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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Friday, October 25. 2013

Friday morning links

Obama wants Marines to wear ‘girly’hats 


'Offensive' Halloween costumes banned by US university


Keystone Should Be an Easy Choice, So What’s Taking Obama So Long?


Buying Stocks On Margin At The Top - They Never Learn


Hedge Fund Manager Spitznagel: Stocks May Plunge 40 Percent


Once Again, Pain Patients Must Suffer to Save Addicts From Themselves


Charles Krauthammer squares off against Jon Stewart on the merits of conservatism


Douthat: Could Obamacare Discredit Neoliberalism?


US meets Kyoto targets!


Dan Mitchell on taxation:



Gimmicks are bad, of course, but politicians also respond to fiscal squeezes by raising taxes.

And that can be even worse as the prospect of more revenue leads to a ratchet effect, with periodic tax hikes used to maintain or expand the gravy train of spending. The fiscal mess in Europe is an obvious case study, but if you want a painful example from America, just look at data from Connecticut. The state did quite well without an income tax from the 1600s until 1991.

But then an income tax was imposed, in part to deal with the fiscal shortfall caused by an economic downturn. And, as critics warned, that new tax has produced dismal results. The top rate has jumped from 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent and inflation-adjusted per-capita state government spending has doubled. And there have been zero net private-sector jobs created since the income tax was implemented.



Setting the Record Straight About the White Working Class


“Obamacare, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell and Ken Cucchinelli: Lessons in Political Communications


In defense of bigoted speech


Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:12 | Comments (19) | Trackback (1)

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US meets Kyoto targets!

Strange game. The only way to win is not to play.

But we can take no pride the the accomplishment because we did it without empowering the "right" set of loser liberal arts majors to control the very air we breathe.
#1 JKB on 2013-10-25 08:01 (Reply)
US meets Kyoto targets!

But not really, as the Annex I target for the USA was 6% below 1990 level, not slightly below 1997 level.

A strange game indeed -- the 1990 baseline was carefully chosen to be after the effects of Nixon's clean air act had been fully realized, but before the dissolution of soviet heavy industry and before the UK "dash for gas" converting power-plants from coal. That way the target for Europe could be easily met by things that were happening already for economic reasons, and reduced even further by applying proven US technology. Whereas the US would really have to work at it because such efficiencies had already been put in place to meet our Clean Air Act.
#2 Douglas2 on 2013-10-25 10:03 (Reply)
Marines in girly hats, take a gander at Dan Daly and think.

Since the right people didn't prosper, meeting the Kyoto target means nothing, ditto the decision on Keystone.

Good article by AEI on the white working class however too many will read it with the ideological blinders on.
#3 walt moffett on 2013-10-25 10:22 (Reply)
I am curious about this "White working class". Why is no one ever concerned about (?? minority) working class? Are minorities immune to the class society?

And what is working class? They tend to want to define it as non-college graduates who work for pay. What should we call the college graduate who works for pay? Cube-dweller class?

This all derives from the aristocrat class, the merchant (middle) class who were owners of their business, and those who worked for wages. But now almost everyone works for wages but many of those don't want to be classified as "working" class.

Perhaps we have the working class who do useful things and the drone class who mostly buzz about the "elite" seeking favor and hoping for some crumbs?
#4 JKB on 2013-10-25 10:22 (Reply)
If demo-liberals want tax increases, I say give it to them, but the taxes are only raised in those House districts that their represenative voted for the tax increase. Taxation by Representation.
#5 Blick on 2013-10-25 10:31 (Reply)
re Setting the Record Straight About the White Working Class Conservatives should offer them a new deal.

The author advise, "They should offer them what they really want: a hand up."

How do conservatives offer them 'a hand up'? One more government program? Two maybe?
#6 feeblemind on 2013-10-25 10:44 (Reply)
I think in general politicians of all stripes miss the point on this issue. The working class, or the productive self sufficient people don't want a "hand up", they want hands off. What we need is a dramatic cut in government employees, government regulations and eliminate about half of the federal government departments thus cutting real federal spending (and the job killing taxes) by about half. I don't want HHS and SS armed or creating swat teams. I do want the border patrol armed and actively doing their job without their hands tied behind their back. I would very much like to see an administraion I can be proud of and I think the first step in that process is appointing about half a dozen or so special prosecutors to investigate this criminal administration. The DOJ has become an embarrassment because they are so openly dishonest and politically motivated. The IRS appears so corrupt and so inept that nothing short of a full investigation with perp walks and a complete overhaul of the leadership can fix it. The EPA stopped being a science based organization decades ago and they are now so blatantly a (Marxist) political hit squad that nothing short of an elimination of the department can fix it. Homeland security is becoming a standing army in spite of the posse comitatus act. The list of extra-constitutional crimes and misdemeanors goes on and on.
#6.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2013-10-25 11:34 (Reply)
I'm not as concerned about the salaries paid to the thousands of workers as I am about the value destroying activity of these workers. I'd happily agree to pay them for the next ten years to do absolutely nothing or even pay them incentives to undo much of what they've done. We can then work on abolishing many of the various federal agencies and departments. I'm OK with providing a soft landing for hundreds of thousands of non essential federal employees to retool and find new work but in the meantime their activity as a federal employee that interferes with the economy and our liberties must stop.
#6.1.1 phil g on 2013-10-25 11:42 (Reply)
A possibilty could be a platform of strengthening Social Security retirement , income tax simplication and reduction, no hassle government loans to buy new work trucks, hand tools, training while a third could be something to effect that you are not whats wrong with Kansas, whats wrong with Kansas the D's have left you.
#6.2 walt moffett on 2013-10-25 17:55 (Reply)
Bigoted Speech, and Orson Scott Card: Emanations and penumbras and Those Who Disagree With Us Must Be Destroyed! (See Chik-Fil-A and Barilla Pasta.)
"The proposed Ender’s Game boycott, however, is not based on reprehensible material in the boycotted work itself. It’s based on what Rauch rightly calls the “preposterous” anti-gay statements an author has made in other contexts in the past." Rightly? Opinion; his opinion. So anything tangentially (see my beginning) associated with such a person is Impure! Not Kosher! Tainted! Death to right-thinking people! And must be avoided. Well, then, what if others avoid anything and everything (to the best of their ability) of gay-friendly people/businesses/associations/etc.?
#7 Sam L. on 2013-10-25 11:32 (Reply)
re Marines new girly hats:

I believe Patton once said if you expected soldiers to act like soldiers, they needed to dress like soldiers. I think from a psychological standpoint, there is truth in that thought. I can only speculate that they believe that if they dress the Marines up like women it will make them less effective fighting men. Making them objects of ridicule may also play into it. Remember 0bama comes from the anti-war left. They loathe the military.
#8 feeblemind on 2013-10-25 12:12 (Reply)
I don't know. Obama seems to love his drones, supplying arms to al-Queda rebels, passing guns and grenades to cartels over the border, arming drug merchants in the U.S., and mounting a "hidden" military force within our borders AKA Homeland Security, the brown shirts that suddenly appeared during the government shutdown, et al. And we really have no idea how much spying is going on via the NSA, CIA and other alphabet agencies nor the real purpose of collecting all that data via Obamacare.

He just likes a different type of warfare.
#8.1 jma on 2013-10-25 12:34 (Reply)
Ever seen evzones? The Greek elite soldiers?

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/Military/Evzones.html

http://www.athensinfoguide.com/wtsevzones.htm

But yes, the new Marine cap looks wrong.

But Sgt Daly... And I seem to remember a photo of Gen. Pershing in one similar, though am not finding one.
#8.2 Sam L. on 2013-10-25 14:48 (Reply)
#3 and #8.2-- Another example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hulbert_HL.jpg

However, the historical cover and what is being proposed look quite different to me.
#9 Jim on 2013-10-25 15:57 (Reply)
The proposed cover design turns the uniforms of proud Marines into what looks like a small town fire department. Of course this is something President Momjeans-throws-like-a-girl would want.
#10 Agent Cooper on 2013-10-25 16:30 (Reply)
An afterthought: The proposed design faintly resembles the dress chapeau of the illustrious French Foreign Legion. Here's a picture of some Legionnaires parading in butchers' aprons:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41304000/jpg/_41304021_forleg_ap.jpg
#10.1 Agent Cooper on 2013-10-25 16:43 (Reply)
to be pedantic, the Legionaires are offically pioneers (combat engineers to us), so those are road building/ditch digging aprons which go with the axes they carry on parade.

Then there's the tropical helmets the British Royal Marines wear for fancy dress or the Italian military police uniform.

However, supposedly there will be a vote on this so lets see what happens.
#10.1.1 walt moffett on 2013-10-25 18:03 (Reply)
I suggest that if Congress does not pass and the President does not sign an annual budget by October 1 each year, federal Taxpayers are given a tax holiday until the budget passes. NO BUDGET, NO TAXES
#11 Blick on 2013-10-25 22:43 (Reply)
No bear market nominated in dollars can occur when the Fed is printing $ 1,000,000,000,000 per annum.

It's the currency, itself, that's at risk.

Venezuela has a rocking stock market, up 300%. It's currency is going into the tank, relative to the rest of the planet.

Forget the stock market, focus on the trade value of the US Dollar.
#12 blert on 2013-10-27 07:21 (Reply)

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