Maggie's Farm

Beautiful snowy day. I have only seen the usual suspects: Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, Song Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, SC Junco, Cardinal, BC Chickadee, WB Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker. Somebody around must be offering Niger seed (which is not really thistle seed) because I haven't seen any Goldfinches. Hoping for something exciting to come by, like maybe a California Condor or a Dodo. 

Feb. 22, 1732. Some quotes:

I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an Honest Man.

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.

There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.

The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good.

It never hurts to review his Farewell Address delivered on September 17, 1796, at which time he voluntarily, despite much urging, decided that two terms of the Presidency was enough for one person. It concludes:

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man, who views it in the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.

As I understand it, according to strict doctrine, Mohammed hates dogs, pigs, monkeys, Jews, Hindus, gays, and Christians, and isn't overly fond of women either, except as physical objects and cooks.

I do not know how he feels about squirrels, but their thefts of my bird seed are beginning to turn me against the filthy little rodents and I am considering issuing a fatwah against them.

But, back to dogs: readers know that we are dog-lovers here, so we are deeply, deeply offended by news items like this, and are considering some serious rioting, car burning, and peeing on hydrants until such offenses cease.

NYT dredges up 8 year-old story to try to slam their pal John McCain.

What are they thinking? Is there a story, or just a drive-by smear? It appears that they are trying to imply that John is like Bill Clinton.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

Plato (h/t, NE Republican)

Ah, but you generally end up with that anyway, because most people have real jobs, and do not hunger for power over others.

Both new to us:

Jungle Trader, who trades in items you'd be highly unlikely to find elsewhere, such as:

Hong Kong health officials on Tuesday warned would-be slimmers not to consume parasitic worms in an attempt to lose weight following adverts for products containing worm eggs.

Stuff White People Like, which addresses the peculiar habits of white-skinned humanoids in a scholarly manner, to help further the multicultural understanding of, and sensitivity towards, this marginalized group. A quote: 

In most situations, white people are very comforted by seeing their own kind. However, when they are eating at a new ethnic restaurant or traveling to a foreign nation, nothing spoils their fun more than seeing another white person.

Bloomberg: Hillary vote fraud in NY vote.

The Tie Dye Clematis, at Wayside.

I'm not sure that it's lovely, but it's interesting.

From Dr. Merc, who has more C&H:

h/t, Lib Leanings. Apparently Americans like to bitch about the cost of necessities like medical care and milk, but not about the cost of boats, cars, motorcycles, cameras, guns, and other toys.

Desperate green housewives

Mrs. Obama: Nothing about America to feel proud of

Castro resigns

Your inner fish. NYT

Cheating. Kinsley:

Republicans have pulled some dirty tricks before: Swift Boats, Watergate, you name it. But this time they have gone too far. In its desperate hunger for victory at any cost, the Republican Party is on the verge of choosing a presidential candidate, John McCain, who is widely regarded (everywhere except inside the Republican Party itself) as honest, courageous, likable and intelligent.

Has anybody read this book?

Inside the McCain campaign: Can he reinvent Republicanism?

A photo of Great Pond, Wellfleet, MA, from this guy's Wellfleet site. I have swum across that old kettle pond many times.

Schools don't teach Hyper History, but they should cover it before they teach any specific historical period. During most of my formal history education, I struggled to orient myself in historical time.

Hyper History means what happened over the broad sweep of time, say 30,000 BC to 1900 - those old-fashioned time lines, to help you put whatever you learn in some kind of context. Since it isn't taught, you have to make one yourself with big rolls of paper, which will make you learn it better, or, next best for the lazies, buy one from HyperHistory Online. and hang it on a long wall. It's not just for kids.

I also found a very cool Roman timeline.

Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them...

Tom Paine, Common Sense (h/t, Jacksonian)

Why do people who think like Rowan Williams (and there are lots of them) get it wrong every time? Stumbling and Mumbling explains it. One quote:

In saying that the UK's adoption of part of Sharia law is inevitable, I suspect the Archbishop of Canterbury is making the same mistake he made in calling for laws against "cruel speech." He's failing to see that there should be a (big) space between individuals and the law, a space filled by civil society.
In a free society, consenting adults should be able to settle disputes however they like; this might entail recourse to a coin toss, Sharia, Beth din or whatever. The job of UK law is merely to ensure that consent is free, informed and not too onerous.
This means that Sharia shouldn't and needn't be part of English law, but merely of civil society.
Similarly, the task of restraining cruel and thoughtless speech - insofar as this is necessary - should fall to civil society, not the law. Whatever the response to hatemongers like David Irving should be - protest, debate, ignoring him - it should not be the law.
Dr Williams, then, is failing to see that some things - many things - shouldn't be done by the law, but by free people.

Read the whole short thing linked above. I think Archbishop Moonbat may have really screwed the pooch this time. Insty has more reactions.

A reader mentioned that she liked this rather unique .45/410 revolver for home defence. Makes sense to me. A splash of #6 birdshot to the face will indeed leave a scumbag "learning Braille in jail" - if he is lucky.

Here's a review of the revolver, whence the photo.

I tend to like this basic handgun. I prefer revolvers for the same reason that I prefer breaking shotguns: fewer moving parts, and easier to keep track of your ammo.

Related, quoted in full from Insty:

JAY TEA HAS THOUGHTS ON GUN-FREE ZONES;

Nearly all of the mass shootings of late have been in "gun-free zones." And the ones that weren't -- at the New Life Church in Colorado and the Appalachian School of Law in Virginia -- were stopped by private citizens (and members of the community being attacked) with their own weapons.

Now for my second thought. If these places aren't going to get rid of their "gun-free zone" status, despite the overwhelming circumstantial evidence that they simply get more people killed, then how can they improve their security where it actually make the people inside safer?

I have a few ideas. And for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to apply them to a college.

Meanwhile, Nathan Moore is offering to represent anyone who wants to challenge Tennessee's rules against carry on campus.

UPDATE: "Lawyer up, kids!"

Also, No Looking Back on gun-free zones (which should be called "Defence-free Zones," or maybe "Helpless Victim Zones.")

Here's the argument against The Judge. thanks, reader.

Climate change in California

 Maoism in Arizona

Whatever happened to physics, chemistry, and history?

The conclusion of Twyla Tharp's masterpiece Push Comes to Shove, choreographed for Baryshnikov. I saw him do this, thanks to the Mrs. Bird Dog's insistence many years ago. (In another life, she was a modern dancer in NYC and, as part of courtship, I have seen a lifetime of dance. Still do. Good stuff, but I think it is difficult - but worthwhile - for a guy to fully "get it." It's not in my blood, so I have to try to appreciate to expand my spirit.)

NYC remains the dance capital of the world. I always liked Merce Cunningham, with John Cage in the pit. Totally strange, eccentric, and absorbing.

There is a lot happening on the stage recorded below, and it is all joyful and fun and technically impeccable. You almost need to be married to a dancer to understand the mysteries of technique, and how technique expresses ideas and emotion. Dance is hard as hell to do right, and Misha had the best Moscow trainng. Ballet in Russia is like football here.

A family member recently handed this over to me, which had been sleeping in his attic for 40 years. It's a 20 ga. single-shot breaking gun from Ithaca Gun. It's in perfect condition, but has little value or practical utility. It might be good for teaching a kid: having one shot concentrates the mind.

The point is that you cannot have too many guns around. Each is interesting in its own way. There are so many cool ways to assemble a piece of pipe with a hammer mechanism at one end. This one was thirsty for a little oil, which inspired me to deliver a bit of TLC to many which have not been used lately.

He also gave me an equally old, but essentially unused, .22 long with a nice scope and a light oak stock. That is a fun, handy toy tool. He is keeping his .45 police handgun to enforce mannerly behavior around his house. I have too many shotguns, need handguns around the farm.

David's Psalm 103, from his older years, was my selection for our men's Lenten study this week. David begs his heart and soul to invest in praise, humility, and gratitude.

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children-
18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.  Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas (h/t, reader).

An annual re-post, for our readers with game in their freezers:

A few more Maggie's Farm favorites, but first, remember: always salt and pepper your meat before cooking, never over-cook game, and keep a good supply of gibier sauce in your freezer.

For venison, elk and moose

The filets - tie them up tight, and cook as you do a beef filet mignon

The steaks - marinated overnight in olive oil, garlic, thyme, a little wine, and grilled rare

The stew meat (which is most of it) - Our favorite is to make a Bourguignon, but a Navarin is also excellent. I call these two recipes "savory meats."

Pheasant, duck and goose legs

Our habit, with duck, goose and pheasant, is to cook the breasts and to confit the legs and thighs. When you confit them, the tendons melt and they are a great accompaniment for a salad. A container of confit in the fridge will last for months. Just take 'em out and warm them in the oven and let the duck fat from the confit drip off, and either pick the meat off and toss it with the greens, or just put the warmed leg with thigh on top of the salad. Good idea to mix some warm gibier sauce in with the oil and vinegar dressing.

Pheasant

We like pheasant breast sauteed to pink in the middle, in butter and olive oil, on a bed of red cabbage (braised with bacon, a little vinegar, port), with wild mushrooms and braised and sauteed root vegetables - or mashed potato, on the side. You splash some reduced gibier sauce on top.

Woodcock

We treat the delectable but tiny woodcock with special care. We don't do it like the French (a sauce from all of its guts, and served with a toothpick to eat the brain with). Sautee the tiny breasts for a number of seconds on each side in hot butter and some truffle oil, and place on toast. Squish the livers into the butter and oil to make a sauce with a splash of brandy or something, and pour on top. Amazing first course.

Or, even better: woodcock ravioli. Chop very finely, then sautee shallot, carrot, and a little garlic. Very quickly sautee the woodcock breasts, then cut into small pieces. Mix above together with some truffle oil and spoon into your ravioli pasta or wontons. Serve splashed with gibier sauce with a couple of sauteed porcinis. A nice touch: shave some black truffle over the raviolis on the plate.

Ruffed Grouse

Grouse hunters are a special breed of human - bull-headed and foolish - and the Ruffed Grouse is a special kind of food. Every grouse hunter has his favorite way of preparing this subtle but delicious breast meat, like a dry chicken, but a chicken that has been raised on juniper berries and raspberries and mushrooms and aspen buds and fern fronds. One way we like is to brown the breasts quickly, then wrap in bacon and bake until the middle is pink. Serve on a bed of lentils with chopped shallots and carrots in them, with a splash of gibier sauce on top, root vegetables maybe on the side.

Canada Goose

Pests? Not on your life. They are great food. Marinate those dark meat, steak-like breasts overnight. Some love 'em on the grill, like steak. That's fine, but also good is to sautee them in oil and butter to your degree of done-ness, then serve thinly sliced with a gibier sauce.

Wild Duck

We have more favorite ways of cooking wild duck than I can list here. It's a subject for another day, but I will say three things: in Yankeeland, duck doesn't mean Mallard - it means all sorts of ducks, including the delicious and livery Bluebill. Second: we gave up on cooking the whole bird, stuffed or otherwise. It does not do justice to the bird. We just do happy things with the breasts, and confit the legs and thighs. Third, a piece of orange should never get near a wild duck. Domestic duck, ok, if that's what you like, but not the wild ones - it's criminal.

Is the Hillary Clinton campaign the Black Knight? It's not over yet, because she can bite.

Freudian slip? I have heard the tape several times since Bill Clinton said that yesterday.

Sheesh. What is going on here?

Put the youngest Bird Dog pup on the plane to Charlotte very early this morning for the Junior Olympics Tournament. (She does Foil - elegant, but millions of rules. It's like physical Chess.) Gave myself a little treat by taking the Queens-Midtown Tunnel from LaGuardia airport into Manhattan, and grabbed a bag of fresh hot bagels and some good coffee before heading back north to the serenity of Yankeeland. I do love NYC. Who doesn't? It is vitality, even at 6 AM.

On a Saturday morning at 6 AM you can drive up Manhattan to the 96th St. entrance to the FDR quite enjoyably, despite having to dodge wacko, reckless, seemingly insane or drunk guys in wheelchairs in the middle of 3rd Ave, disregarding the street signals. Had camera, but too dark.

Fencing demands a lot from your legs, your brain, and your spirit. The young 'uns all come back with some good purple bruises, so it's a wonder that the goo-goos haven't banned this "violent" game yet. In pitiful Euroland, at least.

Bruises = Life.

Well, this pup of mine is good at finding her way around new places - a handy life skill - having done Europe a couple of times more or less independently. When she goes to a Fencing tournament, I say "Return with your shield, or on it," or sometimes "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."

I want to see blood on her foil.

The Jimmy Bruno Quartet in April, 2007. "Loverman" (forgive his promotionals - it's good marketing):