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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Sunday, January 13. 2013It's All RightNote Roy Orbison's empty chair. Who is playing that good, country-sounding bass?
It's Alright - Traveling Wilburys Classic cheap and easy Mommys of America suppers #12 , Tuna NoodleWhen young, most Americans never saw any tuna that did not come out of a can. Tuna Noodle was indeed a classic and, for Fridays, a Catholic standby. Cream of mushroom soup in it, of course: Tuna Noodle Casserole. I would not want to eat it today unless I were starving. Was not even Catholic, just had enough of it. Shucks, I almost forgot the notorious Tuna Surprise, aka Tuna Disappointment. Italians do love their Mediterranean Tuna, and you can Google plenty of tasty Tuna sauce pasta recipes. Here's one: Italian Tuna and Pasta Art ProjectVia Kimball:
Who is teaching US History?From KC Johnson, A Gloomy Report on the Teaching of U.S. History:
The Inverse Gambler's FallacyI've discussed the Gambler's Fallacy in the past (eg if you flip nine heads in a row, what are the odds the next toss will be a tail?). The inverse is another matter. Wiki gives this example:
The point is that unlikely things happen all the time. Here, it's discussed in terms of the recent discovery of the largest structure in the universe. A fun and informative bookAlexandre Dumas (1802-1870), author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, was a black guy. His Dad was a famous French general, born in Haiti (then Saint Domingue - Santo Domingo). Dad served in the French army through the hideous French Revolution and became a General under Napoleon in Italy and Egypt: The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo. Alexandre's novel was based, in part, on his Dad who also had a grueling imprisonment after being captured by the Neapolitans in Taranto after being shipwrecked. Tom Reiss researched this book for almost ten years.
Posted by Bird Dog
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Why are U.S. taxpayers footing the bill for surveillance cameras in Alaska?From de Rugy's Get States off the Federal Dole:
Marco Rubio tackles illegal immigrationMarco Rubio: Riding to the Immigration Rescue - Marco Rubio, Florida's GOP senator, unveils his reform ideas to 'modernize' the system and put illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship. Whether you agree with his ideas or not, he deserves credit for taking the initiative. From today's LectionaryLuke 3:15-17, 21-22
Church in BavenoA couple of years ago, on Lago Maggiore in northern Italy, my son and wife ate gelati and sat on the steps at night and listened to the choir rehearsing in the sanctuary. The structure on the right is the baptistery. (My photo)
Saturday, January 12. 2013Zero Dark ThirtyBoring, unless you want to spend two hours looking at Jessica Chastain's quivering lips. Argo, equally tedious. Two movies in a row that kept me checking my watch to see how much longer I had to sit there. Much rather read a book. Why do I bother going to the movies? Well, to be a good husband. Classic Yankee Mommys of America winter suppers # 11, ChowdaYou get a mess of big old quahogs or sea clams (steam open and then chop them up), or some chunks of fresh Codfish, Haddock, or Monkfish - or just a bag of frozen corn. The base of your Yankee chowder is the same, whether Clam, Cod, or Corn. See Grandma's Corn Chowder for the base (substitute other ingredients for the corn). You can add a little thickener if you want, corn starch or whatever. Not necessary, though. My Mom would serve chowda with Bisquick biscuits. Good memories: Mom cooking up a chewy, clam-packed chowder with the basket of quahogs we kids had harvested from the low-tide mud off Great Island in Wellfleet. Fellow parents: Our job is to build sustaining memories and traditions as best we can, isn't it? The Peter Buck StoryA freshened-up re-post: You haven't heard of Peter Buck, PhD, but it's a story. Buck was an nuclear engineer, I believe for GE in Bridgeport, CT, and teaching an engineering class at the University of Bridgeport when he loaned a bright and hard-studying local student in one of his classes named Fred DeLuca $1000 to open a submarine sandwich shop to help him pay his way through college after the kid's family ran short of cash. That was 1965. (I remember that first shop. I think it said "Submarines" on the sign, and I wondered what that was. I had had "grinders," but never a submarine. Just a 12" deli sandwich with lots of good stuff in it, as it turns out.) A couple of years later Buck lent DeLuca a little bit more to open a second shop in Bridgeport, even though the first was not too profitable. The privately-owned Subway now has 30,000 franchised restaurants worldwide. I don't believe that Dr. Buck ever worked for Subway or made any substantial further investments in the business but, based on their original deal, DeLuca and Buck have shared the profits ever since, 50-50. No lawsuits. If you ever wondered why the Subway bags say "Doctor's Associates Inc" on them, it refers to Dr. Buck and his young engineering student Fred DeLuca, who remains the President of the Subway chain's corporation, Doctor's Associates. The Buck and DeLuca families both still live in Fairfield County, each in fairly modest and quiet ways despite their unexpected wealth. Yes, I do like those Subway sandwiches, especially the Italian combo with Swiss cheese and some jalapenos on it. Oil and vinegar on top. Their bread is too mushy for my taste, though. As Dr. Merc suggests, experiment with their different bread varieties. Still, compared to the burger chains, Subways are a treat when on the road, and they really do use prime and fresh ingredients. I cannot eat a whole one. Just a half at most, and save the rest for later. My skinny daughter eats the whole thing. A recent interview with Fred DeLuca.
Posted by Bird Dog
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Sperry Rail Inspection CarCool machines. Cool business. A marriage of high tech with old tech. There is a wonderful romance in rail, isn't there? Rail is still a big business.
Saturday morning linksOur friend Pirate would say, re today's photo art, "If all you see is a rapidly rising ocean about to drown poor Kate, you must be a warmenist." NYT closing its environmental propaganda desk Global cooling strikes again Classical Greek: Molon labe From Neurotic Misery to Ordinary Human Unhappiness Not a utopian Why Are LEGO Sets Expensive? Glad we have an attic full of them. Good investment. A Dad who cannot throw a baseball “You Quarterbacks Get All the Good-Looking Women” Deaths increase, misery mounts as flu sweeps nation I blame global cooling. Bad news from NY: The Blue States Are Getting Bluer Duh. Good stuff: American Digest Ilya: Tax Rates and Political Ignorance CA Gov Proposes Billions In New Spending For Upcoming Year HHS Study: Yep, Head Start doesn’t work But it does work: It employs millions of the marginally-employable in government baby-sitting jobs. As new fiscal crises near, Democrats seek more tax increases Molon labe Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/09/179447/as-new-fiscal-crises-near-democrats.html#storylink=cpy Noonan: Time for the Repubs to act like pirates White House Does Damage Control on NYT Gun-Control Report (h/t Insty) From Sultan's Crime and Disarmament:
Saturday Verse: Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1899)As Kingfishers Catch Fire As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; I say more: the just man justices; Long-time readers of Maggie's know what a fan I am of Hopkins and his "sprung rhythm." Like everything else we post on Saturday Verse, it must be read out loud or it is wasted. Hopkins uses odd accent marks. The gloomy, sexually-conflicted Jesuit produced some wonderful pearls for God but, unfortunately, burned everything he had written before he entered the seminary, so we don't have too much of his stuff. Photo is a European Kingfisher Friday, January 11. 2013Bohemians do not age wellElizabeth Wurtzel wrote a much-commented-about essay (about herself, of course, in whom she seems excessively interested) last week, Elizabeth Wurtzel Confronts Her One-Night Stand of a Life. There are some grim aspects to her report from the front lines of the follow-your-impulses approach to life, but, in the end, I have to comment that I think it's just great that, in America, there is the freedom and opportunity to construct a life any way one chooses. As long as I do not have to end up supporting it, that is. Despite all of her opportunities, I fear we all may end up supporting her in her old age, if she achieves it. True bohemians are supposed to die young-ish, of TB, cirrhosis, drug overdose, AIDS, broken heart, or other such romantic maladies: Ben vs. Piers on gunsThis is entertaining, but the alert and fast-talking Ben Shapiro makes one disputative error which might seem minor, but is not. His error was in answering the question "Why does anyone need an assault rifle?" The right answer would be "I don't know what your definition of an assault rifle is, but nobody has to justify his wants in America. It's a free country. Piers, why do you need a polluting Town Car and driver to bring you to work?" Link to the lively TV interview here. When white kids are killed, it's a catastrophe. When young black gangbangers die in Chicago, it's a non-story. The more I listen to all the hysteria, the more I want an AR-15 to play with even though I tend to prefer more aesthetic, old-school firearms, with wood in them. It appears that they are on back-order anyway. Just had to repost the Hello Kitty AR-15. I would not mess with this pleasant lady:
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Friday morning linksVintage photos of an Oklahoma square dance that capture an innocent slice of 1940s America We are raising a generation of deluded narcissists Sexist Brawl Erupts Between Morning Joe Anchors Obama signs protection bill for former presidents Good timing for the gun debate Henninger: Hurricane Christie - The governor howls at the Republicans who were trying to help him. Unexpected: Jobless Claims Rise to 371k As a separate country, the US oil and gas industry would be the 16th largest economy in the world In campaign for tougher gun laws, Obama and allies work to tilt public opinion Malpractice Claims: A Drain on the Entire Health Care System A Century of Nixon and the Nixonian Century Voters Still Think Economy Fairer to Lower Income Americans Than to Middle Class Low-Info Voters Just Not Interested In Politics “Some of My Best Friends are Antisemites”: Obama Nominates Hagel Egyptian Cleric Warns Christian Women: If You Don’t Wear a Veil You’ll Be Raped Where the Pressure Lies in the Middle East
SchoolhouseMy photo is a Hadlyme, CT schoolhouse, built 1792. Here's something interesting: Interview with Salman Khan, Education Visionary. Khan is a better math teacher than I ever had in many years of expensive schooling. Thursday, January 10. 2013The North Dakota Oil BoomClassic, old-timey Mommys of America winter suppers #9: Beef StewThey called it "Beef Stew" because I don't think they put any wine in it. Mom served it on rice or on slices of white bread. Good for the cheapest cut of beef you can find because it will tenderize any cut, and the poorest cuts have the most flavor. It probably tasted similar to that Dinty Moore dog-food-tasting canned thing, because it had no bacon, no garlic, no wine, etc. Tasted good at the time, though. A more up-to-date recipe for a crock pot is not too bad: Crock Pot Beef Stew With Red Wine. Gets closer to a real Boeuf Bourguignon. Here's the real thing. I like it on noodles.
Afternoon linksThe Islamization of France in 2012:
The Problem with John Kerry and Chuck Hagel: They Are Products of the Vietnam Generation Israelis Lose Faith In International Guarantees PA uses water as a political weapon Natural Rights and weaponsJudge Napolitano begins:
His focus on natural rights is the main issue. In my big-picture view, American citizens do not have delimited rights, but government does have delimited powers over the citizen. Neither the "common good" nor the "greater good," however construed, are citizens of the US. In non-American history, the masses and peasants were forbidden ownership of arms (back when the penetrating weapon of choice was the sword). America was, and remains, different, revolutionary. Governments are always uncomfortable with an armed populace. Canada, which just gave up on its program of national firearm registration, should not have been surprised to discover that a giant and costly registry of honest gun owners was of no use at all. Powerline: On Guns, Like Other Issues, Liberals Are Out of Ammo Q&O: Should we ban “assault” hammers? And what about high-capacity Nail Guns? Nail guns are dangerous and scary. Rotary snowplows at work
Posted by Gwynnie
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