Wednesday, November 16. 2005
Some things brought home from Italy, Part 2 1. Savonarola was an interesting dude. Worth a piece when I get the chance, if only for my own education. One of the precursors of Luther, among many others, in retrospect: voices crying in the wilderness and vox clematis in deserto too. 2. Art Museums are Art Cemeteries. 3. Botticelli's 1489 Annunciation is the most compelling painting I have ever seen - and I've seen my share of them. Even though it is in the Uffizi Art Cemetery. Will post it today. 4. Cosimo Vecchio's family line contained the "good Medicis". Cosimo l's line were the "bad Medicis". History made simple. 5. I am not fascinated by High Renaissance art and architecture.
"Barbarians at the Gates of Paris" - Dalrymple: "Whether France was wise to have permitted the mass immigration of people culturally very different from its own population to solve a temporary labor shortage and to assuage its own abstract liberal conscience is disputable: there are now an estimated 8 or 9 million people of North and West African origin in France, twice the number in 1975—and at least 5 million of them are Muslims. Demographic projections (though projections are not predictions) suggest that their descendants will number 35 million before this century is out, more than a third of the likely total population of France. Indisputably, however, France has handled the resultant situation in the worst possible way. Unless it assimilates these millions successfully, its future will be grim. But it has separated and isolated immigrants and their descendants geographically into dehumanizing ghettos; it has pursued economic policies to promote unemployment and create dependence among them, with all the inevitable psychological consequences; it has flattered the repellent and worthless culture that they have developed; and it has withdrawn the protection of the law from them, allowing them to create their own lawless order." Read entire at City Journal.
To insist that diligent thought would bring an understanding of change was to limit life to the comprehensible. William Least Heat Moon, as quoted last week here, from Blue Highways.
Tuesday, November 15. 2005
Medieval Alley  Just one of
hundreds of these dark, narrow alleys in central Firenze. Most have colorful laundry hanging from windows, but this one unfortunately did not have much in the way of interesting laundry.
Some things brought home from Italy, Part 1 Hadn't been there in four years, and it is always a stimulating visit for us Yankees with our cold, northern European blood. 1. Art does not progress, or improve, or even evolve...it just changes, like fashion. 2. "Duomo" doesn't really translate as "dome" - it generally refers to the seat of the Bishop, as does cattedrale. Other large cities have their duomos. 3. The year a building was built means little: over hundreds of years, they are changed, so that any old building contains the accretions, remodelings and re-decoratings of history. Witness the "modern" facade of the endlessly-photographed Firenze Duomo, which I refuse to photograph: it's faux antique and over-done. 4. In 1400, Firenze was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world. Making fabric from English wool, leather, but especially banking. It was a seaport: the Arno was navigable up to Firenze until the "bad" Medicis dammed and blocked it for military purposes. 5. I need to find time to learn Italian.
France Atlas wonders how France will deal with their multicultural nightmare. Dinocrat notes that the EU will provide France with 58 jobs to help solve the crisis. No Oil asks "Who done it?" in an excellent wide-ranging review of the subject of Moslem immigration, and quotes Steyn thus: "The trouble with the social democratic state is that, when government does too much, nobody else does much of anything. At the very least, European citizens should recognise that the governing class has failed, that the conventional wisdom has run its course, and that it is highly unlikely that those culturally confident Muslims will wish to assimilate with anything as shrivelled and barren as contemporary European identity."
The Quarter Million Dollar "Duh" Justin takes on Dr. Kass on the general subject of what women want, which Dr. Kass profoundly and perceptively concluded was a relationship with a man! What is really needed is an article by a woman on what men really want. Guess we can ask Dr. Bliss to do that one, but it won't be pretty.
The Baptistery of San Giovanni The ceiling of this 9th Century octagonal chapel, which stands as you know on the piazza in front of the wedding-cake-looking 19th Century facade of Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Firenze's Duomo), is Byzantine in style. Those medieval Byzantine artistic conventions had staying power and remained influential through the early and mid-Renaissance and, to my mind, they remain powerful. (In his later years, even Botticelli returned to them, as I learned last week, due at least in part to the influence of the evangelical friar Girolamo Savonarola.) 
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Robert Heinlein (in his book, "Logic of Empire")
Monday, November 14. 2005
La Passegiata Every evening, the whole town comes out for la passegiata - the evening stroll - and puts on la bella figura, followed by a late supper. My theory is that the ladies lead the men down the shopping streets, where the shops remain open until 7 or 8. The main problem with the Italian economy, in my opinion, is not so much the lack of work ethic - although there is that minor issue - it's that everyone spends all of their money on cigarettes, wine, and fashion. How many shoes does a lady need? This photo in Firenze, this past Friday evening. Che bella vita.
Virus Warning Going Around Was a Hoax Thanks, Alert Reader.
Curiosity, "Higher" Education, Leading a Horse to Water, and Job Security My elitist opinion is that true higher education is, or was, designed for the few natural scholars amongst us for whom curiosity and "thinking about stuff" is a driving force. When a college degree becomes a job credential, that meaning and that purpose is lost. The idea of universal college education must, of necessity, degrade it's meaning, and it begins to be a few more years of insanely expensive high school except in the most competitive institutions, or for the wonderful but unusual nerdy student-scholars who Want To Learn Things. Having just heard a series of informal, highly enthusiastic lectures from a Georgetown kid in the Uffizi about Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto, I am not ready to despair yet: some "get it," and many do not. From a piece by Zane: "I guess I've always known that many students are just taking my course to get a requirement out of the way," Naumoff said. "But it was disheartening to see that some couldn't even go to the trouble of finding out the name of the person teaching the course." The floodgates were opened and the other UNC professors at the dinner began sharing their own dispiriting stories about the troubling state of curiosity on campus. Their experiences echoed the complaints voiced by many of my book reviewers who teach at some of the nation's best schools. All of them have noted that such ignorance isn't new -- students have always possessed far less knowledge than they should, or think they have. But in the past, ignorance tended to be a source of shame and motivation. Students were far more likely to be troubled by not-knowing, far more eager to fill such gaps by learning. As one of my reviewers, Stanley Trachtenberg, once said, "It's not that they don't know, it's that they don't care about what they don't know."
Read entire.
Political Science for Dummies: DEMOCRATIC | You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbara Streisand sings for you. | REPUBLICANISM | You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So? | SOCIALIST | You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow. | COMMUNIST | You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour. | CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE | You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows. | BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE | You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain. | AMERICAN CORPORATION | You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up. | FRENCH CORPORATION | You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good. | JAPANESE CORPORATION | You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school. | GERMAN CORPORATION | You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year. | ITALIAN CORPORATION | You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
You break for lunch.
Life is good. | RUSSIAN CORPORATION | You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have. | TALIBAN CORPORATION | You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons. | IRAQI CORPORATION | You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing. | POLISH CORPORATION | You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them. | BELGIAN CORPORATION | You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy. | FLORIDA CORPORATION | You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow. | CALIFORNIA CORPORATION | You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegals.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders. |
Insects of the Week: The Worst Bugs in History Garfinkle in Wired News: Last month automaker Toyota announced a recall of 160,000 of its Prius hybrid vehicles following reports of vehicle warning lights illuminating for no reason, and cars' gasoline engines stalling unexpectedly. But unlike the large-scale auto recalls of years past, the root of the Prius issue wasn't a hardware problem -- it was a programming error in the smart car's embedded code. The Prius had a software bug. With that recall, the Prius joined the ranks of the buggy computer -- a club that began in 1945 when engineers found a moth in Panel F, Relay #70 of the Harvard Mark II system.1The computer was running a test of its multiplier and adder when the engineers noticed something was wrong. The moth was trapped, removed and taped into the computer's logbook with the words: "first actual case of a bug being found.
Read entire.
Five questions for Muslims: Prager Rioting in France subsiding? Or is it just the reporting that's subsiding? My Way Bush Derangement Syndrome from Dr. Sannity, via Powerline Free Trade and Argentina: TCS Did Tamiflu cause deaths? AOL news Patriotism and Politics, from Protein - a quote: What we are seeing now, however, is a cynical, orchestrated attempt to weaken the President—and importantly, one that is based on what most Congressional Democrats know to be a faulty premise, that Bush either “lied” or “manipulated intelligence” to take us into war.
Read entire.
"A good career move." Gore Vidal on Truman Capote's death
Saturday, November 12. 2005
To learn what this is all about, click on the Aliyah Diary category. Whatever happened to L: or Why I moved back to Merkaz Klita Aliyah Nov 3, 2005
"I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a
hawk from a handsaw." Hamlet
Last I wrote of L., the felonious feline afficianado, I was living in
a room, avoiding various cats in the house, and various more, like
Roman legions, encamped at doorstop, some dozen and a half, all spayed
by her in exchange for her victuals, served morning and night.
Somewheres around 6:30 a.m. the caterwalling would begin at her front
door by these feral felines: hear L. furiously opening dry cat foods,
pouring them into multiple metal bowls, mixing in assorted minerals or
vitamens, crashing and banging metal against metal, while water is
running. She dashes while juggling bowls, opens door, shooes back
those who try to enter, then casts bowls at paws, and fills their
water. Only then, she retreats to shower.
Her dress at home, this sixtyish hag, is something of a waif crossed
with an anorectic teen's attempt to be casually seductive. An
oversized sweatshirt, one shoulder bared, torn around the neck,
assorted holes; sweat shorts with holes abbuting regions with which I
did not wish to be acquainted. When she sat, there was some relief
from what was otherwise hung out behind. The hair, I mentioned is a
blackish thatch, which at moments of emphatic expressiveness -- a
frequent event -- she would brush or crush forwards over at her
temples, over her forehead and aside her brows, until, released, it
sprang back into unruliness. Her teeth were most admirable: white,
well-made, overly large for the face and body, much of her face hung
from these ivories. Bared, in a rhesus sardonicus, they warned you
away. No joy in this smile. Rather, danger.
Of her history, I chose not to ask, but there was no avoiding her
spillage. With British accent, she articulates: she is estranged from
her family, black-hatted Hassidim. Moved to the U.S. of A. to study
law, which she never practiced, considering it a filthy profession.
Now, she will only teach it. Got impregnated before she entered
menarchic sterility by a big black man, from which she begot this
handsome cafe-colored twenty-some year old, who blew out like the
wind, and whose room I inherit.
Continue reading "Aliyah Diary, Part 4"
Friday, November 11. 2005
We posted a piece on The Stones in April, which became our first Powerline link, to our delight. Photo of Stones today, airbrushed a bit, I believe. 
"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend - if you have one." George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second - if there is one." Winston Churchill, in reply
Thursday, November 10. 2005
Ducks Unlimited If there is one thing that all Maggie's Farm's contributors share, besides friendship and trust, it is support of the conservation efforts of Ducks Unlimited. Unlike some (not to be mentioned) conservation organizations, DU goes out there and just does it, rather than spending all of their money on lobbying to try to get the government to do it. But, as the experts in habitat recovery, and owning the strange heavy machinery to do it, they often work in tandem with government efforts. And it's interesting because it's what I call a cross-over organization, combining hunters, conservationists, environmentalists, wildlife photographers, bird-watchers, hikers, naturalists, and scientists - and all sorts of people for whom protection of natural habitat is important. DU is huge, with over 11 million acres under protection now, and over 700,000 members in the US. Grass-roots fund-raising has been their mainstay, and if you do not have DU events in your neighborhood, you should. Email us if you want to get involved in your area - we'll direct you to the right contact person. DU events are good, wholesome, American fun, for a great cause. Their efforts support, protect, and rehabilitate wildlife habitat across Canada, the US, and Mexico, and they have been expanding world-wide (including helping with the rehabilitation of Iraq's marshes which were destroyed by Saddam in his program to eliminate the annoying "Marsh Arabs" who were one of many thorns in his side. Mesopotamia - Between the Rivers - was not only the cradle of civilization but an enormous and highly productive marsh). DU people love "swamps", and all other wildlife habitats. Maggie's Farm loves DU.
 Phone Options: Should I Switch?
(This piece from a guest writer, fellow hunter, and our local tech whiz and tech biz whiz, on whom we should rely more often for these highly-paid contributions to Maggie's.) Times are changing. Did you know that if you have broadband internet service you now have a viable option to replace your old telephone? Why would you change? There are some good reasons to do so, and relatively few not to. It's a real problem for Ma Bell, but not so for you and me. It is called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VOIP for short.
What is VOIP (Voice over internet protocol)? As you may have figured out it is basically phone service over the internet, but you don't use your computer - you use your regular telephone. Huh? That's right. If you get a call your phone rings - not your computer. Here is how it works: You sign up for the service using the provider of you choice (Vonage is a solid provider of voip service, but there are several to choose from). Next you receive a small interface box from your provider which you then plug into your broadband modem with one plug and plug the other end into your phone jack and you are done. Basically, anyone who can plug in a vacuum cleaner can accomplish this task. Now you are ready to make your first Voip call. Estimated install time 10 min ( less than 2 min for your average Maggie's farm reader).
Q&A Does a call sound different? No
Does my phone ring or does my computer ring? Phone rings.
What if I dial 911? The earliest versions of Voip had some issues but today there are rules in place that require providers to provide emergency dialing, so it is no longer a big drawback.
What if the power goes out? This is the biggest issue. If the power goes out your telephone will work but your VOIP won't (but neither will your cordless phones). The main reason is because the modem needs electricity to work. You can for a small investment buy an APC unit.
There are a few other small issues that could arise. For example, your alarm company may not be able to monitor your home over VOIP but these, like many other tiny issues will get resolved with time.
But why change? The answer is money. Voip service is cheap. Usually for a flat fee like 20 p/m you get unlimited calls in the US and Canada, Caller ID and Call waiting for a flat rate. Everything is included for free. The Bell companies charge a line fee + caller id + call waiting + usage fees. What you usually wind up with is something that looks a lot more expensive than Voip that isn't any better. Are you ready to switch? I haven't yet, but I'm about to. (Photo is the Western Electric Model 417, in production from 1907-1937)
A Joke for our readers, while we are away: Jim has his 6oth birthday, and decides it's time to get himself together. He exercises and diets, loses 30 pounds, dyes his hair brown, buys a new fashionable wardrobe, gets some Botox and a little chin work done. Shortly thereafter, he is run over by a truck as he struts out of the gym. "Gosh" he says to God, "Why now? I finally got my act together, and I've been a good guy." "Woops, Jim, I am so sorry." says God. "I didn't recognize you."
A quote from Blue Highways, by William Least Heat-Moon, travelling through Texas: "A massive, squared mound, quite unlike the surrounding hills, rose from a level valley; it had been the central element in a Caddoan Indian village a thousand years ago. I took a sandwich and climbed to the top to eat in the low undergrowth of wild blackberry bushes. There I was - a resident from the age of lunch meat, no-lead, and Ziploc bags - sitting on a thousand-year-old civic center. The aura of time the mound gave off seemed to mock any comprehension of its change and process - how had it grown from baskets of shoveled soil to the high center of Caddoan affairs to a hilly patch of blackberries? My rambling metaphysics was getting caught in the trap of reducing experience to coherence and meaning, letting the perplexity of things disrupt the joy in their mystery. To insist that diligent thought would bring an understanding of change was to limit life to the comprehensible."
Seen the arrow on the doorpost
Saying "This land is condemned
All the way from New Orleans
To Jerusalem."
I travelled through East Texas
Where many martyrs fell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell. Well, I heard that hoot-owl singing
As they were taking down the tents
The stars above the barren trees
Were his only audience
Them charcoal gypsy maidens
Can strut their feathers well
But nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell. Bob Dylan, excerpted from Blind Willie McTell
Wednesday, November 9. 2005
 Autumn finally arrives in Southern New England (it usually precedes Halloween - not this year). Photo taken Nov. 6.
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