Maggie's Farm

With a 2014 interview

 Rescuing Trans Children

 Harvard Student Condemns Anti-Americanism in Senior Speech (video)

 The Biden Administration Hits Peak Energy Absurdity

Harris Says Abortion Limitations Would Limit the “Choices” Of Men…

 "F**k Clarence Thomas!" Shouts Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot During Pride Parade

 Another J6 Trump 'Bombshell' Outed as a Hoax!

Very pleasant if only one person has to carry the daypack. Family coming down last week from North Tabletop, Colorado.

I see that the verdict is to let the citizens decide.

Not a Constitutional issue. Just a political issue. I always admired Amendment X.

Via Kling. What do you think?

 I tend to think the view that one of the ways that Judaism is distinguished from Christianity is the primacy of justice in the former, compared to the primacy of mercy in the latter. To the Christian, everyone is a sinner, and so the differences between me and the death row prisoner are ontologically trivial. (A view like this I think motivates someone like the Atlantic's Liz Bruenig, whom I credit as one of the few honest death penalty opponents, even as I disagree with her.) Judaism, by contrast, is fundamentally a religion of law

Amusing comments on this youtube at the youtube site.

WSJ: Every concertgoer knows it: Most classical music written since 1945 ranges from boring to unendurable. What went wrong?

After paring back the useless majors, ideologies, and gimmicks, the true purpose of college becomes clear.

 Notre Dame political philosopher Patrick Deneen argues that a true education in the liberal arts is first and foremost not about pointing fingers but learning how to overcome one’s own weaknesses, malice, and addictions, which is hard work. The humanities provide countless models of thought, feeling, and behavior to compare and contrast and use as points of reference. Said Newman, “If then a practical end must be assigned to a university course, I say it is that of training good members of society.” If Newman was right, the humanities are less like parsley and more like the main course.

We do not know what "college" or "higher ed" mean anymore. I used to think of "college" as referring to Liberal Arts, but I am way out of date. Wasn't a liberal arts education always an elite thing except for the very curious and self-educated?

Lots of Higher Ed is work- or career-related these days.  

 College Is Not For All

I am fortunate to know many people with more life competencies that I have. I envy them. I am not talking about talent and talent stacks, but just competencies. Building a stone wall takes competency: Michelangelo had talent.

Here's a beginning ist of life competencies that I see in people, and admire. Trigger Warning: These might be white male competencies:

- Gracious and graceful social amiability
- Ability to follow the math and statistics
- Ability to handle one's finances reasonably
- Ability to handle boats
- Ability to handle firearms on the range and in the field
- Knowing how to manage gardens of all sorts
- How to cook decent meals
- How to handle a cranky horse
- How to camp in the wilderness
- How to keep playing some sport into adulthood
- How to handle a chain saw
- How to do simple carpentry, and how to paint a house
- How to start a fire with wet wood
- How to write an essay
- How to put out a kitchen fire
- How to do CPR
- How to use a GPS in the woods - and a compass to navigate
- How to drive a stick shift vehicle - sports car or tractor
- How to catch fish
- How to ride a bike and motorbike
- How to play some instrument, even if poorly

Add your own life competencies, or desired competencies, below.

When to Sealcoat or Resurface Your Asphalt Driveway

I like vacations because I can escape all of my possessions.

- Scott Adams 

The 30-minute postcast about Lewis' That Hideous Strength

George Balanchine, paraphrased: "Any distinction between art and entertainment is not worth making."

If something is labeled as "art," I think we tend to give more attention to what is done. Is that right?  

I am reposting this interview because it was misrepresented as the topic of ethics. It is not. It is much more than that.

A bunch of high-schoolers get a taste of USMC basic training

Did you ever try to play Chess, taking both sides?

It stretches your brain out of shape. Try it sometime.