and I hereby admit it. I always assumed that Paul Krugman (NY Times Op-Ed Columnist) was a wacko leftist radical whose opinions were fun to laugh at but hardly ever to be taken seriously. Then I read this. Folks, the man is making some sense here. Madoff is clearly the worst kind of financial scumbag– he deserves hard labor in a rock quarry where all the people he ripped off get to come throw rocks at him. Yet, it’s hard to rebutt Krugman’s argument that large sections of the financial industry deserve, in some sense, the same fate. Here’s the point I am honing in on– Continue reading “I was wrong…”
Do not farm
Almost 200 years ago our family came to this area to start farming. My information on the first 75 years is sketchy; about all I’m sure of is that they didn’t move to our present location until the 1840s, when my great, great grandfather built the “old place” now restored by the Paul Hornback family. In all that time, there were many ups and downs for farming, and no doubt many pessimists. Nevertheless, we’re still here, growing mostly crops and a little jet fuel.
Victor Davis Hanson is a conservative commentator I respect, who is widely read and very well educated. He is a college professor, and a farmer. Here is what he Continue reading “Do not farm”
Caribou and SNL
Folks, it take a lot to get me to watch TV. I kissed it goodbye almost 40 years ago, and my life has been full of exciting times, productive work, lots of books and movies and thousands of conversations with live people. In a word, TV (generally) is for the brain dead. If you’re feeling a little offended right now, I suggest you … take a hike 😉 If you’re still here, however, I must confess that I just watched Continue reading “Caribou and SNL”
A Failure of Nerve
My father tells me that my grandfather, one of the most respected and best known farmers of Shelby County, seriously considered giving up and selling out in the 1930’s. It was after the stock market crash; times were very hard; he was in serious debt due to an unfortunate turn of events a few years before, and he wanted to sell out and become a doctor instead. He was almost 40 years old at the time– this would have been a very iffy road. He, and the farm, were saved Continue reading “A Failure of Nerve”
Evangelical Hypocrisy and the Married Woman
I’m not in the habit of condemning or defending classes of people. We’re all sinners, especially the ones who blithely deny the possibility of sin, and so such generalities are bound to be wrong depending on who they are or aren’t applied to. That’s being said, I find Continue reading “Evangelical Hypocrisy and the Married Woman”
Inexperienced
We have choices, voters of America:
- An inexperienced white man with no track record for president
- An inexperienced white woman with a proven track record for vice president
Oh… I must have made a typo there, you’re thinking. He isn’t white, he’s black. No he isn’t. Does Continue reading “Inexperienced”
War & judgment
The title itself makes you want to skip this one, but– hold on a sec. This is actually about your financial future, how your government spends your tax dollars to educate children, whether your brother dies in the nuclear attack on the city where he lives and whether the Supreme Court becomes a tool of oppression for anyone who might be a moral conservative.
In this article, Noemie Emery makes the point that Iraq news is so good now that both McCain and Obama have a problem. For McCain, who staked his career on the success of the surge in 2007, it is that Continue reading “War & judgment”
Brutal Dictatorship in action…
Here is one man’s description of his anguish:
Before sunset on Monday, Mr. Yu walked along a river running past the eastern wall of the school compound. Peering over the wall, one could see piles of bricks and concrete all over the ground. He pointed out the few standing ruins of the main building. His daughters classroom had been on the fourth floor.
He said she had lived for two days after being buried alive, like some other students. She had even called out to him.
We could hear them under the rubble, he said. We passed them milk and water, but it was no use.
He smoked and stared at the debris.
If you are a parent, you should be tearing up right now…
Next month, as you watch the Olympics, remember what Mr. Yu has discovered about corruption in a dictatorship.
Democracy– the worst form of government on earth…
except for all the others.
Fear and loathing on the seacoast
Recently there has been much made of an alleged “pregnancy pact” at a Gloucester, Mass. high school among a number of 16 and under students. The school nurse reported “high fives” when pregnancy tests came in positive, and great disappointment when they didn’t; the Time magazine reporter who broke the story says that a recent graduate confirmed the basis for the pact (if it actually existed– there is some dispute about this) by noting that, “…They’re so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally.”
Indeed. Unconditional love is a need we all have, and a baby does provide it, at least for awhile. Nevertheless, in the wider world, and specifically in the world of liberated women, there has been much Continue reading “Fear and loathing on the seacoast”
Iraq — remember that war?
The coming election will be about the economy, we are told, and we roll our eyes and ponder that thought as the price of gasoline begins to approach the price of gold (or so it seems). Global warming tax hikes, summer gas tax rollbacks, economic woes, housing foreclosures, even starving horses all over the west (because their owners can no longer afford to feed them)– it’s the economy, everybody!
Read this article. Yes, I know, you are Continue reading “Iraq — remember that war?”