Maggie's FarmWe are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for. |
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Tuesday, May 11. 2010Industrial Pron du JourVia Failbook via Things That Are Doing It (h/t, I forget - will link when I remember.) Another one, also safe for work, below the fold - Continue reading "Industrial Pron du Jour"
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:42
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Monday, May 10. 2010Roethke's "Last Class," and the rich brat gals of Bennington CollegeA reader introduced us to Theodore Roethke's 1957 "Last Class," an amusing rant about teaching literature to rich girls at Bennington College. I cannot find the whole thing, but here's the first page. Roethke wrote it under the pen name of Winterset Rothberg.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:12
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Sunday, May 9. 2010Money advice for new and recent graduates
Some important useful info.
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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18:57
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Stresa. A re-post from 2008In a chat with an Italian guy from Torino with his two little kids and wife on the flight to Milan, he said "You are only visiting for ten days? In Italy, we have 8 weeks of vacation. We have been in the US for a month, two weeks in New York." In a chat with a Brit on a ferry on Lake Como: "When you travel with a wife, you see villas and gardens. That's just what you do." They were on a one month trip around Italy. When do these folks ever work? We talked with plenty of friendly people on our trip, including a Swiss gal who had come down from Bern to the lakes with her dog (travel in Europe is very dog-friendly) for a long weekend. Some more Italy photos - a cafe in a pleasant piazza in Stresa with a bottle of our staple - the local Barbera:
Another shot of the Isola Bella gardens: A view from the funicular which connects Stresa with the ski village of Motterone. In the "Borromean Gulf," the left island of the triangle is Isola Pescatore, the far one is Isola Madre, and the one on the lower right is Isola Bella:
More photos on continuation page - Continue reading "Stresa. A re-post from 2008" An Antidote to schmaltzy Mother's DayAs a nasty antidote to the usual saccharine, sentimental, schmaltzy, Hallmark-created Mother's Day, I will dare to offer this provocative link: Sorry, men ARE more brainy than women (and more stupid too!) It's a simple scientific fact, says one of Britain's top dons. A lady Don, mind you. All men knew that already, but were askeered to say it for fear of the innate female propensity for violence, vengeance, grudge-collecting - and their use of their sexual charms and sharp tongues to oppress, manipulate, and control the hapless males of the species. Why the professional feminists never discuss this is a mystery, but females are a mystery to men anyway. Photo is a no-doubt future mother, eagerly awaiting - or inviting - vigorous fertilization, via Theo. From her spectacles, surely one of the bookish, intelligent ones (like Mrs. Barrister). Me? I am certainly one of the stupid men, as the simple fact of my posting this link must make obvious.
Posted by The Barrister
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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11:53
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Saturday, May 8. 2010The Nilgiri Mountain Steam RailwayTamil Nadu, India. You can read about this scenic ride here, and how the trains handle the 1:12 grades. Take a ride, and see a bit of India:
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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11:01
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Friday, May 7. 2010Love and marriage
The other day, somebody grimly commented to me that "marriage is roommates raising children." Meanwhile, the Pope praises marital and family love.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:44
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Recycling is stupid
Recycling: Your Time Can Be Better Spent! h/t, Moonbattery
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:28
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Thursday, May 6. 2010The ChallengeAh, there the two of you are: The cat and dog lovers. I can hear you two arguing from here. Cats are smarter than dogs. Dogs are smarter than cats. Cats are smarter. Dogs are smarter. Cats. Dogs. Cats. Dogs. And now some guy's claiming his PIG is smarter! Pretty boring, really. At least, after you've owned the kind of pet I've owned. Continue reading "The Challenge"
Posted by Dr. Mercury
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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17:32
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College graduation rates: Who cares?
So what? Given how lax American higher ed has become in requirements and expectations, I am surprised it's below 60%. Apparently, historically, American graduation rates have never been very high. Quickest way to increase grad rates would be to simply sell degrees, or to hand them out for free like the Wizard of Oz. Now I do realize that a "college degree" no longer necessarily means a Liberal Arts degree as proof that one has mastered a language or two, calculus, sciences, masterworks of philosophy, theology, and literature, etc: many colleges today entail various combinations of remedial education, high-school level coursework, and job training. Flunking out is a thing of the past, so lots of folks must just figure it's not worth the trouble. They could be right. "Honest Services" doctrine
It's a bit technical, but the legal doctrine of "honest services" is, in my opinion, hopelessly and dangerously vague. Too close to a government power to prosecute anybody you don't like.
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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09:34
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Wednesday, May 5. 2010The secret to successWant to get serious about trying to achieve some of your goals and dreams? Be the one who doesn't eat the marshmallow. h/t, reader:
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:30
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Was it really a "work ethic"?A reader recently reminded us that the Puritans had two kinds of "callings", the "general calling" to God and a secondary calling to labor. Thus work was not seen as being about ethics, but as somewhat - or very much - sanctified. All honest work, after all, is a form of service. The pop view of our Puritan ancestors is distorted, and a bit of a straw man. Grace Baptist has a good post on Puritans and work. He refers to what looks like an interesting book: Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Religion, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:37
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Tuesday, May 4. 2010My kind of boatNot that I do not love boats with sails, but a basic recreational boat with the old Lobster Boat design pleases me.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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18:40
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What is it about America's Asian immigrants?Why do they thrive? From David Brooks:
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:14
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Taking offenseTaking offense, these days, seems to confer the moral authority of sacred victimhood rather than to identify one as a hypersensitive twit, as a disguised bully, or as a manipulative schemer. I don't know how that happened, but two can play: Offense works both ways.
Posted by The Barrister
in Politics, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:33
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A DVD and a bookA new Tom Lehrer DVD. The promo video with interview isn't embeddable, but it's here. A new Cormac McCarthy, The Road. I didn't realize he had a new one (h/t, SDA). I read all of his stuff. Does he still live in a fleabag motel in New Mexico?
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:09
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Monday, May 3. 2010Death of a buddyEverything is as green as can be, and my Wisteria is coming into bloom. Yes, the big bridge is washed out but I am fairly sure it is getting fixed. Entropy rules, but we do the best we can. After church yesterday, Mrs. BD and I decided to do an inspection tour of our church cemetery. We noticed that the columbarium was in bad shape, and that some good friends had bought a nice modest granite stone for their plot. I hope they do not need it anytime soon. We also noticed that the grass is getting high and the dandelions and weeds are everywhere, but that's as it should be in a New England graveyard. When I got home, I learned that one of my good tennis buddies had dropped dead last week, where he would have wanted to do it, on the tennis court. He had a slick, tricksy game, wonderful tennis exhuberance, and near-perfect technique: no flash, but steady as a rock. He was a professional wordsmith too. Too soon, my friend, but that is the right way to depart. Now, nobody is left who is willing to give me those special sarcastic critiques of my flubbed shots.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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09:21
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LargestTook this photo last week of what I am told is the largest sloop in the world:
Posted by Gwynnie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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05:05
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Sunday, May 2. 20102 things you might have wondered aboutI wondered about them, anyway: The history of the guitar in America. The six-string guitar was considered so easy to play that every stableboy could play it. The history of the banjo. For me, the Banjo has an ominous, menacing sound. But maybe that is just me. Photo is an 1840 French guitar from this restorer's website
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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11:31
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Saturday, May 1. 2010ChangeAdjusting one's insides is a lot tougher than changing one's outsides. A good post on psychotherapy: Change. One quote:
Also, a Psychiatric Manifesto via blue to blue
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:09
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Friday, April 30. 2010We’ll Meet AgainLast week I was at a Memorial Service where the song “Wind Beneath My Wings” was very fittingly sung about the lessons she transmitted to her family with her life. Since, it has been running about my mind, what song would I want sung at my Memorial Service (besides “Hit The Road Jack”). Yesterday, while driving I was listening to a local AM station that has classic songs of the ‘40s and ‘50s. I was struck by the rendition of “We’ll Meet Again”, sung by Anne Murray. As an older father, I try to communicate to my sons the optimism, positive thinking and perseverance that I have lived and believe will be central to their futures, and hope that will guide them and serve as their remembrance. The words seem to ably sum it up:
Research has it that the song was one of the most popular in Since, many have recorded the song. My selections below the fold - Continue reading "We’ll Meet Again"
Posted by Bruce Kesler
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:02
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Thursday, April 29. 2010A Tale Of Two Westminsters: 28 and 35 Years LaterThirty-five years ago, Yesterday, I went to Before the forum, attendees went outside in the I knew three of the speakers well (and two others less from shared personal experiences, more as acquaintances, but major figures) from many years of collaboration and friendship to not let the Vietnamese and American sacrifices be in vain, to educate new generations in the lessons personally witnessed and learned... Continue reading "A Tale Of Two Westminsters: 28 and 35 Years Later"
Posted by Bruce Kesler
in History, Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:32
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Wednesday, April 28. 2010One of mankind's greatest inventions
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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11:12
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Tuesday, April 27. 2010Europe's self-hatred (and their efforts to project it onto America)Excellent, from Daniel Pipes: In Europe, Remorse Has Turned to Masochism. He nails it. One quote:
Related, Sowell's Misusing History: Inhumanity, like humanity, is universal.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, Politics, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:00
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