Maggie's Farm

A Call for Information from the Blog-World

We would like to collect information on the political activities and political agendas of innocent-appearing non-profit organizations.

Our post today on the UCC was not our first on this topic, but the millions of blog-readers out there can collect the info better than we can.

For example, we have been told by a reader that the National YWCA has a mission statement to "defeat rascism and sexism by all means necessary."  We are all against racism and sexism, but what does that mean, is it true, and what do they do about it? This kind of stuff isn't on the organizational websites - you have to know it from the inside.

We suspect that most people are not aware of what the national HQs of many non-profits are doing with their share of dues in Washington and in New York. Let's try to find out.

Email us with hard data.  Thanks.

"In much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow."

Ecclesiastes

Isikoff: It is a "blip"

Innocent lives, far away, may be a "blip" to Isikoff - or is the main concern about the life of the magazine?

The Golden Rule of Flattery: "Enjoy it, but don't inhale."

Anon.

1995 John Deere, Model 8650

We moved tractors to Mondays. Monday is the day we all need a little traction to get rolling.

This big boy provides more than a little.

I'd like to try pulling a few stumps with this one. Man, this is a serious tooth-puller. Almost too big for Yankee-land farms. Put a chain around the house and move it over there!

"Insanity in individuals is something rare--but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."

Friedrich Nietzsche

But concerning the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brethren thoughout Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you, so that you may command the respect of outsiders, and be dependent on nobody.

From Paul's (chastising but encouraging) Letter to the Thessalonians, 4:9

This is a re-post:

 James Twitchell on Higher Ed, Inc:

"Counting everything but its huge endowment holdings, Higher Ed, Inc., is a $250 to $270 billion business—bigger than religion, much bigger than art. And though no one in the business will openly admit it, getting into college is a cinch. The problem, of course, is that too many students want to get into the same handful of nameplate colleges, making it seem that the entire market is tight. It most certainly is not. Here’s the crucial statistic: There are about 2,500 four-year colleges in this country, and only about 100 of them refuse more applicants than they accept. Most schools accept 80 percent or more of those who apply. It’s the rare student who can’t get in somewhere. "

Criticism from Readers

Keep 'em coming. We will try not to be hypersensitive or defensive. Much as we enjoy compliments, they really do us no good at all. (But keep them coming too.)

Yes, we can go overboard and be stupid and provocative sometimes. And yes, sometimes the transitions in our "essays" are lame. And yes and no, we are a hodge-podge, but so is life. And yes, we do like guns. And lots of other things, including dogs and marshes full of birds and this whole amazing Creation. And yes, we can be edgy - some of us, anyway. Edgy is OK, as is curmudgeonly, but cranky is something we'd like to avoid - if we can. Too much Cuba? Sorry. There is just something about Cuba that we like.

Cuba

Publius Pundit has more links on Cuba's "Ascendent Revolution." The photos, taken today, from Stefania are remarkable.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

Austin Bay has posted Part 2 of Tom Nichol's "Reform to Collapse in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, 1988-1991". Nichols is a Prof. at the Naval War College. The piece is not short, quite detailed, and a fascinating look at the recent past. Here.

Want another Pepsi?

Powerline's update here. Curt Jester highlights a new Pepsi product. - for the Michael Moore Generation - thanks, Michelle. And Hugh Hewitt is staying on the story. I admit to feeling badly for Nooyi for writing a speech that she probably thought was cute and hip, but was stupid at the least. Pepsico is doubtless crossing their Frito-stained fingers and praying that this just goes away in the next news cycle. The power that blogs have acquired is mind-boggling. Public figures will take note - if you say it, be ready to defend it - if it's stupid, wrong, or propaganda, it could get noticed.

The End of Innocence

The battle over the judiciary, after all of these years, represents the willingness of the Repubs to quit being loveable, and begin taking the reins. About time. Right or wrong, someone has to govern, and that means leading with authority and confidence as the other guys did for 40 years.

Oh, Canada

Steyn has the story. It is about how corruption works well in politics - plus scaring the poor darn voters - plus voter apathy. A spineless country, addicted to dependency and weakness. What happened to their spirit, dignity, and self-respect? The entire country is becoming a comical Molson advertisement, eh?

Why Islamic Terrorism? The Yankee View.

We have posted on this subject numerous times, and doubtless will again. But I have to highlight the simple truth. If America is mostly still passionate about political and economic freedom, freedom of religion, the dignity of the individual, freedom of opportunity and freedom of self-expression, then think of the Jihadists and Terrorists ("Insurgents", to the NYT) and Islamofascists as being at least as passionate about imposing Islam, Sharia Law, the subjugation of females, and the elimination of Jews, on the planet Earth. That is what it is about. Period. It is a culture war and the enemy, in their pathetic ignorance of the world, actually believes that they can prevail - with Allah's help, of course.

That cannot happen, and it will never happen. I relink this LGF piece. If it is important to be "understanding," then understand it. If it is important to be "tolerant" - forget it. Watch the video, too. Guess what? - We're on the right side....unless you have abandoned all sense of right and wrong at all, and would have wanted to also be "tolerant and understanding" of Adolf Hitler and his followers - after all, they had "feelings" too, not to mention a valid gripe about the Treaty of Versailles which screwed Germany in a humiliating manner.

But that doesn't matter - up here in rugged Yankeeland, where we try to live according to a stern self-imposed code, we do not entertain excuses. Take it or leave it: Excuses are for babies, and emotion-based "explanations" are for teen-agers. Make a mistake, and pay the price. Very simple and easy for anyone to understand. Even me.

The Western world has recently confronted totalitarian fascist movements, led by the defunct Third Reich, and again by the defunct Soviet Union, and those are thankfully in the dust-bin of history.

Once again, we are reminded of the old saw that "freedom isn't free."  Don't Tread on Me.

(Colonial "Culpepper" flag thanks to Dave's Flag Site)

Cuba Lovers

We have a number of Cuba-loving readers - but not in the Hollywood political sense. I mean folks who love the island and the people of Cuba, but who hate the Bearded One, Fidelito, and what he has done to the island. However, despite Fidel, the spirit of these wonderful people endures and will rise again and blossom after he is gone.

It is much easier and more common than I realized for Americans to visit Cuba now, via Mexico, but many do not wish to subsidize Fidel by adding their dollars to his economy. On the other hand, the people need money.

Too bad more Cubans don't have internet service. Fidelito would be gone in a flash, and I am sure he knows that. But may the "Sugar Cane" Revolution come soon, very soon, to Cuba. Cuba Libre! Personally, I can't wait to visit. My grampa loved Cuba.

In the meantime, there will be a taste of Havana in New York - Brooklyn specifically - this summer. Habana Outpost Food & Market. 

Ann Coulter reviews Michael Isikoff's record of getting his reportage into print, and the results are distressingly predictable:

When ace reporter Michael Isikoff had the scoop of the decade, a thoroughly sourced story about the president of the United States having an affair with an intern and then pressuring her to lie about it under oath, Newsweek decided not to run the story. Matt Drudge scooped Newsweek, followed by The Washington Post.

Read the rest of her examples, and you'll get the picture.

“Do I contradict myself?
Very well then . . . . I contradict myself; 
I am large . . . . I contain multitudes.”

Walt Whitman

Wymeswold Airfield

There is something hauntingly appealing about abandoned military sites, like bare ruined choirs. At the old English airfields of WW2, you can almost hear the sound of the engines warming up, almost see that recent past among the slowly crumbling buildings and the weedy landing strips. Wymsewold has its own website.

Pepsi Gives the US The Finger: The Final Episode

What an embarassing episode. The speech sounds remarkably naive, oblivious to the sophistication and IQ of the audience, unintelligent, condescending, anti-American in its undertones, sophomorically full of mixed metaphors that don't add up, and plain painful to read, much less to have heard. I entirely agree with Scott in that assesment. She needs a speechwriter - fast. PepsiCo can afford it with their profits from the trash they peddle around the world. Powerline is all over the story, in a balanced way, and has posted the text. One can only feel badly for Nooryi - she isn't quite ready for prime time, and no doubt she has learned this by today. If it were a guy, you would throw tomatoes, or at least nicely give her the old hook and yank her offstage for her own good. But who is ready for prime time, except for Krauthammer? Just one question - How does Great Scott at Powerline find time for all of this? And forget boycotting PepsiCo in indignation - who eats or drinks their junk anyway? I will promise one thing: If the MSM covers the story, I will eat a (small) bag of Fritos.

By this time of year, the fairly common Goldfinch has undergone the spring
molt and the canary-yellow males become much more evident. In the winter, they are a drab shade of olive. They are usually seen in small flocks in weedy fields and edges. If you don't think you have Goldfinches in your area, put out a thistle feeder for a few weeks.

Read more about the American Goldfinch.

A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin's eyes
I'm looking up into the sapphire-tinted skies
I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train

Bob Dylan, from Things Have Changed

Why Kim du Toit Moved to Texas

Quite an amusing account of how our favorite gun-loving blogger made his mind up about what state to move to. I am not sure why "work" never entered into his calculations - but Kim has more important considerations:

I’m just one guy, and we should be careful about using a sample of one to make any kind of judgement; but when we decided that Chicago was too much of a totalitarian state for us (even though we loved the place, and leaving it would cause us severe financial hardship, not to mention emotional stress), we didn’t move to Michigan (our first choice), because Michigan requires that its citizens register their handguns. Not gonna do that.

We didn’t move to Vermont, because the state required us to register as homeschoolers; we didn’t move to Pennsylvania because their state taxes were too high; and we went on and on through the states, checking to see which one incorporated the best mix of gun laws, homeschooling-friendliness, low taxes and low government involvement in its citizens’ lives generally.

Needless to say, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, and New York were never considered at all.

Ultimately, we were left with Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Idaho and Texas. New Hampshire and Idaho were too far from the Son&Heir (flights to DFW being both infrequent/inconvenient and expensive), and Arizona and Oklahoma were too desolate for our taste.

I'm afraid that, except for NH, many of Kim's "evil states" are clustered in our Northeast. Well, and in the Northwest too - for sure. I think perhaps political attitudes influenced his final selection, but Kim writes in a very nuanced fashion:

Of course I think that the politicians in the Evil States are a bunch of scum; of course I think that what they’re doing is reprehensible; and of course I think that they should be hanged from utility poles en masse, this prick Louis Manzo having the first place in line.

But they were elected, and if the people of the Evil States keep electing them, then there’s not a whole lot I can say that will change that.

So, to all my Readers in the Evil States (and you know who you are), I have only one thing to say, even though I’ve said it time and time before:

Leave.