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.

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Much Sorry with Delays
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Thursday, August 18. 2011

Thursday morning links

The right way to fell a tree


Do it wrong and you might die


The Old Urbanist is exploring Seaside, FL with bike and camera:



For a person with New Urbanist (or Old Urbanist) leanings, a visit to Seaside feels a bit like a pilgrimage to a sacred site. Although the merits of the town have been debated for years, its significance in the history of American urban planning is undeniable.



EU Ref: The fantasy of wind


Q: What Causes Professors to Think About the Business Model of Higher Education?


Allen West: I’m Here as the Modern Day Harriet Tubman to Lead People Away From the Plantation


Wow


Surber on Obama: Why is he running for re-election?


My answer: it's about the free golf


Looking for Limits - The power to mandate health insurance is the power to mandate almost anything.


Scapegoater-in-Chief: President Obama Blames Tea Party for High Unemployment


A Child Prodigy Under the Welfare State


Low-life Mom is pleased with low-life kid: government gives her a bigger house and a bigger check


What's Behind Israel's Middle-Class Revolt?


The Claims of Grievance-Bearing Identity Groups Will Always Prevail Over Fairness


Turns Out Head Start's as Bad as It Always Was:



May we take some solace in finally hoping that even hard-line leftists like Mr. Klein have belatedly seen the glaring light? Now he admits that community action programs such as Head Start are "little more than patronage troughs for local Democrat Party honchos ... far more adept at dispensing make-work jobs than mastering the subtle nuances of early education."



Billions for nothin and the checks for free


Playing The Odds: Hedge Funds Finance Medical Malpractice Claims (h/t Dr. Bob)


I suggest that Docs hold their noses and invest in these


NY Times, Wash. Post ignore rocket fire from Gaza, pounce on Israel for retaliating


Perry: “I’ll promise you this, “I’ll work every day to try to make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your life as I can.”

Jeff Greenfield is shocked, horrified. Thomas Jefferson would not be: "That government which governs least, governs best." This is The Great American Debate: Freebies vs. Freedom.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:11 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

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If you have not read of Colonel West's exploits in Iraq, you should. Great link on him. . .
#1 NavyOne (Link) on 2011-08-18 08:01 (Reply)
As for stateside military exploits, this is an interesting story: http://themellowjihadi.com/2011/08/07/me-and-the-seals/
#2 NavyOne (Link) on 2011-08-18 08:12 (Reply)
Re. Israel's middle class revolt

Briefly, since the 1980's, Netanyahu, then Econ Minister and facing triple digit inflection, invited Stanley Fisher (then on the US Fed) along with U of CHicago economists to revise Israel's fiscal policy. They did so. Since then, not onlyhas israel come out of crushing inflation, but has thrived.

It is also true (and not mentioned in article above that the VAT is around 16%: regressive and outrageous. The tax on a new car is 125% (yes, you read that right, 125%)

But, I recall that Marx wrote in the 18th of Brumaire that the downtrodden rise in revolt not when they most downtrodden, but when matters are improving. (Look at how the industrialists in England got Royalty by the short hairs; and the owners weren't so economically downtrodden at the time.)

In Israel, in my experience, there is both an extraordinary sense of entitlement (including among the 10-20 families who own most of the industries -- all gas stations in Israel are now owned by I believe 3 families; was four until a few years back: guess who resists alternative engine models that are based on non-gas technology). There is also a yearning by the non-religious for the days when people in society sincerely cared for each other.

Not so simple a picture
#3 nathan on 2011-08-18 08:38 (Reply)
Doesn't surprise me that the Media is stoking the fires and doing double-latte shots to muck-rake Perry.

And, here's Evidence of Media Bias #12988823 - http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44182931/ns/today-entertainment/?gt1=43001 Piers Morgan is a normal MSM flak, doing DNC legwork, while decrying Media ambivalence.

If it goes against the Progressive meme, its 'a threat to the nation'...riiiiiiight
#4 Fred Zeppelin on 2011-08-18 12:29 (Reply)
I'm not sure how that's evidence of media bias.

O'Donnell, to start, is a nut. Flaky as they come.

Secondly, it's his show - knowing this, you have to come on expecting to be asked ANYTHING. She (falsely) assumed the list of questions that would be asked were the ONLY questions that would be asked.
Last, she says she was on the show to answer questions about what was in her book. Interestingly, that's exactly what Piers' question was - the item is in her book.

I didn't consider Piers out of line at all, and I'm willing to push the limits when it comes to what I consider media bias. Clearly, this was Piers doing his job, and O'Donnell doing what she does best - flake out.

Man, when she got nominated for that seat, I cried. That was just one of the WORST nomination jobs ever. That and what's her name in Nevada. How the hell do you nominate the ONLY person in the universe who could lose to Harry Reid?
#4.1 Rick on 2011-08-18 14:38 (Reply)
Always stand above any tree you're felling.
#5 rhhardin (Link) on 2011-08-18 12:40 (Reply)
even as a student who is not going into STEM [thanks Alert Reader] at Rice

I was an English major at Rice and things turned out just fine for me - although I had to marry a Rice engineer to get the golddigger life I currently enjoy.
#6 class factotum (Link) on 2011-08-18 13:46 (Reply)
That is one of the reasons John Deere sells so many feller-bunchers.
#7 SCOTTtheBADGER on 2011-08-19 03:15 (Reply)

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