl, you can fall down the stairs, you can get hit by lightning playing golf, you can lose your sense of reality by studying astronomy, you can get Lyme disease from weeding the garden, you can get a rusty hook in your scalp while fishing, you can get skin cancer from going outdoors, you can get a papercut from copy-paper. Given how treacherous ordinary life is, it should be no wonder that all medical treatments, including medicines, have side-effects too. The recent pulling of Viox and Celebrex from the market puzzle me, because ordinary aspirin seems far more dangerous due to its frequent ability to cause gastric bleeding. Still, every MD I know takes an aspirin a day, not to combat paperwork headaches but to prevent heart attack. My point is not to specifically discuss medical care - I think almost everyone assumes that physicians know how to balance risk, and, nowadays, how to discuss these with patients. When people exercise judgement in life, they not only balance the risks and rewards of choices of action, they also balance the risks and rewards of action vs. inaction. Inaction always has its own cost - opportunity cost. Every fellow who ever contemplated asking a girl out knows what I mean. Or vice versa. My point is to talk about the expectation that life should be safe, and that someone (the gummint?) could or should magically protect us from that reality. That, I think, is part of the infantile impulse behind the wish for the Nanny State. Or the Mommy and Daddy State. This is not to promote a radical libertarian viewpoint. I like the Pure Food Act, and I am glad kids can't buy guns and dynamite. And I don't want to have to caveat emptor in everything I use or buy...but you kinda sorta have to anyway, don't you? Still, the endless seeking to be made safe from risk is a psychological state - a wish that reality be a certain way - and, as such, it is not amenable to correction by adjusting reality. It can only be corrected by growing up ...and by hamstringing the tort lawyers who have fed off, promoted, and exploited, these childish wishes that sometimes lurk even in the most mature people, including me.
Conrad Black discusses his Faith in American Justice in the NY Sun. I still do not understand what crime he committed, and neither does he.
Sunday, March 2. 2008
A healthy rebellion against the teacher's union and for the students (h/t, Insty). Does anyone today doubt that the reactionary unions are the largest obstacle to experimentation for problem schools? These kids need a chance.
 At this rate, there will be no more Al Qaida in Iraq.
Waiting to die. Pathetic. A sea turtle hero. (h/t, Jungle Trader) Useful advice? Don't take a high-paying job. Like clockwork. Every election season, 60 Minutes presents a fraudulent news story. Who didn't wonder about this? They shoot rockets at your civilians, then act outraged and victimized when you react. I had a baby sister who knew that trick. The teaching colleagues who annoy the hell out of you. Chavez wants a war, to distract his people from the misery he has given them. When the weather changes, suddenly you cannot use weather in support of global warming. You know what war-lover said this: It's good fun to be with just a normal bunch of guys, listening to their problems, listening to what they think. And especially getting through every day, its not painful to be here, but you are doing a job and to be with such fantastic people, the Gurkhas and the guys I'm sharing a room with, makes it all worthwhile.
How's this band? Perlman, Barenboim, Du Pre, and Zuckerman with a bit of Schubert's Trout.
I did not realize that No Country for Old Men was a McCarthy book. At one point, I read everything he wrote, but I guess I lost track. Will read it before seeing the movie. JC Phillips' wife loved it. The book was reportedly edited down from 600 pages.
 An annual re-post
Miller Nurseries. Our source for hardy fruit trees, grapes, and more. Musser Forests. Our favorite source for seedlings for your farm, game preserve, conservation land, or country place, including Christmas tree plantings. Lots of native plants. Seedland. Great source for large-volume lawn, pasture, game preserve, farm, etc. seeds. I buy meadow clovers from them. For garden seeds, including heirloom vegetables (h/t, readers):  Renee's
Johnny's The Cook's Garden Gary Ibsen's Tomato Fest (These sound wonderful, but tomatoes from seeds is too much hassle for me)
How the potato led to free trade The International Conference on Climate Change begins today, in NYC Dems are the "architects of modern racism." (Here's the website of the National Black Republican Association) Truth about NAFTA and Ohio. Cafe hayek David Brooks remembers the mentor On Michelle Obama at Powerline: "She's a depressing specimen of a post-modern class of victim -- demanding, whining, self-absorbed, self-pitying, and infantile." This is why Mark Levin is calling him Barry Milhous Obama. Speaking of which, this Obama video is creepy. Your kids belong to me. RTLC
One more borrowed from Dr. Merc's collection: 
John 9: 1-41 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man's eyes with the clay, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Silo'am" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, "Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is he"; others said, "No, but he is like him." He said, "I am the man." They said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, `Go to Silo'am and wash'; so I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age, ask him." So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?" And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said, "Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him. Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, "Are we also blind?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, `We see,' your guilt remains.
Brace's Rock, Eastern Point, Gloucester, MA, c. 1864. Oil on canvas. John Wilmerding Collection 
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