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.
Developing countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement that would hand more power to rich nations, sideline the UN's negotiating role and abandon the Kyoto protocol.
People ask me why we seem so predictably and boringly preoccupied with the health care and climate change issues.
There is a simple answer: Those are the two topics which are currently being exploited to the max by Leftist totalitarian-minded folks, who believe themselves to be our moral and intellectual superiors, in their endless efforts to control our lives and to chip away at our freedom and our dignity as sturdy, intelligent, competent, free-thinking adults and families in a free nation with (semi-) free markets.
In history, the battles against central powers were fought on different fronts and, in the future, they will be fought on new fronts that have not been concocted yet in the Gramscian and Alinskian laboratories. It will never end. If Stalin's holocausts didn't end it, if the fall of the Berlin Wall didn't end it, if the evidence of Cuba and North Korea didn't end it, if Pol Pot didn't end it, if the turn of China and Russia to Capitalism didn't end it, if the countless failures of centralized control economies didn't end it, if the attempts to turn Euroland back to free markets and greater freedom didn't end it, if the pathetic return of Euroland to an imperial EU doesn't end it, if the countless failures of hugely-expensive but failed yet immortal government programs didn't end it, then nothing will ever end this battle.
Power, unlike wealth, is a zero-sum game. It is in the nature of governments, which we fully accept as necessary evils, to accumulate power and funds from the citizens - and to regard citizens as children or as subjects. This seems to be something that occurs regardless of the form of government. Some people seem born to seek power over others, some wish to be security-minded subjects, and others simply seek mastery of their own lives. We prefer the latter pursuit, with God's grace, while fully aware that this mortal life we hold so dear may be often full of sound and fury, but signifying little in the end beyond our relationships with the Deity, our family, and our friends.
Without wanting to sound or to be grandiose, people like us at Maggie's and similar sites aim to be perpetual revolutionaries, freedom-fighters, Tea Party Indians, Tom Paines; the minor heirs of our heroic forefathers, attempting to stay true to their ideals of the dominion of individuals seeking their own goals without the oppressive weight of an intrusive government. At least, that is what we aspire to be in our small way.
Individual freedom in relation to the State is close to sacred to us. We pay the State dues to protect us from external enemies and from internal criminals, for justice under law, plus for just a few other minor things. Otherwise, we want to be left alone and to take care of ourselves as best we can in a culture in which every person exercises their morals, their integrity, and their concern for their neighbor by the Golden Rule.
Live and let live, but don't tread on me.
We demand that individual freedom and liberty be part of every political equation - a Constant, like Avogadro's Number. The Constitutional Amendments lX and X remain real and valid to us - delusional though we may be.
We at Maggie's do not even feel entirely comfortable with the notion of "rights." We dislike and distrust the use of the word "rights" in America. In our view, the worthy subject of discussion is that of government powers and their prescribed limits. We the people need no "rights," as the US was conceived. We are free human beings. Free to fail, free to speak, free to do stupid things, free to take risks, free to succeed in our goals - if we have any- free to do almost any damn thing we want to. Yes, maybe we are crazy idealists and maybe we are foolish rubes who produce nothing but superficial cant and pointless rant.
However unheard a voice we at Maggie's may be in the big world, we will use it to resist insidious political maneuvers and manipulations until we turn senile or die - or run out of things to say.
If the latter comes first, we'll cheerfully turn our focus purely on things like shotguns and recipes and wildlife and fishing and salt marshes and architecture and history and philosophy and art and pretty girls and boats and travelogues and God and all of the other joyful, interesting, and delightful things in life.
By the way, if you have friends who might like Maggie's, email our link around. We do not like to be cybersluts (hmm - maybe we do), but we do not want people who might enjoy our eclectic offerings to be deprived of our humble efforts. Let people know that we exist, because our readership is our only reward for our enjoyable efforts here on ye olde Farm.
Doing so would be the finest Christmas present for us.
Re our post yesterday about waxed cotton jackets, I stumbled upon this one which comes with blaze orange patches at L.L. Bean. Darn cheap too. Probably other people also make them.
Showing a bit of blaze isn't just for hunters - it makes good precautionary sense when hiking in the back woods during deer season.
Our rule is to never hike during deer season when wearing brownish clothing and antlers.
I’m putting my money on the Alaskan Mom… It’s been nearly two years since the Goracle first announced that the arctic polar cap “will disappear in 5 years.”
In Copenhagen Treaty negotiations, poorer nations are demanding massive transfer payments from the United States and other developed nations. Good luck to them in collecting promised payments.
Another in Captain Tom's photo series on his home town -
The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry was established in 1860 for the purpose of encouraging the local and national agricultural community to organize to protect their interests. The Grange was originally modeled along the lines of Freemasonry with ritual, degrees of advancement, secret words and handshakes and closed membership meetings. It wasn't unusual for granges and lodges to have interlocking leadership. Where The Grange differed was that it had open membership - women, men and children over the age of 14 were encouraged to join.
The Senexet Grange #40, Woodstock, CT was established in 1901. Built entirely of fieldstone, it sits on its original location. The membership is still active (a lot of granges have since been disbanded) organizing holiday pie sales (absolutely the best apple pies and peach cobbler I have ever had - sorry Mrs. Francis, but it's true), an annual bluegrass festival which attracts musicians and performers from around New England, tag sales, and has a booth at the local Woodstock Fair. The proceeds go to various projects, the most interesting is the annual dictionary donation to the Elementary School third grade.
The March 16, 2009 report by Dr. Alan Carlin says -- among other things -- that “As of the best information we currently have, the GHG/CO2 hypothesis as to the cause of global warming, which this Draft TSD supports, is currently an invalid hypothesis from a scientific viewpoint because it fails a number of critical comparisons with available observable data. Any one of these failings should be enough to invalidate the hypothesis; the breadth of these failings leaves no other possible conclusion based on current data.”
You can read the entire report here. The report was disclosed by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) at a Tuesday afternoon press conference in which he said that the report was not considered by EPA in reaching its Monday determination.
Dare I repeat this again? It's all about a political agenda.
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way: When, as His mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS; for He shall save His people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son; and he called His name JESUS."
I wonder how many practicing Christians accept the biological accuracy (rather than the mystical meaning) of the virgin birth.
The Isaiah prophecy was that an "alma" or "almah" (Hebrew) will bear a son, and shall call him Immanuel. What's an "alma"?
It sounds like a word that we might translate as a "maiden" or a "maid," because Hebrew has a word for a virgin - "betula." Some view our current take on Isaiah's prophecy as a simple translation error - or even as a deliberate error on the part of translators.
When the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was issued in 1952, the words "young woman," not the word "Virgin, were used for alma in its translation of Isaiah 7:14. This upset the Fundamentalist Christian community, which maintains that alma in Isaiah refers to the mother of Jesus, who conceived miraculously, without cohabitation with a man. These Fundamentalists expressed their vehement opposition to the new translation by holding burnings of the Revised Edition of the Bible.
Is it a tempest in a teapot? Is it of deepest significance? If interested, one can Google these topics and read about them endlessly. As an ignorant, relatively unschooled, ordinary Christian, I am not sure that the subject of the virgin birth is all that important but, seeing as it is part of the Apostle's Creed and that there is much mystery and miraculous in Christianity, I guess wiser, deeper people than I am have decided that it is. (To me, all of creation and existence itself is a miracle, and I remind myself daily to remember that.)
The Apostle's Creed goes something like this, with some minor variation:
1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
5. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
UPDATE: Professor Bainbridge: “This episode will come as no surprise to those who believe that prejudice against conservatives is far more rampant in law firm and law school faculty hiring than any other form of discrimination.” Plus, well . . . just read the whole thing.
There is a world here. Something like it has captivated many minds. We live in a world where many things are virtual and value is placed on them in ways that are not transparent. Expectations about the way life is -- or should be -- receive a kind of nebulous reinforcement, drilled by repetition.
Opportunities to create a virtual system are considered the pinnacle of human achievement. Opportunities to game a system are considered much more achievable than running a system, and so are the second tier of accomplishment. Simple participation in the system assures enough status to keep people wandering around in it, and so there's a big bottom on our ecosystem food pyramid, though when all is said and done, it is all nothing.
Must be want they really wanted: Euros become subjects of a New Versailles. Maybe they never really bought in to the risks, the self-reliance, and the uncertainties of human freedom and dignity.
There will never be “certainty” about global warming. The question I have is, after we are finished pulverizing industrialized civilization and the climate doesn’t warm, where do we go to get our money back?
At brunch on Sunday after church, a friend's wife told me how she managed to find a breeder with a fresh litter of prize Clumber Spaniel pups. She sent my pal off to bring one home two weeks ago.
He came home with two.
"I figured the pup would need a playmate." Liar. I know what happened: he couldn't decide which of the ones rushing to lick his hand, so he took both. She told me his little dog-buying trip cost them close to $6000.
Last time I went to look at a litter of pups, I would have bought the whole darn litter of 8 unless wife and daughter had been present to lend some sanity to my puppy-weakened condition and limited me to one. Note to self: Stay away from puppies. Lead me not into temptation.
Here's a Clumber Spaniel site. Yes, they do hunt, but I've never seen one in the field.
“We must create a national consensus that the health care system is in crisis.” and “To win we must not just generate understanding, but emotion—fear, revulsion, anger, disgust.” – Page 545
In much the same way that advocates of “Global Warming” continue to repeat that “The debate is over” those pushing the President’s Health Care Scheme continue to parrot that “We can all agree that our current system is in crisis…” Right? How often do we hear that? Meanwhile, polls show that 80% of Americans are HAPPY with their health insurance. But politicians who cite these numbers are painted with a broad dismissal and vilified for wanting to do nothing while Americans are dying because they have no health care.
The plan, from the beginning was to manufacture a crisis in health care. And, with the willing media on their side (“This will require an ongoing highly integrated earned-media messaging program that brings the growing crisis into relief over the next two years” – Page 545) that crisis becomes a stipulated FACT, not a political position, not an opinion, but a given. This book was written in 2007 and the plan calls for implementation over “the next two years”… do the math.
So, now the “Crisis” has been manufactured and a solution has been put forth. Now, how do our progressive leaders plan to win the votes of politicians and the support of the American people?
“We must focus especially on the mobilization of the labor movement…” and “Over the next two years, we must design and organize a massive national field program” – Page 546
This silly thing is going around the email circuit, so I guess we can use it here:
"The good news is that I truly outdid myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take them down after 2 days ... First, the cops advised me that my clever display would cause traffic accidents as they themselves almost wrecked when they first drove by. Secondly, an old lady grabbed the 75-pound ladder and almost killed herself by climbing to the top (she was not happy). She was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove into my yard."
To date, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has never offered any evidence of a “human fingerprint” on the modest (0.5 degrees Celsius) warming that occurred between the 1850s end of the Little Ice Age and 1940. They haven’t even given us a convincing story about the 0.2 degree Celsius warming that occurred from 1940 to 1998 (part of that tiny warming has disappeared). James Hansen’s predictions of massive overheating, given to the Senate in 1988, have been overtaken by a quiet sun and a telling drop in global ocean temperatures.
The public has noticed there’s been none of the long-predicted runaway warming — or any warming at all since 1998. They’re reading the Climategate emails of the “consensus scientists” confessing they don’t know why warming stopped. That’s a huge confession.
The public cares less and less for tired scare stories of a parboiled planet.
The 111 new bureaucracies and agencies in the Dem health care bill, via Never Yet Melted:
1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61) 2. Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62) 3. Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72) 4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76) 5. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111) 6. Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131) 7. Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138) 8. Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155) 9. Technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying Exchange coverage (Section 305(h), p. 191) 10. Insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Commissioner (Section 306(b), p. 194) 11. Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 307, p. 195) 12. State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 308, p. 197) 13. Grant program for health insurance cooperatives (Section 310, p. 206) 14. “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321, p. 211) 15. Ombudsman for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321(d), p. 213) 16. Account for receipts and disbursements for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 322(b), p. 215) 17. Tele health Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589) 18. Demonstration program providing for “culturally and linguistically appropriate services” (Sec 1222, p. 617) 19. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648) 20. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653) 21. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672) 22. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681) 23. Independence at home demonstration program (Section 1312, p. 718) 24. Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734) 25. Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 738) 26. Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 753) 27. Q/A and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(1), p. 784) 28. Q/A and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 786) 29. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 796) 30. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 804) 31. Independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 859) 32. Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers for Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 933) 33. Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 978) 34. Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 1647, p. 1000) 35. Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 1058) 36. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1730A, p. 1073) 37. Nursing facility supplemental payment program (Section 1745, p. 1106) 38. Demonstration program for Medicaid medical conditions for mental diseases (Sec 1787, p. 1149) 39. Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 1162) 40. “Identifiable office or program” for “coordination between Medicare and Medicaid” (Section 1905, p. 1191) 41. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198) 42. Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 1214) 43. Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 1224) 44. Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 1236) 45. Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 1240) 46. Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 1253) 47. Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 1254) 48. Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 1258) 49. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272) 50. Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 1275) 51. Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 1286) 52. Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1295) 53. Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1301) 54. Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 1305) 55. Grant program for research and demonstration projects for wellness incentives (Section 2301, p. 1305) 56. Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 1308) 57. Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 1313) 58. Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 1322) 59. Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 1330) 60. Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 1352) 61. Grant program for nurse-managed health centers (Section 2512, p. 1361) 62. Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2521, p. 1372) 63. Grant program for interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training (Section 2522, p. 1382) 64. “No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza” demonstration grant program (Section 2524, p. 1391) 65. Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398) 66. Grant program for interdisciplinary training, education, and services for autism (Section 2527(a), p. 1402) 67. University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities education (Section 2527(b), p. 1410) 68. Grant program to implement medication therapy management services (Section 2528, p. 1412) 69. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors in underserved communities (Section 2530, p. 1422) 70. Grant program for State alternative medical liability laws (Section 2531, p. 1431) 71. Grant program to develop infant mortality programs (Section 2532, p. 1433) 72. Grant program to prepare secondary school students for health care training (Section 2533, p. 1437) 73. Grant program for community-based collaborative care (Section 2534, p. 1440) 74. Grant program for community-based overweight and obesity prevention (Section 2535, p. 1457) 75. Grant program for reducing the student-to-school nurse ratio (Section 2536, p. 1462) 76. Demonstration project of grants to medical-legal partnerships (Section 2537, p. 1464) 77. Center for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p. 1478) 78. Council for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p 1479) 79. Grant program to support demonstration programs for regionalized emergency care (Section 2553, p. 1480) 80. Grant program to assist veterans who wish to become EMT’s (Section 2554, p. 1487) 81. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 2562, p. 1494) 82. National Medical Device Registry (Section 2571, p. 1501) 83. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 2581, p. 1597) 84. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 2581, p. 1598) 85. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 2581, p. 1602) 86. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1610) 87. National Women’s Health Information Center (Section 2588, p. 1611) 88. Centers for Disease Control Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1614) 89. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women’s Health Research (Section 2588, p. 1617) 90. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1618) 91. Food and Drug Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1621) 92. Personal Care Attendant Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 2589(a)(2), p. 1624) 93. Grant program for national health workforce online training (Section 2591, p. 1629) 94. Grant program to disseminate best practices on implementing health workforce (Section 2591, p. 1632) 95. Demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (Section 3101, p. 1717) 96. Demonstration program for substance abuse counselor educational curricula (Section 3101, p. 1719) 97. Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722) 98. Intergovernmental Task Force on Indian environmental and nuclear hazards (Section 3101, p. 1754) 99. Office of Indian Men’s Health (Section 3101, p. 1765) 100. Indian Health facilities appropriation advisory board (Section 3101, p. 1774) 101. Indian Health facilities needs assessment workgroup (Section 3101, p. 1775) 102. Indian Health Service tribal facilities joint venture demonstration projects (Section 3101, p. 1809) 103. Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873) 104. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for diabetes prevention (Section 3101, p. 1874) 105. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for health IT adoption (Section 3101, p. 1877) 106. Mental health technician training program (Section 3101, p. 1898) 107. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1909) 108. Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators (Section 3101, p. 1925) 109. Program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Section 3101, p. 1927) 110. Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1966) 111. Committee for the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1968)
Once upon a time, scientists, unlike prophets, were inductive. They sought to interpret evidence in empirical fashion, rather than twist it to "prove" preexisting suppositions. The Enlightenment taught them to welcome transparency and free expression, not (as in the Medieval Age) to form cabals to hound out heretics. Public intellectuals and grassroots activists were devoted to promoting proven ideas, rather than making fortunes through the shrill advocacy of unproven ideas. In the age of cynicism, penances were sold to sinners to allow them without guilt to satisfy appetites that conflicted with their doctrine; by contrast, the lives of moralists reflected the simple creed they advocated for others. Governments acted on scientific consensus, not theories that were the most favored or trafficked in popular culture. Debates, not propaganda cinema or cheap invective, adjudicated honest disagreement; people of the lab and library, not Hollywood celebrities and rock stars and their wannabes on campus, informed the public about scientific dispute.
How strange: This was to be our new age of science; instead, we are getting alchemy, the inquisition, and the reign of the superstitious.
...the Obama administration is expected as early as Monday to formally declare carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant.
An "endangerment" finding by the Environmental Protection Agency could pave the way for the government to require businesses that emit carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases to make costly changes in machinery to reduce emissions -- even if Congress doesn't pass pending climate-change legislation. EPA action to regulate emissions could affect the U.S. economy more directly, and more quickly, than any global deal inked in the Danish capital, where no binding agreement is expected.
The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41% The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60% The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%
The NYT drank the Kool-Aid years ago - for political, not scientific reasons. They know nothing about science or math (how much stats did Pinch take in college?), but they do know that they approve of any kind of authoritarianism of the elites and the experts as long as they and their Manhattan pals are the elites and experts.
I think that it is notable that they have finally admitted that Climategate exists. They have not quite gone so far as to admit that a debate about the science - or about the hysteria in which they have participated in avidly - exists.
It is important that scientists behave professionally and openly. It is also important not to let one set of purloined e-mail messages undermine the science and the clear case for action, in Washington and in Copenhagen.
They did not decide to mention that those emails go to the heart of all of the hysterical pronouncements of the IPCC. The CRU is the beating, seemingly duplicitous, heart of the entire movement.
Rather than being the cynics and skeptics that we expect of hard-nosed journalists, the NYT predictably drinks the Kool-Aid because it suits their authoritarian politics. Pathetic, limp - and unprofessional.
People ask me why we seem so predictably and boringly preoccupied with the health care and climate change issues.
Re our post yesterday 
Image via 
Photo of 
This silly thing is going around the email circuit, so I guess we can use it here:
Cute gal, to cheer us up, via 
Christmas puddings 
The NYT drank the Kool-Aid years ago - for political, not scientific reasons. They know nothing about science or math (how much stats did Pinch take in college?), but they do know that they approve of any kind of authoritarianism of the elites and the experts as long as they and their Manhattan pals are the elites and experts.