Maggie's Farm

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Wednesday, August 17. 2011

Weds. morning links

Krauthammer's Take


Energy in America: Dead Birds Unintended Consequence of Wind Power Development


The Myth of Pristine Nature - A review of Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World:



Marris argues that the cult of pristine wilderness was created by nature romantics like John Muir. Muir is famous for advocating that the Yosemite Valley be turned into a national park. As Marris notes, wild nature for Muir was a necessity for “tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people” suffering from “the vice of over-industry and the deadly apathy of luxury.” And for some people it might be—but that is not a scientific claim about ecosystems and their “integrity.”



Harsanyi: The Department of Failed Ideas

Forbes: The U.K. Riots And The Coming Global Class War


Observations from a White House insider, September 2010


Paris and Berlin launch a coup to control eurozone, demanding rights to dictate economic policy

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:10 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

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"Marris reports that there is precious little scientific support for the ideology that pristine nature is somehow 'better' than the mélange that humanity has created by moving species around the globe."

Well, I should think not. There's precious little scientific support for anything's being "better" than anything else. It's not the kind of claim science ought to be trafficking in at all; it hasn't the right tools.
#1 Texan99 (Link) on 2011-08-17 07:32 (Reply)
The Department of Failed Ideas

And the headline says it perfectly - the Obama Administration is totally and completely intellectually bankrupt. With the extra added bonus of spending trillions with nothing to show for it.

A Department of Jobs? Food stamps as economic stimulus? Does this remind anybody of David Stockman's attempt to classify ketchup as a vegetable (and other absurdities) to reduce the costs of school lunch programs? That's what all this reminds me of.

And now we've got another moron running for President - Rick Perry. I might have given him some attention up and until he tried to drive a wedge between the President as Commander-In-Chief and his military with his recent commentary on the military not liking President Obama. I'm not an Obama fan either, but you don't try and drive a wedge between the troops and their nominal leader. He should know better being a former Air Force officer.

I'll be the first to admit I might have been wrong about Christie - maybe he should get in and bring some much needed stability to what is not a fractured Republican candidate field.

Anybody has to be better than this bunch of squirrel brained politicians the GOP is looking at. We're never going to be able to cut loose the Obama Administration with this bunch.
#2 Tom Francis on 2011-08-17 08:11 (Reply)
Krauthammer is wrong.

The role of the press is to cover the campaign and all its attributes. Having spent 28 years in media, I am increasingly distressed at how his vision of coverage is taking a greater role - both the left and the right are using the press to create a "self selecting" coverage machine. Self selecting in that the media elite do the coverage and decide who will win prior to any elections.

They don't want Ron Paul? OK - let's trot out a big name to explain why he's unelectable and therefore not worthy of coverage.
Ron Paul keeps winning?
Deprive him of coverage to greater extent by focusing on everybody BUT him.

Ron Paul gets more press?
Marginalize him further.

His impact on the campaign is already evident. Perry stole one of his key tenets (the Fed) and bastardized it beyond anything Paul would have. But make no mistake, Ron Paul IS having an increasing role in this campaign, and while he may not win, his vision is starting to creep into even the more moderate stances.

Ron Paul IS a moderate. He is fiscally conservative and socially liberal - but most people don't know this. And it's likely that more people would agree with broader strokes of his platform (if not him) were they allowed to hear more about him.
#3 Rick on 2011-08-17 09:18 (Reply)
I think you got it wrong Rick.

Ron Paul was expected to win the Ames straw poll.

He lost and as they say, second place is only the first loser. Nobody pays attention to second place. :>)
#3.1 Tom Francis on 2011-08-17 15:30 (Reply)
Re: Birds and windfarms

I especially liked this quote in the article:

"We would like to have no bird deaths and no bird injuries. But, once again, we have to balance all the needs of society. All the people who want to flip their switch and have electricity in their homes," said Lorelei Oviatt, Kern County planning commissioner.

Somehow they never say the same things about gas fired/coal fired/nuke power plants. Or about DDT ("we need to balance the need of society to reduce the incidents of malaria...). Or about any other trade off when it comes go being GREEN!
#4 mudbug on 2011-08-17 12:01 (Reply)
Good point.


Why does "good point" constitute a spam message, O Webmeister?
#4.1 Gringo on 2011-08-17 12:27 (Reply)
Wind energy FAIL: Raptor gets whacked by windmill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9srPoOU6_Z4

[It's only a 30-second long video]
#5 Smokey (Link) on 2011-08-17 13:00 (Reply)
Tom Francis wrote: "And now we've got another moron running for President - Rick Perry. I might have given him some attention up and until he tried to drive a wedge between the President as Commander-In-Chief and his military with his recent commentary on the military not liking President Obama. I'm not an Obama fan either, but you don't try and drive a wedge between the troops and their nominal leader. He should know better being a former Air Force officer."

I disagree. I see this as an opinion/assessment or the situation, and likely correct, being also retired AF. Much like when Clinton was President.
#6 Sam L. on 2011-08-17 16:29 (Reply)
I agree with you Sam L on the efforts of the radical liberals to suppress any disagreement with their policies by claiming that those who disagree with The Establishment on one political point or another are trying to "drive a wedge" between the troops and their nominal leader. As I see it, the great majority of so-called adults today are unskilled at debate with those who disagree with them. It's a leck of a lot easier to accuse someone who disagrees with you of disloyalty, trouble-making and other hostile acts than it is to marshal arguments to support your point of view, and to express said point of view neatly and reasonably.

That's what used to be called debate and discussion, and few people know how to do it anymore. It's easier to make aggressive and insulting accusations [you're racist, etc.]. Why, gosh, that's what Mr. Obama does.

Marianne
#7 Marianne Matthews on 2011-08-17 22:42 (Reply)
Dissent IS patriotic, Marianne, for the Demos told me so.
#8 Sam L. on 2011-08-18 12:53 (Reply)

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