Maggie's Farm

As narrow-minded, knuckle-dragging traditionalists, we Maggie's Farmers honor fathers: fathers that stick around and do their best to do what grown men need to do for their families and for their communities.

Few of us can reach the Atticus Finch ideal.

Here are a few Dad-related links from our archives:

The Incredible Shrinking Father

A few pretty sailboats

M200 carbine

Are boys just defective girls?

Bring back dueling!

Fine powerboats: This one and this one

David Grossman's Ode to his son Uri

What do men want?

Banging around Yankeeland in the rain all day, and ended up driving through a hailstorm like I have never seen in New England. It looked as if it had snowed, or as if God had dumped his largest box of mothballs on us.

There's a herd of Black Angus in the distance on this farm in beautiful Litchfield County. Taking photos in the rain is evidently not my thing.

Maggie's Farm supports and admires the work of The Land Trust for Tennessee - as we do the good work of all land trusts. 

Photo from yesterday's celebration of a donor of a conservation easement on her working farm. Some things in life mean more than money.

Yes, Maggie's Farm has had a conservation easement for a number of years, and can never be developed.

Nice old farmhouse. What style would ya call that, Sippican?

Sippican: It's "a nice little spindle-style Queen Anne house, a little spare on the embellishment."

One angry email and one - or more - flaming posts. Other blogs, I know, get more anger, but we tend to be civil. Where does this come from?

First, an email response to today's post highlighting the introspective liberal:

What dribble but coming from a party who's (sic) hero is a big fat white guy on the radio who needs drugs to get an erection what can you expect?

Aaah, you mean like such not-angry and thoughtful political philosophers as Rush Limbaugh, Mike Levin, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Neil Boortz, and Michelle Malkin, right? If only liberals could bring to their movement the authenticity and intellectual consistency of the three pillars of modern Republicanism: nigger-hatred, religious fanaticism, and proto-fascist war-mongering.

Icarus, 1947

The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.

Ronald Reagan (h/t, Tammy Bruce)

Humble Brit cell phone salesman takes the stage at the UK's version of American Idol. Story and video at Anchoress.

(Wolf Flywheel of The Shelf notes in our comments that this fellow, Paul Potts, is not exactly a newbie. He studied with Pavarotti, has toured in Italy. Oh well, still a good story, and I suspect the guy can quit his day job now.)

Comment from The Barrister: The moral of the story (or should I say "narrative"?) is that we listen to too much lousy pop music. When we hear the real thing it makes a big impression.

I'm sure it is possible to receive a rigorous and challenging secondary education in the UK but, according to Lubos Motl's summary at The Reference Frame, it's getting harder to find.

Motl is specificially speaking about the softening of the sciences. A quote:

...all subjects have been affected. In literature, great poets are omitted while third class poets are included according to a political key. Civitas also confirm Grey's statement that the new subject "scientific literacy" is not really about chemistry, physics, and biology but rather about media studies. The children are expected to discuss AGW, GM crops, and whether scientists should be trusted. I have no idea how they can decide whether scientists should be trusted if the children learn no science.

If this is taken too far, where will their engineers and naval architects and doctors and physicists and science teachers and inventors come from? Eastern Europe, India and China?

The destruction of America's egret population was one of the reasons for the creation of the Audubon Society. The special breeding-season egret plumage made great decorations for ladys' hats.

Our egret populations have recovered nicely. If you have a rookery anywhere nearby, where often many species of egrets nest together, you are fortunate because you will see these fellows all the time, stalking for food in the shallows.

When you see a Snowy, watch for those bright-yellow feet on their black legs. Like Mickey Mouse. You can read about the Snowy here. (thanks, reader, for the nice photo)

The Fjordman explains, with upsetting examples from the EU. Gates of Vienna.

I have always appreciated Linda Chavez, especially when discussing education issues, but she took a low road, and a wrong road, to imply that those opposed to illegal immigration are racist. When people start name-calling, it means that their arguments on the merits have failed.

Heather MacDonald took offence, and wins the bout, in my opinion. Michelle

Now that we are in June, our birds would rather eat bugs than seeds. Regardless, I am continuing the feeder this summer to see who stops by. Today: Purple Grackles, Mourning Doves in droves, Goldfinch, Redwing Blackbird, Cowbird, House Finch, House Sparrow, Blue Jay, Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse. Oh - of course, Grey Squirrels.

Lurking happily in the rose bushes under the bird feeder: 2 baby Cottontail rabbits and a family of Chipmunks. The young bunnies are too tame and trusting for life, so I try to teach them basic survival fear by advancing menacingly when I am near them.

Photo: Mourning Dove. These lovely, subtlely-colored birds with their soft cooing are now game birds in many states, but not in New England. They taste as good as they look. I was surprised to read that they are among the ten most common species in the US. Read more about Mourning Dove at CLO.

Seen this yet? Hot Air. It's funny, but I really have no problem with government being run by regular mediocre blokes. "Government of the people, by the people," right?  It's the experts and bureaucrats that give me the creeps: less likely to have common sense.

But Miller is right about Reid and the war. Reid is playing on the other team, so to speak. 

I happen to be one of the few people who dislike going to Whole Foods (except for their cheese department), but they will, no doubt, have an impact on Brit marketing of food. Samizdata. Brit marketing is like American marketing in the 1930s, from what I have seen.

America takes the art and science of Marketing very seriously. Americans can sell anything, from Snake Oil to Windows software to Ford automobiles to Global Warming Hysteria. America creates and invents like crazy, but our ace in the hole is our sales and marketing genius. What good is an idea if you can't sell it?

Whole Foods, like the A&P's Food Emporium years ago, is all about Upscale Marketing: you take a little Balducci's, a little Food Emporium, plus a little Yuppie Health Food Store ethos to make the customers feel like they are eating wholesome stuff and therefore their precious selves will stay young and live forever - and stir.

"Organic" is the "New! Improved!" of our era. 

The art of retail sales, I have been told by master salespeople, is all about appealing to people's narcissism - and never letting them admit that they have been "sold". "Let them feel good about themselves for choosing our stuff."

We have mourned, on these pages, the destruction of the great American downtowns during the 60s and 70s in the name of progress. And we have praised the liveable, human-scale cities which, for whatever reason, managed to escape the wrecking ball. Why does Savannah, GA always come to mind? Georgia on my mind, I guess.

In 1950, Louisville was the 12th largest city in the US, and a thriving place. But the downtown lacked parking lots, so lots of buildings "had to" come down.

Photo below: the 1920 Rialto Theater during the 1969 demolition, replaced by a parking lot. I'd be willing to bet they wish they had the Rialto now. An essay, Louisville after the Bombings, here. Our Dylanologist says the same essay could have been written about Nashville.

Western soldiers like to collect souvenirs of war. As quoted in a scholarly essay by Michael Stevenson :

'Many soldiers in the 24th Division's tank companies and Scout platoons began to collect battlefield souvenirs - especially Soviet AK-47 assault rifles carried by the military. … In one instance, an elaborate Iraqi Defense Ministry compound was broken into by the 2-4 Cavalry, and, under the eyes of its commander … soldiers loaded glassware, trays, sterling silver, gun collections, oversized rugs, and a huge photograph of Saddam Hussein onto tanks and armored cars to take back to America. … The items were to be used … for a Cavalry Ball, to be held after the war…'. In the case of this war, a 'war-souvenir officer' was even appointed to gather war trophies - flags, enemy tanks and artillery pieces, two camels, etc - for display at the Fort Stewart Museum, back in Georgia.

Stevenson's essay takes a look at how widespread this was during the 19th Century wars in Africa. Why did people go to the trouble of collecting this stuff, what meaning did it have for the collectors, and what meaning does it have for later owners?

The whole essay is linked above. Photo: Zulu shield and spear.