Thursday, April 7. 2005
Fr. Neuhaus and Krauthammer Eulogize the Pope The wisest two pieces I've seen: Krauthammer: Under the benign and deeply humane vision of this pope, the power of faith led to the liberation of half a continent. Under the barbaric and nihilistic vision of Islam's jihadists, the power of faith has produced terror and chaos. That contrast alone, which has dawned upon us unmistakably ever since Sept. 11, should be reason enough to be grateful for John Paul II. But we mourn him for more than that. We mourn him for restoring strength to the Western idea of the free human spirit at a moment of deepest doubt and despair. And for seeing us through to today's great moment of possibility for both faith and freedom. Click here: The Power of Faith (washingtonpost.com) Fr. Neuhaus: It is impossible to understand John Paul without understanding that his entire thought and being was grounded in the incarnation, the teaching, the suffering, death, resurrection and promised return of Jesus Christ. He was, through and through, an intellectual and philosopher. The school of philosophy to which he belonged, and to which he made many contributions through scholarly articles and books, goes by the perhaps obscure names of "phenomenology" and "personalism," but always his thought was Christo-centric, centered in the revelation of God in Christ.
Polls and the Papacy You now hear Bill Clinton, and the NYT, complain about the Pope because he was not what? A modern progressive politician? Huh? And when I begin to see polls coming out about what the next Pope should do, I realize what a huge gap exists between the religiously-interested and secularists. Hello! It is called "religion." It's about a person's relationship with God. And the Pope's job is to help find the way, and light the way. It's not about what people like and it has nothing to do with popularity or being in tune with the latest fad. It's not about "keeping up with the times." It's about "timeless". It doesn't take a spiritual leader to say what people like. Everyone already knows what people "like". What can be tough is to find is the "permalink" to the divine. When folks find that, they really like it.
 Farm Welfare
Farms have been receiving Federal subsidies since the Depression and dust-bowl years. Like everyone else in the world, farmers tend to be economically rational and to follow incentives. If someone paid me not to work one day a week, I'd take the money and use the time to blog or to do yard work. There are many compelling arguments against farm subsidies, including conservation arguments, and the sole compelling argument that I've heard in their favor is called politics. (The LYF, like most small farmers, doesn't get any government money, but is a beneficiary of milk price supports.) Conservation funds for farmers is another matter, but even there, I'd rather see the Feds simply buy the "spare" and marginal land, or buy the development rights to it, and transfer it to conservation organizations, than for it to be one more government hand-out. From a piece by Mark Radulich: "The Heritage Foundation also reports that, “Farming may be the most federally subsidized profession in America. The persistence of farm subsidy programs results from the popular misconception that they stabilize the incomes of poor family farmers who are at the mercy of unpredictable weather and crop prices. Yet a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report concluded that, "On average, farm households have higher incomes, greater wealth, and lower consumption expenditures than all U.S. households." " Read entire: Click here: Blogger News Network
The bridge at midnight trembles,
The country doctor rambles,
Banker's neices seek perfection,
Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring.
The wind howls like a hammer,
The night blows cold and rainy,
My love she's like some raven
At my window with a broken wing. Dylan, from Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Wednesday, April 6. 2005
Lady Astor: "Mr. Churchill - you are drunk." Winston Churchill: "I am drunk, Lady Astor, and you are ugly. But in the morning I shall be sober." (Can't find the reference to this famous exchange)
Tuesday, April 5. 2005
"People who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will not read...It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish." S.I. Hayakawa
Monday, April 4. 2005
From College An email response to The Barrister's post, from an undergraduate reader: We are entering round two of the Dark Ages. It shall be called "The Darker Ages". It is a time when the typical Earthling student has no idea what the hell is going on in the world, or has ocurred in the world besides his menial existence. If he thinks he does know, he probably is confused or has been brainwashed by the media or psycho professors. In college, a place where people should be deepening their intellect, students are more likely blacked-out drunk in the basement of a frat house or busting their asses on a basketball court in order to get a free ride. These types are the exonerated students at competitive universities such as Georgetown, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins - because they are totally awesome!! Actually, I am not really sure what exonerated means. And I just overhear a dude say to his friend:
"Dude, don't you have class now?"
"Yeah, but whatever, it's just Theology."
"Newspapers are just a false map of the world." Dylan, in the movie Masked and Anonymous
Sunday, April 3. 2005
from Psalm 16 Preserve me, O God, for in thee I find refuge.
I say to the Lord: "Thou art my Lord;"
I have no good apart from Thee. As for the saints in the land, they are the noble
in whom is all my delight. Those who chose another god multiply their sorrows,
their libations of blood I will not pour out,
or take their names upon my lips.
Saturday, April 2. 2005
Poetry Maggie's Farm is determined to do its part in bringing poetry back into style. We have always been intellectual fashion leaders..really! Cutting edge, or as J.S. says, "bleeding edge." Poetry is just the words - without the music. Our souls have to add the music, mainly by reading it out loud. My beef with Shakespeare education is that they make the dopey kids READ it. Wrong! as Jim Cramer would say. It has to be seen and heard - it was never meant to be read in study hall (and - dont forget, Teacher - it is called entertainment). It's the difference between looking at a blueprint and walking through a building. Anyway, I am so pleased that the good old liberal Camille Paglia has done this book. At Maggie's, we have had the belief that good poetry crystallizes chunks of life in a magical way. How you narrow it down to 43 is beyond me (cannot be done), but she did a book-thing. Snappy title: Click here: Amazon.com: Books: Break, Blow, Burn : Camille Paglia Reads Forty-three of the World's Best Poems
The Pope The world owes a debt of gratitude to Pope JP II for his moral challenge to people, and to himself. A true Rock. And a heck of a skier, I've heard, in his younger days. A humble bearer of The Word who you could easily imagine having a Sam Adams with on the slopes, maybe at Mad River Glen, but surely not Deer Valley. What a fine send-off he is receiving from around the world.
Friday, April 1. 2005
"News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising." Lord Northcliffe
Thursday, March 31. 2005
 The male Wood Duck is the most flamboyant and exotic looking bird in North America. They have just returned here, where I live - saw a few on Sunday afternoon. It's getting late to put out nest boxes, but not too late quite yet. Assuming you have water - streams or ponds or marshy lakes. Their growing population relies on human intervention, because dopey humans cut down the dead trees they like to nest in.
Build duck nest boxes: Click here: Wood Duck . Buy them: Click here: Duck Houses at BestNest.com! and learn about "Woodies": Click here: All About Birds
Something is burning, baby, hear what I say.
Even the bloodhounds of London couldn't find you today.
I see the shadow of a man, baby, makin' you blue.
Who is he baby, and what's he to you? We've reached the edge of the road, baby, where the pasture begins,
Where charity is supposed to cover up a multitude of sins.
But where do you live, baby, and where is the light?
Why are your eyes just staring off in the night? Dylan, from Something's Burning, Baby
Wednesday, March 30. 2005
Internet and the UN How would you like the UN to regulate and control the internet? "....The ITU, a United Nations agency, would like to change that. "The whole world is looking for a better solution for Internet governance, unwilling to maintain the current situation,..." What is wrong with "the current situation"? That it isn't "regulated" by an international body? It seems to be fairly wonderful now, and I would hate to see the great UN "improve" things. Thanks, Instapundit. Read piece: Click here: The U.N. thinks about tomorrow's cyberspace | Newsmakers | CNET News.com
Welcome, Dr. Bliss A long-time friend, Joy Bliss MD, has generously agreed to be our resident shrink - thank God - we need one here on the Farm. She is "The Analyst." She introduced herself, at my request, on the blog a day or two ago ("A New Member of the Farm"), and I've already gotten a couple of email requests for her phone number. For dates, not for shrink help. Plus the obnoxious but relevant question "Can she cook?" Please!...and no, she cannot cook worth a damn, in my experience, anyway. But she knows her way around Scotch whiskey. (Sorry Joy - can you handle the truth?) And - minor detail - she is married and unavailable, so quit it with those emails, please. Everyone wants a woman who can handle firearms. I just reviewed her post for tomorrow on the subject of evil, and it is good. Too long, but good. She will be a great addition to the Farm - I promise.
Deception and Self-Deception Robert Samuelson: "We are a nation of closet welfare junkies, which helps explain why we can't have an honest debate about Social Security. Social Security and Medicare are our biggest welfare programs, but because Americans regard "welfare" as shameful, we've found other labels for them. We call them "social insurance" or "entitlements." Anything but welfare. Democrats and Republicans alike embrace the deception. No one wants to upset older voters. Well, if you can't call something by its real name, you can't discuss it honestly." Read entire: Click here: Welfare Junkies (washingtonpost.com)
"The greatest virtue is humility, and the shortest route to humility is through humiliation." Edwin Lahey
Tuesday, March 29. 2005
We believe nuclear energy is a no-brainer: safe, and a freebie from nature. It's just a matter of time before it becomes our major source. I'm not askeered of it - got a mini-reactor in the basement. The family glows in the dark, but that saves $ on flashlights, and it's great for Halloween. "But think of this: Between 1996 and 1999, more children under 5 drowned in 5-gallon buckets (58) than have died in nuclear power accidents in the West since the advent of atomic energy (zero)."
Read entire: Investor's Business Daily stock analysis and business news
Balanchine Toni Bentley reviews two new books on Balanchine:
"George Balanchine, the greatest dance innovator of the twentieth century, and possibly the most important in all 350 years of classical dance history since the language was codified in the court of Louis XIV, has just been subjected to a global celebration lasting an entire year in honor of the centennial of his birth, in tsarist Russia, in 1904. Now it is perhaps a good time, as he enters his second century of influence, to assess the many acts of heroism performed in his honor—and the attendant damage." Read entire: Click here: The New York Review of Books: The Master
"As men, we are all equal in the presence of death." Publius Syrus
Monday, March 28. 2005
The End of Democracy? Fr. Neuhaus assembled the book on this famous 1996 debate on judicial activism, which included most of the wise conservatives in the US. From the description: "American conservatism's most ferocious internecine controversy in years erupted when the journal First Things published a symposium on "the judicial usurpation of politics," exploring the daring question "whether we have reached or are reaching the point where conscientious citizens can no longer give moral assent to the existing regime." A far-flung debate ensued, engaging scores of contestants in countless journals and newspapers." Click here: Amazon.com: Books: The End of Democracy...
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Phil Lesh