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. |
Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page
Categories
QuicksearchLinks
Blog Administration |
Thursday, July 31. 2014Thursday morning linksImage from Am. Digest. Similar to Mark Twain's "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still trying to get its pants on." A taxicab's day - This visualization displays the data for one random NYC yellow taxi on a single day in 2013. See where it operated, how much money it made, and how busy it was over 24 hours. Totten: Welcome to Vietnam The Overblown Stigma of Genital Herpes "Overblown"? Here's what the numbers on your credit card really mean Sipp: I've written from time to time about homeschooling, but no one pays any attention to anything I say about it:
Michelle Nunn: Favorable Media Bias Part of Democrat Campaign Strategy Duh. Obama Administration Suing Pa. State Police Over Physical Fitness Tests De Blasio’s Policing Dilemma - The Gotham mayor must decide whether to listen to his police commissioner or the New York Times.
Italian journalist leaves Gaza, tells truth once free from Hamas retaliation Italy Suddenly Gets Ugly for Jews Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as
(Linear | Threaded)
I live in Georgia and have been a Conservative Democrat all of my adult life. I hope my party returns to normalcy someday but I don't think it will in my lifetime. Here is some of my observations:
Georgia Democrat candidates never use the word Democrat. They don't even put a donkey on their road signs. The Georgia news media seldom IDs them as Democrats. All polls by the leftist media show the Democrat candidate ahead. (AJC - Nunn 47%, Perdue 42%) The national pollsters say Perdue is leading by ~6%. I think (hope) Perdue will win by much more than that. Liberal Democrats attempt to run as Conservatives by using phrases such as "Fiscal Conservative". I went to (Ms. Mrs. Miss - I don't know which designation she prefers) Nunn's web site and asked some questions. None of the questions I asked were answered in the dozens of replies I received but every one of them asked for donations. Try it yourself for fun but be prepared to be inundated with junk emails. When I made these observations at the county party meeting I was soundly booed. The last Democrats I voted for were John Kennedy, Sam Nunn and Zell Miller (Governor and Senator). I almost voted for a guy nicknamed "Little Evil". He got that name because so many people said he was the lesser of two evils. The Democrats developed a winning strategy in the 60's and 70's. They became a coalition of special interests and grievance groups and promised to loot the treasury and pass laws and regulations for their benefit. Simple as that. I don't think the Republicans can beat it over the long haul. If you are a middle class working stiff then you are the target. Your wealth, such as it is, and your middle class status must be taken from you to fund the Borg. Resistance is futile. You must succumb or be absorbed. Your house, your 401k, your cushy job and your pay and benefits must be handed over so that the Democrats can continue to pay off their benefactors and provide free stuff for the current freeloaders and "new Americans". There is really only two ways this can end: 1. We have the next great depression with years or even decades to fully recover. This would wake up the vast majority of people who either simply aren't paying attention or believe they are benefiting from Democrat policies and free stuff. 2. It will all collapse and devolve into a civil war or revolution where we either self destruct or one of the antagonists in this dangerous world takes advantage of our distraction and eliminate/conquer us.
"Sipp: I've written from time to time about homeschooling, but no one pays any attention to anything I say about it:"
Yeppers, the basics is the basics is the basics. I always like it when the smart guy in the room cuts through the bullshit. It's like, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, drill, repeat. Could someone tell me please--I forget--why it is that so many of our National Guard troops end up in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Places where they are put to work fighting "international" wars. Why don't we have enough full time military folks without having to draw upon that group dedicated to defending the state they live in and love? Surely need them now! When I look at the terrible state of our education system, I can only wonder at the true condition of our defense system?
From the beginning of the Iraq and Afghan conflicts, American forces have suffered from serious morale problems and severe shortages of qualified men for the front line combat units. Logisitcs was and is a long term problem of epic proportions. The better units have been chewed up from constant battle and multiple redeployments. Second string units supplemented their ranks with navy and air force guys with no training. Old, fat guys are being deployed. It's a mess. That is why your national guard and reserve components are/were being used up. They need(ed) anything that could wear a uniform. And I mean anything. I could extend my remarks to include the drug use and battle fatigue issues. I could talk about generals who cared only about getting that next star. But, I will spare you. Sorry for the bad news. The sooner everyone comes back home, the better. Tommorrow would not be fast enough.
Met a 63 year old life long addicted school teacher. I say addicted because it was only in the 5th grade classroom that she felt "empowered". Unfortunately, the NEA (National Education Association) got to her and so brainwashed her that she sat in a public place yesterday and announced, "ALL homeschool children are socially incompetent--the are odd and lack social skills." Whew that just about made my day! I tried with grace to explain to her that I knew quite a few home schooled teens and they are very socially skilled. She looked stunned, shocked--how dare anyone stand up to her--she's in charge, a real agent of change. God only knows what she did in the classroom. But, I do know this--of the four kids in her family three are really screwed up, but to her credit she did get one homo out of the bunch! Yeah!
A lie can travel halfway around the world before truth can get its condom on.
Israelis no longer welcome in USA?
US Embassy in Tel Aviv Severely Restricts Visas for Israelis Tourist visa process cancelled until further notice, embassy announces. Is it a matter of security, or discrimination? http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183533#.U9qXJ9ic48M Credit Card #s: see http://finance.yahoo.com/news/corporate-inversions-only-way-for-u-s--firms-to-compete-131443177.html Someone says the obvious, which is completely opaque to the Feds. Of Course.
PA state cops: Yes, anything less than equal results is CLEARLY discrimination. Boudreaux: Well, they KNOW what's right, exactly how others will respond, so...what could go wrong? Although it is wise to build yourself up past the stigma of genital herpes
I still implore anyone with this "little" disease DISCLOSE it to any future partner prior to your encounter. After, you will find that there is never quite a good time to say, "oh, did I mention...?" The Vietnam travelogue was great. I have never heard of this guy Totten before, but I am going to look him up and read everything I can find from him.
I loved one of the comments on that article about how Vietnamese moms want their daughters to marry American men. Fascinating read. My photographer, Steve, squints through a computerized scope squatting atop a big hunting rifle. We're outdoors at a range just north of Austin, Texas, and the wind is blowing like crazy—enough so that we're having to dial in more and more wind adjustment on the rifle's computer. The spotter and I monitor Steve's sight through an iPad linked to the rifle via Wi-Fi, and we can see exactly what he's seeing through the scope. Steve lines up on his target downrange—a gently swinging metal plate with a fluorescent orange circle painted at its center—and depresses a button to illuminate it with the rifle's laser.
"Good tag?" he asks, softly. "Good tag," replies the spotter, watching on the iPad. He leaves the device in my hands and looks through a conventional high-powered spotting scope at the target Steve has selected. The wind stops momentarily. "Send it," he calls out. Steve pulls the trigger, but nothing immediately happens. On the iPad's screen, his reticle shifts from blue to red and drifts toward the marked target. Even though I'm expecting it, the rifle's report is startling when it fires. A second later, the spotter calls out, "That's a hit!" Steve has just delivered a .338 Lapua Magnum round directly onto a target about the size of a big dinner plate at a range of 1,008 yards—that's ten football fields, or a tick over 0.91 kilometers. It's his very first try. He has never fired a rifle before today. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/03/bullseye-from-1000-yards-shooting-the-17000-linux-powered-rifle/ |