We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
First, begin with the idea that love is dangerous and some people are more vulnerable than others. We’ve called love a virus before, and sadly, your emotional immune system is impaired.
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
We wanted our trip to be as much off the beaten path as feasible, and to try to soak up Italy instead of tourist Italy (which I term Disney Italy - been there, done that). After using our delightful tenuta outside Todi as our base for a few days, we headed up over the hills and through the vineyards towards Bevagna in the Valle Umbra because Mrs. BD knew, during her planning, that I wanted some time based in a little old, non-touristy town to walk around in.
On the way there, we stopped by the hilltop walled village Montefalco, where we did the most shopping on our entire trip: She could not resist the famous tessuto artistico - the textiles of Umbria - tablecloths and linens - and I could not resist their heavy Umbrian olive oils and wines. Sagrantino di Montefalco, in particular:
Montefalco is know almost exclusively for its obscure and powerful wine, know as Sagrantino. Sagrantino is a dark bruiting red wine made from the indigenous Sangratino grape that is grown only around Montefalco. For centuries it was produced as a passito, a fortified dessert wine, but today Sagrantino reaches its pinnacle as a earthy and dry table wine.
Well, also known for its Umbrian textiles. She bought a yellow tablecloth with some pattern in it or whatever, taking well over 1/2 hour to do so while I explored around. (It is against my religion to enter clothing stores, shoe stores, or textile shops).
This is a pic of a pic on the wall in one of Montefalco's many vino and olio shops.
Both Hollywood and politics have been called “high school with money,” to reflect their petty, puerile nature. But it’s rare to see a politician — especially one with such powerful connections as Weiner — wish so overtly to infantilize himself. Particularly at what will likely be looked back at as being the peak of his career in politics
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."
2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?"
2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."
2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.
2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.
2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
Imagine a newspaper in 2008 asking readers' help in perusing Barack Obama's emails as U.S. senator and Illinois state senator. Or for that matter, help in unearthing his college records. The howls from "mainstream" journalists and Democratic politicians would have been deafening.
Prison Math - What are the costs and benefits of leading the world in locking up human beings?
We lock up too many people for non-violent crimes. In the end, it's the taxpayers who pay for it. Let them pay for their errors with money or work instead of residing on my nickel.
It's indecent on the face of it, for heaven's sake. Even Bill Clinton left the charming high school girls alone. Adults just aren't supposed to do that, Humbert Humbert: it's not "sick" - it's plain old bad. The guy has a pattern of bad, of all sorts.
Darn uptight Christian Conservatives don't think guys should be hitting on high school girls. It's somebody's daughter. Sheesh. I guess it is not unseemly, in the view of like really hip dudes like Matthews. Is "unseemly" obsolete?
I want free life and I want fresh air; And I sigh for the canter after the cattle, The crack of the whips like shots in a battle, The medley of horns and hoofs and heads That wars and wrangles and scatters and spreads; The green beneath and the blue above, And dash and danger, and life and love - And Lasca! Lasca used to ride On a mouse-gray mustang close by my side, With blue serape and bright-belled spur; I laughed with joy as I looked at her! Little knew she of books or of creeds; An Ave Maria sufficed her needs; Little she cared, save to be by my side, To ride with me, and ever to ride, From San Saba's shore to LaVaca's tide. She was as bold as the billows that beat, She was as wild as the breezes that blow; From her little head to her little feet She was swayed in her suppleness to and fro By each gust of passion; a sapling pine That grows on the edge of a Kansas bluff And wars with the wind when the weather is rough Is like this Lasca, this love of mine.
She would hunger that I might eat, Would take the bitter and leave me the sweet; But once, when I made her jealous for fun, At something I'd whispered, or looked, or done, One Sunday, in San Antonio, To a glorious girl in the Alamo, She drew from her garter a dear little dagger, And -- sting of a wasp! -- it made me stagger! An inch to the left, or an inch to the right, And I shouldn't be maundering here tonight; But she sobbed, and, sobbing, so swiftly bound Her torn reboso about the wound, That I quite forgave her. Scratches don't count In Texas, down by the Rio Grande.
The rest of the poem is on the continuation page, below
The author of this famous cowboy poem, Frank Desprez, (1852-1916) was a Brit essayist and playwright who had spent three years in the American West. Here's a cowboy poetry website.
That's the name of a hotel that we did not stay at. Somebody's old villa. We discovered this gem by accident while stumbling around the countryside outside Montefalco looking for a Sagrantino winery to visit on our way (on the "Strada di Sagrantino") to visit the wonderful town of Spello - also a gem of a place.
A stunning and elegant place in a tiny hamlet outside Montefalco. I love the elegant simplicity of classic Italian design: zero glitz, sedate and serene, good use of subtle colors, formal gardens - the things the Brits loved and learned from, and enthusiastically integrated into their sort-of-crude commercial culture in the 17th and 18th C.
Brits love - and need - Italy for the yeast in their northern European bread, as it were. Same for New England Yankees, I think.
Mrs. BD and I thought it would be perfect for a destination wedding or a second, third, or whatever honeymoon. She walked in and had a chat with the manager, who was happy to show her around, while I stayed outside and took pics of their gardens and smoked a short ceegar. It's in fairly easy driving distance from Assisi, Spello, Spoleto and Montefalco, and what could be better than that?
Look at their website, and make up your own mind about whether you might like to spend a few days there in the Valle Umbra with your honey-pie and a Costco-rented standard transmission Alpha Romeo with talking GPS.
Big swimming pool, too, even though no Italians can swim to save their lives. I do not know why that is. They like to strut around pools and beaches in their tiny clothes, but they can't swim.
The real problem for Europe’s peripheral countries is that the very large economic imbalances that they are now experiencing are extraordinarily difficult to correct within the straitjacket of EU membership. No longer having their own currency to manage, these countries cannot resort to currency devaluation to boost exports. Instead, they now have to earn competitiveness through the painful process of wage and price deflation. And a big boost in exports is exactly what these countries now need to withstand the many years of public sector belt-tightening that they will have to endure to put their public finances on sustainable paths.
Strauss-Kahn should have recognized that Greece, Ireland, and Portugal were all essentially bankrupt. In particular, he should have accepted that, without a meaningful write down of their government debt, there was no way that these countries could restore order to their public finances without provoking the deepest of economic recessions. Instead, Strauss-Kahn chose to believe that all that was required to tide these countries over their economic crises was the usual IMF recipe of draconian budget belt-tightening backed by very large public-sector bailout lending from the IMF and the European Union.
Like a lot of people, my friend always assumed that because his last name is somewhat unusual, he'd always be able to pick up his "name.com" domain whenever he wanted.
He also thought he'd never actually have a use for it, in the sense that he doesn't have any kids, so it's doubtful he'll be posting pics of his cute grandkids a few years down the road, plus he doesn't have any interest in blogging.
Then he went to some kind of 'crafts school' for a month and is now gearing up to sell online some of the nifty things he's turning out, like lamps and chandeliers. But he doesn't want to commit himself to any one genre in a business sense, like using "JimsCustomLighting.com" for the domain, so what he really wants to do is — you guessed it — use his real name.
And — you guessed it — the domain is gone, gobbled up by the domain harvesters. It just goes to some "This domain is for sale" page. And, in many cases, you don't actually get to buy it from them for a mere $4,999.99, you lease it from them on a yearly basis extending from now until the end of eternity.
And then there's this (names have been changed to protect the innocent):
I just don't get it. Did they pre-register it because of all the James Bellywhumpers out there, knowing one of us would be along any minute? I typed a few variations into the browser about a year ago and they were all available (it went to Bing). Did I tip my hand?
Ya got me. You wouldn't think that Bing (Microsoft) would actually sell its list of searches with the word ".com" in them to some domain harvester, but, on the other hand, it's not illegal to harvest domains, so it probably wouldn't be surprising to find out the domain harvester in this case is owned by Microsoft.
As it is, my friend isn't sure what the hell he's going to do. Probably end up using "JimsCustomDoodads.com".
So if you ever think you might want your own domain name, now's the time. Nor do you have to actually do anything with it, like build a temporary web site to 'hold' it. And most web hosting companies will automatically re-bill you each year so you don't lose it.
I've been designing web pages since the web was one month old, have used a lot of web hosting companies over the years, and my pick of the litter these days is BlueHost. Unlimited bandwidth, unlimited storage space, unlimited email boxes, a whole shitload of helper programs, and all for a lousy $6.95 a month.
The direct link is here. If you want to read a bit more about BlueHost and get some ideas on conjuring up an available domain name (like using hyphens), read this, then use the link on the page to get to BlueHost. If the domain's available, GET IT. You're not signing up for a 1-year contract or anything. If you later decide you don't want it, they'll pro-rate it back and refund you the difference with no 'disconnect fee'.
If you're interested in firing up a blog site (elections are coming up!) or web site, please...
The various academic fields of –ists and –ologists try to decipher why and how individuals and groups do things, and the effective ways to get them to do them better or differently or to do other things.
I’d suggest that the further they get from coercion, material or otherwise, the weaker their prescriptions.
With one exception, that is, persuasion. The field of persuasion is what I focused upon in my doctoral studies of organization and decision making, as offering the most direct and directly measurable avenue to offering improvements that are accepted and acted upon.
Reducing a complex subject, full of tautologies, persuasion is getting someone to do what they want to do. One does that by listening, observing and understanding the person’s wants and offering information with comfort that they find useful which will lead them to rearrange their priorities.
A corollary to that is understanding why individuals choose attitudes and behaviors that are less constructive to their own wants. This article by a leading social psychologist says that we form narratives of ourselves and the world that are often misleading.
Personally, I believe that we all are exposed to roughly equal proportions of good and bad things in our lives, although of differing dimensions, and we each choose which to focus upon. The happier among us tend to focus on the good things more than the bad.
None of this is to contradict deep psychoanalysis, discursive or medicinal, for very serious problems. However, for most of us, the functionally dysfunctional common to humanity, the more direct path is through understanding our and others’ narratives.
The academic –ists and –ologists tend to go well beyond that -- often based on controlled experiments with college students from which they overgeneralize -- into how to influence or control groups of people, adding such magnitudes of mathematical and knowable uncertainties that they blunder about in faith-healing based on catering to whatever their powers that be desire.
Once one gets too far away from eternal verities, from moral lessons that have been, in effect, empirically tested across hundreds and thousands of years by all people and peoples and found to point in the right direction, one enters into the experimentalists that have no more respect for us than rats and no more object than controlling the rats.
They haven’t been too successful, so they increasingly turn to coercion. The resistance of individual constructive independence and relationships eventually wins out, although after great costs along the way.
If one chooses to be conscious and resist ill temptations, to be in control of one’s own narrative, however, the “I” rules and saves oneself and the world from great pain.
We took a drive to Orvieto, with the goal of seeing the renowned Signorelli chapel's 16th C. frescoes - the Chapel of the Madonna di San Brizio inside the 15th C. Duomo.
Horrors! I was taken aback by my own thoughts. How could I be so cruel? What evil right-wing influence was making me think this way?
I went through a similar transformation years ago. I am heartened to see that some are still capable of real "critical thinking." Perhaps all Liberals are not hopelessly committed Communists. My main take-home from the pics, however, is that these are not well-indoctrinated ideologues - they are just greedy for my money.
There is no end-point to the Leftist's desire for the fruits of my labor. It is always "more."
Like everyone else in the audience, if I had been watching 'Britain's Got Talent' when Susan Boyle walked onto the stage, I would have figured this was going to be a total disaster. A more frumpy, frowzy, middle-aged Scottish woman would be hard to imagine. Then she starts cackling away and going through some goofy gyrations and you're starting to think that maybe it's going to be some kind of musical comedy skit. Either way, you know it's going to be just awful.
But then.
Hopefully, we all learned a little lesson about stereotypes and preconceived notions that day.
...I have minimal expectations of this country’s depraved political class. But if you can’t draw the line at being ruled by creeps with a spambot penis, you can’t draw it anywhere.
According to NBC, you're from Chicago, but they've already got a mayor that accosts men in the shower at the gym, so maybe you figure there's no upside for you there. But you can move to New York and run as a carpetbagger, dude! You've got what the Empire State demands in its elected officials: a wonky eye for the ladies.
The original argument against the Bill of Rights as an amendment to the Constitution in the US was that it would make it appear that those were the only rights of the people and of the states.
"Enumerated powers" do not enumerate the rights of the people, but delimit the powers of the state (all Maggie's readers know that). Randy Barnett discusses. A quote:
...before there was any Bill of Rights, defenders of the Constitution claimed that the enumeration of power in Article I would protect the liberties of the people, making a bill of rights unnecessary.
The people opposing the Bill of Rights amendments had a good point.
You may have noticed, and be thankful, that Maggie's Farm has not participated in the WeinerWanker festival. Indeed, I'd forgotten that I'd exposed Congressman Anthony Weiner's putziness last February 25. The current posts at Don Surber and then at The Other McCain reminded me. A "putz" is commonly described as someone with a pattern of behavior as a fool. Those who elect them or defend them are a fool's tool.
I could go on with the verbal connections, but the deeper thrusts needn't further penetrate. Or, need they?
The 
Acts 2:1-21
Lasca, by Frank Desprez
Obama Proclaims June 
At Pajamas, 
