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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Thursday, February 11. 2016Thursday morning linksHow American tipping grew out of racism Out of slavery, really. My rules on tipping in the US: Always tip restaurant staff, hotel cleaners daily, bartenders, bell boy, Dunkin Donuts people, garbage man and postman at Christmas, Stanley Steemer guys, outdoor helpers for special projects, barber, etc. In Europe, always tip hotel cleaners daily. They will be much more attentive. Here's How That Pro Cyclist Probably Hid a Motor in Her Bike Students at Duke Condemn Racial Protestors and Call for Free Speech The Holocaust as ‘white on white crime’ and other signs of intellectual decay Free Speech or Hate Speech? I’ll Take Both, Thanks Sorry, we can't ban everything that offends you – video REFLECTIONS ON THE PANTHERS - A look back at what the Black Panthers did to deserve Beyoncé's rousing tribute at the Super Bow Sultan on Traditionalist Rebels:
Maggie's Farm is sort of a Traditionalist Rebel site Psychiatrist Dalrymple on Psychology:
Study proves urban heat islands exist, even in the Arctic The EPA is out of control – now they want to ban hobby race cars 5 Huge Problems with David Brooks' 'I Miss Obama' Puff Piece Sanders may have won 22% more votes than Hillary, but Hillary gets more delegates Hillary Has A Big Problem With "Everyday Americans" Hillary’s National Security Crime Needs a Special Prosecutor Republican Candidates Fall in Line with Social-Justice Warriors on Selective Service New Hampshire: Carnage In The Establishment Lane
The U.S. Cyber Vulnerability Goes On 100,000 say NO to the EU: Poll says Britons wants Brexit vote - SUPPORT for Britain to quit the EU is gaining unstoppable momentum among British voters. Go Rebels! THE NEW EUROPE: “Refugees” Given Priority at Hospitals, Free Train Tickets, Free Museum Visits Winning an unconventional war - Disadvantage goes to the side that abides by the Geneva Conventions Obama/Trump Back Russian Invasion of Syria I don't give a darn about Syria What Vladimir Putin is really up to in Syria The US military’s malaise - Defense policy run by the White House is faulty U.S. Intelligence Assessment of Iran Africa's Third Term Power Grabs: Prelude to War Trackbacks
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Regarding your guidelines for tipping, it must be nice to be rich like you, but you have very little in common with the vast majority of people. I see this in one post after another here by you. You presume to be like everyone else and yet you're nothing like any of us. Is it a Yankee thing?
Yes, Katy. In his list, the only ones who get tipped in this small Texas town are the waitresses--those who really tend tables, not ones at a counter like the Dunkin Donuts people. The rest of those generally make the same or sometimes better salaries than the people they contact. Yes, the rich are different.
I was brought up to believe that tipping all over the place was vulgar. Quaker values.
So wait, were tipping people at Dunkin Donuts now to put coffee in a cup, put a donut in a bag, and hand it to me?
Here's the tip: Salary not good enough there? Quit. Get a better job. I'm not throwing my change in a jar on the counter just because they're everywhere. Enough is enough. Regarding tips for counter service people (Dunkin Donuts, etc.), I don't believe they are necessary, though I make an exception for those places with great service. For instance, there's a great Thai restaurant about a mile from my house where I get take-out regularly. I am such a regular that they know my voice on the phone and what I usually order and always remember to give me extra chili paste in the take-out bag. I almost always leave an extra dollar in the jar. (I didn't the last time just because I didn't happen to have an extra dollar in my wallet.)
It's lifestyle signalling, Katy, the alternative form of leftist virtue signalling. How the inherent establishmentarianism and passive classism connects to public piety and rugged individualism is not yet entirely clear.
No offense, bd, just genuinely interested to see how things connect in a world where definitions (categories) get thoroughly inverted and nobody has the first clue what faith is really for. Tipping waitstaff at table-service restaurants is generally necessary, the others optional.
I tend to follow bd's suggestions at places where I am a regular, and it has served me well. I've had hoteliers go out of their way to Fed-Ex to me items I've left behind, coffee-counter servers say "don't worry, this one is on me" when I've come out without my wallet, and had the neighborhood postman stick his own stamps on an important timely document that I'd stuck in the mailbox with insufficient postage. I consider it a simple and cheap sign of good will, and have gotten good will in return. Perhaps it is not so important for people less scatterbrained than I. There is a minimum wage for waiters, and it is far less than the national minimum wage. Ergo tips. I'll assume you are not aware.
I don't like the system, but it is what it is. Stiff whoever you like. I don't think anyone here said they were stiffing waiters. I don't know anyone who does.
I worked at Dunkin Donuts in 1973. It was the same deal, without all the variety, and you could smoke. There was no tip jar on the counter. I lived and went on to better jobs. Lets cut the crap. When I was in Sodom on Hudson, It was absolutely mandatory to tip the doormen. They can have a big influence on your life.
Out here in the boonies, the garbage guys are mandatory: see above. Otherwise waitresses, of course and delivery guys- not UPS or Fedex but the Lowes types who install the new and take away the old washer, drier etc. I think Stockman sums it up pretty well.
I have no doubt that the multinational megacorps, K Street and the rest of the minions would sell out American values, and the American economy, as long as they benefit disproportionately. I realize some of this was inevitable due to our shrinking world (instant global communication, and logistical technologies), and, I am certainly not against free trade but I am not willing to give up American sovereignty or the Bill of Rights to accommodate some Transnationalist. You'll find something to pay attention to if Russia continues to make trouble in the Mideast.
The last 30 years of wars in the area were made more frequent and intense by the Soviets promoting Nasser, Assad, Saddam Hussain, Khomeini (via Iranian communists), Gaddaffi etc. The whole Afghan mess started with Soviet/Russian adventures. Russian Naval bases in Syria are nothing but trouble for everyone. Best to push back now. Russia could make much the same argument about US activity in the Middle East and Afghanistan over the last 30 years.
Don't worry, Merkel is hard at work creating a distraction for the Russians. Does anyone really believe the Russians will tolerate the Muslim Caliphate occupying such a prominent position on the European plain with a historical, unobstructed path into the heart of Russia? Look for Poland to align with Russia as the Islamists take over Germany.
David Brooks + rope + lamp post. Some assembly required.
There is a huge difference between ignorance and propaganda. Ask Josef Goebbels.....oh wait! The wealthy whites of WA State were so eager to please the Black Panthers they created their very own college. Said "university" is a state college and receives more money per student than any other state college in WA. However, what it turns out is pretty much useless!
Psychology: As I searched for a college major, I looked and the psyc family, ie psyc, soc, political science, criminology. I found psychologists were no better adjusted for their studies. Sociologists and political scientists were no better at predicting or guiding community improvements, and criminologists were no better at solving the root causes of crime. After 50 years I have not changed my mind. I see the dysfunctional black communities and there are no proposed solutions from these "disciplines". ps. I studied geology which despite the fault finding, is fairly stable.
Blick... " the fault finding, is fairly stable." nice pun, and I get it. Studied geology and made a career of--still at it too.
Ha! Clever one about fault-finding and geology!
As far as psychology majors, I think in many cases, it is worse than you suggest, and people with psychological problems are drawn towards psychology as a major. I would speculate that they may be somewhat over-represented in the population of psychology majors compared to the population of college graduates as a whole. It was a common observation at my college that all the psych professors were crazy.
Might not be stable-minded, but get a psych or soc masters, just look for a job with the gubmint for eternal job security. Especially the DOD and VA medical departments / commands. The Army base near where I live has been hiring psych/soc people for YEARS and continually expand the services. Psych services, family counseling, drug/alcohol abuse, now the ever growing PTSD phenomenon. Always openings. Just checked psychologists -- GS 11 to 13 ($58,562 to $109,781 salary range, 1,110 jobs listed at USAJOBS.gov).
In defense of psychology...a psychology major can continue on and get an M.A. in counseling. My own family has been helped tremendously by counseling. But look for counselors with a Christian background.
My other comment was about women in the draft. BIG, HUGE mistake. Set aside the 'equality' argument for now and think about the ineffectiveness this would have in the draft process, should it ever need to be used. I was in the military and a woman, so I feel I have a background of experience that others may not have. When a woman goes to Boot Camp, the first thing they do is give you a pregnancy test. A few women I showed up in Boot Camp with were pregnant and were immediately sent home. This will inevitably happen with women who are called up for the draft...either they will purposefully get pregnant to avoid being called up or they will find out that they are pregnant and need to be sent home. Is this really a good way to conduct a draft? Women can take themselves out of the picture if they so desire. Just dumb, dumb, dumb. The other problem? Let's say those women make it past the pregnancy issue and end up drafted into the military...we already have a problem with women who WANT to be in the military getting pregnant while at sea (no one wants to talk about it, but it happens ALL the time). The woman will get airlifted off the boat and then the boat is left short-staffed for the rest of the cruise. So get ready for women who DON'T want to be in the military, but were drafted, to figure that out right quick. Women should NOT be in the draft. Ridiculous idea. But women getting themselves pregnant is a feature not a bug in the system. The argument is that we need to leave women out of the draft so they will be available to repopulate after all the men draftees are killed off.
But this is a terrible plan. 1) the women may not choose to have children, 2)a lot of good genetic material is likely to be blown all over the battlefield and thus removed from the population. But if we draft women, they will be incentivized to not only become pregnant and carry to term, they are likely to seek out men headed to battle for insemination and therefore will be saving that genetic material from oblivion. Same goes for those who become pregnant while deployed. And this will still leave the infertile women and lesbians who do not wish to carry a child for service in military units. If we're going to have slavery, we need to be fair about it. And if we are going to treat people as socialist breeding stock, we need to be plain spoken about it. Excellent article on why Trump is popular
http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2015/November/39/11/magazine/article/10829676/ It seems kind of weird that all Americans aren't already registering for the draft when they turn 18. Shouldn't everyone be willing to defend their country? When I was in high school 30 years ago it seemed ridiculous to me and my friends that the guys were required to register but the girls were not.
Also, I have to laugh every time you conservatives are like, "But the wimmin will be cannon fodder!!! Oh Nooo!!! Think of the humanity!!!" You do realize that 91% of the jobs in the US Military are NOT combat roles, don't you? LOL Readiness is the point. With more women in the military, readiness will be difficult to maintain. Women in the military are young and in their most fertile years. It is nearly impossible to maintain readiness if you must constantly be rotating women out who are pregnant. You do realize that you cannot have a pregnant woman on a vessel of any kind, right? So the 'desk job' argument is a dumb one.
Even a 'desk job' can be in a risky environment or under stressful conditions. Did you know that once a woman is in her 3rd trimester, even in a 12-hour rotation 'desk job' she can no longer do that duty? She can only work 40 hours a week. So most military jobs that are 'round the clock jobs' cannot be done by a pregnant woman. Anyway, maybe people need to understand what it is like inside the military as a women and the rules involved before they offer up an opinion on the draft including women. It would be an epic fail. We would be scrambling to fill holes here, there and everywhere. The men would end up covering jobs for women who come and go during pregnancy...which is already a problem. If we equally called up men and women, this problem would escalate if the draft were used. I don't know why you keep going on about the problems that pregnancy would cause.
The left "solved" the problem of pregnancy 42 years ago, with Roe. Re: 5 Huge Problems with David Brooks' 'I Miss Obama' Puff Piece
Why does anybody even bother to discuss anything David Brooks says or writes? "THE NEW EUROPE: “Refugees” Given Priority at Hospitals, Free Train Tickets, Free Museum Visits"
Came across this illuminating quote just the other day: QUOTE: "The worst thing that can happen to a socialist is to have his country ruled by socialists who are not his friends." --Ludwig von Mises "The traditionalist rebel is the snake in the liberal Eden because he does not have faith in the noble motives of the bureaucratic activists who claim to be the gods of this Eden. He knows enough of human nature to reject the fallacy that the right ideology makes men so righteous that they can be trusted with absolute power without absolute corruption following in their wake. He knows that socialists have not risen above the crimes of selfish self interest that they condemn mankind for."
Pretty good description of those who founded this country. Although socialists were called different names back then and said things like "L'Etat c'est moi." "...the fallacy that the right ideology makes men so righteous that they can be trusted with absolute power without absolute corruption following in their wake. He knows that socialists have not risen above the crimes of selfish self interest that they condemn mankind for."
And yet the right is not just highly statist on a good half dozen to ten established, progressive national systems, it'll even defend them philosophically. It's telling that seventy percent of Obama's latest budget consists of transfer payments from one group to another.
This would be true under any President, plus or minus a percent or two. The baby boom generation is the pig in the python going into those transfer payments (social security and medicare) and they will be collecting for an average of 24 years. With a much lower ratio of workers to retirees today than we had in past decades, this is going to really stress the system. Hence the big push by politicians to get tons of immigrants into America. The immigrants see this country as the land of milk and honey but our politicians see them as the bottom cogs in the big Ponzi scheme that is called social security and medicare.
re the EPA regulating race cars.
Check Road and Track's defense of the EPA. The car magazines have gotten political correctness too. They fail to realize that a fuzzy proposed regulation and a promise to be good means that the bureaucrats will start doing bad as soon as the regulation is in place and enforceable. Winning an unconventional war - Disadvantage goes to the side that abides by the Geneva Conventions: Guerillas and non-uniformed combatants may and should be shot on sight--per the Geneva Conventions.
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