Maggie's Farm

Prof. Sutherland makes the point that folks like Shakespeare and Milton were seeking neither fame nor personal glory. All Shakespeare wanted was to make enough money to retire as a country gentleman as his father had been before coming onto hard times. He would be astonished to learn that people read still his plays and sonnets - and that they read them as "literature," much less that they are read at all. Plays were the movies of their time. They were not written to be read. And John Milton, a successful  London businessman, sought only to glorify God - and to play some politics - through his writing hobby.

Talent will out. It bursts out, when it exists. Will threw these famous lines into a pensive, melancholy soliloquy into the mouth of a minor role (Jaques) in a comedy (As You Like It).

Interesting note from a piece on the Globe Theater: "Above the main entrance of the Globe was a crest displaying Hercules bearing the globe on his shoulders together with the motto "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (the whole world is a playhouse)." Also, theaters had no toilet facilities. Good grief.

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms;
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Image: The Globe Theater

McCain rips Pelosi boondoggle. Good on him. Sad part: A sample of 50 pigs in the bill.

And, OK, this fits: "I have urgently endeavored to jam as much of the Democratic agenda into this recovery plan as humanly possible," says Con Man in Chief Obama. I hope nobody is surprised.

Hard-working Americans are going to pay for this hopey-changey scam for a long time, and they are not going to like it.

Superb essay by Yuval Levin at Commentary, h/t to many including Powerline and Insty. It's a Best Essay because it goes far beyond the immediate topic and taps into deeper political undercurrents. One quote:

The sense of potential that accompanied Palin’s introduction, and the feeling that she might really reverse the momentum of the campaign, were not illusory. For two weeks or so, the polls moved markedly in McCain’s direction, as it seemed that his running mate was something genuinely new in American politics: a lower-middle-class woman who spoke the language of the country’s ordinary voters and had a profound personal understanding of the hopes and worries of a vast swath of the public. She really did seize the attention of swing voters, as McCain’s team had hoped she might. Her convention speech, her interviews, and her debate performance drew unprecedented audiences.

But having finally gotten voters to listen, neither Palin nor McCain could think of anything to say to them. Palin’s reformism, like McCain’s, was essentially an attitude devoid of substance. Both Republican candidates told us they hated corruption and would cut excess and waste. But separately and together, they offered no overarching vision of America, no consistent view of the role of government, no clear description of what a free society should look like, and no coherent policy ideas that might actually address the concerns of American families and offer solutions to the serious problems of the moment. Palin’s populism was not her weakness, but her strength. Her weakness was that she failed to tie her populism to anything deeper. A successful conservative reformism has to draw on cultural populism, but it has also to draw on a worldview, on ideas about society and government, and on a policy agenda. This would make it more intellectual, but not necessarily less populist.

Read the whole insightful thing. Link above.

NYPD boat passing by Roosevelt Island, formerly known as Welfare Island, and formerly known as Blackwell's Island, and in future probably to be known as Obama Island:

Nice racks:

Around 71 st, East River. FDR Drive on left, East River, Roosevelt Island on right. Bridge in distance is the Triboro, which the City Council has attempted to rename the RFK Bridge. Why? I have no idea.

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

Alexis de Toqueville (h/t, Viking)

“It’s not global warming any more, it’s climate change. That gets them back in the game. These people are pretty flexible ...”

An Australian union leader, via Tim Blair

h/t, reader.

Spent today in NYC, around New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, (now known as New York Hospital and Weill Medical College, thanks to the Citigroup genius Sandy Weill Or is it properly New York Presbyterian Hospital - now that Presbyterian and NYH merged?). It was cold as hell.

That's Sotheby's building in front with the flags, and New York Hospital beginning just to the right of it.

A couple more below the fold -

Glenn Beck:

In a way it's surprising that even one European Dark Ages manuscript survived, but in another way it's surprising that we don't have more of the doubtless many lost Beowulfs. (When you think about it, it's a miracle that we even have Boswell's letters from the 1700s. Some were found being used as wrapping paper in Marseilles. Long story.)

Prof. Sutherland inspired Mrs. BD to dig into this intricately-constructed story, but she elected to do it with Seamus Heaney's wonderful translation from the Anglo-Saxon instead of with the original.

The illustrated edition helps bring the times to life, but it comes in a plain version too. We like Seamus very much.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.

Mark Twain (h/t, Dr. X)

How many Army and Navy stores have closed over the past 20 years? Here's old Levine's, finally shuttered. My lousy photography makes it difficult to read the "Est. 1923" under the name. Note the signs on the little shop next door.

The Dyl wants you to hear this. Knopfler, 2005, live.

The one in the air, not the Canvasbacks in the water. Photo from the Ducks Unlimited 2008 members' photo gallery.

Hopey-changey pretty butterflies and pink unicorns and peace 'n love will not alter the fact that other nations pursue their power and money interests ruthlessly, are quick to deceive, and quick to to identify and exploit weakness.

A quote from Russia and Iran get Strategic, from FPIF:

Looking at the developments of the past 90 days through the filter of the new Russian security framework, a clearer picture emerges. It's no longer a question for the United States of whether or not Russia will support additional sanctions on Iran. That won't happen. Russia is on the path to make Iran a strategic partner, a counter to the United States in the regions of rivalry.

The United States falls into a trap in assuming that Russia doesn't want a nuclear- armed Iran. Russian officials repeat over and over that they have no evidence that Iran has a weapons program. U.S. officials discount that statement but shouldn't. The United States needs to remember that Russia has nuclear engineers inside Iran working with the Iranians.

Read the whole brief article. Lovely as Persian carpets may be, the Russians are after the oil and the geopolitical leverage, not pretty rugs. This is a game for big boys.

The incredible case of Phineas Gage. Neurophilosophy. Most famous case in neurology.

No cussing please. Trying to out-Puritan the new Puritans

Teasing, arguing and fighting are normal for kids. Is that news? Related: See the Borderline Sociopathic Blog for Boys

Ancient hot cocoa cups. h/t, Jungleman

What Macy's is doing to stay alive

Old Jews Telling Jokes: Health Care

An Epicurianism update

Just in case you are not feeling cynical enough about politics yet, a campaign ad from 1986:

From Bruce Kesler. I no longer will term him "guest poster" because he seems to be turning into a regular.

Above the law? Thank you Mr. Daschle.

We should all be thanking Tom Daschle for his behavior in not paying all his taxes and evading lobbying laws. The even larger issues are highlighted for public discussion that some of our rulers do not follow the same laws expected of the rest of us, and that they exploit the loopholes in the ever expanding laws.

At issue are to what standards our rulers are to be held and whether laws are enough the answer. Laws help keep honest people honest, by providing guidance, but personal integrity and shame are essential as well. Strict enforcement is also critical, especially for those who anyway breach the law and public trust.

First, we must admit that none of us are saints, nor are any solons capable of foreseeing all eventualities. Imperfect men can only make imperfect laws, and imperfect men may err in following them. Despite partisan stances toward imperfections of our adversaries, most of us do observe reasonable tolerance toward imperfect behavior.

That acknowledged, tolerance is exceeded when imperfect behavior is clearly beyond the law, blatant, or frequent. It is a matter of our basic governance in a democracy that our rulers be held to, at least, the same standards as other citizens.

This is not a matter of policy differences, unless one wants to argue that our rulers are or should be above the law for whatever reasons of need or effectiveness.

Here, some minds might wander into consideration of some of the measures taken by the Bush administration, and some by the Clinton administration, in their efforts against terrorism. What makes them qualitatively different is that they literally involve national security, almost all were within or not outside the law as it existed, that they were not for personal enrichment, and that reasonable, qualified experts differ on them. As evidenced by the Obama administration¿s initial adoption or non-rejection - yet - of most of these measures, despite Obama's campaign rhetoric, these are policy differences.

Regarding Tom Daschle, we had two clear choices, allowing him to skate or holding him accountable. Tom Daschle had the third choice, having the shame and sense to withdraw, which he now has. If he had been confirmed, our Senators would undermine public confidence in and compliance with the laws and respect for themselves. If Daschle were rejected, our legislators' job would not be complete. They owe us more. Daschle's withdrawal still leaves their job incomplete.

There are enough other examples of tax and law evasion by other legislators and appointees to merit additional examination of their behavior and stringent enforcement actions. The suggestion here: http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2009/02/audit_them_all.html

for all to be subject to regular comprehensive tax audits is worthwhile. The Congressional ethics committees need to be more independent and active. That requires the addition of independent special investigators, as with the executive¿s agencies. Their work should be fast and their reports published immediately, avoiding burying by legislators. Laws passed by the Congress should apply to Congress itself, with any exceptions being at least justified by supermajorities. Lastly, our major media must take more seriously its self-professed role as nonpartisan guardians of truth-to-power. The extent to which it has not is far beyond evident.

These will go a long way toward ending attitudes of our rulers or perceptions of them being above the law. They may well, also, further more careful consideration of the laws passed, as their effects are more applied to themselves.

We deserve no less. Thank you Mr. Daschle for your contribution to our government's integrity. Now, go away in rightful shame.

Thanks, reader. That is Maggie's style:

My mentioning a pied a terre in Manhattan motivated me to locate this nice little 2 BR place on West 81st, facing the Museum of Natural History. I want this (photo of LR with working fireplace).

They are asking $1.2 million. Details here.

I used to own a 1 BR place with doorman on West 82, but that was long ago. Bought it for $62,000. and, had I kept it, it would have been the best investment I ever made.  

Neoneo quotes herself from several years ago in a piece about Pajamas Media and blog ad money:

I don’t think my blog –or the blogs of any of us, including its founders–will live or die by the success of PJ Media. We all define success differently; right now, I consider this blog to have been successful, if not beyond my wildest dreams, then certainly beyond what I considered any realistic expectations. Great readers, and plenty of them–what more could a person want?

Neo, that's right on the money.

Today is Candlemas. Thank you, Never Yet Melted.

Candlemas is when the badger checked the weather, and when you took down the Christmas greenery.