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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Thursday, February 24. 2022

Thursday morning links

 Inside the technicolor factory where Jelly Belly makes its beans


 New York City to Phase Out Vaccine Mandate in Coming Weeks


Russian Invasion of Ukraine Is 'Underway'


But why?


 The Olympics Debacle and the Illusions of Nationalism


 How the Redneck Intellectual Discovered Educational Freedom—and How You Can, Too


 The Fight for Curriculum Transparency - Parents have the right to know what public schools are teaching their children.


 How one student graduated from a Baltimore high school without ever learning to read


 Sick with guilt - On the loss of purpose in cultural institutions


Fake guilt, I think. Too dramatic to be real.


 Byron York catalogs the effort to spy on the Trump campaign


Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:53 | Comments (33) | Trackbacks (0)

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"Russian Invasion of Ukraine Is 'Underway'"

And just like that, the political leaders of the West are suddenly yesterday’s men (or women or whatever).
#1 JJM on 2022-02-24 08:15 (Reply)
They are clueless. They simply don't know what to do.

After all, the real problems are fighting climate change, promoting racial justice, and the pandemic.

We are so screwed.
#1.1 feeblemind on 2022-02-24 08:44 (Reply)
If we are serious about dealing with Russia - which is actually a far weaker entity than many might think - it is a time for hard men.

To put it in Canadian terms: not dilettante wokists like our current prime minister and his sorry cabinet of children but rather men like the truckers who drove him to such hissy fits of distraction.
#1.1.1 JJM on 2022-02-24 09:15 (Reply)
Maybe Antifa can send a company of their sexual deviants to fight for Ukraine. I think Putin figured correctly that nobody outside the Ukraine is willing to die for that club of corrupt oligarchs.
#1.1.1.1 Freddo on 2022-02-24 09:41 (Reply)
If we were serious about dealing with Russia, every Western leader would immediately and loudly repudiate and reverse every Green Nude Eel policy they put in place.

Until that happens, they're all just blustering for nothing.
#1.1.1.2 Christopher B on 2022-02-24 11:39 (Reply)
If we were serious about dealing with Russia, every Western leader would immediately and loudly repudiate and reverse every Green Nude Eel policy they put in place.

My wife's son works for a large wealth management firm in California. Last night he called to vent on Putin's invasion of Ukraine. After raging that it was all Trump's fault he went on to say that the European Allies were going to fast track their renewable energy expansion in response to Putin's aggression. He thought that was a good thing.

So rather than take up your suggestion ChristopherB., it sounds like they will double down on failure.

Sorry. I am too discouraged to hunt for a link.
#1.1.1.2.1 feeblemind on 2022-02-24 12:19 (Reply)
John Kerry Warns Ukraine Invasion Will Worsen Climate Change

https://dailycaller.com/2022/02/24/john-kerry-climate-change-russia-ukraine-invasion/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
#1.1.1.2.1.1 feeblemind on 2022-02-24 12:33 (Reply)
feeblemind: After raging that it was all Trump's fault

Wouldn't go that far. Trump weakened the international system making an effective response more difficult, but Putin does what he does for his own reasons.
#1.1.1.2.1.2 Zachriel on 2022-02-24 13:19 (Reply)
Another bullshit claim.

However, the false claims that you repeat, that Putin interfered with US elections, probably didn't help matters.
#1.1.1.2.1.2.1 DrTorch (Link) on 2022-02-24 15:52 (Reply)
Wherever could anyone get the idea that Trump wanted to pull out of NATO?
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/01/23/us-house-votes-overwhelmingly-to-bar-us-exit-from-nato/
#1.1.1.2.1.2.1.1 Zachriel on 2022-02-24 16:22 (Reply)
Meanwhile, Trump calls Putin's invasion of Ukraine 'wonderful' and hails Russian as a 'peacekeeper'
#1.1.1.2.1.2.1.2 Zachriel on 2022-02-24 16:30 (Reply)
I think the tone is more sarcastic, that Putin is able to pose as a peacekeeper, and that this is thus a stroke of genius.
#1.1.1.2.1.2.1.2.1 Assistant Village Idiot on 2022-02-24 18:44 (Reply)
Assistant Village Idiot: I think the tone is more sarcastic, that Putin is able to pose as a peacekeeper, and that this is thus a stroke of genius.

That’s like saying the invasion of Poland by Hitler {to protect ethnic Germans!} was an act of genius. It was not. But it was an act of ruthlessness.
#1.1.1.2.1.2.1.2.1.1 Zachriel on 2022-02-24 21:14 (Reply)
We aren't serious and the Russians are hard men. While our military has been going woke, there has been training and improving.
#1.1.1.3 NJSoldier on 2022-02-24 12:04 (Reply)
Why are we expected to do anything about Putin in Ukraine? Where is Europe? Do they care at all? I suppose putting your future at risk like the Germans did by suspending the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (where are they going to get natural gas next winter - not from us, we no longer have enough for ourselves) displays a certain investment but that fist-shaking is about all they are able to do.

Maybe Europe is waiting for confirmation that Putin is rebuilding the old Soviet Union. If that is confirmed at what point will Europe draw the line? When Putin tries to take East Germany?

Or maybe Europe doesn't feel like it's worth getting further involved. If they don't, why should we?

And don't talk about NATO. Without the US and the UK, there isn't much NATO.

On the other hand, history is filled with instances when small conflicts were avoided only to become big conflicts. Could Putin's Ukraine be Hitler's Czechoslovakia? In which case, the question is still, where is Europe?
#1.1.1.4 mudbug on 2022-02-24 13:52 (Reply)
mudbug: If that is confirmed at what point will Europe draw the line?

NATO is the line.
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm
#1.1.1.4.1 Zachriel on 2022-02-24 14:28 (Reply)
And you talked about NATO anyway...
#1.1.1.4.1.1 mudbug on 2022-02-24 19:17 (Reply)
mudbug: And you talked about NATO anyway...

NATO is crucial. A Russian military attack on a NATO country will mean war against NATO as a whole.
#1.1.1.4.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2022-02-24 21:18 (Reply)
For Western governments, the fight also includes subordinating large swaths of their population to their rule.
#1.1.2 B. Hammer on 2022-02-24 09:41 (Reply)
Come on, man! Biden will handle this! After all, he said he’s the only one who’s gone toe to toe with Putin!
#1.1.3 mudbug on 2022-02-24 10:58 (Reply)
Attaboy, Joey.

QUOTE:
Despite the big talk, Biden was forced to deny that the threat of sanctions against Putin’s personal wealth was a bluff, insisting under questioning that such a move was “still on the table.”

“Why not sanction him today, sir? Why not sanction him today?” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked. Biden would not answer and called on a different
journalist to ask a question.


Hmm… wonder why?

https://nypost.com/2022/02/24/biden-to-unveil-new-russia-sanctions-gop-faults-weak-leadership/
#1.1.3.1 Zachinoff on 2022-02-24 20:33 (Reply)
Lost at Sea

On the decline of the US Navy.

QUOTE:
In his account of the decline of the British Royal Navy, the historian Andrew Gordon distinguishes between two types of military personnel: “ratcatchers,” who bend rules and win wars, and “regulators,” rule followers who work within the bureaucratic framework and advance in peacetime militaries only to subsequently lose wars. By prioritizing administrative tasks rather than the substantive skills necessary to win wars, the United States is creating a navy of regulators.
turning the tide

The cultural problem of inattention to warfighting proficiency in the U.S. Navy comes from the top. The Biden administration is channeling its energy to other priorities: its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, issued last March, prioritizes “a global pandemic, a crushing economic downturn, a crisis of racial justice, and a deepening climate emergency.” When announcing Lloyd Austin as his nominee for defense secretary, Biden extolled the need for the military to distribute vaccines. Defense Department social media accounts stress the agency’s commitment to expanding diversity, ending sexual harassment, and tackling climate damage.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/review-essay/2022-02-22/lost-sea
#2 feeblemind on 2022-02-24 08:48 (Reply)
You can take tours of the Jelly Belly factory, and they have an outlet store.

We did it a couple times when we lived on the west coast.

It's kinda cool.
#3 William O. B'Livion on 2022-02-24 09:13 (Reply)
Put a camera and microphone in every classroom. Every year before school starts have a "fair" at the school for the parents to review the years curriculum and the books. Publish a list of the books in the library. Why not?
#4 JustMe on 2022-02-24 10:29 (Reply)
Fully agree.

It is "public" education. Anyone resisting should be told to find a private institution to serve their desires.
#4.1 DrTorch (Link) on 2022-02-24 11:27 (Reply)
"Don't tell your parents I'm teaching you this" should be grounds for immediate firing.
#4.1.1 JLawson on 2022-02-24 14:50 (Reply)
Immediate prosecution IMO.
#4.1.1.1 DrTorch (Link) on 2022-02-24 15:53 (Reply)
That'd depend on what was being concealed.

But there's not much I'd give a "Don't prosecute" pass to.
#4.1.1.1.1 JLawson on 2022-02-24 23:11 (Reply)
Thompson's article is a nice find, thank you. I think he makes some excellent points on the similarities of educational/religious freedoms and separations of church/schools and state. I plan to work my way through his other linked pieces.

We need reliable public schools but they must be forced into proving their merits, just like everyone else, with parents as their partners and overseers. And it's every parent's moral duty to raise their child and nurture their moral growth. Essays like this help people to understand the distinctions and articulate their own thoughts.
#5 Aggie on 2022-02-24 10:39 (Reply)
What Ukraine should have done months ago was to have created a brigade of soldiers/guerillas trained in surviving and hiding in the forests and setting explosives on equipment and using antitank style weapons. Then when the invasion was inevitable, as it has been for weeks, they should have sent them out to destroy armored vehicles, transport equipment and rocket launchers in a coordinated attack on all of Russia's forces. It would be mostly a suicide mission but better to die taking the enemy with you than to die on your knees or in your bed while the enemy doesn't lose a single soldier.
#6 Anon on 2022-02-24 11:08 (Reply)
Ukrainian Stugna-P Anti-tank Guided Missile
 
#6.1 Zachriel on 2022-02-24 11:50 (Reply)
During the Obama/Biden term the Russian president of the Ukraine was removed by a coup. This was likely a neo-con/Brennen/state dept operation. That pretty well destroyed any good will between Russia and the US. Ukraine should have been left as a neutral/buffer country and allowed to develop ties to Europe and Russia. Instead the Ukraine was used as a weapon. To top it off Hunter Biden had "deals" with rather shady characters and Joe was making threats to officials to withhold funding. With threats to allow NATO membership for the Ukraine finally triggered a security threat to Russia over their military facilities in the Crimea/Black sea area. No surprise that Russia is removing the threat and developing new buffer/neutral states. The only people getting excited over the end result are likely Lindsey Graham and John Bolton along with the Joe Bama group.
#7 indyjonesouthere on 2022-02-24 14:18 (Reply)
I think the fake guilt is actually an accusation of others just below the surface. Like the preacher who assures you that he, too, has too much materialism at Christmas while disclosing some minor example of same, or the teacher who humblebrags there is a word she can never remember the spelling of, such confessions are to show how bad they are not. The point is to condemn the society around them, and distance themselves from that. CS Lewis captured it beautifully in his essay "The Dangers of National Repentance." It is confessing other people's sins more than one's own and is essentially dishonest.
#8 Assistant Village Idiot on 2022-02-24 22:07 (Reply)

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