Maggie's Farm

Never put it in writing.

Unless you want it on the front page of the newspaper...assuming there is a newspaper any more. Writing includes email.

Seriously. A friend highly recommended these to me. Good for kids, since the schools teach them nothing about economics. I think the schools assume that money and wealth come from heaven and/or the government.

Probably good for most adults too - and most journalists. Paul Krugman - take note.

At Am. Thinker:

Human civilization as we know it is only possible in a warm interglacial climate.  Short of a catastrophic asteroid impact, the greatest threat to the human race is the onset of another ice age.

Image is Wooly Mammoth in New Jersey, a few thousand years ago, from Moravec

Via Coyote:

President Obama says that he wants to nominate a Supreme Court Justice who has “empathy” as opposed to a jurist who makes decisions based on “some abstract legal theory.” Not surprisingly, I’m not the only one troubled by his selection criteria. Thomas Sowell has written an excellent 3 part series “Empathy” Versus Law” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).

Justice tempered with mercy is fine with me, but "empathy" is for social workers and phony seducers.

The writing of 1984, in The Guardian. (h/t, Althouse's We shall abolish the orgasm.)The piece begins:

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

Sixty years after the publication of Orwell's masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four, that crystal first line sounds as natural and compelling as ever. But when you see the original manuscript, you find something else: not so much the ringing clarity, more the obsessive rewriting, in different inks, that betrays the extraordinary turmoil behind its composition.

Probably the definitive novel of the 20th century, a story that remains eternally fresh and contemporary, and whose terms such as "Big Brother", "doublethink" and "newspeak" have become part of everyday currency, Nineteen Eighty-Four has been translated into more than 65 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide, giving George Orwell a unique place in world literature.

Thinking about smells and tastes today (they are essentially the same thing). My big old barn/garage did it to me this morning, with the warm air filled with scent and memories.

For me, that warm stew of the scents of gasoline, oil, grease, hay in the hay-loft, grain, tools and machines, dust, tractors, sawdust, kerosene, piles of saved lumber, old paint cans, leather tack and the saddle soap for it, the sweetness of fresh horse manure - mixed with the smell of the new grass and clover and wildflowers springing up in the fields wafting around - is an emotional thread that runs all the way back to my earliest childhood in Connecticut.

What it reminded me of today was being a lad of 8 or 10 helping my Dad build a new mounting block for my Mom and for us kids to get up on the horses. My Mom had a couple of big hunters, and appreciated a help to get up on them. She was almost always either pregnant or getting over being pregnant, but she loved the Hunt. These mounting block things had steps and a platform, with a railing on one side. My Dad would only use a hand-saw, believing that bench saws and the like were for the pros. He had one, but never used it. He could cut a straight line.

I was instructed to paint it barn red to match the horse barn, and the railings and cross-pieces white.

They make them out of plastic nowadays, but this guy built a simple wooden one.

Photo is one of those nasty modern plastic mounting blocks. Looks like made by Fisher-Price. Advantage: you can move them around easily.

You used to just plain peter out at 68 or 79 or 93 but, after 1951, the law changed and some Doc had to make up a cause to put on the death certificate. A proximate cause, plus additional lines to fill in for contributing causes/underlying causes of death. (Imagine what that change did to disease stats!) More many more little-known facts about death.

Old time Docs knew that people died when they got old and rickety or had a bum ticker or some nasty growths. You plumb wear out eventually, and it is just a matter of which internal doohickey crapped out first. It was considered sort-of natural, and not a medical issue.

And, when folks died, they either said "They died" or "They ascended to their Maker" or "Went to their eternal reward." They did not say "They passed" (what a strange expression - passed what? New Agey-sounding, isn't it? Took a pass on more life, or what? Passed into the Spirit World?) or "passed away," as the relentlessly euphemistic funeral home people used to say. Like they aren't dead: they just sort of floated away past the 7-11 and the Pontiac dealership and the Pizza Hut to somewhere else.

Maybe to the lovely Mall in the Sky.

Just a thought re government medical treatment: If it's so great, how come you never heard of an American going to Canada or England for treatment?

Kudlow on Obama's war on Capitalism

Belmont on the death of the newspapers. Read Whiskey's comment (#5)

Grumpy old Brits get grumpy about their nanny state. That country needs a good war.

We are more likely to act according to our ideals when...

Funny how people pick and chose the Constitutional amendments they prefer. Rick on the 10th A. Rick is absolutely right, but legally naive.

MA budgets the medical care of the people masses

George McGovern rips 'card check"

Hear about the mechanic who was addicted to brake fluid?

Says he can stop any time he wants.

Obama is the guy who is saying that America will be the last advanced country to try all the things that have already failed in other countries.

Mark Steyn, on the radio today

Beck destroys ACORN spokesman.

Whether or not folks such as Glenn Beck or Michael Savage or Ann Coulter are your cup of tea, we all benefit from having them around to defend the perimeter of what is sayable and thinkable.

The Dems seem to want everybody to go to college. I want everybody to get a solid HS education, but many will not. Not because of the schools - because they don't want it.

As I have said many times here, one does not "get" educated: one takes it - or does not. As it is, how many colleges are glorified high schools, diploma mills, or propaganda factories?

The Dems want student loans to be a federal entitlement. That would basically make colleges and universities fully under the thumb of the feds, which will lead to everything becoming politicized. Also, they want to eliminate private college loans. Does this all sound sort of familiar?

In part, their wishes sound like a government full-employment plan for PhDs in unmarketable subject areas, and one more power grab over independent and private institutions.

It's mainly about the dangers of protectionism and Smoot-Hawley - with some cool old film clips too (h/t, Volokh):

Now that Homeland Security has decided to turn against fellow Americans as the dangerous enemies - patriotic dissenters - it's time to get rid of the darn thing. We already have the FBI, and Napolitano is no J. Edgar Hoover... or is she?

Miss California is still targeted, despite the fact that her views on gay marriage were identical to Obama's stated position in the election. Palinization? That gal is cute as a button - but dangerous? And since when aren't Christians supposed to be sexy?

Michael Savage is not the most refined voice on the radio (says whatever he thinks, and is #3), but I hope he sues over this.

I am shocked. Shocked. The Taliban Lied. Who'd a thunk it? Nice folks certainly - just misunderstood. Call the social worker, Dear Officer Krupke.

Also from the Gateman, I am shocked. Shocked. 19,000 phony voter registrations. How much money in the "stimulus" went to ACORN? Was it $4 billion? That is a generous reward to a "not-for profit," "non-partisan" org.

The O is now at +1%. Heading downwards. Not everyone seems to be enchanted. My motto is "Don't follow leaders; watch yer parkin' meters."

"This is America." A tough CT Yankee: I'm not afraid of Obama

Good fun to go with your single malt, at Surber.

The US has, I believe, the highest business and corporate taxes in the world. China has no corporate tax because they want to encourage business growth. They aren't stupid.

The Dems want to push them higher. Furthermore, they want to tax foreign biz income before it is repatriated, which discourages overseas expansion and does not make the Brits very happy. 

Heck, if I were a biz, I'd just move my HQ elsewhere if I am not made to feel welcome or appreciated here. The old saying goes "A gentleman knows where he is not wanted."

Am I way off the mark when I observe that taxes on business are indirect taxes on consumers and investors? And that they reduce employment and growth?

And that, by doing so, those taxes will soon reduce the revenue that the government so greedily feeds on? Is this complicated? Isn't basic economics taught in Middle School Social Studies? Or at least in Home Ec?

Good comments below - thanks, y'all.

From commenter Uburoisc on Huge Serving on Academia Nuts at Pajamas:

I graduated at the top of my class with a double major from a good college; I did not enter graduate school because I couldn’t take one more minute of the postmodern gibberish being peddled in every department and by nearly every instructor, at all times. Even the visiting lectures were hopelessly corrupted by the barbaric and unlovely LitCrit jargon: “Jane Austin and the Deterritorialized Gaze: Possession, Feminism, and the Other in 19th Century England” I’d rather watch TV, thank you. I spent my entire time reading the great critics and scholars of the preceeding generations and largely ignored my professors; Harold C. Goddard has more thoughtful things to say about Shakespeare than all the current crop of pedagogues could collectively put together in their lifetimes.

Lastly, and I feel I can say this with authority, the university is the least free place to speak your mind in the United States. At any time you might slip up and find yourself before a tribunal of administrative jellyfish, being castigated by a howling lunatic from some immaterial discipline demanding your immediate expulsion. It’s not worth opening your mouth, because no one will even see the need to come to your defense. The hard and natural sciences sail along, imperiously indifferent to the fate of the humanities. By the time they realize that the barbarians have stormed the gates, and taken the city below, their floating island will have been over-run with the same hordes of irrationalism, misplaced sentiment, self-loathing, and muddleheaded thinking that doomed their sister schools. Once language is detroyed, it becomes impossible to even articulate the grounds of dissent, or remember when things might have been different.

One of the most pressing needs that conservatives and honest liberals have is to rebuild the university; not to create a new model, but to reinstate the grand one that once existed and must exist again if our common culture is to re-establish a fellowship with wisdom.

Going Dutch? No thanks. It's about the 50-50 deal.

To keep the slaves happy, they throw them a few scraps periodically - for which they are supposed to feel grateful as if they were the folks who created the money in the first place, and not you.

“Capitalism is nothing but a false religion, with Mammon as its god and Adam Smith as its high priest.”

If that is true, how come the Marxists and Socialists all want my money -  the fruits of my labor and my saving and investing? 

Who is greedier than a Lefty politician? And does anybody love my money more than politicians? 

(Disclaimer: I like money. It gives me power over my life, freedom and choices, and personal security. However, I do not want one penny of your money unless I do a job for you.)

A few very thoughtful links about filthy lucre:

Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, discussed at Standpoint.

Bloggingheads TV with Joseph Heath on Filthy Lucre. Economic basics. Well-done.

Your financial planning. Mankiw

From Sen. Jim DeMint's WSJ op-ed on building a big tent party:

No Child Left Behind didn't win us "soccer moms," but it did cost us our credibility on locally controlled education. Medicare prescription drugs didn't win us a "permanent majority," but it cost us our credibility on entitlement reform. Every year, another Republican quality was tainted: managerial competence, fiscal discipline and personal ethics.

To win back the trust of the American people, we must be a "big tent" party. But big tents need strong poles, and the strongest pole of our party -- the organizing principle and the crucial alternative to the Democrats -- must be freedom. The federal government is too big, takes too much of our money, and makes too many of our decisions. If Republicans can't agree on that, elections are the least of our problems.

If the American people want a European-style social democracy, the Democratic Party will give it to them. We can't win a bidding war with Democrats.

Freedom will mean different things to different Republicans, but it can tether a diverse coalition to inalienable principles. Republicans can welcome a vigorous debate about legalized abortion or same-sex marriage; but we should be able to agree that social policies should be set through a democratic process, not by unelected judges. Our party benefits from national-security debates; but Republicans can start from the premise that the U.S. is an exceptional nation and force for good in history. We can argue about how to rein in the federal Leviathan; but we should agree that centralized government infringes on individual liberty and that problems are best solved by the people or the government closest to them.

Moderate and liberal Republicans who think a South Carolina conservative like me has too much influence are right! I don't want to make decisions for them. That's why I'm working to reduce Washington's grip on our lives and devolve power to the states, communities and individuals, so that Northeastern Republicans, Western Republicans, Southern Republicans, and Midwestern Republicans can define their own brands of Republicanism. It's the Democrats who want to impose a rigid, uniform agenda on all Americans. Freedom Republicanism is about choice -- in education, health care, energy and more. It's OK if those choices look different in South Carolina, Maine and California.

People who prefer dependency to freedom need to find another country. Lots of those countries out there, but they are disappearing fast. If you want a strong dose, try Cuba or Venezuela. Maybe Bolivia. Stay away from China, because they are looking for entrepreneurs.

Rush mischievously but truthfully noted today that racial profiling is an evil if practiced by cops, border agents, or airports - but is considered highly desirable in government as Obama's people seek a Left-wing female Hispanic to replace Souter.

Why not some sort of Asian? How about somebody who reveres our Constitution?

From Cato, via Will Wilkinson:

A quote from his piece:

During the 1940s, my family lived in North Philadelphia's Richard Allen housing project. Many families didn't lock doors until late at night, if ever. No one ever thought of installing bars on their windows. Hot, humid summer nights found many people sleeping outside on balconies or lawn chairs. Starting in the '60s and '70s, doing the same in some neighborhoods would have been tantamount to committing suicide. Keep in mind that the 1940s and '50s were a time of gross racial discrimination, high black poverty and few opportunities compared to today. The fact that black neighborhoods were far more civilized at that time should give pause to the excuses of today that blames today's pathology on poverty and discrimination.

Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we've become.

I was working at home today, and took a stroll at lunchtime up the driveway for a quiet smoke and to give the horses some carrots. A new black F-150 pulls in. A well-muscled and well-tattoed guy leans out and says "Got a FedEx for ya." He rummages under the Lear top to find my package.

"Where's your truck?" I ask. "In the shop today." "Why all the plumbing tools back there?" I ask. "I'm a plumber." He pulls out his card for me.

I'm always interested in stories like this. Jimmy R. bought this FedEx route: he owns it. Three trucks, three drivers. His real job is plumbing contractor, but he helps the drivers on his route when a problem comes up. He started out as an apprentice plumber after getting out of the Corps. The man is a double entrepreneur, and Jimmy is a part of the America the libs neither know nor comprehend. He is also the part of America that the Dems are determined to damage.

"You need a plumber, you call me" he instructs as he leaves. Stickers on the back windshield of the Lear top: "Mossberg," an image of a leaping stag, and the US Marine Corp logo.

Man, I thought, I love this country just the way it is.