Maggie's Farm

Thanks to Vanderleun for finding Graphs on the death of Marxism, postmodernism, and other stupid academic fads. A quote:

"The sudden decline of all the big-shot theories you'd study in a literary theory or critical theory class is certainly behind the recent angst of arts and humanities grad students. Without a big theory, you can't pretend you have specialized training and shouldn't be treated as such -- high school English teachers may be fine with that, but if you're in grad school, that's admitting you failed as an academic. You want a good reputation. Isn't it strange, though, that no replacement theories have filled the void? That's because everyone now understands that the whole thing was a big joke, and aren't going to be suckered again anytime soon."

Here's one of his graphs, this one on academic references to Deconstruction:

This is Clematis Henryi. I have just ordered one to grow over an arbor.

In my experience, these are tricky plants and slow to establish themselves. When they are unhappy, there's not a damn thing you can do about it. When they are happy on a sunny fence, they are great. They supposedly like their feet cool, shaded, and mulched.

I've tried everything but, like people, they just go their own way and follow their own path, whether it leads to heaven, hell, or Paramus.

I also like Sweet Autumn Clematis, which is a tougher, more forgiving variety.

"If someone wrote in the back of your yearbook, 'You can be whatever you want to be,' that was really dumb because you can't be a fish. It is just not going to work out for you."

Prof Peter Lawler (of No Left Turns, as quoted here)

Via Lucianne:

Bruce Kesler sent us this post:

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Is the charity tax-deduction excessive?

The question is almost never raised whether our tax deduction for charity is excessive.  Whatever our religious faith, all agree that charity is a high personal and societal calling and deserves government support.  Republicans and Democrats agree, in supporting President Bush’s faith-based organizations in its delivery (although Barack Obama would restrict their ability to exclude hiring outside their doctrine, requiring they act secular instead).

However, much described in the tax regulations as charity is not.  Scriptures refer to helping the unfortunate and being neighborly and loving.  The preferred methods  provide  means to recipients to support themselves.  This concept of charity has been broadened by advocates of non-profit organizations, and by liberal interpretations of scripture, to include virtually anything that one can say is of any possible societal benefit, no matter how narrow, cost-ineffective, more self-serving than serving others, or even a veil for partisan politics.

Some conservatives argue against narrowing the tax code.  They, justifiably, see our income and assets as our own, not the government’s, and want to keep as much as possible outside the government’s control.  Further, they see individual choices as both morally and practically preferable, more cost-effective, better measured, more adaptive, and more focused than government.  They are correct.

Reasons to visit Venice's little sister: Giotto, Menabuoi, and Donatello. This is Giotto's Capella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel) in Padua:

America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.

Joseph Stalin (perhaps - can't prove it)

A holiday gift that is never wrong.

Farewell to the King Salmon. Smithsonian

Farewell to Shea Stadium. The end of Yankee Stadium got all the attention.

Newt is furious at Paulson, Bush, etc. Related: How over-regulation caused the banking mess. Related: Here's the Dems refusing to reform Fannie and Freddie in 2004

10 towns hardest hit by banking meltdown. Yes, it includes Darien, CT

Real affordable housing. h/t, Insty

Kirsanow on Obama:

Criticizing George Bush or any of our other political leaders is one thing. Contending America's ideals and values are somehow suspect is a breathtaking statement for a prospective commander in chief to make, especially when thousands of Americans have given life and limb, sons and daughters, in brave demonstration of our ideals and values.

^{Matthew 21:23-32}

²³When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

²⁸“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Our internet friend Right Wing Prof emailed these thoughts to us:

The "Catholic vote" must refer specifically to the "Observant Catholic vote," or it's a meaningless demographic.

First, Catholics differ from Protestants in their fear of apostasy. Protestants often covert or change churches; Catholics rarely do. This is why you hear about lapsed Catholics, but never lapsed Methodists. The point here is that lapsed Catholics, those who never go to Mass, identify themselves as Catholics and always will, but pay no attention to the precepts of the Church. They will always be a part of the "Catholic vote" on any survey or poll, unless the poll differentiates. Most don't.

Second, you have the cafeteria Catholic segment. Some go to Mass only on Easter and Christmas, while others go to Mass more or less regularly. Because like Protestants, they feel they can pick and choose among matters of faith, they are very hard to pin down. Many are strongly pro-life, but the question is how they balance life against other issues. Note that in response to Pelosi and Biden, over a hundred American bishops have now stated that life is more important than all other issues, although none has endorsed a ticket. These statements may swing many cafeteria Catholics to McCain and Palin.

Remove these two groups from the Catholic demographic, and you are left with the observant Catholics. Note that observant doesn't merely mean they go to Mass regularly. Observant means that they take their faith seriously, and follow the precepts of the Church. This is perhaps the strongest pro-life group in the United States, and tends to be socially conservative in general.

Two things are going to swing the votes more than we would see in most elections: The bishops' statements in response to Pelosi and Biden, and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act that Obama refused to vote for. McCain's support of federal monies for stem-cell research hurt his standing among pro-life Cathoics to some extent, but putting Palin on the ticket seems to have outweighed that, and McCain's stance on federal money for stem-cell research pales next to Obama's refusal to support the Born Alive Infant Protection Act as a pro-life issue.

Note, however, that even if only the observant Catholics vote Republican, that's a significant demographic. There are 67 million Catholics in the United States.  If observant Catholics only account for 25% of the entire Catholic population, that's 16.25 million votes.

(There are other problems with treating the self-identification "Catholic" on polls and surveys as a voting block. First, there is the intersection between Hispanic voters and Catholic voters. Hispanics have a whole set of issues that aren't necessarily Catholic issues, and these will affect how they vote. Second, you have the historical effect in play with ethnic Catholics that aren't really ethnic at all anymore, but tend to vote the same way their parents and grandparents, etc., did. These groups tend to be geographically as well as ethnically defined, such as Irish Catholics in MA, Italian Catholics in Philly or NYC, etc., and nearly all are urban.)

Keeping all these problems in mind, there are these poll results. Zogby reports that 54% of Catholics in general are intending to vote McCain. Another Pew poll that differentiates between lapsed and attending (non-lapsed, since this would include cafeteria Catholics who attend Mass and observant Catholics) Catholics reports an even split for McCain and Obama among lapsed Catholics, and a 52-36 McCain advantage among Catholics who attend Mass (non-lapsed).

Oddly enough, Gary Bauer of all people wrote an article about Obama's "Catholic problem" in Human Events. He does, however, hit the nail on the head: "Obama is hemorrhaging Catholic support for the same reason John Kerry lost the Catholic vote in 2004: because most Catholics believe that some issues are non-negotiable."

Well, he almost hits it. I'm not sure "most" is correct, but he's referring to non-lapsed Catholics.

Do you feel better informed about the candidates after that debate? Know them better? Here's Mona Charen.

Why the Polar Bear? An animal to save the world

Megan: "My position on global warming:  a federal program to make sure everyone has an adequate supply of little umbrellas for their tropical drinks!"

Except for the most rabidly partisan blogs, most bloggers practice ethical writing. Jay Rosen discusses

Why Petrobras is doing well, when other nationalized oil companies aren't

Rich doctors? Primary care MDs in CT

The state of slavery today. Wilson Quarterly

Dems want to direct bailout $ to left-wing groups

Six social policy myths. Policy

Somalian pirates. Let's postpone that cruise to Somalia this year, dear.

Obama's foreign policy naivete.

Is it a bailout or an investment? I hate to see the govt taking over businesses (even "temporarily," but the Treasury could make out like Wall St. bandits - for better or worse.

John Hinderaker wants this Youtube sent around, so here it is:

After Apple Picking

This early (1915) poem is in Frost's North of Boston collection. You can hear him read the poem here. Here's an interesting review of a bio of Frost: A Terrifying Poet. Yes he was.

Johnny Appleseed - John Chapman - was an interesting character: an ascetic, a Swedenborgian missionary, and a nurseryman who had little interest in making money.

Read about him and his unusual life at a good Wiki entry.

The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.

Václav Havel (h/t, LGF)

From Grow A Brain:

Have you heard the one about the actress who was late for an audition? She’s driving around and around and there is no parking anywhere. She says aloud, “Dear all powerful and merciful God please find me a place to park - I’ll do anything for you.” As she finishes praying, a space opens up and she says, “Never mind - I found one."

A simple and clear story line from Deal Journal, via SDA.

Also, Coulter via View from the Right:

In Bush's first year in office, the White House chief economist, N. Gregory Mankiw, warned that the government's "implicit subsidy" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, combined with loans to unqualified borrowers, was creating a huge risk for the entire financial system.

Rep. Barney Frank denounced Mankiw, saying he had no "concern about housing." How dare you oppose suicidal loans to people who can't repay them! The New York Times reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "under heavy assault by the Republicans," but these entities still had "important political allies" in the Democrats.

Now, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, middle-class taxpayers are going to be forced to bail out the Democrats' two most important constituent groups: rich Wall Street bankers and welfare recipients.

Political correctness had already ruined education, sports, science and entertainment. But it took a Democratic president with a Democratic congress for political correctness to wreck the financial industry.

Bill Clinton agrees that the Dems are to blame.

Some family and friends climbed Mt. Willey on Sunday. They popped a bottle of champagne on the foggy top. Here's one of their photos from a viewpoint, part way up:

I mentioned hearing Barbados' Arturo Tappin in Roberta Flack's band last weekend. The guy does every reed instrument, seemingly effortlessly and with joy. He does Grover Washington-style stuff, but can rock out if he wants. Here's a good sample of him:

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

Milton Friedman

What's up with Beauty Studies (ie Neuroaesthetics) these days?

A quote from Beauty and the Brain (by the proprietor of Neurophilosophy) in Seed (h/t, Dr. X):

...recent work by several researchers at University College London?—?including the establishment of the first major grant-driven research program for the neurobiological investigation of aesthetics, or neuroaesthetics?—?has made the first steps toward a unified biocultural theory of art.

An object's beauty may not be universal, but the neural basis for appreciating beauty probably is. The researchers' initial discoveries and the increasing formalization of the field promise to open the way for the first time to an understanding of beauty based on something other than speculation.

Can things of the soul and spirit be understood in terms of neurotransmitters and neural wiring? Count me a skeptic. Different levels of organization have different rules and patterns which do not transfer one to the other. For example, you could know everything about atoms but never predict a living cell, and you could understand everything about a cortical network without predicting Moby Dick. (And, for me, on a good day I see beauty everywhere but on a bad day I see it nowhere.)

Still, they may as well give it a try. I get skeptical when they call it a bio-cultural model, however. It makes it too clear that they seek to detour around the psychology part.

Rich Lowry discusses why we need something like the Paulson plan. I think people like "Kill the bailout" Michelle are way off base on both economic and political grounds: frozen credit will create a huge slowdown which will hurt everybody and turn Bush, unwillingly, into another Herbert Hoover. Furthermore, I do not believe that the Feds intend to keep these assets forever. We aren't bailing out rich bankers - we're bailing out the US economy. It's a hangover cure for the housing bubble.

Buffett: It's an economic Pearl Harbor.

Mayor Bloomberg explains how the Dems caused the financial meltdown via a corrupted and politicized Fannie and Freddie.

From Willisms: