Maggie's Farm

We 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.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

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Friday, February 18. 2011

Friday morning links

Sipp links to a cool Vatican site


Farmer VDH wants an end to farm subsidies.


But Maggie's Farm wants those free government goodies.


Who owns the schools in Wisconsin? The taxpayers or the union?


Massachusetts towns owe $20B for retiree health care


Amid Crisis, US State Workers Say: 'Don't Blame Us'


Pensions after 20 years? I thought nobody got that except cops and firemen.


Boston's Mayor: “Wal-Mart does not suit the clientele we have in the city of Boston. I don’t need employers like that in our city.”


Andy Kessler: Is Your Job an Endangered Species?



Technology is eating jobs—and not just obvious ones like toll takers and phone operators. Lawyers and doctors are at risk as well.


Re Pigford:



USDA employees and FBI officials estimate that the number of fraudulent claims ranges from 50 to 95 percent. Boyd takes issue with those statistics, though.




Imagine if Tea Partiers behaved this way


Cancelled due to blizzard

Gore Effect by proxy.

Puerto Rico makes the news: Puerto Rico's Gov. Fortuno Slashes Deficit


And yet another adult governor: Florida’s Rick Scott Shakes Things Up
Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:05 | Comments (17) | Trackbacks (0)

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Military personnel also get pensions after 20 years.
#1 John on 2011-02-18 07:42 (Reply)
Not full pay - you have to stick around much longer than that.

After 20 years in the Infantry, the average Marine or Soldier's body is breaking down. Knees, feet, back - they are all shot. I was a part-timer except for some call-ups and I can feel the damage when I hike.
#1.1 NJSoldier on 2011-02-18 08:38 (Reply)
I would support generously matching service members' 403b's rather than the pension system.

Better yet, stop taxing savings and investments and just give them a raise.
#1.1.1 NJSoldier on 2011-02-18 08:44 (Reply)
True, the pension starts out at 50% of base pay at the 20-year mark, and ramps up to 75% for those who do 30 years. But it's still a pension after 20 years.

The only other benefits are eligibility for TriCare (the military medical care program), and the survivor benefit plan. Contributions for both programs come out of the retirement check.

A great deal of pay for active duty people comes from the housing and subsistence allowances, and those vanish entirely upon retirement.

People with a service-related disability get disability pay from the VA. Retirees who receive disability pay get a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their retirement pay (or at least they did when I retired), so the only benefit for them is that the disability pay is not taxed.
#1.1.2 John on 2011-02-20 05:07 (Reply)
I'm taking Bird Dog up on his offer to post off topic. My topic is IMPEACH OBAMA.

I'm not saying we should. I haven't weighed the pros and cons. I'm just pissed.

I celebrated his election by renewing my NRA membership for 3 years. I needed something to celebrate his naked radical-leftism as displayed in aiding and abetting the anti-democratic forces deployed in Wisconsin. To that end, I googled "impeach obama" and found this site-

LINK REMOVED BY STEVE BOGGS because it apparently made my comment invalid.

Without properly vetting them, they look like a reasonable port in a storm. After posting this, I'm going back there to sign their petition. If, after doing due diligence (I'm not a lawyer so I've probably used the term improperly) I may give them a few bucks. Perhaps it will calm me down.

You would have thought Obama learned a thing or too when he sided against the citizens of Arizona. Now this.
Folks, I think we'll find that you can't overestimate this man.

You always get what you pay for!
#2 steve boggs on 2011-02-18 07:58 (Reply)
Call me a Googlin' fool.

I googled "wisconsin poll on teacher's walkout" and found a poll on the Lacrosse Tribune that show's a 10 to 1 disapproval of the walkout.

This may get really good! There's a lot of pressure behind this dam.
#2.1 steve boggs on 2011-02-18 08:08 (Reply)
This is gonna get good and it's going to spread. Public Employees Unions is a really bad idea whose time is over.

Bye Bye.
#2.1.1 NJSoldier on 2011-02-18 08:41 (Reply)
Sorry to see you link to Andy Kessler. That article was sophomoric and oversimplified.

One example: he scoffs at the luxury goods market, without ever admitting that most purchasers of such goods know exactly what they are getting - or that helping customers signal their status is a valid service and "added value".

Very childish analysis.
#3 Ben David on 2011-02-18 08:50 (Reply)
As I always remind our readers, linking does not mean an endorsement.
#3.1 BD on 2011-02-18 08:52 (Reply)
I disagree, albeit your criticism has some validity, it's a 1000 word analysis of, front & center, what's confronting everyone of working age and very well done.
#3.2 observor on 2011-02-19 14:24 (Reply)
Military retirees are subject recal until they are 65. A part of that retirement they get is in recognition of this committment. Our military is the smallest it has been since before WW II. Historians believe one of the factors in Japan's decision to attack us was our military weakness. We are at risk again. So it is good to know that every military retiree could be called up immediately and with their experience they would immediately be able to contribute to our defense.
#4 GoneWithTheWind on 2011-02-18 11:01 (Reply)
Mostly agree. Semantics are slightly different. US title 10 clearly defines the composition of each branch of the armed forces. And they are clearly defined by all those on active duty, and all those who have retired from the "Regular" branch. There is no age limit on recall. Every single military retiree could be legally recalled.

Military pension is 50% at 20 years. 75% at 30 years. But the retirement is based on "base pay", which doesn't include a significant portion of income. If I were to retire now, at the 20 year point as a Lt Col, I would receive about 40% of my pay.

I think cops get a full pension after 30 years, but it varies no doubt.

Another diversion: The concept of "Free healthcare for all" will have an un-intended consequence of lowering the quality of the military. One of the reasons many choose a military life is not having to worry about health care. We accept the lower pay, and reduction in our rights in exchange for health care. Once "everyone" is entitled to healthcare for being alive, where is the incentive to be subject to experimental drugs, lower pay, long work hours, hostile fire, dangerous working conditions, continuous deployments and frequent moves?
#4.1 danoh1 on 2011-02-18 11:56 (Reply)
Thanks Bird Dog and Sipp!

Vatican site is way kool.
#5 Leag on 2011-02-18 13:22 (Reply)
Way cool indeed! Linked it at CatholicMaine.com... Many thanks!
#5.1 Pajak (Link) on 2011-02-18 23:10 (Reply)
re Boston mayor:

Nice to see he knows what's best for the serfs. He and Nanny Bloomberg must be cast from the same mold.
#6 feeblemind on 2011-02-18 13:46 (Reply)
Mumbles Menino has a hard enough time balancing himself on a toilet bowl, without falling in or off. On second thought he's to fat to fall in. A political hack through and through.
#6.1 jappy on 2011-02-18 16:02 (Reply)
Yeah!!!

I read Barry Sotero thinks Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's assaulting public employee unions.

Let's really assault them and send them all home and discontinue any pensions, federal and state and local.

Howbout, marching a few thousand in DC and demanding very democraticly that Barry, aka el presidente mudboy, resign and go home.

Too bad, so sad.
#7 Leag on 2011-02-18 15:05 (Reply)

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