Maggie's Farm

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
--Declaration of Independence

Proclaimed in 1868, and originally known as Decoration Day,
Memorial Day was slow to catch on in the South, which, understandably, had their own day to memorialize their war dead. We must honor them too - they were fighting for freedom, as they saw it.

How easy it is to forget the meaning of the holiday - the day to remember fallen soldiers, and to decorate their graves - unless you have lost one recently, or saw pals die in battle. In that case, it's easy to remember.

It shames me to think how much of what I take for granted has been bought with blood, sweat, and tears. How do you thank the dead, other than with remembrance and prayer?

A detailed history of Memorial Day here.

Two Stooges, plus Sweden

Just to prove that some of us here have some humility, here's what we did on Saturday:

We took the Ford tractor, with the Dixie brushwacker hooked up, sharpened and ready, to go mow the "back forty" which we missed last year due to the tractor being worked on, and to cut some low branches that get in our way and annoy us by smacking us smartly in the face when we mow. This is a small, not really forty but maybe 25-acre curving meadow adjacent to the beaver marsh, that we only mow alternate years, for the wildlife. (Yes, there are no birds nesting in that field, but we  watch out for turtles, snakes, etc.)

On my foolish advice, and foolishly listening to mine, brother-in-law rests the chain saw on the side of the tractor seat balanced on top of a hill of chain that we use to drag heavy stuff, and I march behind carrying a plastic container of chain saw 50/1 gas-oil mix, and other miscellaneous tools including a shovel and a bunch of bare-root junipers I want to plant to mark the big rocks in the meadow, along with some Gatorade and Ballantine Ale, like the beast of burden that Bird Dog is.

The tractor hits a log hidden by the already 10" hay (thanks a lot, beavers, for dumping that log there), the chain saw jumps, incomprehensively, past the tire-guard and mischievously clips the nozzle off the tire. The water (yes, water-fiilled rear tires) spews out like a fire hydrant, and we have a flat tire on Memorial Day Saturday when no tractor tire places are open, plus the meadow is over a wooden bridge that I doubt any tire guy with his precious shiny Ford 350 pick-up would like to hazard.

Unprintable language spewed from Bird Dog as lavishly as the water did from the tire. So much for the day's planned work. But somehow the Stihl saw still worked after its victorious battle with the tire. 

from Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

What a fine, simple name for a bird.

It is now the end of warbler migration, and migration in general. This common warbler, pictured here in a Larch (remember "The Larch" on Monty Python?), is beginning to nest, although it's still cold this week up here. 

Read more about this handsome warbler., which is seen in the eastern 2/3 of the US.

"A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice."

Edgar Watson Howe

Well, they're not showing any lights tonight
And there's no moon
There's just a hot-blooded singer
Singing "Memphis in June"
While they're beating the devil out of a guy
Who's wearing a powder-blue wig
Later he'll be shot
For resisting arrest
I can still hear his voice crying
In the wilderness
What looks large from a distance
Close up ain't never that big

Never could learn to drink that blood
And call it wine.
Never could learn to hold you, love
And call you mine.

Dylan, from Tight Connection to my Heart (Has Anybody Seen my Love?) - buy it here

I think this is a Mississippi River Channel Catfish. This is about as big as they get, Captain Ahab.  

Editor: Then tonight I get an email from Curt, saying "Is this a bait fish?"

Are Political Blogs a Waste of Time?

To what extent do the conservative bloggers and readers just talk to each-other? And don't the DailyKos folks do the same? Is anyone influenced or convinced? Doubtful.

But maybe at the margins. After all, Rush gave voice to millions of people who thought the way he did, but had no outside reinforcement for what they felt. The success of FOX news is the same - a crappy news program yet semi-entertaining if you have something else to do at the same time - but folks want to feel represented in the national dialogue. They need validation. Humans always want that - to not feel invisible.

People enjoy information too, or they wouldn't be wasting time online - except for porn, or check-paying, or email, apparently. We are all yentas at heart. But people also want reinforcement - a feeling of community.

The MSM takes care of the liberals, so the conservatives need all of these "alternative" outlets to feel reassured that they aren't out to lunch. There is no comparison between the numbers of traditionalist blogs and leftist blogs - and no comparison in their quality and intelligence (our blog excepted - it's not intelligent and is of low-quality...but ya like it, dontcha?).

So I dunno. One thing I do know for sure - when new info is made widely available by blogs, it makes a difference in the "real news." Powerline has had true power, run as it is by three extraordinary Dartmouth fellows. But how do you reach other folks, to help them open up their closed minds? I do not have the answer to that one.

Wish I did. One idea: Let's do an LBO of the NYT, and bring it balance! We will need a few very big players to do this deal...and the Sulzbergers must be bored with their toys by now.

The Siege of Western Civilization

A DVD, by Herb Meyer. This 40 minute chat is getting around by word of mouth. Thanks, Right Thinking, who reviews it here.

From a church bulletin:

This week's Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 pm. Please use the back door.

A Cape Cod Day

We have been having a Cape Cod day today, and, in fact, a Cape Cod week in New England. What that means is low 50s, 40s at night, strong wind, rain, clouds and fog. It is for hearty folks. Got a fire going right now, in late May. What a wonderful world.

A Call for Information from the Blog-World

We would like to collect information on the political activities and political agendas of innocent-appearing non-profit organizations.

Our post today on the UCC was not our first on this topic, but the millions of blog-readers out there can collect the info better than we can.

For example, we have been told by a reader that the National YWCA has a mission statement to "defeat rascism and sexism by all means necessary."  We are all against racism and sexism, but what does that mean, is it true, and what do they do about it? This kind of stuff isn't on the organizational websites - you have to know it from the inside.

We suspect that most people are not aware of what the national HQs of many non-profits are doing with their share of dues in Washington and in New York. Let's try to find out.

Email us with hard data.  Thanks.

"In much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow."

Ecclesiastes

Isikoff: It is a "blip"

Innocent lives, far away, may be a "blip" to Isikoff - or is the main concern about the life of the magazine?

The Golden Rule of Flattery: "Enjoy it, but don't inhale."

Anon.

1995 John Deere, Model 8650

We moved tractors to Mondays. Monday is the day we all need a little traction to get rolling.

This big boy provides more than a little.

I'd like to try pulling a few stumps with this one. Man, this is a serious tooth-puller. Almost too big for Yankee-land farms. Put a chain around the house and move it over there!

"Insanity in individuals is something rare--but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."

Friedrich Nietzsche

But concerning the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brethren thoughout Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged you, so that you may command the respect of outsiders, and be dependent on nobody.

From Paul's (chastising but encouraging) Letter to the Thessalonians, 4:9

This is a re-post:

 James Twitchell on Higher Ed, Inc:

"Counting everything but its huge endowment holdings, Higher Ed, Inc., is a $250 to $270 billion business—bigger than religion, much bigger than art. And though no one in the business will openly admit it, getting into college is a cinch. The problem, of course, is that too many students want to get into the same handful of nameplate colleges, making it seem that the entire market is tight. It most certainly is not. Here’s the crucial statistic: There are about 2,500 four-year colleges in this country, and only about 100 of them refuse more applicants than they accept. Most schools accept 80 percent or more of those who apply. It’s the rare student who can’t get in somewhere. "

Criticism from Readers

Keep 'em coming. We will try not to be hypersensitive or defensive. Much as we enjoy compliments, they really do us no good at all. (But keep them coming too.)

Yes, we can go overboard and be stupid and provocative sometimes. And yes, sometimes the transitions in our "essays" are lame. And yes and no, we are a hodge-podge, but so is life. And yes, we do like guns. And lots of other things, including dogs and marshes full of birds and this whole amazing Creation. And yes, we can be edgy - some of us, anyway. Edgy is OK, as is curmudgeonly, but cranky is something we'd like to avoid - if we can. Too much Cuba? Sorry. There is just something about Cuba that we like.