Saturday, July 5. 2008
 This is a weekly Saturday morning feature that will slowly, over time, turn you into a full-fledged computer expert. More info here.
Lesson 13: Audio
To be completely honest, it wasn't your idea to write the song that united the world.
Your new bride, a recent graduate from Dr. Mercury's Computer School For Underprivileged Busty Blondes, was the one who suggested it. She walked into the room, threw her arms around you and gushed, "You're so wonderful! You should write a song that will bring peace to the entire world!"
And that's exactly what happened.
Personally, you thought the melody line was a bit simplistic, but people seemed to adore it, and it somehow bridged the gap between Western and Eastern cultures. The words, too, seemed a bit lightweight, but it turned out that by sheer good fortune you used a number of words and phrases common to multiple languages, so even though the exact message couldn't be conveyed to the world's people, there was still something there that touched the soul of everyone.
And the song's effects were wonderful to see. Obama and McCain decided on a joint presidency. George Bush, Nancy Pelosi and Ron Paul had a group hug and broke into tears. Al-Queda threw down its arms and opened a Starbucks franchise in Seattle. Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards reunited. Britney Spears' heretofore unknown younger sister, Adrianne, knocked on your bedroom door and—
And that's when the loud barking dog snapped you out of your daydream.
Next time, instead of fantasizing about it, I think you'd better just...
Continue reading "Dr. Mercury's Computer Corner: Lesson 13 - Audio"
Friday, July 4. 2008
 Here's the real Fourth. Been there, friend. Related: On Cape Cod, nothing happens until the 4th
Is the "tiresome" baby boomer cohort beginning to retire from their faculty jobs? Neo hopes so. Washington's boyhood home found. Tiger growls at the NYT: Are they the rubes? (Yes, they are, outside of Easthampton and the West Side of Manhattan.) More on My Alcoholism: Dean's World (h/t, Dr. Bob) Largest re-enlistment in history. Experience matters. Ask John Adams Moonbats hate the 4th of July An anorectic guy? Litigious little SOB too. All Freedom pieces at RCP today For the umpteenth time: Oil is a bubble. Same as many other commodities right now.
 A good day to remember what these good folks do for us.
God bless 'em all.
 Well, largely irrelevant I think, but not completely.
For one thing, relatively few people read blogs. Even the "big" blogs we read, like Michelle and Insty and Powerline, are miniscule in the larger scheme of things. But every once in a while a blog will have a major impact on events, on the news - or on just one random reader who gets a new thought or a new perspective. However, blogs with any strong political bent are usually preaching to the choir. We are fortunate in being eclectic and pleasant and useful enough that people of all stripes seem to read us, and we attempt to be friendly enough so as not to drive people away just because we think Barry Goldwater was a political prophet. We are not a political blog. We obviously do discuss politics with a strong point of view: Freedom First. An individual freedom bequeathed by God, with justice and mercy, is the bottom line of our politics and our world view. There is no reason for the USA to exist otherwise. If anybody has a stronger foundation, let us know. We'll listen. Reader Buddy once said something like "Consider Maggie's to be just one more small brick in the wall of Western Civilization." Very small, but a brick. I like that very much, and I try to bear his comment in mind as a source of inspiration. A Happy 4th to all of our freedom-loving readers. We will keep stuff coming over this weekend. Maybe we'll do some fun re-posts from our archives, along with a little oddball new stuff.
 It's the Puppy Tactic. And the head-scarf tactic.
How JFK's assassination changed things. Driscoll. Related, from a piece on patriotism at Powerline: One of the basic problems faced by liberals, and the reason why they tend to get sensitive whenever the subject of patriotism comes up, is that a large majority of Americans share the conservatives' view of their country. Rasmussen Reports adds up the numbers: 75% of respondents are proud of America's history, while 13% are ashamed of it. 64% say the U.S. is a positive role model for human rights. As always, these numbers break down quite differently based on party affiliation. 91% of Republicans are proud of our country's history, compared to 64% of Democrats. Not surprisingly, there is also a racial divide: 81% of white respondents, but only 44% of African-Americans, are proud of America's history. (It would be interesting to see the breakdown for other races, but for some reason Rasmussen doesn't provide it.)
Marry "Mr. Good Enough"? Single, and turning 30. It's about time: McCain shakes up campaign. Related: Prager on Why I Support McCain. I agree with most of that. Lefties go bonkers as Obama slips and slides towards the center. Also, Obama's Chicago deals. Photo: That's our Dylanologist sitting on a water taxi in Baveno in June. He is now back in Rome.
Thursday, July 3. 2008
 From a letter from John Adams to Abigail on July 2, 1776:
The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
From BBC: Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled. The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.
Are you OK with that? Whole report here.
"I don't want to remake America. I'm an immigrant, and one reason I came here is because most of the rest of the Western world remade itself along the lines Sen. Obama has in mind. This is pretty much the end of the line for me. If he remakes America, there's nowhere for me to go – although presumably once he's lowered sea levels around the planet there should be a few new atolls popping up here and there." Mark Steyn, stolen from a quote at Samizdata
 I have dibs on our leased boat for this weekend down in Rhode Island, and will pick up the boat in salty Newport today with a new special friend. Should be good fun even though she doesn't know too much about boats...yet.
Newport is always a pretty good time if you can avoid bar fights with the alcoholic sailors in the local pubs. Maybe we will shove off tonight, or maybe in the morning. I am considering heading to Buzzard's Bay, stopping at Cuttyhunk, popping up through the Cape Cod Canal and then putt-putting around the Bay. Maybe to Wellfleet for the best oysters in the world, and P'town for a Portuguese seafood meal, and then maybe out onto the ocean, Stellwagen Banks to see some whales, then out to the Race for some Striper fishing. Depending on weather, I might take the outside route down to Chatham to hole up for the night, and make a big circle but this trip will require speed and might be too ambitious, not to mention burning tons of gas. The GPS makes it so easy, but filling the gas tank is going to hurt badly. Carpe diem, though. Back home late Sunday night to the Massachusetts woods, God willing. See ya later. XP was pretty good, but it's gone now. Rush signs $400,000,000 contract. God bless him. Still less money than the big hedgies make, but he adds more value to the world. He made my lazy brain think, and I am in his debt. Here's the real story about the Starbucks closings "No M2 for you?" Well, you can buy a cannon easily, online. Let me opt out of Social Security. Please. I understand all of the arguments, but I have no desire to force the youngsters to be taxed for my retirement. My life is my gift, and my problem - not yours and not your kids'. Jolly good show. Prince William is on the job. An entirely-intentional chilling effect. "Artful." It's an artful word. "Annoy A Liberal - Work hard and be happy," "Work Harder. Millions On Welfare Depend on You!" and other bumper stickers. Quack quack. WPAs celebrate 50 years. Good stuff. Tell Edfu - ancient Egypt. More good stuff. Unequal America. Naturally, from Harvard Magazine. Two comments on this thoughtful if deeply flawed essay. First, the serious one: It makes the fallacious assumption that wealth is a zero-sum game. Wrong: there is no such thing anymore as "share" of wealth, except via taxation. Wealth has not been zero-sum since economies were based on farming, and you had to own land. It is, and should be, the goal of the American economy that everyone be wealthy, and we've done a better job with that than anybody else in the world. Without the Death Tax, we'd have even more wealthy folks. Me? I am voluntarily poor right now (an IRA, an old 4WD F-150, a boat-share, and a rental apartment), and more than half-loving my single, free-as-a-bird life. When I need more money for kids or whatever, I will find surely find a way. Socialism makes everybody equally poor, and unmotivated to achievement. Second comment: When Harvard College admits applicants by lottery, I will believe in their committment to "equality." Until then, I think their committment to "equality" is the empty sanctimonious elitism which we are so sick of. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. "Meta-messages" and re-defining patriotism. Am. Thinker Why America is the greatest country on earth. Ben Shapiro But some disagree. Who is responsible for "the greatest holocaust in human history"? Hitler? No. Stalin? No. Pol Pot? No. Attila the Hun? No. Mao? No. The correct pomo answer is apparently the American Founding Fathers. Good grief. Rockin' and rollin' at NRO. Scroll. They are all in a good mood over there. I am, too. Warm beer, and fireworks from the waterfront villages shooting over the water. Always a fine American weekend, regardless of weather. God Bless America.
Avon, CT (pop. 17,000) in the Farmington River Valley (up towards The Barrister's neck of the woods), was a quaint, semi-rural semi-distant Hartford suburb until the highways came and the prosperous moved further from downtown Hartford. Avon's schools rank #1 in CT, largely because of its homogeneous middle-upper and upper-middle class population (a town's school "performance" correlates exactly with parental education and income, rendering school comparisons meaningless). Wiki notes that Avon was listed as one of the preppiest places in the United States in the 1980s best-seller The Official Preppy Handbook. A guy can still wear plaid pants or Nantucket Red in Avon without getting stared at, or shot. With growing prosperity and suburban sprawl, towns like Avon have lost their cornfields and woodlands and chicken farms and dairy pastures. At the risk of sounding like an obnoxious snob, those cornfields have been replaced by graceless architectural abominations - with no relationship or sensitivity to place, proportion, local history, or taste - like these below (many more here and here), currently priced in the $800,000-4,000,000 range, and usually on about 1-acre lots: 
Continue reading "Maggie's New England Real Estate: Hideous McMansions in Avon, CT"
Wednesday, July 2. 2008
 Mrs. BD thought there might be some interest in the subject of growing perennials - rather than annuals - in your containers. It's a bit late in the season to post this, but I will do so anyway, and re-post it next May, God willing.
Since it might cost $50 to pack a good-sized container with annuals, and since perennials are generally more attractive and interesting, it might be worth a try. We have occasionally been happily surprised to see perennials in containers coming back to life in Spring. The trick is overwintering them. Here's a site that explains it all. Photo is one of my containers, filled with about $40 of annuals. Should have tried some perennials.
 The Supreme Count in its landmark case District of Columbia, et al. v. Dick Anthony Heller is a limited victory for opponents of gun control laws, affirming a right to keep a handgun in the home for defensive purposes.
There seems to us no doubt, on the basis of both text and history, that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms. Of course the right was not unlimited, just as the First Amendment’s right of free speech was not. Thus, we do not read the Second Amendment to protect the right of citizens to carry arms for any sort of confrontation, just as we do not read the First Amendment to protect the right of citizens to speak for any purpose.
Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment . . . was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose. For example, the majority of the 19th-century courts . . . held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues.
It is therefore probable that state “shall issue” laws and other concealed weapon “carry” laws are discretionary, and not supported by the Second Amendment.
Next, “assault weapon” laws which ban ownership of semi-automatic rifles because they are ugly or scary-looking are clearly supported by Heller.
We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those “in common use at the time.” We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of “dangerous and unusual weapons.”
. . . weapons that are most useful in military service—M-16 rifles and the like—may be banned . . ..
Looking at Part III of the Heller decision, we can see the future of gun control efforts: The clause allowing “laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms” could well be taken as permitting registration of purchased firearms, limitations on quantities owned and possibly buyer qualification (such as requiring drivers licenses for cars). Of course, gun advocates have long feared registration as a pre-cursor to confiscation (as happened in Australia), but that fear is substantially reduced by Heller. We have registered our SUV, but do not fear the state confiscating it. Furthermore, in view of the individual right to bear arms affirmed by Heller, an argument may be made that having an inventory of individually-owned firearms in the hands of the State may inhibit the right of possession, much as requiring publications critical of whatever administration is currently in power to be sent to and registered with a central bureau. Heller therefore is a narrow decision permitting handguns to be kept at home for defensive purposes, and should not be read as securing a broad right to hunt or even to carry arms for any non-defensive purpose. Photo: A Browning M2 machine gun, still not available for home defense.
Fact is, we love newspapers. I worked for one for over a year, and our News Junkie works for one now. What we do not like is purportedly credible and objective newspapers being used as propaganda mills. I do not mind newspapers like Il Manifesto, on every newsstand in Italy, which is a Communist paper. You can assume they slant their reporting and cherry-pick their facts to support their political agendas. Their readers want their views reinforced, and not challenged. One reason Conservative blogs exist is because the MSM so frequently overlooks inconvenient truths. Glenn, who rarely writes anything resembling a blog post, today discusses newspapers. Related: The Great media Depression
King Abdullah: Get used to these gas prices. Who's smearing whom? Politico How bad is the economy? Stossel. My take is that the economy isn't terrible, but prices are hurting the middle class. Obama wants more support for faith-based groups. That is a clever chess move. Related: Barack Trudeau Obama? 55% of US handgun deaths are suicides. Gun control, at Pajamas Al Qaida's new global strategy. Image on top from Theo
Tuesday, July 1. 2008
A quote from the piece in Smithsonian Magazine of the above title: As a young man, Muir felt he was a student in what he called the ‘University of the Wilderness,'" Gisel said. "Yosemite was his graduate course. This is where he decided who he was, what he wanted to say and how he was going to say it." When he first strode into Yosemite in the spring of 1868, Muir was a scruffy Midwestern vagabond wandering the wilderness fringes of post-bellum America, taking odd jobs where he could. In retrospect, visiting Yosemite might seem an inevitable stop on his life's journey. But his later recollections reveal a young man plagued with self-doubt and uncertainty, often lonely and confused about the future. "I was tormented with soul hunger," he wrote of his meandering youth. "I was on the world. But was I in it?"
Global warming as mass neurosis: WSJ. We all know AGW is to blame for everything, and now the NYT adds decreasing penguins to the list - even though Antarctic ice is increasing. And, for utter looniness, Prince Charles runs his Aston Martin on surplus wine. I have no idea what "surplus wine" means. Does it mean his extra cases of Margaux '91 that he'll never get around to drinking? (1891, that is.)
It reminds me of the Simpson's episode in which people believe the end of the world is coming, so all the patrons of the bar run over to the church, while all the congregants of the church run over to the bar. AVI, on irony
Brits regulate salt shakers. Has anybody considered that these government people just don't have enough to do? Related idiocy: European travel space requirements. McCain's Universalism vs. Obama's Particularism. Something hit us in 1908 In France, it's the reputation, stupid. Do we live in a post-factual world? Related: Mr. Valiant for Truth. Oil makes us sick? Excuse me: oil is wonderful stuff. In Congress, the guilty interrogate the innocent. Reisman Going places. Mr. Obama is going to travel to Europe this summer. How nice for him. A broadening experience and all that, you know? Apparently he has never gone anywhere, despite making millions over the past few years. Related: Obama's real patriotism problem. Hey - we all know this guy doesn't have a patriotic bone in his body. He only sees the negative, as the effete elite like to do. That's allowed - it's a free country - but I am not sure it's a Presidential attitude, or an attitude that appreciates our country's history or its spirit.
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