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, June 5. 2012Tuesday morning linksTwo female soldiers sue military over ban on combat roles Majority of Unemployed Have Been to College With charts from Ray Dalio's Bridgewater: Brussels... We Have A Problem The battle of Midway at 70 - the perils of looking weak Der Struma, the floating coffin of 1942 Everything bad is good for you:
Wehner: Please Excuse My President:
New farm bill would end direct payments to farmers but maintain other safety net subsidies California Gov. Jerry Brown Finds Environmental Regs Inconvenient For High Speed Rail Muslim Mob in France Beats Jewish Youths With Hammers and Iron Bars on Sabbath
Actually, Americans Do Support Government Union Reform - Explaining why Wisconsin voters likely won't recall their governor Sen. Marco Rubio earning respect in Senate for foreign-policy work A message from the New York Bureau of Food Discipline (#NYCBFD)
Robert Reich doesn't trust the people to invest How Obamacare is Destroying Student Health Insurance Exclusive - The Vetting - Senator Barack Obama Attended Bill Ayers Barbecue, July 4, 2005 The Tyranny of Having Too Many Choices - Mayor Bloomberg is saving us from being oppressed by confusing and important choices about our health. Policy victory: Numbers of wealthy dropping in US Examining the Means-tested Welfare State: 79 Programs and $927 Billion in Annual Spending:
Where’s the Flotilla to Syria? The Shabiha: Inside Assad's death squads The Window is Closing for Riyadh - The oil won’t last forever -- so Saudi Arabia’s government has to reform its economy if it wants to survive. The Glory of Vietnam From one of O's law school classmates:
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the hyperlink to "Glory of Vietnam" is missing the "h" in front of "ttp" at the beginning of the url, so link is brokie...
In re Mr Steyn's remarks: I'd be interested to see what MF's readers think might have been done in the recent past to help preserve these last idyllic days.
Who says Steyn thinks these last idyllic days could or should have been protracted? They were built on habits of consuming the seed corn. It was not a sustainable model.
My own retirement will be as idyllic as my personal savings can make it, without any dependence on Social Security. And my college career was very, very far from leisurely. I worked like a dog. I've never seen a dog work hard.
In fact, I've never seen a dog work. We humans should have it so good. In life, you simply play the hand your dealt. When the gravy train crashes, the vast majority of Americans will shrug, and make the best of whatever situation they face, just like they've always done. The small whimpering class, which has always been with us, but only got noticed when cable news came along, will keep on whimpering, just like they've always done.
re Midway
The Battle of Midway is a poor choice to illustrate the need for a strong peacetime navy. Look to the run up to the tragedy at Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in December, '41. This is not so much about the perils of looking weak, but the perils of being weak in a particular way: the diplomatic initiatives in '40 and '41 were checks written on an account that the USN and USA could not pay. National goals such as ending the China war, protecting the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, etc. were out of balance with national military means, and the Japanese knew it. The timing of the Japanese raid was triggered by a late defense buildup in the Philippines that would have closed the gap between Japan and the US by Spring, '42; further, the first of the Essex class carriers and fast battleships would be in commission in '42. Its not, as the article incorrectly argues, that Hawaii was raided because the USN was weak (what would be the point of attacking a weak asset?), but that the Navy was strong and getting stronger and vulnerable to a sneak attack that might level the playing field and allow for a negotiated resolution between Japan and the US. "California Gov. Jerry Brown Finds Environmental Regs Inconvenient For High Speed Rail" Maaaannnn; that's a bummer, duuuuude.
"Wehner: Please Excuse My President:" And the MSM failed him, by absolutely refusing to carry his water. "What we have heah, is a failyah to communicate." Those aren't female soldiers suing - they are officers.
Never once met an enlisted female in the Marines or Army who had the slightest desire to serve in the Infantry. If the president loses in November, the left, ever in search of narratives, will settle on this one: Barack Obama was simply too good for America.
Actually, I figure that the corporate interests (having been unleashed by Citizens United) will be blamed, as well as racism. By the way, friends, Governor Scott Walker won the recall election in Wisconsin in spite of the millions and millions of dollars poured into the recall campaign by the unions.
This is going to be fun to watch. Popcorn, anyone? Marianne One thing I'm honoring today, June 6, is that it is D-Day, when so many of our bravest and best fought and died in the Normandy invasion. I can't help but remember, because my brother was serving in the artillery in that war ... our war. And we were glued to our radios all day for the latest in news. Looking at the pictures of our soldiers, pouring down the ramps of LSTs into the surf, looking so fragile and unprotected, always makes me tear up. Today's soldiers are so armored, so protected compared to our men then. Most of them had nothing between them and the bullets except woolen uniforms.
Marianne |
Tracked: Jun 05, 22:30