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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Saturday, August 2. 2014

Saturday morning links

Paul McCartney, Still on the Run at 72


Now that Richard Dawkins is attacking Muslims and feminists, the atheist Left suddenly discover he’s a bigot


10 Great Things About Young Nannies


All Education Is For-Profit Education


Severe Ancient Droughts: A Warning to California:



 The findings suggest, in fact, that relatively wet periods like the 20th century have been the exception rather than the rule in California for at least the last 3,500 years, and that mega-droughts are likely to recur.



Learning Law Without First Getting the JD


Porn-surfing feds blame boredom, lack of work for misbehavior = Employees rarely face criminal prosecution for time and attendance fraud


4 Reasons to be Pissed Off About Social Security and Medicare


Rand Paul: The Unintended Consequences of Interventionism -Libya’s civil war should have never been our fight.


The world has been free-riding off of America for decades on many fronts; Barack Obama’s legacy may be to put an end to that. . . .


Poll Shows GOP Standing Tough On Border Most Important Issue


Bloomberg Everytown Anti-Gun Ad Reinforces Pro-Gun Rights


California School District Drops Mandatory Geography Class, Replaces It With Course On “Diversity And Inclusion”…


Obama's Inexplicable Love for the Dark Side - Even the American left is finally realizing that this is the strangest administration in living memory.


A tale of two hospitals: One in Israel, one in Gaza - Israel saves its enemies; Hamas endangers its friends


Social Media Jihad: Islamic State ramps up gruesome Internet campaign




Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:27 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

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"5. All learning is ultimately self-learning."
--Milton Friedman
#1 JKB on 2014-08-02 07:45 (Reply)
"Rand Paul: The Unintended Consequences of Interventionism -Libya’s civil war should have never been our fight."

Blah, blah, blah. My goodness, are people still talking about the Constitution? The Constitution no longer applies. Most of it was worthless for decades.

I will generously assume that Rand Paul missed the memo.
After all, he is just an ignorant, useless U.S. Senator.

To restate the bloody obvious, the oxymoronic "Patriot Act" did away with the last shreds of the Constitution. No more Fourth Amendment. Or any of the others. SCOTUS recently affirmed that the executive branch can disapear any American anywhere with zero due process, record, accounting or review.

Thank you George Bush, Congress and the Supreme Court. Now will someones please disappear Rand Paul so I don't have to listen to his pointless drivel?
#2 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-08-02 09:19 (Reply)
Who held a gun to your head and forced you upon pain of death to read/listen to it?
#2.1 Sam L. on 2014-08-02 12:28 (Reply)
They will only let me give you his code name. Bob Dylan.
#2.1.1 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-08-02 20:21 (Reply)
Re: Social Security

Social Security was a bad idea from the beginning and now that we boomers are retiring (the pig going through the python), we (especially our kids) will see just how bad an idea it was.

Some might say that a lot of the problems with SS are because of all the extra stuff that was added onto it, but that Congress was allowed (and how would anybody stop them?) was just another reason it was a bad idea.
#3 mudbug on 2014-08-02 10:20 (Reply)
Social Security was broke before it started. Here is a report in Life Magazine just as they stated paying the first "benefits".

The greatest sin, is that that the illusion has caused so many to spend instead of save for their old age. True it is hard for many to save enough but the presence of the program ensured more wouldn't even try.
#3.1 JKB on 2014-08-02 10:57 (Reply)
The entire social safety net system is a patchwork quilt of less than adaquate, conflicting, overlapping, duplicative programs. They are super expensively administered by millions of bureaucrats who cannot be fired. The bureaucrats are led by managers whose primary motivation is system growth. Thus, the programs to 'end' childhood poverty keep finding more and more children living in poverty. That, and the fact that even when delivered, the benefits are structured to maintain a condition of dependance and decrepitude. This theme runs through the entire system and every program in it.

Yes, Congress spent the money that was supposed to go into that fictional social security 'trust' fund. Yes, the social security payments are not enough to provide basic subsistance. Yes, you need to fit into one or more of a miriad of special niches to qualify for additional benefits. And if you are not wealthy and wish to live, you need those extra programs. Yes, it is very complex and nobody is there to explain it properly. Yes, the system is opaque. Yes, if you can navigate the system, you can probably do the work of a real job. If there were any jobs. If you had transportation. If you had a work history, resume, education, skills. If you never needed assistance in the first place. If breaking free didn't mean losing your housing and food right away. If you were allowed to accumulate money to break free with. It's possible, it happens sometimes. But, the system is not designed for that. It wants dependants, it needs dependants. Else, all those gubmint employees would go hungry. And we can't have that.
#3.2 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-08-02 11:05 (Reply)
"4 reasons to be pissed off about social security and medicare".

The author is merely setting the stage for a giant money grab. The millions of people who contributed to SS must be robbed so that liberals can fund their favorite deep money sucking hole. Congress used the SS system as it's private bank borrowing billions over the years. Estimates are that the federal government owes the SS system about $4 trillion. The liberals would like to "reform" ss and erase that debt. Congress also used the SS system as its slush fund to pay for votes from friends and foes. Did you know that when Jimmy Carter encoraged/allowed the massive assault on our borders called the Mariel boatlift that congress in it's infinite wisdom decided these immigrants should also get full SS benefits. YOU must work a minimum of 40 quarters to be eligible for SS but a non citizen who snuck into this country at age 65 got SS for free on your dime. The SS system should work more like a 401k providing income based on your contribution. Instead congress over the years has instituted regulations which make SS work more like welfare. This is why you will often see the statement that many retired people are wealthier then those working and contributing to SS. Well DUH! But the fact remains that those retirees contributed to SS for 45 years or more and there was a contract that they would be able todraw some of their money back from the system. It was congress that screwed up SS. It would be easy to fix SS; first get the politicians out. second remove it from the budget and make it independent, third pay out based on what was paid in, no exceptions. fourth force the feds to pay back into the system the trillions they took out. If we did this SS could afford to pay retirees even more then the meager payment they get today.
#4 GoneWithTheWind on 2014-08-02 10:57 (Reply)
Dawkins: The Left loves to be offensive, but just hates to be offended. As always, it's a matter of whose ox is gored, or whose Gore is oxed.

Drought: In the NYT! Saying that the climate warmed and cooled in past millenia! (Which they've quite thoroughly and conveniently forgotten.)

Free-riding on America: Pharmacists have known this for quite some time.
#5 Sam L. on 2014-08-02 12:50 (Reply)
Homeland security is on the job but I don't see what this has to do with fighting terrorism:

"A federal investigation has been opened into the source of the illegal downloads of Lionsgate action pic The Expendables 3, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, aka ICE, has picked up the case after Lionsgate made calls to several law-enforcement agencies to ask for help in locating the pirates,.."

http://www.deadline.com/2014/08/the-expendables-3-trailer-video-ronda-rouseysylvester-stallone-mel-gibson/

Or this, which seems to come right out out of the Super Bowl Green Police ad:

"When it comes to environmental regulation compliance, the Department of Homeland Security isn’t playing — as evidenced by a recent federal raid of a South Carolinian’s home to confiscate a Land Rover that violated EPA emission rules.

Jennifer Brinkley said she saw a line of law enforcement vehicles approaching her home and wondered what was wrong, the local WBTV reported. Homeland Security agents then went to her 1985 Land Rover Defender and lifted the hood.

“They popped up the hood and looked at the Vehicle Identification Number and compared it with a piece of paper and then took the car with them,” she said, WBTV reported.

She told Fox News that she was told the agents seized the vehicle because they thought it violated the Clean Air Act — though at the time, they weren’t completely sure. She also said her vehicle was just one of 40 that feds seized in various locations that same day for the same reason.

Ms. Brinkley told Fox News that she has no idea where the vehicle is now and that feds won’t tell her."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/1/feds-raid-sc-home-to-seize-land-rover-in-epa-emiss/
#6 feeblemind on 2014-08-03 19:44 (Reply)

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