Maggie's Farm

By means of glasses, hotbeds, and hotwalls, very good grapes can be raised in Scotland, and very good wine too can be made of them at about thirty times the expense for which at least equally good can be brought from foreign countries. Would it be a reasonable law to prohibit the importation of all foreign wines, merely to encourage the making of claret and burgundy in Scotland?

It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy...What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom. If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage.

Both from The Wealth of Nations, Book IV

Matthew 4:12-23

¹²Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” ¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

¹⁸As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

From a piece at Gizmodo on the 2008 PMA Camera Show, via Insty:

The Jim Kweskin Jug Band with Maria (Midnight at the Oasis) Muldaur, from sometime in the 60s during the Folk Revival in some "basket house" in Greenwich Village. Sorry - the recording is incomplete but still gives a good feel for what it was like.

All guys know that good good marriage requires a lady who is interested in being a good wife. As they say, "Happy wife, happy life."

Here's the (probably apocryphal - thanks, readers) old version of the Good Wife's Guide, plus "Good Wife's Guide, Revised."

A good discussion by Donald Douglas: Why Conservatives should be open to McCain. There is a good comment there, too.

Then hit "Main" and see a couple more of his newest pieces on McCain's electability. (No need to rant about McCain in the comments. Douglas is a thoughtful guy, so it's worth thinking about.)

Like Tangled Web, who found this one, we also would like to dedicate this 1980 Blondies tune, with Deborah Harry, to Lord Algore to celebrate the Great Warmening Crisis. Y'all are old enuf to remember this song, aren't ya? No?

Hey, Debbie - get in line. Or should I say get in the queue? Everybody I know wants a good, well-trained, cigar-chompin' and house-broken bird dog to spend the night with to warm their feet at the end of the bed and to dutifully fetch stuff, when wanted.

It's every gal's dream, ain't it? Or am I outdated? ...If I am, do not tell me: I will have you killed by the Maggie's posse.

Sometimes it is good to consider some of the most familiar things in life that we take for granted, like the Chickadee.

This cute little non-migratory northern bird is known to everyone, especially from his wintertime visits to bird feeders, where he prefers sunflower seeds. He can be easily habituated to take seeds off of your palm if you stand still and have some patience.

Most of the time, though, he eats bugs and bug larvae by foraging through leaves and bark in woods and woodland edges. How often do you see them in the summertime? They are still here. They will nest in any little secret hiding place or tree-hole, and will use small nest-boxes. They are loyal to their mates, probably 'til death.

They are known to hide food for later, and supposedly are able to find it. Their typical "chickadee-dee-dee" call is replaced, in springtime, with a sweet "fee-beeee" which we will begin to hear as the days grow longer.

You can learn more about these delightful birds here and here.

All systems either of preference or of restraint, therefore, being thus completely taken away, the obvious and simple system of natural liberty establishes itself of its own accord. Every man...is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way.... The sovereign is completely discharged from a duty, in the attempting to perform which he must always be exposed to innumerable delusions, and for the proper performance of which no human wisdom or knowledge could ever be sufficient; the duty of superintending the industry of private people, and of directing it towards the employments most suitable to the interest of the society.

Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations)

A clear explanation of climate modeling and the hypothetical assumptions of the models, from Coyote:

It begins like this:

The alarm rudely drags me back to wakefulness. 4:00 am comes all too quickly, even when you're looking forward to getting up. Quietly, I slip out of bed and pad across the room to turn it off. A lump stirs under the covers, and the comforter slips back to reveal a black head, one eye opened balefully. She doesn't lift her head from the pillow.

"Time to get up, Soup Hound," I yawn. "It's a new day."

A blogger's duck hunt, here.

“Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things.”

Adam Smith

From Overcoming Bias:

Suppose that a disease, or a monster, or a war, or something, is killing people.  And suppose you only have enough resources to implement one of the following two options:

1. Save 400 lives, with certainty.
2. Save 500 lives, with 90% probability; save no lives, 10% probability.

Make your decision first, then read about it.

You think you're in the 28% Federal income tax bracket, and you have a good mortgage deduction and lots of charitable deductions, etc.

Then you wonder why your tax is so much higher than you expected. It's not just because your Social Security tax and your Medicare tax are added on - it's also because of the sneaky PEP and Pease that erase your deductions as your income increases.

All of my carefully-saved deductions are basically worthless to me, and it's not like I make mega-bucks. I am just a humble, hard-working Hartford, CT lawyer. A peasant.

Always remember, it might be your labor and your effort and your brains but it's not your money. One must learn to be grateful that they let you keep any of it because, of course, they, the elite, know what's best for us Dartmouth-Yale foolish peasants. (h/t, Mankiw)

In fact, what those low-life "elites" do know is how to spend my income for their re-elections, and nothing more.

Editor: this is a Barrister piece, which comes via your Editor due to posting problems today.

Misha and the perfect, ethereal Gelsey Kirkland in the pas de deux in Balanchine's (New York City Ballet's) magical Nutcracker, with music by the amazingly soulful and romantic Tchaikovsky (A 1977 performance):

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.

Adam Smith (that quote, I feel, contains a deep truth, and one reason why we trust those motivated by money over those motivated by gaining power over others)

Cold yesterday morning, and this hungry female Sharpie (maybe a Cooper's) missed a sparrow at my feeder but decided to puff up her feathers and stand on the grass for a while looking around. Wonderful the way they can turn their head to cover 360 degrees. This is the best I could do through Thermopane glass and a screen:

From the movie "White Nights" (1985)

"Here, if you see someone wearing an American flag, they're probably Cuban. If they wear Che Guevara, they're probably a tourist."

Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, quoted in The Guardian  (borrowed from our friend Dr. X.)

For those who believe that the three basic food groups are beer, chips and dip: A real cowboy breakfast from B&G Cowboy Chef Chuck Green. Here's his recipe for 24 servings of this delicious and supremely healthful breakfast - or lunch, or night-time snack. (Thanks, reader)

We have written about that disgusting Hot Dog Gravy they like to make in eastern Kentucky. This recipe is a better idea. 

...while jousting was popular in medieval Europe, it originated as the curtain-opener to a far more brutal affair.

Read the whole thing - about the "melee" - at BBC

We enjoy visiting the White Flower Farm in the charming antique village of Litchfield, CT, once or twice a year. Most of their business is mail-order.

They are already taking orders for Spring, and we were interested in their collections for planters. Photo is one of their shade collections. Since they are so good at putting plants together, my theory is just to steal their ideas.

A propos gardening, check out the gardens of Pearl Fryar - topiary surrealist.