^{Proverbs 32:10-31}

¹⁰A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
¹²She does him good, and not harm,all the days of her life.
¹³She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
¹⁴She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from far away.
¹⁵She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant-girls.
¹⁶She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong.
¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
²⁰She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.
²¹She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson.
²²She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
²³Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes.
²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her:
²⁹“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”
³⁰Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Time to return to the old duck camp in Manitoba, on Lake Winnepegosis - the lake with the name that sounds like a rare infectious disease.

Bird Dog, regrettably, will miss the trip this year, but Gwynnie will not. Boats gassed up and warmed up, and ready to go. No need to go out before daybreak - the ducks there like to sleep in. Weather is either Bluebird weather or sleeting in late September, but breakfast is coffee, scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon, toast, left-over steak from dinner, cereal, and fruit, and should suffice.

Plenty of ammo, apples, granola bars and water on board our duck boat. Let's go. Wait...I left my gun in the gun-room. Anybody got their camera? And hey, where's the dog at? And did we remember the radio? Where the heck are my gloves? I thought I threw them in my bag...

And my favorite, after you depart the dock: "Did anyone remember to grab the ammo?"

Were any other of our horsey readers there? I know one who was at the auction on Sept 16th. Sounds like it was good fun. Mostly weanlings, I guess, but others too. Some people in the East love Quarter Horses as trail horses but, these days, you have to go west to buy a good one. The Weavers are said to breed the best.

Originally bred for sprinting (quarter-mile) races in the Eastern US, their smaller size, maneuverability, lithe muscularity, delicate feet, and cow-sense made them the standard cowboy horse. They come in good colors, but the Grey and the Blue Roan are my favorites:

Aliyah, 9/9/06: A Wedding

After war, my first wedding.

Mordechai’s.  And Sharona’s.

77% of Aussies think it is government's role to make them happy. That is the craziest thing I have read this year. Government? Hahahahaha. You'd think they could answer with something at least slightly less stupid, like their spouse, mistress, gigolo. Now their dog - that would make good sense as an answer. My suggestion: government to add Prozac and Grey Goose to the Aussie water supply, and, if that does not work, opium also. What, me worry?

Paul meets Agrippa: An inspiring mini-sermon from Middlebrow.

The NYT is advertising itself: Truth and Accuracy. They need another ad line: How about "The Dead-Tree Daily Kos"? Or, as an alternative, "All the News We Want You Morons to Know." Or "Pravda on the Hudson"?

The left loves Ahmadinejabbywobby. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But wait. Ahamadinejobby doesn't like at least 50% of them. How many women of the Left have had sexual relations outside of marriage? He would kill them first. Betsy.

Is there a single torture the US uses on Jihadists which is not also used in frats? Or just in college?  Is this the stuff that has Colin Powell's panties in a wad?

Moonbat update from Moonbattery: I pledge allegiance to the Mexican flag, and to the corrupt dump of a country for which it stands,... Also, Mayor Bloomberg wants to PAY YOU to go to the doctor. Dear Mayor B: NYC is lookin' real nice, but leave us ALONE already! We are grown-ups. Are you nuts?

How much does the Left hate Christians? Quite a lot. RWN

Enforcement of borders is what Americans want. It's our country. Just One Minute shows Kaus, getting it right.

The regrettable discrimination and double standards in our schools. Gal teachers can play, but not guy teachers. What the heck? RWHowler

NPR getting long in the tooth.  What's the average age of their tax-subsidized listeners, anyway? And Squaring the Boston Globe is right - their men sound like they have no testicles and never played a sport. It's wierd, really.

The Scarecrow Syndrome. The dumbing down of education isn't an accident: it's an agenda. Just give the slow ones a diploma and tell them to get a job and to quit wasting the teachers' time. Here's the plan unfolding, in the UK. Samizdata.

Some farm workers are crapping in the field, on your organic spinach. Hey, it's organic, right? You want those poor oppressed farm workers to walk all the way to the toilet? That's cruel. Daily Pundit has it.

A quote from Coyote Blog:

The US does harm when we fail to live up to our values.  Radical Islam does harm when they successfully pursue what they value.

Whole piece here.

Want to go hunting in Canadanistan? They should welcome our dollars, and our recreational tourism, right? Look at this BS. To add insult to injury - you need to print it out on 8X14. Who are they kidding? Do I look like a lawyer?  Mr. Harper - please fix this travesty. Thanks, pal. All I am bringing is a damn 12 ga s/s for grouse. For heaven's sake!

Finally, we get a fence, not amnesty. I'd be surprised if the fence doesn't pass both houses. Poli. Honestly, I'd like amnesty for every wrong I have ever done, but no-one is offering that to me.

Mitchell gets it (quoted his piece in full, below, from Democracy Project). Our bold font:

Today's Democratic leadership came of age during the 1960s and 1970s, in the era of anti-Vietnam War protest. Moreover, the party activists have a left wing view of the world whereby conflict between labor and capital, oppressed and oppressor, first world and third world, black and white or left and racist right play a central role. Much as Marx omitted a careful discussion of how communism would work, with the result that his philosphy was the ugliest, most violent and vicious of all philosophical ideas, today's leftists conceptualize themselves as protestors rather than leaders.

This includes the leadership of the Democratic Party. The Democrats have not been able to articulate a coherent strategy for the Middle East because they see themselves as protestors who right wrong rather than leaders who obtain and use power effectively. The focus on demonizing Bush and the left's inability to articulate a strategy for Iraq illustrate my claim.

Should the protest Democrats win the White House and Congress, America will be set on a self-destructive course. It would be nice to see competent Democrats running agains competent Republicans, but there are few competent Democrats too be found, and the few that can be found such as Senator Lieberman, are demonized by the rest.

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Two hat-tips and three generous wags of the dog's tail to Dinocrat, who found this excellent piece by Spengler in Asia Times, entitled Jihad, The Lord's Supper, and Eternal Life. A quote:

What distinguishes Allah from YHWH and (in Christian belief) his son Jesus is love. God gives Jews and Christians a path that their foot can tread, one that is not too hard for mortals, to secure the unobtainable, namely immortal life, as if by miracle. Out of love God gives the Torah to the Jews, not because God is a stickler for the execution of 613 commandments, but because it is a path upon which the Jew may sacrifice and yet live, and receive his portion of the World to Come. The most important sacrifice in Judaism is the Sabbath - "our offering of rest", says the congregation in the Sabbath prayers - a day of inactivity that acknowledges that the Earth is the Lord's. It is a sacrifice, as it were, of ego. In this framework, incidentally, it is pointless to distinguish Judaism as a "religion of works" as opposed to Christianity as a "religion of faith".

To Christians, God offers the vicarious participation in his sacrifice of himself through his only son.

That is Grace: a free gift by God to men such that they may obtain eternal life. By a miracle, the human soul responds to the offer of Grace with a leap, a leap away from the attachments that hold us to this world, and a foretaste of the World to Come.

There is no Grace in Islam, no miracle, no expiatory sacrifice, no expression of love for mankind such that each Muslim need not be a sacrifice. On the contrary, the concept of jihad, in which the congregation of Islam is also the army, states that every single Muslim must sacrifice himself personally. Jihad is the precise equivalent of the Lord's Supper in Christianity and the Jewish Sabbath, the defining expression of sacrifice that opens the prospect of eternity to the mortal believer. To ask Islam to become moderate, to reform, to become a peaceful religion of personal conscience is the precise equivalent of asking Catholics to abolish Mass.

Islam, I have argued for years, faces an existential crisis in the modern world, which has ripped its adherents out of their traditional existence and thrust them into deadly conflicts. What was always latent in Islam has now come to the surface: the practice of Islam now expresses itself uniquely in jihad. Benedict XVI has had the courage to call things by their true names. Everything else is hypocrisy and self-delusion.

Read the whole thing.

Image: Botticelli's very late work, Mystic Crucifixion

Poll: In Match-up Between Hillary and Kerry, Most Democrats Would Choose Suicide

Survey Spells Trouble for Dems, Pollster Says

A new survey of Democratic voters indicates that in a hypothetical match-up between Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and former presidential nominee John Kerry, most Democrats would choose suicide over either candidate.

The poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, shows Mr. Kerry drawing 21%, Sen. Clinton 18%, and various forms of suicide 61%.

“Throwing yourself in front of a speeding city bus” was the most popular means of suicide at 22%, with “jumping off the roof of a really tall building or bridge” coming in second at 17%.

Read the rest, at Borowitz.

Sweden makes a right turn. We have mentioned many times to what extent the Swedes seem to live in a fantasy world of nanny-state dependency which sucks the drive, courage, and initiative out of all but their most ambitious - who often leave the country. Nanny state ponzi schemes only work with growing populations, which they do not have. Plus their voters seem to have no awareness of how wealth is created. Plus they are headed towards becoming a Moslem country in a few decades. This event may be a sign of sanity. There's a Swedish lovely on the right, posing sans burkha.

Speaking of Europe, an interview with Dalrymple at Brussels Journal. One quote:

Paul Belien: Mr Dalrymple, you are a well-known analyst of the cultural disease of our society. What do you see as the main problem?

Theodore Dalrymple: The underlying problem is a lack of purpose, a lack of feeling of belonging to anything larger than one’s own little life. This gives rise to quite a large amount of social pathology.

PB: Does this have to do with immigration? Does the problem lie mainly with second generation immigrants? Or do we find the same problem among our indigenous population, the young people, as well?

TD: I think it is our indigenous population which suffers from a lack of purpose. They have no religious belief. Quite a large proportion of the population does not derive any selfrespect from having to work for a living because some people are no better off if they work than if they do not work. They also have no cultural and intellectual interests. Therefore they do not feel they belong to any larger project than their private lives.

PB: Isn’t it paradoxical that this is happening in a time where people tend to study longer and be at school longer than any time before in history?

TD: What I am saying is not true of everybody, of course. I am talking about a section of the population. However, and unfortunately in Britain anyway, the so-called educational system has become a means of reducing youth unemployment, rather than providing people with either vocational training or intellectual and cultural capital which is of use to them throughout their lives. So the vast expansion of tertiary education in Britain – the government wants fifty per cent of the population to go to university – is just another means of disguising unemployment.

Islam proselytizing on the Internet. Bird of Paradise wonders where the forceful Christian response is. My guess is that many Christians just cannot get too excited about the idea of debating the merits of different religions, these days. Maybe we need some C.S. Lewises of the internet. On second thought, we could use some more of him, anywhere.

All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.

Charlie Chaplin

The story of the Dartmouth alumni rebellion has been well-covered in the blogosphere, especially by Dartmouth alums like Volokh, Roger Simon,  and the Powerline dudes. Recently, the WSJ decided to highlight the story, as reported by Volokh.

Joe's Dartblog follows the story closely from Hanover.

It's an important story not only because Dartmouth is an important college: it's important because it sets an example for what alumni groups at other colleges could do when they are displeased by what is being done to their alma mater.

In an era in which the tenured radicals and anti-traditionalists use their colleges and universities as laboratories for social engineering and experimentation, many alumni tend to feel dismayed, but helpless.

Strangely - but not strangely - the Dartmouth administration is seeking to crush those who do not hew to the Party Line. The Party Line, at the moment, is to change the rules so that petition candidates cannot be elected as trustees. Their use of "push-polling" and intimidation are among the methods which are being applied.

That sets one heck of an example for the academic ideal of diversity of opinion and considering different viewpoints. Woops - I forgot. Those ideals are just an antiquated, un-progressive, and obsolete tradition.

Viva la Revolucion!

Update: A comment from our Dr. Bliss:

It's not just about setting an example for other higher education institutions - it's about setting examples for all levels of education. The teacher's colleges take their cues from the Ivies. The entire anti-traditionalist, political-correctness dhimmitude, dumbing-down, feel-good, social-engineering movement in primary school has been inspired by what the big guys do and say, and not just by their own socio-political agendas. One sobering example from a teacher patient of mine (a fellow who uses the subjunctive properly), who told me on Friday that the public schools in MA no longer teach grammar. It's too difficult for the kids, and it's elitist!

If that's difficult and elitist, then try taking Physical Chemistry.

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the Earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy.

At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise."

The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?"

"You're very clever, young man, very clever," said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down."

(H/t - above quoted from neoneocon)

This event breaks my heart.

"Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim."

Hey, Dems. Hey, Ned Lamont. Perhaps we should try to be "nicer" to these rabid beasts.

These nuns gave their lives to care for sick Moslem kids, in Somalia. No further comment needed.

Via Michelle, via Jihad Watch, an excellent piece by Fr. Raymond de Souza in the National Post. A quote:

Roman Catholics are likely angry. Relations between adherents of the two religions simply cannot develop without all conducting themselves as mature adults.

It does a disservice to children to call the wild-eyed statements and deranged behaviour of the past days childish.

It is not only the obscenity of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist terrorist band suppressed in several Muslim states, demanding an apology from anyone, let alone the Holy Father.

It is not only the grandstanding Pakistani politicians passing resolutions condemning a papal speech few read, and even fewer understood. It is not only the extraneous charges about the Holocaust and Hitler by the agitated and excited.

It is that we have seen this before.

Please read the whole thing.

Also, read Hugh's piece on the subject.

We did a post on Goldfinches in the past. We have discovered, this year, that the Goldfinches like echinacea seeds as much as they like thistles. Sitting on them every morning. There is nothing like birds and butterflies to add color and vitality to a garden. They provide the movement, like dancers on a stage set.

A sterile garden, with no animal life, is dull. Need the birds and bees to make it complete.

Echinacea, aka Purple Coneflower, aka Snakeroot, is a Great Plains plant or herb. The usual forms are tall, for the back of the border, (and tend to tip over about now) but there is a shorter version now.

Pope Benedict has essentially stated that the god that Jihadists worship is not the Christian God. Duh. That is hardly shocking.

I guess Benedict is not a dhimmi.

It's about time somebody important said it. I never bought all of that "it's all the same god" stuff. That was always lame. What sap came up with that idea, anyway?

Naturally, the "religion of peace" wants to behead the Pope now, and the idiots will set some stuff on fire and kill a few infidels, thus revealing where their true souls reside.

The Pope is wrong, I think, when he says that religion is not about hate. Some are, and some are not. He means "true religion."

The "Religion of Perpetual Offence" and Hate has taken his words precisely as they wish to take them, while ignoring his message. So much for "reaching out."

Now watch the northern European nations say things like "We must be more careful about what we say and how we say it." Indeed, one cannot be too careful around paranoids, for whom mindless seeking of offence and revenge are the favorite hobbies.

Perfect example of how people use "feeling offended" as a weapon. No apologies, please, Benedict. Nothing more than "I am sorry if you did not understand me."

"I sat at the typewriter for the first time and fell in love with the words that emerged like drops, one by one, and remained on the white sheet of paper... every drop became something that if spoken would have flown away, but on the sheets as words, became solidified, whether they were good or bad..."

A recent Opinion Journal piece about her. Piece in Giselle here. Our blog pal Dino places this atheist on the path to paradise. Her Wikipedia entry here. She has been a hero to many. A "brutal interrogator."

Brains, spirit, beauty, hutzpah, grace, toughness, and writing talent. Not bad with a camera, either, but a Lady of Letters. A loss for the Italy which persecuted her, and for the world.

Yes, it is still the Year of the Dog in the Chinese calendar, and we will make one last exception to our original desire to highlight sporting dogs, because this is a breed we love. I grew up around one.

Gentle giants. Males 130-150 lbs. Bred to do work both at sea and on land, the huge cuddly beasts pulled nets, rescued fishermen, hauled carts - and one, named Seaman, accompanied Lewis and Clark. Good choice. Interestingly, these dogs were probably of English origin, not North American, and are ancestors of the Lab.

Read about Newfies here. 

Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Alice in Wonderland.

(h/t, Tangled Web, for reminding us)

Clips from the upcoming mini-series "docudrama", The Path to 9-11.

Dhimmis and Democrats should not watch these clips at Redstate - the Clintons and Harry Reid don't want you to have the right to see this (though even the NYT calls the film "evenhanded"). But this is America, not Iran, and the airwaves belong to the public - not to the politicians. 

Truth is, I wouldn't have been interested had not people gotten so upset about it. Too late - there are many original advance copies of the film around. (h/t, My Vast RW Consp.)

We have commented on American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk in the past, and termed him the first American rock star. Terry Teachout has a piece on Gottschalk in Commentary.

Trollope, the Gardener. South African Colin Bower profiles his excellent gardener in The New English Review.

Watch the women's finals last night? Is it true that Maria is 6'3"? Once she loosened up, she was darn impressive. Nice tennis dress, too. She makes 20 million/yr on endorsements. Deserves every penny.