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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Thursday, June 6. 2013

Our country did not fight for this crap

NSA Collecting Phone Records of Millions of Americans Daily


Not only did we never fight for this sort of stuff, our country has consistently fought against it from the very beginning. America has an illness, and the illness is amoral central power. It is nauseating to think that the NSA and the IRS are using our tax dollars to scrutinize us. It's sick, and inspires rebellious emotions. Safety is no excuse.



On a related topic, in the planning for D Day the weather, sea conditions, moonlight, and tides were crucial to Eisenhower's planning staff. What was the weather like during D-Day?


I am reading a wonderful historical fiction book by the brilliant Giles Foden about the meteorologists, physicists, and math geniuses involved in the weather predictions for D Day: Turbulence: A novel.


As it turned out, the weather was lousy and the sea state unwelcoming, and thus the German defenders of France were not expecting a visit.

Posted by The News Junkie in History at 09:10 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

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Leftie Jamie Gorelick, who helped erect the wall between the FBI and CIA later decried it in the 9/11 commission hearings (IIRC). Her original position was defensible but certainly uncomfortable after 9/11. Now that that wall has been breached, the flood has ensued - mostly by the current administration (but not without help).

Hopefully, we'll learn that abuses of liberty are not perpetrated only from one side of the political spectrum - though there's a strong argument that they are more common on the left.
#1 mudbug on 2013-06-06 10:22 (Reply)
I studied Sverre Petterssen's work as a post grad working on my dissertation. The guy was brilliant and his insights into how the dynamic atmosphere actually works are pure genius and years ahead of his time. It would have been very interesting to see what he could have done with high speed modeling techniques and his unique brand in intellectual vigor.

His "Introduction to Meteorology" has been, and still is I believe, reproduced - if you are interested in weather and forecasting, this is a great way to introduce yourself to the science (yes the "art" of) weather forecasting.

Figures - Amazon has the reprints. "Introduction to Meteorology"
#2 Tom Francis on 2013-06-06 11:11 (Reply)
There's no need to be concerned about this stuff unless a Republican is POTUS.
#3 Knucklehead (Link) on 2013-06-06 11:25 (Reply)
Re: Collecting phone records.

How do we reconcile privacy with collecting information about criminal activity?

If the problem is central government, is the solution allowing local law enforcement to do the monitoring?

Did the cameras help to locate the Boston Marathon bombers?
Were they privately installed?
#4 EarlW on 2013-06-06 12:12 (Reply)
Illness centered in the Whitehouse ain't amoral.

It's impetus is immoral, kick every one in the crotch, muhammadan madness.

Next round will be wrapped in New Jersey vanilla, indicator portends.

What color burqa will lady be most comfortably veiled, will be common query.
#5 Leag on 2013-06-06 12:26 (Reply)
If New Jersey vanilla convinces me that he'd go after the federal bureaucracy the way he has New Jersey's, I could be sold.
#5.1 phil g on 2013-06-06 14:19 (Reply)
go to National Review Online...The Corner and read Andy McCarthy's assessment of the phone records issue. He is a solid guy, former federal prosecutor, and worthy of a read.
#6 brobro on 2013-06-06 17:28 (Reply)
My father speny 6/6 on an LST, and went ashore on 6/7 in a field artillery company.

Germany, Italy and Japan lost WWII, but the Facists won it. My father's sacrifice (he survived) was a waste. The wholebof WWII was a mistake. We lost.

The US is most of the way down the road to a Fascist police state. It WILL go all the way.

Nowadays, I am anti-American. Thevfederal government must be eliminated. We must return to yhe Articles of Confederation.
#7 bob sykes on 2013-06-06 18:44 (Reply)
6 June 1944: Third wave, Omaha Beach, Easy Red Sector. My Dad was there. First Infantry Division. He took shrapnel from the detonation of a German 88mm shell. Luckily for him (and me, for that matter) he was evacuated and, after recuperation, spent the rest of 1944 and 1945 as a physical education instructor for other troops in England. In July 1945 Dad was told he didn't have enough "points" to go home, and was to be transported, with many other troops, through the Panama Canal to Okinawa for the invasion of Japan. Thank God for Harry Truman and The Manhattan project. RIP, Dad. I miss you.

chuck
#8 dhmosquito on 2013-06-06 22:36 (Reply)
chuck,

Wonderful story. I only read it this morning along with this touching video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TT1XFS1LA0

TC
#8.1 Garry on 2013-06-07 07:25 (Reply)

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