Maggie's Farm

Graham Owen can tie flies which can fool other bugs - and he can take stunning photos too. Thanks, Synthstuff, for the remarkable blog find - Flies with an Attitude. Sample:

Best piece I have seen on the Lord Monkton letter  (a perfect smack-down) and the whole politicization of geology and climatology in the interest of state and/or bureaucratic control over the world economy - at Classical Values.

Read his piece - it is funny. One thing I wonder about is not how much politicans hurt themselves when they get on quasi-religious bandwagons like this - we expect them to be foolish - but about how much scientists discredit themselves and the profession in this way.

I cannot remember a time in my life when loud scientists were right about any public policy or about any long-term prediction. Correct me if I am wrong (I know you will.). Just off the top of my head: the population "bomb," "Star Wars", the ABM Treaty, the Global Cooling Crisis, how to make peace with the USSR (surrender), Vietnam (surrender), the earth running out of oil (1970s), not to mention endless medical and health scares.  People will gradually just tune out the hysteria.

Florida's pythons. I hate this story. (h/t, HH)

750' bungee jump. Not for me, thanks - I just ate. Video

Not worth reading: The real EU Islamophobia report. Just plain pathetic.

I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat.

PJ O'Rourke. The full quote is at Mr. Free Market

From a review of a new book by Gregory Curtis on cave art, in WaPo:

For centuries, cave art was ignored or dismissed as a clever prank. But in 1879, a Spanish scholar named Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola had a eureka moment when he was poking around in a cave called Altamira in Spain. He was overwhelmed by paintings of life-size bison on the cave's ceiling; this was, writes Curtis, "the first time we know of that an artist from the distant Stone Age touched the soul of a modern person." When Sautuola tried to publicize his findings, which linked the art to discoveries of prehistoric tools and carvings found on horns and other hard surfaces, archaeologists turned on him, mocking his conclusions with a savage fury. The great debate was on, and the theories and counter theories haven't stopped since. Curtis deftly leads us on a tour of contending interpretations, although some of the terms can be rather arcane.

I feel badly about the climbers, and their families...but...if you want to climb Mt. Hood in December, get rescue insurance and have a rescue plan in place in case it is needed.

Either that, or sign something comparable to a DNR note: "We accept the risk, and we're on our own." Along with generous life insurance which covers it, to take care of your kids' educations.

Mt. Hood has no guardrails, and no McDonalds. It is a dead-serious deal, and everyone knows that. The danger is the appeal.

Why should the citizens of Oregon subsidize macho stunts like these with their hard-earned taxes? Isn't the whole point of climbing to risk life and limb? To encounter mortal danger when life is otherwise so soft, safe and protected? To find a trail without guardrails? To find a place where you cannot be rescued, and cannot find a McDonalds or a mall, and must face nature's harsh face?

I have had just two friends who "climb." One saw his mother fall to her death on the Matterhorn (photo). The other saw his best friend fall to his death in a snow-covered crevasse in Alaska, and roped down to pull up the mangled body. Neither of them "climb" anymore: unpleasant memories.

Death, when voluntarily courting mortal danger, is not a tragedy. It might be heroic, as in war, or an accepted risk, but not tragic: in our cozy, modern American life, you have to go well out of your way, and spend serious money, to find serious risk - unless you do something stupid and emotional like stepping on thin ice, or trying to outsmart the stock market. There is no tragic flaw involved.

On Everest, you are on your own, and it is strewn with freeze-dried bodies as memento mori. I admire folks who take on such adventures. I do not care for heights, however. If you want a safe, comfy vacation, go to Tinsley World instead of Mt. Hood, or take a walk around the neighborhood with the pup and the camera.

If you die on a mountain, we will remember you as someone with cojones, but not as tragic. People die on mountains all the time, but it only makes the news during slow news weeks. Hope the last two are OK, and that they can find another hobby.

Don't forget a couple of our favorite web shopping sites: Sierra Trading Post, and, of course, Cabela's.

Also, for the gentry, Kevin's.

Vilmar, a blog pal who ran Right Wing Howler, is throwing in the towel. We erroneously noted last week that he had been shut down by complaints from CAIR, but that is not exactly the story. We'll miss his reckless and irreverent sense of humor...and his links! God bless, Vilmar - and good luck!

A propos of the Dylanologist's piece last week, The Elusive Benefits of Diversity,, is a piece on race-neutral alternatives to affirmative action, at The Debate Link. (I forget who linked this piece.)

Atlas of the new money, at WSJ. Love the quote from Greenwich, CT's hedgie Mr. Ray Dalio about the new mega-homes -  palaces, really - being built: "Yuck. It's like flashing diamonds."

Time Magazine names boring, ignorant, web-surfing, kinky porn-addicted, skirt-chasing, sex-intoxicated, beer-addled, blues-listenin', under-educated, opera-goin', ballet-watchin', gun-totin', gal whistlin',  Jesus-lovin', government-hatin', red-neck tractor-drivin' parrothead Yankee libertarian money-likin' capitalist, and an utterly confused and inconsistent - both philosophically and morally - lazy unshaven and un-bathed, pajama-wearing, low-life, tatooed blog editor slacker, and Dylan fan... as Person of the Year. Who'd a thunk it? A lousy choice, Time Magazine. There have got to be better candidates out there. How about Ahmadinejabajaba? More your type?

DA Nifong is in deep doo-doo. It's comforting to know that, in the US, even DAs are supposed to obey the law.

^{Luke 3, 7-18}

⁷John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” ¹⁰And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” ¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Image: Bachiacca's late Renaissance (c.1540) Madonna and child, with the young John the Baptist

Linked by Dr. Bliss below, but here, again. One heck of a speech.

"We dare not tempt them with weakness...." This is my sort of Democrat. I remember watching this, on black and white TV.

"We shall pay any price..."

LaShawn has often compared the Duke lacrosse players' case to the Scottsboro Boys.

It brings new meaning to the term "railroaded." The Scottsboro Boys were literally railroaded to court.

Indeed, injustice is horrifying - regardless of color. But slowly, justice may be victorious in this sad tale of the corrupting temptations of power.

Wouldn't it be a fine thing if all these guys go to law school, after learning first-hand about injustice?

Image: Charles Weems was one of the Scottsboro Boys

Got muskrats? There's a hot new market for their fur: China

Indian scams. Let's call them what they are. Con-men, if you ask me, preying on the guilt of idiots.

Let's start by sterilizing Dr. John Reid. Pass the scalpel.

Goldman Sachs and those rich bonuses. Read the comments, too, at EconLog. If you don't think they earn it, you should meet some of them sometime: they aren't ordinary people. IQ, and an unusual abundance of ego strengths.

Thinking about Russia and autocracy. Daily Pundit. One quote:

Russia long ago chose to barter liberty for security. The only reason the Communists were overthrown there was that they ceased to provide security (or food, or shoes…). But there is small cultural thirst for liberty in Russia. Otherwise, Vladimir Putin would not be establishing his New Russian Autocracy today.

Thanks to Jimmy Buffett for providing some of our titles this week. This below quoted from a piece about tribalism (a subject which we recently discussed), which addresses freedom,  Iraq, Vietnam, Thomas Friedman, etc, from Shrinkwrapped:

...his theory was that the people who live between thirty degrees north and south parallels of latitude (the Equatorial Region) are different than those who live in more temperate climates. In that region it is relatively easy to wrest a living from nature through hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming. There are also abundant materials for building crude shelters from the elements. Because the temperatures are warm, the main purpose of shelter is protection from rain or hot sun. On the other hand, nature is very strong in these latitudes. Insects and the elements attack any structure as soon as it is put up. Periodically typhoons/hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes occur, destroying shelters and lives. As a result the people develop a philosophy that they can’t fight nature. Therefore, they don’t spend much time, money, or effort on building shelter. And since food is readily available they don’t see the necessity to plan ahead for their food supplies or to save up for a possible famine. He believed the people of the tropics were very resistant to the ideas of democracy and capitalism because they were still too close to the old ways of tribalism. This meant the tradition of strong or big-man leaders, not building lasting infrastructure, and living in the moment rather than planning and investing for the future.