Maggie's Farm

1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me.  I wan' all the kids to copulate me."

2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."

3. And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skins say: "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl," Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."

4. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men.  He lets us wear earrings."

5. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann, 1996: "Nobody in football should be called a genius.  A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

6. Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh : "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes." 

7. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height."  And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle."

8. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter?  He went to prison for three years, not Princeton."

9. Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."

10. Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is."

11. Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt." 

12. Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you?  Is it ignorance or apathy?'  He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'"

13. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."

14. Amarillo High School and Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye."

15. Bobby Bowden, Florida States football coach, when ask why he didn't invest in condos, Bobby said, I am too old to use them now.

This is a 4x10 "Cloudband" Kazak, 70-100 years old. I think it's a knockout. Asking $6000:

Our friend Nathan thought some of our readers might be interested in "Unspoken (Or What is Said After Death)" by Naftali Moshe.

Nathan says "The basic idea is what do you wish you could have said to someone after you have left; some unspoken words that resonate in your head and it is too late to speak them. Then, imagine the ultimate leaving - death; what if you could speak those words after death.  What if you could tell someone whom you loved dearly what you had not been able to say before."

It's the reverse of what people usually talk about - what they wished they had told someone who died. The story is written in the voice of a Kosher butcher who has commited suicide. A quote from Chapter 1:

My last breath, my last precious breath, was the freest breath since I was twelve. I stood in Ulysses' and Aeneas' waters. Like the Baal Shem Tov, I test the Wusthoff's edge with a finger; drew a drop of blood; shed a tear of joy and sadness.

Brief pain as the knife drew across the skin, my throat slipping slightly beneath its edge until the knife could catch, bite. Then through the trachea for that final, but decades delayed fresh breath. The carotids bathe the knife, then my hands in last warmth. The Mediterranean took me.

My son, unlike Abraham over Isaac, unlike God over Jesus, I will not sacrifice you. But through you I, I could breath again.

And now I can speak to you from this dream-ether.

The story is serialized in The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. Here's Chapter 1.

Here's Chapter 2.

The Derek Trucks Band:

No, this was not our local Ducks Unlimited banquet. We posted the invitations for this little cocktail party, but (fortunately) not too many guys showed up for the little shindig Theo and I hosted on Saturday night. Right Wing Prof would never attend such a thing, and I know Sippican's wife wouldn't let him come, nor would Tigerhawk's or Gwynnie's - but I was sure Vanderleun would show. He didn't. It was good wholesome fun, but a bit exhausting due to the guy-to-gal ratio. Yes, that is me in the center front, the Yankee Doodle Dandy, reluctantly yielding to dissolute feminine charms:

I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 names in the Boston phone book than to the faculty of Harvard University.

William F. Buckley. By my count, the Maggie's staff has 8 Ivy degrees among us all, including a Harvard (you wouldn't know it from reading us, though, due to ADD, learning disabilities, being dropped on the head, excess pot smoking, global warming, radon, immunizations, military service, eating non-organic beef and vegetables, and etc.), and we will heartily ditto WFB. Moreover, we have no interest in governing or controlling anybody except ourselves - which is plenty enough for anyone to do.

How the NYT does politics (h/t, Moonbattery). I know the NYT plays tricks, but this is beyond what I imagined. Are any reporters anywhere covering this story, or are they too much in awe of the NYT...or of Obama?

Or are they too chicken?

Some say that the 55 Bar, a prohibition-era dive bar on Christopher St., is the best place in the city for jazz and blues.

Two groups nightly - and it's cheap. $10. How can you not afford to give it a try?

Here's the Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout at 55, with good photography:

"A man can only be young once, but he can be immature forever."

Catherine Aird (h/t, Vanderleun). For every step towards true maturity I take, I seem to take two steps back.

- Planted a ton of purple pansies from Home Depot today as a Palm Sunday celebration. It's cold as heck out, but those Pansies have antifreeze. Dosed them with Miracle-Gro, but they are probably too cold to absorb it.

- Mrs. BD ran down to NYC instead of church to take a long, cold, brisk walk with the Bird Dog-ette along the Hudson River. Chelsea Piers to Battery Park, and back: an fine urban hike. She works in finance. She still needs her Mom sometimes. Her job is secure: they cannot do without her - and she is cheap for what she does. She is worried, though. If her bonus is taxed at 90%, she and her roomates cannot afford their apartment. 80% of her compensation is bonus. The salary is just token. Speaking of token, she doesn't need subway tokens: she speed-hikes 40 minutes each morning in the dark to mid-town from Chelsea, and hikes back home in the dark. 15-hour workdays - and she loves it (most of it). Some people love daily math and complex structured finance challenges at a minute's notice with a 4-hour deadline to redo the details - and some don't. "It's fun. It forces me to think fast, Dad." 80-150 million dollar muni deals. It's not for everybody. A lot of travel too, but she loves that.

- A chat with the gentle young Moslem Bangladeshi mini-mart guy at 5 this morning, whose wife and mother-in-law have arrived after a four-year immigration wait. He takes a cab to work at 1 AM: he is saving all of his money instead of buying a car. "How's the family adjusting to America?" "Pretty good. It's cold for them. I had to buy them coats." "How's their English coming along?" "Good. They study every day. It's coming along fast. My wife just got a job." "Doing what?" "Customer service." "My friend, I love these stories. Tell them I welcome them to America." "I will. Thank you."

No doubt these people are "the poor." America's poor are the young, the new immigrants, the feckless, the self-destructive - plus some plain unfortunate folks who get struck by bad lightning. These new Americans from Bangladesh are as rich as Croesus in spirit, hope, and opportunity, and they ask for nothing from America but a chance to build a life and a friendly word once in a while.

What a wonderful country. No wonder every sturdy soul in the world wants to come here. Too bad we have so many crybabies, when we have people like my minimart guy. Meanwhile, the Obamanauts complain.

Photo on right from our webmeister Chris's back yard yesterday. He has hired this fellow to organize his garbage recycling. I did the same. In fact, I have two of them moonlighting for me. The Brits, who seem so obsessed with their "bins," need some of these helpful critters to sort through their trash for them. They do an excellent job of spreading it out for your perusal.

Capt. Capitalism's amusing post about Sam linked to his older post about how the success of Capitalism produced The Mystery

Will Wilkinson outs himself. Come on, Will. Grow up and start drinking Scotch instead.

Speaking of bloggers, have you ever read Cobb? (h/t, 3 Kinds of Black at Vanderleun)

Europe lectures O: Overspending is not the answer. Guess what? It's not meant to be the answer. It's meant to redistribute.

Biofuels are the death of the jungles rainforests

Post-partisan census? This is beyond hardball. This is live ammo.

Where's my bailout?

Democrat debt is morally superior to Republican debt

Today's Episcopal Church: Lesbian abortion-activist priests. It's not a religion. It's a Lefty, quasi-anarchist propaganda machine. Where are the good old hearty red-nosed Scotch drinking, golf-playing, skirt-chasing, Locust Valley lockjawed Episcopalians I fondly remember?

Re the London protesters last week (via Thompson's Friday Ephemera):

I think that they have looked back at 5,000 years of human history - at pestilence and famine and disease and degradation, at genocide and civil war, at fear and loathing, at bigotry and ignorance, chauvinism and dictatorship - and concluded that our biggest problem is... shopping.  

Speaking of shopping, here's the #1 Non-fiction bestseller this week.

How come no bus tours past Fannie and Freddie exec houses?

Obama's political attack machine must be fully staffed. Hopey changey.

China surpasses US in auto production. Capitalism is working well in China.

Hey, Alan Colmes. Who the heck hasn't felt regularly dissed and humiliated? It's a normal part of daily life for everybody.

Why Obama and the NYT do not want the banks to repay their TARP money. Hey - that's my money. Just mail me the check, guys, and say the heck with it.

NYT loves unions - just not their own. They are different.

One more intelligent call to end aid to Africa. Handouts are death to a society, especially a developing one. The only good they do is to feed the egos of the givers.

Two good bits at Flopping: Obama and Krauthammer (unfortunately, not together).

Eric Holder's idea of "constitutional." Says the distinguished Eleanor Homes Norton:

"I don't think members are in the least bit affected in their votes on the question of its constitutionality," she said just last week. "People vote their politics in the House and in the Senate."

We hired these people?

This gives me the creeps: An intarnets czar? First they came for the smokers bloggers...Speaking of smoking, what's with Small Tobacco

Klavan takes on hate. We must always remember that "hate" doesn't mean what it used to. It's been redefined. Now it means expecting decent, civilized, respectful and responsible behavior from other humans.

What do these idiots want? And don't they have jobs? I think they want a free lunch.

MSM ignored O's bow. The House of Saud paid his tuitions, if I am not mistaken.

It's about time. An honest pint in Oregon.

Josh White (1914-1969) had an interesting life. He might be most well-known for popularizing The House of the Rising Sun.

Here's Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out:

and here he is talking a little about his life, and doing a couple of old tunes:

Phoebe had a baby boy. h/t, LGF

Obama is the Master of Misdirection: Fred Barnes. Yes, we have noticed that too. There's always a distraction from what is really being done. It's effective politics, but it's basically an effort to fool the people who don't follow things carefully.

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Wellfleet: The House (1948)

 Friday art, from friend Theo who appreciates the finer things in life:

Dusty Springfield would have been 70 today (h/t, Samiz).

America was never perfect, but it was never conceived to be some abstract utopia showcasing human perfection. The 56 men who came together to usher it forth understood that in order to form a more perfect union they had to pledge their lifes, their fortunes and most of all, their sacred honor. They understood clearly that human freedom only guarantees that mistakes will be made; but that the human soul is only able to thrive when human nature is allowed to be free. Further, they understood that society too, will inevitably progress when the individual human soul is unchained.

Dr. Sanity. Yes, freedom is messy and complicated, but it beats the state of serfdom to the power-hungry and arrogant elites. Furthermore, the Overlords have no more wisdom - probably less - than the average Joe. Count me as an average Joe, and happy and proud to be one.

Dylan's first live performance of 1972's "Billy," in Stockholm last week (March 22, 2009). It's Billy the Kid. Lyrics here. Audio only. He goes into that stacatto singing he's been doing this year: it's like a tic.

 Jean-Honore Fragonard's Psyche showing her sisters her gifts from Cupid (1753). This is what I call "French." The remarkable Jean-Honore died broke and forgotten,  of course. Artists are supposed to do that.

We posted this in the past, but The Englishman reminded me of it.

Here's a cruise I would enjoy

The pythons of the Everglades. Sheesh.

Sounds like a fine new Chaplin bio

What is it about American self-hatred? (I don't know - I don't have any of it.)

NY State once again attempts to drive people and business out of state. Why? Do they want to end up like Michigan?

They say "This is just the beginning"

We have Government Cheese, and now we have a Government Emotional Rescue Kit. Where would we be without those geniuses?

First-person accounts of the Revolutionary War, from common soldiers

NYT spiked ACORN story for political reasons. Duh. They were afraid the facts might affect the election.

Polygamy becoming legal in Canada? That should attract all of the Hollywood stars who used to threaten to leave America - but, sadly, never did.

Did socialized medicine kill Natasha Richardson? Probably

Keith Hennessey has a new economic policy blog

US spending is at the tipping point. Guess who gets to bail out the Feds when they make the nation bankrupt?

Bankruptcy probable for GM? It's only stating the obvious, but is it politically possible? Related re Detroit and the government's role in creating their problems:

...as one federal agency unloads tens of billions of our hard-earned dollars on the seemingly fruitless rescue of the auto industry, another happy group of bureaucrats works day and night to add a quick $1.5 billion to its burden. Is this the clinical definition of insanity or what?

Yes, the fuel standards are part of what is killing Detroit. Nobody is buying those little cars and little hybrids, but they are forced to build them anyway.

Kudlow: A truly breathtaking departure. Related: Cafe Hayek notes every detail that Obama was wrong about

Related, from Wilkinson: Are we flirting with Fascism?

Related: Dino is stunned by it all, and reminds us of Michelle Obama's creepy 2008 speech

But here's the real story behind the auto news, via the WSJ. One quote:

 It's a bluff. The same administration that inserted itself into GM's corporate governance to order the resignation of a CEO is hardly likely to defer to the prescribed legal order for a failing company, namely bankruptcy. Even a "prepackaged" filing runs too much risk of a judge imposing more "sacrifice" on the UAW than the administration is prepared to tolerate.

GM bondholders understand this: They've been intransigent precisely because they calculate the UAW is too important to Democratic electoral politics for Mr. Obama to risk losing control of the reorganization process to a bankruptcy judge.

The GM bailout has become a political operation run out of the White House. It will stay that way.

The Guardian seems to have missed the point that the life-preservers for Polar Bears was a hoax. These bears routinely swim vast distances.

Dem cabinet nominee tax cheat du jour. Taxes are for the little people.

Rush to NYC: Drop Dead. I would not have imagined that he has a per diem tax when working from NY.

Via Insty, some affordable fly-fishing gear

In praise of Capitalist exploitation. Front Page

Grandiose and power-hungry: The UN

It seems the UN has got it in its head that it can run the economies of the entire planet. The same folks who ran the Oil For Food program for Saddam and ended up stealing more money than in any other caper in human history are proposing to “reorder” the economies of the world and save us all from rising temperatures.

Grandiose and power-hungry: It's all about me. Also, the hubris is remarkable