Monday, February 19. 2007
"The Marines." Weds. night, 9 Eastern, on PBS (!). For once, wish I had a TV. (thanks, Reader)
"When issues of public policy are discussed in the outward form of an argument, often the conclusions reached are predetermined by the assumptions and definitions inherent in a particular vision of social processes. Different visions, of course, have different assumptions, so it is not uncommon for people who follow different visions to find themselves in opposition to one another across a vast spectrum of unrelated issues. (This happens) in such disparate fields as law, foreign policy, the environment, racial policy, military defense, education, and many others. To a remarkable extent, however, empirical evidence is neither sought beforehand nor consulted after a policy has been instituted. Facts may be marshaled for a position already taken, but that is very different from systematically testing opposing theories by evidence. Momentous questions are dealt with essentially as conflicts of vision." Thomas Sowell, from "Vision of the Anointed"
Botnet attacks in the past two days have again overwhelmed our servers at times. Sorry for the annoyance, but it ain't our fault.
 We used to post interesting complaints from time to time, but the onslaught has been overwhelming. It's time for some praise, for relief. "We get letters..." as Mad Magazine used to say:
"A very hip blog, but not enough Buddhism." Allen Ginsberg "I check it frequently." Thomas Brewton at View from 1776 "Maggie's is my favorite blog." G.K. Chesterton "Les Aubes sont navrantes!" Arthur Rimbaud "Maggie's Farm is a daily Ivy League education - and no exams." George W. Bush "There is always a surprise on Maggie's Farm." Rocky Raccoon "I envy your IQs." Albert Einstein "Nice blog, but yo - where the cheesecake at?" Bill Clinton "Eclectic but confusing. What are you all about, and why do you bother?" SL in Indianapolis "This is your third and final notice. Your electric bill is past due." New England Light and Power "You waste too much time with it, and you shouldn't have to edit everything - but I do enjoy reading Maggie's sometimes." My first wife "What is a "blog"?" MR in Covington, KY "I agree with you 100%" Rick Moran at RingWingNutHouse "A very fine, refined, and unpredictable poetry selection. Love it." T.S. Eliot "A bit centrist for my taste, but the blog opens my mind." Markos Jones ("Mr. Jones") at Daily Kos "An essential once-a-year read." TC in Toronto "An exemplar of the true American spirit." George Washington "You are cybersluts who would sell your souls for a reader." JT, CIO, Interplanetary Industries, Ltd. "You sure do know your tractors and your hotdish." Johan Johanssen in Minnesota "Good Injun braves. Heap big hunters. Only blog in casino." Chief Sitting Bull "Excellent New England bog, I mean brog, I mean - hey, pal, that's my drink!" Ted Kennedy "Maggie's Farm has true grit." John Wayne "Maggie's Farm 'gets it'." Frederick Hayek "Most misunderappreciated politically centrist, intelligent, and groovy website in the Milky Way." Powerpine "We put Maggie's on our blogroll, but it was like 'pity sex'." Balloon Juice "You will be the first to die, filthy counter-revolutionary pigs." Lenin "You will be next to die, filthy infidel pigs." Omar Muhammed el Rashid al Ramal, in London "A bunch of f***ing goddam fascist counter-revolutionary pigs who I will have lined up and shot, you f***ing c***suckers." Hillary Clinton "Maggie's makes me feel square and old-fashioned." Sigmund Freud "A deep understanding of the challenges facing Western Civilization." Lionel Trilling "The blog that knows the blues." Sonny Boy Williamson "The blog that knows the Constitution." James Madison " .............................. ." Instapundit "Maggie's Farm has raised my ticket sales by getting my name out, so hurry and place your ads here now!" William Shakespeare "I ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm no more." Bob Dylan "Hey - that photo is the farmhouse I grew up in." David Burge, my hero, at IowaHawk "Hey Bird Dog - I just stubbed my toe on the Spanish Steps. Owww. Ouchie." Ezra Pound "Excellent taste in whine." Robert Parker (Parker rating for the 2006 Maggie's Farm: "32. Corked, overly-sweet, too much gunpowder, aftertastes of liver, diver duck and old owl. Past its prime, worn-out even though it was never any good. Drink now if a desperate alcoholic, or, if not, put down the drain immediately.") "You lean a bit left, but you are otherwise quite likeable." John Ashcroft "My sixth or seventh...or maybe eighth... I dunno... favorite blog." His Royal Highness Roger De Hauteville, King of Sicily (brevetted) "If you were in Europe, you'd be in jail where you belong, writing your memoirs on fine French toilet paper." Jacques Chirac "Les oiseaux - fantastique!" John J. Audubon "God bless you all at Margie's Kitchen for your good work. I'd like to offer to name your Connecticut contributors 'Honorary Democrats.' Would that be something they might like? There would be a photo with Nancy Pelosi." Joe Lieberman "Your blog is a good example of why we need to limit political speech in America. Free speech is one thing, but you make it clear why we need limits. Even roads have speed limits. Not everything needs to be said." John McCain "What is all this hideous right-wing nonsense? Do you all really mean all this?" My sister in MA "Hey Bird Dog, get away from my quail." Elvis Presley Image: A 1950 Farmall Model C
Sunday, February 18. 2007
 Filling in for the News Junkie today...
"The government is endogenous." A profound comment by Prof Bainbridge. We've been inching towards this kind of clarity, but the Prof arrived. The point being this: Why should govt be the problem solver, when it is no more rational, or even less rational, than the public? We would argue, far dumber, much more amoral - and power-hungry arrogant schmucks. I'd like to spend some time in Mozambique. Looks good to me: Samizdata. Beautiful women, beautiful, exotic place. I am ready to go. Should be no problem for my G5 bumbling along at 50,000 feet. Ten Step Plan to becoming a dictator. (H/t, Reader). This guy figured it out. The truce is over. Belmont Club. What truce? The Left has been pushing surrender forever. Surrender to what? To whatever. Melanie Phillips takes a look at Iran's 27-year war on the west. Does Russia want to re-start the Cold War? NY Sun. I doubt it. But they do want to be players on the world stage. It's such a dump of a country, I guess they need something to feel good about. The surge has been a success, thus far. But the bad guys are just hiding under rocks, waiting. Even the NYT, after a bit of Bush-bashing, wonders whether Murtha et all are crackpots. The stupidity of crowds. No Pasaran takes on the Greenie-Lefties. Our opinion: the Greenies are the "useful idiots" of the Left. Adding to blogroll: Siberian Light, Granddaddy Long Legs, Foo Bar and Grill Catholic women's college obsessed with vaginas and sex. Is this "higher education"? Sounds like lower education to me. Hate to quote Instapundit because everyone reads him anyway, but this blurb was too good. It captures a ton of insight: IN THE MAIL: Michael Burleigh's Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and Politics, from the Great War to the War on Terror. Looks quite interesting. From the blurb: "Covering a vast canvas, Michael Burleigh examines the many secular religions the twentieth century produced, analyzing how successive totalitarian leaders coveted and mimicked the hierarchy, rites and ritual of the churches in the desire to return to the day when ruler and deity were one."
Deval changed his mind. Sorry, MA. Now he wants more of your money. I guess he changed his mind... Should the word "scrotum" appear in kids' library books? Why not? I thought they were already teaching the little ones gay and transexual pleasuring techniques in our progressive government schools. Scrotum definitely a sensitive area. "Fusionism" is the notion of the merging of Libertariansim and Conservatism. Is it possible? I think so, as long as folks don't feel the compulsion to be completely consistent in their politics - but who is? TCS takes a look.  More on the subject of "We're all Welfare Queens" now. How pathetic have we become as a nation? Help used to be for the folks in trouble, but now it's for everybody, including the "greedy geezers," with the predictable weakening of the human spirit and the rise of whining as a life style and a voting style. There is no way back to good old study Manhood and Womanhood, once a majority is on the dole in some way - or expects to be.
Are we raising a generation of the dependent, passive, and spineless, like Europe? Not only a serf mentality, but a surrenderist mentality. I do not wish to imagine where this sort of future takes my descendants. People who won't take up a challenge, but collapse and give up? That ain't the American Way, nor is it the Anglo-Saxon way. Nor is it the Pilgrim way, where freedom under God was every family's goal, in the face of death. Pull up your socks and get to it and give it the old college try - come what will. And pray. That's our approach. Whether it works or not, fine. We will get by. Can't beat Touch of Gray. It has got it all over Woody's sappy "This land is your land..." Touch of Gray is the American middle-aged Song, and man, could that guy play a sweet guitar? Although we do have a natural weakness for the Maggie's Farm attitude - good for all ages. The depressing graph is from a piece at Villainous.
Psalm 37, 1-18 1Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, 2for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. 4Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. 7Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. 8Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 10Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there. 11But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity. 12The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them; 13but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming. 14The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly; 15their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 16Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked. 17For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. 18The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide forever.
Saturday, February 17. 2007
Our friend Synthstuff is home from a hard month of sailing in the Caribbean. How he found this Norwegian link I have no idea, but the story goes like this: Presumably Norwegian dude buys an old, run-down farm in Portugal, and eventually gets around to using a hacksaw to cut the padlocks to a big old abandoned barn on the property that had not been entered in 15 years. If you like cars, scroll down to see what is in there.
 Let them eat cake? Excellent update at Drezner (h/t, Instap). Great example of what happens when you imagine that humans could be smarter than markets. Chavez never read Edmund Burke, obviously. Quote: Entering a supermarket here is a bizarre experience. Shelves are fully stocked with Scotch whiskey, Argentine wines and imported cheeses like brie and Camembert, but basic staples like black beans and desirable cuts of beef like sirloin are often absent. Customers, even those in the government’s own Mercal chain of subsidized grocery stores, are left with choices like pork neck bones, rabbit and unusual cuts of lamb. With shoppers limited to just two large packages of sugar, a black market in sugar has developed among street vendors in parts of Caracas. “This country is going to turn into Cuba, or Chávez will have to give in,” said Cándida de Gómez, 54, a shopper at a private supermarket in Los Palos Grandes, a district in the capital.... Fears that more private companies could be nationalized have put further pressure on the currency as rich Venezuelans try to take money out of the country. Concern over capital flight has made the government jittery, with vague threats issued to newspapers that publish unofficial currency rates (officially the bolívar is quoted at about 2,150 to the dollar)....
and here's the punchline: classic Left: Mr. Chávez, whose leftist populism remains highly popular among Venezuela’s poor and working classes, seemed unfazed by criticism of his policies. Appearing live on national television, he called for the creation of “committees of social control,” essentially groups of his political supporters whose purpose would be to report on farmers, ranchers, supermarket owners and streetvendors who circumvent the state’s effort to control food prices.
Whole thing here. You can't fool Mother Market, but you sure can crush "the people" if you want to. Image by His Royal Highness Roger de Hauteville, King of Sicily, of course
Sister Mary Katherine entered the Monastery of Silence. The Priest said, "Sister, you know that this is a silent monastery. You are welcome here as long as you like but you may not speak until I direct you to do so."
Sister Mary Katherine lived in the monastery for 5 years before the Priest
said to her, "Sister Mary Katherine, you have been here for 5 years. You can speak two words." Sister Mary Katherine said, "Hard bed." "I'm sorry to hear that," the Priest said, "we will get you a better bed."
After another 5 years, Sister Mary Katherine was called by the Priest. "You may say another two words, Sister Mary Katherine.” “Cold Food,” said Sister Mary Katherine, and the Priest assured her that the food would be better in the future. On her 15th anniversary at the monastery, the Priest again called Sister Mary Katherine Into his office. “You may say two words today.” “I quit,” said Sister Mary Katherine. “It’s probably best," said the Priest, "you’ve done nothing but bitch since you got here.”
Joe Lieberman said this (piece at YARGB): From all of the research my staff and I have done, including asking the Library of Congress to do, we have found no case in American history where Congress has done what this resolution does. That is, in a non-binding resolution, oppose a plan that our military is implementing right now. Congress has expressed non-binding resolutions of disapproval before a plan of military action has been carried out. Congress has taken much more direct steps, authorized to do so by the Constitution, to cut off funds for military action or a war in progress.
But never before has the Congress of the United States passed a non-binding resolution of disapproval of a military plan that is already being carried out by American military personnel.
The paragliding story - just incredible. My nightmare. How Edward Said made it impossible to speak the truth about Islam and the Middle East. New York Sun Sissy shares our views of PC and threats to free speech. Womens' work spaces dirtier than toilet seats. Sheesh. Good advice, for bloggers and for everyone, from Wizbang: Never say anything you would not be willing to repeat under oath. Never say anything you would not want to see plastered across the front page of the newspaper. Never write when you can speak. Never speak when you can nod. Never nod when you can wink.
Friday, February 16. 2007
This urgent item came in over the transom:  Most of you have read the scare-mail about the person whose kidneys were stolen while he was passed out. While the kidney story was an urban legend, this one is not. It's happening every day in America.
My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. It was just that quick. I went to sleep in my body and woke up with someone else's thighs. The new ones had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Who would have done such a cruel thing to legs that had been mine for years? Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine? I spent the entire summer looking for my thighs. Finally, hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans and Sheer Energy pantyhose. Then, just when my guard was down, the thieves struck again. My ass was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear end to the thighs they stuck me with earlier. I couldn't believe that my new ass was attached at least three inches lower than my original. Now, my rear complemented my legs, lump for lump. Frantic, I prayed that long skirts would stay in fashion. It was two years ago when I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was fixing my hair and I watched horrified but fascinated as the flesh of my upper arms swung to and fro with the motion of the hairbrush. This was really getting scary. My body was being replaced one section at a time. How clever and fiendish. Age? Age had nothing to do with it. Age is supposed to creep up, unnoticed, something like maturity. No, I was being attacked repeatedly and without warning. In despair, I gave up my T-shirts. What could they do to me next? My poor neck suddenly disappeared faster than the Thanksgiving turkey it now resembled. That's why I decided to tell my story. I can't take on the medical profession by myself. Women of the world, wake up and smell the coffee. That really isn't plastic that those surgeons are using. You KNOW where they are getting those replacement parts, don't you? The next time you suspect someone has had a face "lifted," look again. Was it lifted from you? This is not a hoax. This is happening to women in every town every night. WARN YOUR FRIENDS! P.S. I must say that last year I thought someone had stolen my breasts. I was lying in bed and they were gone! As I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my waistband where no-one can find the,. Image: Photo of the author of the above warning, prior to theft of body parts.
The Master said, "Yu, have you heard the six words to which are attached six becloudings?" Yu replied, "I have not."
"Sit down, and I will tell them to you.
There is the love of being benevolent without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to a foolish simplicity. There is the love of knowing without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to dissipation of mind. There is the love of being sincere without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to an injurious disregard of consequences. There is the love of straightforwardness without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to rudeness. There is the love of boldness without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to insubordination. There is the love of firmness without the love of learning - the beclouding here leads to extravagant conduct." From the Analects of Confucius (h/t, a commenter at One Cosmos)
Thursday, February 15. 2007
Shamelessly stolen from Villainous Company. I hope Cassandra doesn't mind, but this was too good to pass up. Can guys assume that this is what is going on when a lady has a smile in the line at Starbucks? 
I wish one of us had written this piece. Cultural Marxism, by Kimball at Am. Thinker. A quote: Both communism and the New Left are alive and thriving here in America. They favor code words: tolerance, social justice, economic justice, peace, reproductive rights, sex education and safe sex, safe schools, inclusion, diversity, and sensitivity. All together, this is Cultural Marxism disguised as multiculturalism.
Read it all. It gives the history of almost everything we view as subversive and destructive to the values we hold dear. I am just not sure how Freud fits into this, though.
 "They were laying new power cables which were strung on the ground for miles. The moose are rutting right now and very agitated. He was thrashing around and got his antlers stuck in the cables. When the men (miles away) began pulling the lines up with their big equipment, the moose went up with them. They noticed excess tension in the lines and went searching for the problem. He was still alive when they lowered him to the ground. He was a huge 60 inch bull and slightly peeved !"
 Everybody is linking to this piece, Protector of the Free World Deserves Better, by Albrechtson in the Australian. One quote:
Anti-Americanism has less to do with US politics and policies and more to do with what Markovits calls the "perfectly respectable human need to hate the big guy". Half a century ago, Hannah Arendt commented on the same psychology of mistrust aimed at the US. It was, she said, the inevitable plight of the big, rich guy to be alternately flattered and abused, remaining unpopular no matter how generous they were.
So will they love us if our economy shrinks towards the catastrophe of France, and we shut down our military? And why should we care? Those arrogant Europeans should be reading Maggie's if they want to learn about evil, ignorant, uncivilized, oafish, boorish, disgusting Americans.
Wednesday, February 14. 2007
"...it's obvious that environmentalism is a new incarnation of modern leftism." Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic
 Quoted from Amerisearch:
In the third century, Roman Emperor Claudius the Goth not only commanded that the Roman gods must be worshipped, but he temporarily forbade marriage, because he believed single men made better soldiers. Legend has it that Bishop Valentine risked the Emperor's wrath by refusing to worship idols and for secretly marrying young couples. Valentine was dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and have his head cut off on February 14, 269AD. While awaiting execution, it is said he prayed for the jailers' sick daughter, who miraculously recovered. He wrote her a note and signed it, "from your Valentine." In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius designated February 14th as “Saint Valentine’s Day.”
Thus a Saint's Day on which to remember the lengths to which sacrificial love can go. The secularized version of this Saint's Day has eliminated the example of Christ, and the faith of St. Valentine, and retained only the tradition of the clubbing to death to which all fellows can be subject if they do not please their wife and/or girlfriend(s).
Monday, February 12. 2007
 Vaclav Klaus. Gotta love the guy. Why do we have such pussy-footing politicians?
Checked his bio: an economist and an academic. So I could also say "Why do we have to have such pussy academics?" A quote from the interview at Drudge: Environmentalism as a metaphysical ideology and as a worldview has absolutely nothing to do with natural sciences or with the climate. Sadly, it has nothing to do with social sciences either. Still, it is becoming fashionable and this fact scares me. The second part of the sentence should be: we also have lots of reports, studies, and books of climatologists whose conclusions are diametrally opposite. Indeed, I never measure the thickness of ice in Antarctica. I really don't know how to do it and don't plan to learn it. However, as a scientifically oriented person, I know how to read science reports about these questions, for example about ice in Antarctica. I don't have to be a climate scientist myself to read them. And inside the papers I have read, the conclusions we may see in the media simply don't appear.
and: Q: How do you explain that conservative media are skeptical while the left-wing media view the global warming as a done deal?
A: It is not quite exactly divided to the left-wingers and right-wingers. Nevertheless it's obvious that environmentalism is a new incarnation of modern leftism.
Klaus is a dangerous tennis player too. Our new hero.
The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of liberty. Abraham Lincoln
For a Lincoln tribute on his birthday, we'll defer to Powerline, where they have a good one.
 I am a pod, and I don't know how to act with people. But I found a solution. Humgbug
Let's remember: Nifong is innocent until proven guilty. Durham in Wonderland. A comment by LGF: There you have the modern Democrat Party: they want to talk with our worst enemies, and pick fights with our best friends.
Anti-whaling insanity. Tim Blair. I oppose whaling too, but come on. Segolene Royal wants more freebies for the people. Blue Crab. Why not just eliminate work entirely? Some good weather coming to Yankee land. Bring it on. Are we the only part of the country which regards what other parts of the country term "bad weather" as fun weather? Bird Dog News. World's largest hunting dog magazine, online and off.
 Try the Battleground God quiz, which intelligently tests the theological and logical consistency of your thoughts about God. Gives feedback, too. (h/t, reader)
God transcends our tests and our theology and our consistency - or lack therof but, since He gave us a brain, we may as well use the darn contraption as best we can.
To grasp the true meaning of socialism, imagine a world where everything is designed by the post office. P.J. O'Rourke
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