Maggie's Farm

View from the South Wellfleet Audubon lands, where the salt marsh meets the shore. Here be breeding Willets:

What They're Doing After Harvard: "Teach for America now attracts 12% of all Ivy League seniors. The program's founder explains why it beats working on Wall Street."

Shut up and sing: Jimmy Buffett Organizes Gulf Benefit, Blames Bush for Spill. Here's a good summertime song: Why don't we get drunk and spill some oil.

The World Cup causes woman-abuse? OK, let's ban the World Cup. It seems like mainly a guy thing anyway.

Lib talks racist for a good cause. I was only trying to be funny!

Also, re race: 'Never Bring Another Lawsuit Against a Black’

Lack of New IPOs and Impact on Performance

Opposition to ObamaCare Surges

Kudlow:

This whole debate about government stimulus versus austerity, and the impact of these policies on economic growth, misses a key point: It is business, not government, that creates jobs.

Whatever “green jobs” are, it’s very clear America doesn’t want them.

Barnes: Think Big - Republicans should embrace Paul Ryan's Road Map.

Commentary: Deliberate Nonfeasance at the DOJ

The Hidden Costs of Jew-Baiting in England

Via Obama's Politics of Fear:

Begala recognizes there ain't much water left in the "hope" well, so the plan is to poison what's left.  ‘Cause the numbers don’t look so good.

Advocacy Masquerading As Journalism

Thought Police at University of Illinois – Urbana: Free Speech Dead…Man Bites Dog:

The list of cases where anti-Tyranny students have been punished and persecuted by socialist professors and administrators is endless. There is no such thing as free speech on college campuses for those who disagree with the socialist progressive agenda.

Luke 10:25

10:25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

10:26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"

10:27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

10:28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

10:29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

10:30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

10:31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

10:32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

10:33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.

10:34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

10:35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.'

10:36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"

10:37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Jesus. It seems people are not supposed to utter the name in public.

As I recall, that's how the Romans reacted. Good grief.

Last I heard, even non-believers viewed Him as a moral leader, prophet, or at least as someone who shook the world. Many even accepted Him as Moshiach. Not all, for sure, which is fine with me. Skepticism Is Us at Maggie's, but Jesus is just all right with many of us. I think even our non-believers dig Him.

Who would not be interested? He even got to Johnny Cash, Bob, and the Doobies:

Wanted Man. Johnny at San Quentin.

I always thought Johnny had a bit of the redeemed sociopath in him, but it's just my intuition and it might just be his stage persona. Anyway, there is a darkness in all of us. God bless good ol' Johnny Cash.

Why Women Get Friskier As They Near 40. It's the hormones, honey.  h/t Insty

NYT: Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich. The ex-rich, I suspect.

In the UK, Just Unbelievable

Shlaes: Obama threatens to follow in FDR's economic missteps

FIRE: At Bryn Mawr, Another Speech Code of the Month is Reformed

Blair: THEY CAME FOR THE APPLIANCES

Fund: The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy. Worrisome.

Driscoll: ‘There’s that Darn False Narrative Again’

The Greenhouse Protection Racket- Climate policymaking in our nation’s capital is best explained in the lingo of Hollywood mobsters and banditos.

Climate: When good trees go bad. Those trees must be right-wing liars.

Zogby finds majority think their state should pass immigration law like Arizona's

Wallowing in America's flaws. Betsy. It was quite hip and chic in the 1950s and 1960s....

President Obama’s behavior over the past year, and particularly the last month, borders on bizarre.  The candidate who promised to bring people together and move beyond polarization has morphed into a divisive and defensive president.

His sinking approval numbers underscore the growing public disappointment in the gap between his campaign rhetoric and his governing style.

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

Photo is a beach we frequent on Wellfleet Harbor. At low tide, it's all oyster mudflats and the boats here lie on their sides in the mud. The tidal differences in Cape Cod Bay can be as much as 6-12', depending on the moon cycle and location. Where are all the people? Wellfleet beaches have lots of privacy, few people.

Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

Thanks to Mario Vittone for this excellent post that everybody ought to read (h/t, reader).

Another good one from Mario: Going Fishing? No You’re Not.  Every time you leave shore, you leave safety and, however relaxing and fun it may be, you are entering a dangerous environment on a contraption which is floating at the moment, but wants to sink. If there were no bit of adventure to boating, nobody would do it without getting paid.

It's not that the water wants to kill you but, as a reader commented elsewhere, "Nature doesn't care."

Last I heard, commercial fishing is the most dangerous occupation in America, and unwatched swimming pools are death traps for little kids. I know a couple whose 3 year-old drowned during their poolside cocktail party. Fifty people there, and nobody noticed the little kid slip under.

Story at Neptunus:

Thanks, Sipp. I think I am the only person who lives on this lane. The view is perfect, except for the absence of ocean.

When you go to places like Cape Cod or the Berkshires (as I do), you have to put up with this sort of stuff. I maintain my sense of humor, but these sorts of things bug Mrs. BD because she is intolerant of idiotic females who make her gender look retarded, and rightly assumes such vehicles belong to women.

If they really loved Gaia, would they be driving?

No. They would be walking to volunteer at the Turtle Abortion Clinic. "Every Turtle A Wanted Turtle." Sheesh. If you ask me, we cannot have too many turtles. Maggie's loves turtles of all varieties, races, species, and religions.

Truth is, I brake for turtles too:

Roman Coin Hoard Found in Somerset. What fun to find something like that.

I found a Massachusetts Pine Tree coin (1700s) on a Wellfleet Harbor beach a few years ago, with a hole through it (for stringing one's money, I suppose), and thought I had found something wonderful. I don't know where I put it.

Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone.

Frederic Bastiat

Obama voters (h/t, Surber):

Jaywalking on the 4th (h/t, Anchoress);

Your education dollars at work. Note that Grandpa knew it all, and actually seemed interested. What does that tell us?

Our leisurely Cape Cod habits are to take an early morning 1-hour brisk exercise walk before breakfast with maybe a quick dip after, then a slower nature walk later in the morning. All interspersed with swims, of course. Choice of ponds, Wellfleet Bay, Cape Cod Bay, or ocean - all within a few miles.

One cool thing for amateur naturalists is the variety of habitats you can encounter in a one hour walk on the Outer Cape ("Lower Cape"). I scouted out this remote sand road where, within a mile, you go from dunes to salt marsh to fresh water marsh to open meadow to Pitch Pine forest.

A hand-painted sign nailed to a tree on this road read "Caution: Dogs, Kids, and Turtles." Meaning Box Turtles.

All decent humans love Box Turtles.

My bird list of commonly seen or heard was modest on this trip: Osprey, the 3 gulls (Herring, GBB, Laughing), Green Heron, Pine Warbler, Parula Warbler, Yellow-throat Warbler, Yellow Warbler, RE Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Cormorant, Tree Swallow, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Willet, Mallard, Black Duck, Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Kingbird, Common Tern, Great Crested Flycatcher, Chickadee, Cardinal, Grackles, Cowbird, Red Wing. Forgot some. Most shorebirds are up north breeding on the tundra now.

Typical Outer Cape uplands: Pitch Pine and Scrub Oak, with grassy patches where enough sun gets through. Here be Box Turtles:

Large salt marsh between the South Wellfleet Audubon and Lieutenant Island, with a hummock where the Diamondback Terrapins lay their eggs:

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

Warren Buffett

Low tide, Cape Cod Bay, way out on the western shore of Great Island this weekend. Heaven. You can even bring your doggie. No people there, either, except me and the Mrs. and the rare beachcomber.

A dune knitted together by a clump of Bayberry overlooking Cape Cod Bay, near Duck Harbor:

Your tax dollars at work: NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World

Kos (h/t Insty): Why liberals should love the Second Amendment

Mead was in London for the Fourth, and had some thoughts

Pelosi: Paying People to Do Nothing Stimulates Economy

Amazongate: the smoking gun

A movie: Restrepo

Dan Walters: Keep the traditional California dream, or is it time for a new vision?

Here's The Paranoid Answer

I know many readers may tire of my New England travelogue photos, but I am the Editor so, if you don't like them, don't look at them. It will take a while to complete this photo dump. Meanwhile, catch up on our holiday weekend posts which were rich with stuff.

Your Editor and Mrs. Editor have been on lower Cape Cod ("lower" means upper on the Cape. You go "up" when you go down to Hyannis. Figure that out. Less confusing to call it the "outer" Cape, but that's too easy) for an extra-long soul-feeding  weekend, as we require an annual immersion in the smell of hot Pitch Pine, hot sand, salt air, chilly baptismal salt water, beach grass, and the endless clams and oysters and raw Atlantic Bluefin tuna on which we feed. Our goal is eternity as a Great Black-Backed Gull, sitting on sand bars, staring at the horizon, and feeding on whatever gets washed up by the sea.

However, these first pics are for our pal Sipp. Newcomb Hollow, sunrise this past weekend, and ye olde Beachcomber in the early morning light. The local Cumby opens at 5, and I am always there by 5 with the fishermen - and I mean the pros, not the amateurs. The rough gnarly guys in boots who ain't askeered of drowning and who shamelessly hit on the gals at the counter with promises like "We could have lotsa fun tonight when I get back if you would just give me a nice smile."

I like to make my early morning rounds to see what is going on.

If you squint and stare straight east, on a clear day you might see the coast of Portugal in the far distance, just over the horizon.

I'll wrap up my Newport photo dump with a few pics from the Flower Show, which is the main reason Mrs. BD dragged me to Rhode Island last weekend. The Newport Flower Show is what the gardening and arranging ladies term an "important" show. It attracts garden club competitors from as far as Texas, and it raises lots of money for the Preservation Society of Newport County.

Mrs. BD did not have an entry in the show this year, but she likes to keep a finger on the pulse of things.

Last weekend's show was held at Rosecliff, one of the loveliest Newport cottages. Guy who built it was a Comstock Lode heir. My photos do not capture how crowded the place was with flower people and their tolerant husbands, mostly, like me, feigning deep interest and appreciation while furtively glancing at one's watch.

More pics of the show below the fold -

Trinity Episcopal Church, Newport, RI. Built in 1725 by the Anglican parish.

Quote from an essay of the above title by Roger Scruton in City Journal:

Until recently, European architects have either connived at the evisceration of our cities or actively promoted it. Relying on the spurious rhetoric of Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, they endorsed the totalitarian projects of the political elite, whose goal after the war was not to restore the cities but to clear away the “slums.” By “slums,” they meant the harmonious classical streets of affordable houses, seeded with local industries, corner shops, schools, and places of worship, that had made it possible for real communities to flourish in the center of our towns. High-rise blocks in open parkland, of the kind that Le Corbusier proposed in his plan for the demolition of Paris north of the Seine, would replace them. Meanwhile, all forms of employment and enjoyment would move elsewhere. Public buildings would be expressly modernist, with steel and concrete frames and curtain walls, but with no facades or intelligible apertures, and no perceivable relation to their neighbors. Important monuments from the past would remain, but often set in new and aesthetically annihilating contexts, such as that provided for Saint Paul’s in London.

Citizens protested, and conservation societies fought throughout Europe for the old idea of what a city should look like, but the modernists won the battle of ideas. They took over the architecture schools and set out to ensure that the classical discipline of architecture would never again be learned, since it would never again be taught. The vandalization of the curriculum was successful: European architecture schools no longer taught students the grammar of the classical Orders; they no longer taught how to understand moldings, or how to draw existing monuments, urban streets, the human figure, or such vital aesthetic phenomena as the fall of light on a Corinthian capital or the shadow of a campanile on a sloping roof; they no longer taught appreciation for facades, cornices, doorways, or anything else that one could glean from a study of Serlio or Palladio.

Read the whole thing. 

Photo below: The charming, friendly, safe, and human-scale Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, which was a crime-ridden "slum" one generation ago, part of Hell's Kitchen. Ripe for massive demolition and "urban planning" and "urban renewal." The social engineers are almost always wrong because they are oblivious to human nature. This one-time slum is a very pleasant place to live in, provided that your neighbors behave themselves.

Don't blame the old buildings.