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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Monday, January 16. 2017

Monday morning links

Ringling Bros. circus to close after 146 years


Three-ring circus - Greatest Show on Earth - Saw it twice I think. Yuge!


A job: Topless trampoline health officer


Physician: American Children ‘Immersed in a Culture of Disrespect’



 Americans have tried the kinder, gentler, let-me-be-your-friend approach to parenting for the last several decades. If the behavior problems in schools and the heightened level of sensitivity on college campuses are any indication, this parenting approach hasn’t produced the positive outcomes we were hoping for. Is it time for today’s parents to reverse course and begin teaching their children to respect others first instead of their own little selves?



Single Mom Builds An Entire House For Her Family Using YouTube Tutorials


California's bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun


Clinton Foundation Laying Off Workers – Shutting Down Global Initiative Amid Ongoing Investigations


" The Associated Press cites a study based on Federal Reserve data showing that "millennials earn 20 percent less than boomers did at the same stage of life, despite being better educated".  They are on track to be poorer than their parents despite all that progress."


German Green Party Offers Publicly Funded Prostitution


Everything free in the brave new world


Toronto Sun Accuses Trudeau of Gross Green Hypocrisy


Whoever Puzder is, they’re against him


FAKE NEWS: WaPo Did Not Tell Whole Story on DC National Guard Chief’s Resignation


Obama and His Movement Prepare to Challenge President Trump


Donald Trump Invites Critics to Pray at Inauguration


How most doctors, patients will benefit from ObamaCare reform:



 ...private insurance was also responding to ObamaCare’s impact by squeezing physician payments, as well as by reducing the number of doctors and hospitals covered through their networks. Some insurers were dropping many of the best — and therefore most costly — doctors and hospitals altogether. With consumers having more choices and more control over their health care spending under Republican proposals, they may well demand more provider options as well.


Still, one shouldn’t get too excited. US health-care spending, the world’s highest, is not sustainable over the long run. Medicare is roughly $58 trillion in the red going forward. Changes, probably including reimbursement cuts, are inevitable. And if consumers are spending more of their own money for health care, they are likely to demand lower costs (and higher quality) the way they do for other goods and services. Not every physician will appreciate a more involved — and questioning — customer.



Klavan:  My Strange Trumpian Glee


Kimball: A Modest Disposal



Does David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, really believe (as he wrote in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s victory) that “the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is nothing less than a tragedy for the American republic, a tragedy for the Constitution, and a triumph for the forces, at home and abroad, of nativism, authoritarianism, misogyny, and racism”?


Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 04:19 | Comments (37) | Trackbacks (0)

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QUOTE:
Clinton Foundation Laying Off Workers – Shutting Down Global Initiative

The Clinton Global Initiative has been scheduled to close since well before the election.
#1 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 08:54 (Reply)
no shi'ite, zherlock.

QUOTE:
The layoffs are part of the Clinton plan put in motion ahead of the presidential election, to offset a storm of criticism regarding pay-to-play allegations during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.


did you read the story before commenting?
#1.1 Will Bithers on 2017-01-16 10:41 (Reply)
And why would that be? Will's comment below points out that there were concerns about the function of the CGI relative to Mrs. Clinton's status as a public official (regularly dismissed by you, I might add). But I recall something happening last November that returned President and Secretary Clinton back to purely private citizens. I know in Z-world changing circumstances never result in changing plans (the better to deflect the impact Trump is having) but it seems to me that the CGI's mission as a charitable organization is not only unaffected by this change in status but the fundamental reason to reduce it's scope no longer exists.

Of course, Occam says it's hard to run an influence peddling organization when you have no influence to peddle.
#1.2 Christopher B on 2017-01-17 10:37 (Reply)
Christopher B: And why would that be?

The Clinton Global Initiative was always meant to be a limited term effort, as Bill Clinton wrote in 2007.
#1.2.1 Zachriel on 2017-01-17 11:17 (Reply)
Four...
#2 JJM on 2017-01-16 08:57 (Reply)
QUOTE:
California's bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun

Half of everything is wasted (assuming good management).
#3 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 09:33 (Reply)
You're certainly not talking about the private sector. If you waste half of everything in the real world, you'll be fired so fast it'll make your head spin. We simply can not afford waste at that level.
#3.1 B. Hammer on 2017-01-16 10:41 (Reply)
B. Hammer: You're certainly not talking about the private sector.

Yes, including in the private sector.
#3.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 10:51 (Reply)
Its very clear that no member of the Zachriel Borg has never been gainfully employed in the private sector, at any level of management!

Typical private sector projects generally use "contingencies" of 10% to cover unknowable and unforeseen costs. But management is typically incentivized and rewarded for reducing such costs as any project proceeds. "On-time and under-budget" means something in the private sector, where waste affects the bottom line (profit).

Even good government projects now offer incentives for such cost-savings.
#3.1.1.1 B48 on 2017-01-16 11:11 (Reply)
B48: Its very clear that no member of the Zachriel Borg has never been gainfully employed in the private sector, at any level of management!

It's clear you've never paid attention to the inevitable waste in human endeavors.
#3.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 11:54 (Reply)
You said 50% waste. Being from, living in Europe, that sort of waste may be acceptable, but not in the private sector of the USA.

What is apparent? It is a 100% waste of time, to argue with the Zach Borg. Even on such a simple straight forward issue such as this.
#3.1.1.1.1.1 B. Hammer on 2017-01-16 19:38 (Reply)
B. Hammer: It is a 100% waste of time, to argue with the Zach Borg. Even on such a simple straight forward issue such as this.

And yet you do. Q.E.D.
#3.1.1.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-01-17 09:45 (Reply)
The average thermal efficiency of an internal combustion engine is about 20%.
#3.1.1.1.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2017-01-17 09:48 (Reply)
It's science!

Zeroth: You must play the game.
First: You can't win.
Second: You can't break even.
Third: You can't quit the game.
#3.1.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 12:31 (Reply)
That's just a reformulation of the Laws of Thermodynamics (and the Zeroth Law is better stated as "everybody has to play the game together", but I digress). More meaningfully, they are:
Zero: Two objects in thermal contact at the same temperature are in thermodynamic equilibrium
First: The total energy of a closed system will remain constant
Second: No change in the energy state of a system is entirely reversible; any change in the energy state of a system will result in the increase of the entropy of the system.
Third: The universe is a closed system

The thing to remember is that these laws refer only to closed systems. In this case the train is consuming dollars pumped in from outside, and benefits are intended to accrue to users outside the people building and operating the train.

This is a matter of economics and accounting, not thermodynamics.
#3.1.1.1.2.1 Another guy named Dan on 2017-01-16 15:52 (Reply)
Another guy named Dan: That's just a reformulation of the Laws of Thermodynamics

It's an analogy, not an actual reformulation.

Another guy named Dan: In this case the train is consuming dollars pumped in from outside, and benefits are intended to accrue to users outside the people building and operating the train.

That fits quite well. If you stop the input of dollars then the engine stops. In any case, there's always waste.
#3.1.1.1.2.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 16:21 (Reply)
"Its very clear that no member of the Zachriel Borg has never been gainfully employed..."

fixed that for ya!
#3.1.1.1.3 tennesseered on 2017-01-16 14:37 (Reply)
That's the left's fairy tale that government and private businesses are equally efficient. Asserting it doesn't make it so.
#3.1.1.2 mudbug on 2017-01-16 11:16 (Reply)
mudbug: That's the left's fairy tale that government and private businesses are equally efficient. Asserting it doesn't make it so.

Never made that assertion.
#3.1.1.2.1 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 11:52 (Reply)
Then what does

Half of everything is wasted (assuming good management).
B. Hammer: You're certainly not talking about the private sector
Yes, including in the private sector.

mean?
#3.1.1.2.1.1 mudbug on 2017-01-16 13:44 (Reply)
As with most lefty/libs,....words have no meaning......in other words it depends on what the meaning of 'is', is?
#3.1.1.2.1.1.1 vichris on 2017-01-16 14:28 (Reply)
QUOTE:
The California system is being built by an independent authority that has never built anything and depends on a large network of consultants and contractors for advice.


this independent authority is well qualified under the standard libtarded idea that "'If you've got a business, you didn't build that."
#3.2 Will Bithers on 2017-01-16 10:54 (Reply)
ew: Quote. What could possibly go wrong?
#3.2.1 rocdoctom on 2017-01-16 17:22 (Reply)
here, hold my beer.
#3.2.1.1 Will Bithers on 2017-01-16 21:48 (Reply)
Half of everything is wasted (assuming good management).... including in the private sector.

A fifty percent overrun is common in the private sector? Please show evidence of such an overrun in the private sector. As a long-time board member of my HOA, I have extensive experience with the predicted and actual costs of construction projects. In the last decade, we have spent about $400,000 on various construction projects.The rule of thumb we use is to add 20% for contingencies, not 50%. Call it overruns instead of contingencies, if you will.Thus far, none of our construction projects have been completed without recourse to the 20% allocated for contingencies- or overrun if you will. There was a total of about $20,000 out of $400,000 in overruns/contingencies. That is 5%, which is a far cry from your claim of 50%.

For overruns in the public sector, I refer you to the Big Dig.
QUOTE:
The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the US, and was plagued by escalating costs, scheduling overruns, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests,[2][3] and one death.[4] The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 1998[5] at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion (in 1982 dollars, US$6.0 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2006).[6] However, the project was completed only in December 2007, at a cost of over $14.6 billion ($8.08 billion in 1982 dollars, meaning a cost overrun of about 190%)[6] as of 2006.[7] The Boston Globe estimated that the project will ultimately cost $22 billion, including interest, and that it would not be paid off until 2038.[8] As a result of a death, leaks, and other design flaws, Bechtel and Parsons Brinckerhoff - the consortium that oversaw the project - agreed to pay $407 million in restitution, and several smaller companies agreed to pay a combined sum of approximately $51 million.[9]
What else can you expect from Massachusetts?
#3.3 Gringo on 2017-01-16 13:58 (Reply)
Gringo: A fifty percent overrun is common in the private sector?

Overruns and waste are not the same thing. Estimates are typically based on some combination past performance (which includes waste) and wishful thinking.
#3.3.1 Zachriel on 2017-01-16 15:50 (Reply)
said someone clueless about construction accounting.
#3.4 Will Bithers on 2017-01-16 21:51 (Reply)
" The Associated Press cites a study based on Federal Reserve data showing that "millennials earn 20 percent less than boomers did at the same stage of life, despite being better educated". 

"Better-educated" is the wrong term. Every study of base knowledge of those with degrees shows "Better credentialed" is much more fitting. Typical IVY grad can't even place the Civil War in the proper decade or name the major US Allies or members of the AXIS, in WWII!
#4 Old Codger on 2017-01-16 11:17 (Reply)
A friend of mine told me a couple of days ago that the Vatican is building "Vatican II" in Argentina. His neighbor is a civil engineer who specializes in commercial concrete construction and does a lot of work in South America and was hired to oversee the construction. He said it has extensive tunnels and vaults into the side of a mountain and the building and church itself is constructed of 2' thick concrete. The engineer was raised in an Italian American house and speaks Italian. He said that there are a half dozen Italian priests who are monitoring the work and he has heard them talking amongst themselves and they used the term "Vatican II". The reason for this is that the catholic church believes that Italy will fall; be over run with muslims within the next 10 years making it unsafe for the church to stay there. His job ended a month ago but before he left he saw planes landing and unloading crates which were moved into the vaults inside the mountain where only the priests were allowed.
#5 BadBoy on 2017-01-16 12:44 (Reply)
Oh brother...
#5.1 JJM on 2017-01-16 13:34 (Reply)
NO. It's oh, father. 2" concrete is pretty thin, don't you think.

As you said earlier: FORE! didn't mean to jump you on day 7.
#5.1.1 tennesseered on 2017-01-16 14:40 (Reply)
That was 2' thick concrete, to quote the comment. Two feet. Please read carefully before commenting.
#5.1.1.1 Gringo on 2017-01-16 18:05 (Reply)
"Please read carefully before commenting."

Er, no thanks.

Life is too short to waste so much time reading through such drivel.
#5.1.1.1.1 JJM on 2017-01-16 23:18 (Reply)
QUOTE:
and was hired to oversee the construction


because there are no construction management companies in argentina, so they find one in an American trailer park.
#5.2 Will Bithers on 2017-01-16 21:53 (Reply)
Topless trampoline health officer

I think naked breasts have jumped the shark as attractions these days.

Their only real hope is fashionable concealment.

The feminine operation is concealing that there's nothing to conceal.
#6 rhhardin (Link) on 2017-01-16 17:02 (Reply)
Surely you jest!
#6.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2017-01-16 18:25 (Reply)
"California's bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun"

Actually, California's "High Speed Rail" has yet to lay a single yard of track, and likely never will. So it's not "hurtling" anywhere.

It WILL have - already HAS - a multi-billion dollar overrun.
#7 Ken Mitchell on 2017-01-16 22:08 (Reply)

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