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.
Having things to look forward to, whether a good snow storm, or a trip someplace new, a new lamp, a new Teaching Company series, a possible new friend, or reservations for a good dinner out, is part of the charm of life.
Mrs. BD has just laid on me our trip adventures for 2011 which she has kindly planned and paid for. (It seems like the villa in Provence or Tuscany for the whole family, plus the Gwynnies and the Sipps and some other fun pals, will have to wait 'til 2012 - God willing - because the gal wants to get me back to Turkey, and to the Holy Land, first. Maybe she is wondering how long I will last...)
For one thing, I know she is planning supper at this joint:
Screw the Death Tax. The grim reaper is forever snapping at our heels while we run like hell to keep one step ahead of him. Die broke. They keep reminding me that it's a big, inviting world out there, full of interesting, confusing, and exciting things. Ruts are bad because they shorten life. Comfort zones are mainly valuable as places to return to. I have learned this, in life. Timidity fails, constricts life, creates regrets that just accumulate and grow mold.
It's just kinda odd, though, that Mrs. BD had none of my hunting trips to my old familiar places on her list: Maine, New Brunswick, Manitoba. What's up with that? She has lots of theater and opera tix done too, but never even bothered to check out Bob's tour this year. Guess that's my responsibility.
What adventures are y'all planning this year?
Pic on top is the club where some of us Maggie's Farmers like to go to hunt critters with wings in Manitoba in early October.
Aristotle's "Man is a political animal" means, as you know, that man is an animal who lives in a polis. Most normal folks prefer to live amongst others, to cluster, whether for convenience, socializing, or for security. I happen to enjoy both town and country, and find suburbia to be an imperfect if often necessary compromise.
Urbanism is about studying cities and towns. The topic has always been of interest to me, whether from the archeological view or from the present view.
Our blog colleague with his shiny new site The Old Urbanist (a word-play on The New Urbanism) blogrolls several sites which I have found quite absorbing and informative:
The Guardian recently published a wicked satire of moral relativism, a Swiftian send-up entitled “End human rights imperialism now” with the classic sub-heading “Groups such as Human Rights Watch have lost their way by imposing western, ‘universal’ standards on developing countries.” Brilliant! Hahahahaha! I didn’t know the Guardian had branched out into humor.
But about five minutes after my laughter subsided, a horrible suspicion dawned on me: Could it be that the author was serious?
The notion of human rights is about as Western as it comes.
"I'm not racist, I know people who voted for Obama, although I try not to talk politics with them because we'll just get into an argument and they'll accuse me of being racist when they're losing in order to end the discussion."
That should work like a charm.
No it won't, Prof. That sounds very racist to me. The below is just a figment of Vanderleun's imagination:
4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
4:13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
4:14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
4:15 "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
4:16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
4:17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
4:18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.
4:19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."
4:20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
4:21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.
4:22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
I read the online New York Times visits to various areas of New York City and, though born and raised there, hardly recognize what is described. I figured, maybe it's just me, since I've been gone from there for decades. I'm not alone anymore. NBC News anchorman Brian Williams has fun mimicking the NYTs wonder at what it views as exotic Brooklyn.
There are a handful of species of Juncos in North America. Most familiar is the Dark-Eyed Junco, formerly known as the Slate-Colored Junco. Why they changed that name is totally beyond me. Who can see their eye color?
Flocks of these sparrows - yes, they are in the sparrow family - are common around the US during migration and in winter, generally feeding on or near the ground, in fields, edges, and brush. The dual flash of white in their tail is an easy field mark in flight. They enjoy our bird feeders, and they do not mind snow at all.
They breed pretty much throughout Canada. Their arrival in the US in November, along with the White-Throated Sparrows, is a sign that winter is coming. They will begin to push north in March.
You can read more about these cheerful critters here.
It is time to discuss the developments in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy and its urgent drive toward sea control in Asian waters. I believe that it is only a matter of time before the People's Republic of China invokes a duplicate of the Monroe Doctrine for all of Asia. [For those educated in the past couple of decades, the 1823 Monroe Doctrine stated that efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention].
The Forces
The media is focusing on the new J-20 Stealth fighter, and appear to have forgotten that "the Chinese have built, tested and are on schedule to deploy next year a missile designed to kill an American carrier. The Dong Feng 21D, according to published reports based on Chinese sources, could penetrate the carrier's existing antimissile defenses from 900 miles away with a nonnuclear precision warhead. A version of this missile was seen publicly for the first time in a Chinese military parade last year. American defense analysts acknowledge that this missile could be a game-changer, immediately affecting American naval operations within 1,000 miles of the Chinese coast." [1].
In fact, the government is not paying attention either. "On Feb. 11, 2010, the ... U.S. Missile Defense Agency airborne laser in a Boeing 747-400F successfully shot down a sea-launched liquid-fueled ballistic missile in ignition stage (within two minutes of launch) and, within one hour later, shot down a solid-state land-launched rocket. . . .
"Once in office, Obama cut the program's budget, eliminated a second airborne laser 747 and scaled back the ground-based antimissile weapons scheduled to be built in Europe to defend against Iranian threats, and in Alaska to counter North Korean missiles aimed at Los Angeles and Seattle. After the successful February 2010 test, no further tests were scheduled or conducted by the administration. Obama's proposed 2011 federal budget eliminates all funding for laser-based antimissile weapons systems." [2]
Completely forgotten now are the 81 (in 2009)[3] Australian designed (thanks, mates) high-speed wave piercing 140 ft. catamaran missile boats which carry 8 anti-ship missiles each - that's 480 missiles, which can be fired from a distance of 100 miles [3].
The USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, is composed of the carrier plus two guided missile cruisers (CG), seven guided missile destroyers (DDG), an attack sub (SSN) and an oiler [3]; that makes eleven surface targets. Each combatant ship is equipped with two Phalanx 20mm radar-aimed guns (Close In Weapons System) able to fire off their full magazine of 1,550 rounds in 20 seconds for last ditch defense, plus a variety of missile launchers firing 500-1,500 pound missiles with ranges of 5 to 15 miles.
The argument could be made that 480 incoming missiles could overwhelm the strike group's defenses!
The Tactics
"Well, one might certainly say, "the Chinese certainly aren't going to go to war with a country that owes them over one trillion dollars." Agreed - they aren't going to go to war! But there's a lot of conflict that falls short of war. Remember when the Israelis deliberately sank the USS Liberty?
"[Chinese] PLA planners are focused on targeting surface ships at long ranges. US DOD analyses of current and projected force structure improvements suggested as of 2007 that in the near term, China was seeking the capacity to hold surface ships at risk through a layered defense that reaches out to the "second island chain" (i.e., the islands extending south and east from Japan, to and beyond Guam in the western Pacific Ocean).[6]
The Chinese were offended at the US Navy's proposed exercises in the East China Sea off the western coast of South Korea in November, 2010, and so the US moved it to the east side of Korea. If the US hadn't cooperated, or if conflict arose in Korea or Taiwan, one can imagine the Chinese saying that those countries are in China's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and that although they sincerely wish to retain trading and financial relationships with the United States, any intrusion of US forces into those territorial waters would be an aggression which could and would repulsed by what will shortly be credible force, even as our countries remained at peace.
I believe that the current government of the United States would capitulate and remain outside whatever EEZ China declared, and that our influence in Asia will be at an end unless measures are taken today to restore and expand our missile defense capabilities.
'Terence, this is stupid stuff. You eat your victuals fast enogh; There can't be much amiss, 'tis clear, To see the rate you drink your beer. But oh, good Lord, the verse you make, It gives a chap the belly-ache. The cow, the old cow, she is dead; It sleeps well, the horned head; We, poor lads, 'tis our turn now To hear such tunes as killed the cow. Pretty friendship 'tis to rhyme Your friends to death before their time Moping melancholy mad: Come, pipe a tune to dance to, lad.'
Why, if ’tis dancing you would be, There’s brisker pipes than poetry. Say, for what were hop-yards meant, Or why was Burton built on Trent? Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God’s ways to man. Ale, man, ale’s the stuff to drink For fellows whom it hurts to think.
from Verse LXll, A Shropshire Lad, by A.E. Housman. Read entire
The great problem for the Left is that they have failed spectacularly. The Soviet Union is now a kleptocracy surviving off oil; China is a State run Corporation; Cuba can barely feed itself and its much vaunted healthcare system is a shambles for all but the well connected who can obtain western (Capitalist) medical care; Venezuela is going off a cliff despite its oil; everywhere Socialism has been tried it has failed to do anything but terrorize and consign its people to perdition.
Pic is from Pico ski area in Vermont. Great fun to ride up to those mountaintops on oil power, and to whizz down on gravity power. Thrills and chills. Thanks to globalistical warmening caused by climate models, winter is even more fun now with more cold and more snow.
I tend to believe that ordinary public education, with all of its flaws, shortcomings, and loony political agendas, generally does a pretty good job overall from K-12.
They did OK with me. I turned out literate and mathematically-literate (but I have to give my parents lots of credit for that too. My idea of a Dad was a tall guy with either a book, a chainsaw, a shovel, or a hammer in his hand. A cigarette, also.).
Well-motivated, bright, and well-disciplined kids can learn all they need there to get a good start, and if they are truly motivated and curious and in pursuit of mastery, they will take what is offered as far as they want on their own time. That's the whole point - to offer a foundation.
The challenge for school rankings (which is what school boards care a lot about) is the kids who are not in that category. They drag down the ranking, and thus property values. It's quite obvious that many if not most kids do not find academic learning to be of particular interest, even something as basic to life as algebra. Our schools aren't "failing;" our expectations are the problem.
Most kids are neither scholarly nor studious (girls are more inclined to sit than boys), and the latest stats that many or most kids learn little in college confirms that. College is whatever somebody makes of it, like everything in life.
When people talk about reforming schools, they generally are talking about trying to "meet the needs" of those who aren't very interested, talented, pushed, encouraged, or able - for whatever reasons. For them who wants it, basic eddication ain't expensive at all. For them who don't want it in youth, they can go to the internets or the library and learn all they want when they are older and more interested in things. For kids, the internets are a total time-waster and brain-killer, same as TV used to be. Well, if you have the Britannica online, maybe that might be an exception. I was raised to always review the Britannica before venturing into any new topic, for the overview and context.
OK, gentle readers. We'll put the banner blurb back ASAP. We never imagined that it had any impact. I guess it's a permanent feature.
Still working on improving our format, though - and our banner which needs work! However, we work with a Stone Age system which, like a 1925 tractor, is rugged but not very adaptable.
Many have heard about the latest kerfuffle at the American Psychiatric Association, which has decided to eliminate Narcissistic Personality Disorder from their next DSM edition (the DSM V). They have also eliminated some other personality disorders.
I really do not care what those clinical researchers on those committees vote for or against, because their view of the world is not mine.
The reason things like the DSM have little meaning to me is because their "diagnoses" have no internal validity (and, indeed, they focus more on consensual validity - meaning that docs can agree on a label - than internal validity, which they feel could be either unattainable, or too "theoretical"). Regardless of its origin, it all comes out in the DSM cookbook as "Anxiety Disorder, Panic Type" or something like that.
For example, let's say there are as many pathways to panic attacks as there are people who have this nasty symptom. Some of it might be inherited, some acquired, most some mix - and all embedded in a personality of a certain structure (which is our way of saying predictability).
This idea, I believe, is to make Psychiatry so "scientific" that the doc can then refer to the latest therapeutics manual and decide what medicine to offer. To my thinking, this is "pseudo-medical." Anxiety, in my view, is a symptom and not a "disorder." Analogous to a fever. Thus saying somebody has an Anxiety Disorder is not the end point of diagnosis - it's the beginning of a search for understanding.
What's the fever (or OCD or sex obsession or eating disorder) coming from? That's what I want to do the detective work on, one person at a time.
Docs like me prefer to work in depth, and find the DSM exasperatingly superficial and reductionistic.
We used to feature a weekly Bob music video, with lyrics, as a "Free Ad for Bob,", but they have all been taken away from YouTube. However, in cleaning out my image closet I did find a few Bob pics to post:
I proposed a bit of Latin to make us appear more intelligent than we are. My proposal:
Fortunatus sum! Pila mea de gramine horrido modo in pratum lene recta volvit!
(For the ignorant mouth breathers and gun-and-Bible clingers, it translates roughly Isn't that lucky! My ball just rolled out of the rough and onto the fairway!)
Fact is, BD and I agreed (provisionally) that it might be better simply to show what Maggie's is than to have to say what we are, hence the (provisional) removal of our age-olde blurbe. They told us, in writing class, "Show it, don't say it." Or did they say "Depict it..."?
There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.
1.3
Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that
when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are
disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad economist
pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to
come, while the good economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk
of a small present evil.
The Democrats’ strategy on Obamacare is cynical, and kind of
embarrassing: “Meet Jimmy, who will get something from the health-care
bill. How dare you take it away?” But there is the seen and there is the unseen. The beneficiaries of Obamacare are easy to find. They are what is seen. What is unseen?
Aristotle's "Man is a political animal" means, as you know, that man is an animal who lives in a polis. Most normal folks prefer to live amongst others, to cluster, whether for convenience, socializing, or for security. I happen to enjoy both town and country, and find suburbia to be an imperfect if often necessary compromise.
The American: 
There are a handful of species of Juncos in North America. Most familiar is the Dark-Eyed Junco, formerly known as the Slate-Colored Junco. Why they changed that name is totally beyond me. Who can see their eye color?
'Terence, this is stupid stuff.
Can We Trust the GOP?
I tend to believe that ordinary public education, with all of its flaws, shortcomings, and loony political agendas, generally does a pretty good job overall from K-12. 
Bumpersticker from Vanderleun's 