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.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

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Tuesday, April 17. 2018

Tuesday morning links

Previously Unknown Asteroid had a Near Miss with Earth yesterday


I blame climate change - or maybe the Russians


God as an emergent phenomenon 


 Disfigured Veteran With Scars Says Hi To 5-Year-Old. Her Response Brings Millions To Tears


 Mortgage-Backed Securities and the Financial Crisis of 2008: a Post Mortem


900 Boston Marathon runners receive medical treatment along route


 2018 Boston Marathon: Des Linden is first American woman to win since 1985


 WHY WAS PROFESSOR AMY WAX PUNISHED?


Not allowed to say that, Prof 


 Training the Masculinity Out of Children


Organizations used to devote themselves to turning boys into good strong men. It's not easy. 


 Quite a few educators these days think of their jobs as platforms for their political activism.


Arrogance 


 A $76,000 Monthly Pension: Why States And Cities Are Short On Cash


 Sow tariffs, harvest pain


I think people miss the fact that Trump is just bargaining for better deals. It's what he does 


Iowa Town Causes Uproar by Shooting Feral Cats


A good, fun way to get rid of the damn things


Britain’s NHS Holds Another Baby Hostage


 Government Housing Policy: Restricting Supply and Subsidizing Demand


How regulation of business protects the businesses on top 


Changes in the undertaking biz 


 Feminists don’t care about the gender gap in ballet. Why should we care about the one in tech?


 FCC CHAIR EDUCATES BERNIE, WARREN ON FIRST AMENDMENT


 You can’t argue against socialism’s 100 per cent record of failure


DNC's Ellison Screams: 'Women Are Dying Because We Are Losing Elections'


Republicans thirst for blood 


Mega-millionaire Pelosi Evokes MLK to Condemn GOP Tax Bill — ‘God Never Intended for One Group of People to Live in Superfluous Inordinate Wealth’


 Attkisson: Trump Was Right To Fire Comey; Here Are 12 Reasons Why


Best reason? He seems like a pompous self-satisfied weasel 


 How the Obama Justice Department Tried To Shut Down FBI Investigation Into The Clinton Foundation


 The Politicization of the FBI


Joe DiGenova on Comey: Single-Handedly Destroyed the FBI


 James Comey Is Hurting The FBI


 Comey: Everyone In My Family “Passionately” Supported Hillary Clinton…


 MORE BAD PRESS FOR JAMES COMEY


When people advertise themselves as highly moral, watch out 


"Self-Centered, Self-Serving Jackass": FBI Insiders Furious After Comey Interview


 Israel at 70: More than a Start-Up Nation


Vox:  Donald Trump’s corruption means he’ll never be a “normal” commander in chief


The hate is strong in that one 

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:50 | Comments (23) | Trackbacks (0)

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As George Carlin used to say: that's not a near miss. A near miss would be a hit.
#1 jay on 2018-04-17 08:08 (Reply)
Emergent God.

This is similar to something I've considered for quite a while--that religion is a byproduct of human evolution. Probably the single most significant aspect of humans over other primates, as well as other animals, is not intelligence but the ability to instinctively organize into complex social cooperative structures, from just a small band to a group of many millions. No other animal is that flexible.

As part of this instinctive alignment of minds (sometimes called 'peer pressure' but that's totally missing the significance) is the evoltionary success that arises over widely shared belief structures--which can include social patterns based on centures of human experience. This drive to share thought patterns frequently manifests itself as religion, and having a handy personification of the structure in the form of god(s) helps to make it all the more compelling.

Some religions (like some cultures) can be toxic, but others are more constructive. Essentially I am an atheist who does not believe in any actual god, but I recognize that the concept of a god like entity is inherent in our mental make up (and in many cases aided our survival)
#2 jay on 2018-04-17 08:27 (Reply)
Religion is politics. It has always been politics. It is about power and money and way back before there was money it was about anything of value. It has always been a sanctimonious front to extort power and wealth from the willing and the unwilling. It has, incidentally, from time to time also encouraged good moral decency, which is it's only value to civilization.
#2.1 OneGuy on 2018-04-17 09:22 (Reply)
Nice to see an expert on worldwide prehistory weigh in. Chock full of evidence, too.
#2.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-04-17 12:54 (Reply)
There is a lot to not like about what I said but little that can be refuted. It is ironic that you would call for "proof about anything related to a discussion on religion. Belief in religion is based on faith not "proof", where is your faith? LOL.
#2.1.1.1 OneGuy on 2018-04-17 13:13 (Reply)
How do you "refute" a gross over-generalization? Would you even try?

Asking rhetorically, of course, cause you formulated all that fallacy and so obviously can't be trusted to be objective.
#2.1.1.1.1 Meh on 2018-04-17 13:39 (Reply)
It's the beauty and order of things like the inverse square law and the principles of probability that persuade me to believe in God rather than in nihilistic materialism. Maybe the question isn't whether God is "only" emergent properties, but whether the beauty and mystery of emergent properties show us the nature of the universe. In other words, maybe emergency properties are "only" God.
#2.1.1.1.1.1 Texan99 on 2018-04-17 14:13 (Reply)
Belief in god is an entirely different subject. My references were only to religion. Religion is a political entity and it would be a fool's errand to try to prove otherwise. It's objective is power over the people, culture and laws and to acquire wealth. There is some benefit to religion over the centuries but like governments there are good ones and bad ones. Most religions demand fealty and woe to you if you seem unsincere. You will bow or stand as ordered and you will give of your wealth, time and energies... or else. This is true today and was a hundred times more true 100 or 500 years ago and in most of history. It is how they rule. Disagree? Then be tortured to death or burned in a public display of raw power. Today, well we kid ourselves that it wasn't that bad and will never happen again. But politics is what it is.
#2.1.1.1.1.1.1 OneGuy on 2018-04-17 15:02 (Reply)
You keep using the word prove and you keep using it very wrongly. All outboards are not Evinrudes and all cheese is not Swiss, obviously. Only the ones in your viewfinder are.

Stop grinding that axe of yours. Religion simply isn't your view of it, which is why your stuff about is so starkly fallacious.
#2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Meh on 2018-04-17 15:35 (Reply)
Your contention that religion is political would be disputed by prehistorians, which is what I focused on. I recommend starting with NY Times science editor Nicholas Wade's Before The Dawn, which is not perfect but covers the basic material pretty well.

Notice I said Basic Material. You haven't the faintest idea what it is you don't know. Early religious practice cannot be defined as political in any sensible definition.
#2.1.1.1.1.1.1.2 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-04-17 20:56 (Reply)
yes, we need to kill any group of animals that has become a nuisance or dangerous. Nobody should be surprised that some catlovers come unhinged over this. While most cat owners are realistic and reasonable people, there are some who are totally over the top in their worship of the animals.

There is a scene at the beginning of the 2001 movie Cats and Dogs where dogs rise up to help humans overthrow the tyrannical cat overlords in the land of Egypt. I love that.

Before you respond that I am heartless or hate cats, you'd be wrong. My family has owned cats for over a decade now and I love the best aspects of their nature.

I don't put them above people.
#3 Dangerous Dean on 2018-04-17 08:56 (Reply)
We euthanize cats all the time, which doesn't seem to bother people unduly. It bothers me a great deal; I'm sorry we arrange things so as to make it necessary. Instead of railing at people who kill cats, I concentrate on what I can do personally, which is to adopt as many cats as I can give a suitable home to, and make sure they're neutered, because cats will produce several litters of unwanted kittens every year when left to their own devices. For people who want to do more than that, there's always the option of contributing to neutering clinics and humane shelters. Enough with the wailing about other people's fault: we'd do better to look to our own behavior.
#3.1 Texan99 on 2018-04-17 09:56 (Reply)
Picking up a rock is easier than picking up a responsibility.
#3.1.1 Aggie on 2018-04-17 10:42 (Reply)
If I had a gun and a choice I would vote to keep the cats and get rid of the pesky people.
#3.2 JC on 2018-04-17 11:27 (Reply)
Wow, self-congratulatory, small-minded piffle from a reader of this blog. Just imagine.
#3.3 Meh on 2018-04-17 13:41 (Reply)
When out hunting or just riding the gravel roads,we shoot feral cats.They kill alot of the wildlife.We like the pheasants & turkey better.Having said that feral cats living in the country, are an amazing critter.
#3.4 RL on 2018-04-17 22:49 (Reply)
re Iowa Town Causes Uproar by Shooting Feral Cats

A good, fun way to get rid of the damn things

Dangerous Dean is right. yes, we need to kill any group of animals that has become a nuisance or dangerous.

However, people that take joy in that task are sick.
#4 feeblemind on 2018-04-17 11:44 (Reply)
Oh I don't know, Mind. There's great Christian delight in killing the shit out of stuff because it serves your stupid rightist lifestyle.

That God guy; what did He know anyway. Animals are for wanton sport. That's why Moses created BBQ. Lectionary! QED!
#4.1 Meh on 2018-04-17 13:45 (Reply)
Many normal people find hunting varmints enjoyable.
#4.2 Bird Dog on 2018-04-17 15:16 (Reply)
QED?
#4.2.1 Meh on 2018-04-17 15:37 (Reply)
I don't accept that Pelosi and King have/had actual knowledge of God's intent.
#5 Michael R. Kesti on 2018-04-17 15:02 (Reply)
"You can’t argue against socialism’s 100 per cent record of failure"

Really, because you can walk into any school of Liberal Arts, most high school history, English, social studies department and you'll find professors arguing against it all the time. True, they won't tell the truth about the failures, but arguments for that obscure reality is arguing against the 100 per cent record.

But then these professors and teachers are highly educated and trained in "critical thinking" for all the critical sense they exhibit.
#6 JK Brown on 2018-04-17 15:34 (Reply)
A good, fun way to get rid of the damn things.

I see. And who made you in charge of which animals should live and which ones should die?
#7 jimg on 2018-04-17 16:35 (Reply)

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