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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Friday, January 26. 2024

Friday morning links

 BLAZING SADDLES HISTORY MONTH


 This Lancet paper on ‘dangers of undervaccination’ should never have been published


 Why We Went Crazy During the COVID Lockdowns


I didn't 


 Last year, for Black History Month, Franck Sylvestre was canceled for racial stereotypes even though he’s black


 EU Looks To Accelerate Development Of Small Nuclear Reactors


 Great News! The Climate Is Much Better Than Predicted. Now We Can Calm Down!


The US Has The Biggest Govt In The History Of The World... By A Very Wide Margin


 “The administrative state,” Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts declared in front of the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, “is the greatest threat to democracy in the United States, and we need to end it.” 


 The Top 1% Richest Of the Country Feel That Normal Americans Have Too Much Freedom, and That Meat, Fuel, and Electricity Should Be Strictly Rationed to the Lower Orders


Red States Declaring 'I Am Texacus'


 Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza - but not in Chicago


 Trump’s Insults and Rants Mask a Ruthlessly Efficient Campaign


 ‘Europeans Will Succumb to Islam,’ Says Former Intelligence Chief


 You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet As the Long Knives REALLY Come Out for Trump


 Who Is Winning the War in Gaza?


 The October 7 'genocide' video evidence in full





Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 07:17 | Comments (45) | Trackbacks (0)

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How much of the costs of a nuclear reactor are red tape and endless lawfare? Probably better to focus on large nuclear designs so you don't have to fight the bureaucratic battle too often.
#1 Freddo on 2024-01-26 09:18 (Reply)
In the past month I came across an article about Westinghouse developing small nuclear plants. It appeared they won't be available for another 4 or 5 years. Smaller is better and more resilient as they don't require the large transformers needed at large plants that only seem to be available from China.
#1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 13:17 (Reply)
‘Europeans Will Succumb to Islam,’

Of course they will even though it would be the easiest thing to prevent it. Simply declare Islam to be a terrorist organization and require that all Muslim immigrants be deported back to their homelands. But powerful people benefit from mass immigration, chaos and dilution of a culture and a voting block so there will be no solution and anyone who tries will get the Trump treatment.
#2 OneGuy on 2024-01-26 09:45 (Reply)
I wouldn't make a bet on Islam prevailing in Europe. Let the standard of living drop precipitously by way of a depression and the continent will explode and not in favor of Islam.
#2.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 13:31 (Reply)
Kind of like the African Christians? They thought they still had time. Turn the other cheek. Don't make me write a stern letter! Yeah! How's that working out. The window is closing, Europe is running out of time, Their leaders are incredibly stupid. This isn't going to end well. I can guarantee you that when the Muslims in Europe decide to act that they will all have AK 47's and European civilians will have nothing more powerful than a sternly worded warning to fight back with.
#2.1.1 OneGuy on 2024-01-26 14:36 (Reply)
No one could predict, much less do much preparation for either the French or American revolution. We are back at a similar junction in the cycles of civilizations. The last one did not end well for the previous leadership of either country. None of it will end quickly or comfortably. It is up to the individual to prepare as the government will always be surprised and unprepared.
#2.1.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 18:04 (Reply)
When Esau (Greco-Roman culture) forgets that he is Israel's brother - G-d sends Ishmael (the "wild man" of the Bible) out of the desert to remind him.

This has happened before in history - marked by the extremely sudden flowering of Arab culture, out of nowhere.
This time it was oil.

Christian Europe had antisemitism - but in the 20th century it went further, throwing off its own connection to monotheism, emphasizing the moral break by inventing new, dehumanizing ways to kill the Jews. And nihilistically tearing its own society apart.

But democracy and prosperity depend on Judeo-Christian morality - as post Christian Europe is finding out.

I doubt that neo-pagan, nihilistic Europe will have the will to defend itself. How can one defend a half-forgotten moral creed?
#2.1.1.1.1 Ben David on 2024-01-27 13:57 (Reply)
'The Top 1% Richest Of the Country Feel That Normal Americans Have Too Much Freedom, and That Meat, Fuel, and Electricity Should Be Strictly Rationed to the Lower Orders'

Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and the wine." - Rev 6:6
#3 Maniac on 2024-01-26 10:23 (Reply)
QUOTE:
“I know correlation is not necessarily causation, but man, there’s an awful lot of correlation going on here.”

Exclusive: 70% of Embalmers Report Finding Strange Blood Clots Beginning in Mid-2021

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/blood-clots-embalmers-report-mid-2021-covid-vaccines/
#4 Zachinoff on 2024-01-26 10:32 (Reply)
Why We Went Crazy During the COVID Lockdowns

The wife and I managed to avoid the crazy by getting lots of exercise and fresh air, and avoiding maskholes at all costs. But I certainly understand how two years of relentless badgering by The People Smarter Than Us could agitate some folks to go Full Gunnysacking on the next person who rubbed them the wrong way. One extra reason to treat everyone with patience, courtesy, and respect.
#5 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2024-01-26 10:43 (Reply)
Crazy over the ChiCom flu. The concerted efforts to get the people to toe the party line were relentless and broke quite a few. I don’t laugh when I see a person in a mask taking a walk outside I see someone who was broken and I feel for them. IHMO television cursed us as a people and never allowed one in the house. The idea to pay someone to pump propaganda into my house never appealed. I live in a remote area and always hated authority (when I see a shot up road sign I know I am home) so this helped me to stay at my normal level of crazy. We need to have some empathy for those folks that were isolated and became cable news zombies they were prey for the predators that govern us. Trying to take my own advise to be kinder.
#5.1 Trip Kersh on 2024-01-26 11:15 (Reply)
We moved to our present home about 5 years ago. Never hooked up a TV at the new home. TV news is a dying breed much like print magazines and even print newspapers.
#5.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 13:22 (Reply)
What’s amazing about these elite a-holes is that they are too stupid to realize how outnumbered they are. Did they not read anything about the French Revolution? Would the world even miss all the schmucks that meet at Davaos every year, if they suddenly disappeared? What do they actually do for the betterment of humanity? Not a damn thing, as far as I can tell.
#5.2 B. Hammer on 2024-01-26 12:03 (Reply)
"A Georgia school district battling a mountain of school lunch debt following the COVID-19 pandemic told parents it would be changing the meal option for students carrying a balance."

I went to school from the late 40's to the late 50's. We had milk in grade school but I don't think it was free, a few cents as I remember. We had a lunch room with prepared food in junior High and High school but I never ate a school lunch, I brought a sandwich and sometimes I bought an 8 oz carton of milk. It was no big deal and seemed quite normal to me that my parents actually fed me.

I don't object to schools providing lunches and I do think that there should be some cost to the student/parents. I object to the free lunch, I think it sets a bad example and is discriminatory. I also don't think a student should be able to get a lunch and not pay. Maybe that seems harsh but in fact I think it is the opposite. I think it is an incredibly useful life lesson that if the student does not have the money to buy the lunch that they go without. This is real life, this is what they should learn from, this is where a lot of incentive to be productive comes from.

What the city and state should do is investigate the parents. Either they are legitimately destitute and need help or they are failing to take care of their children. Any parent getting welfare/food stamps who sends a child to school without a lunch or enough money to buy lunch should spend a day in jail. Let's be honest, we all know where the welfare money goes. It is spent on alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, Starbucks, I phones, Tattoos and other shit. Most of these parents shouldn't be allowed to raise their children. They fail their children and then their children fail society.
#6 OneGuy on 2024-01-26 10:59 (Reply)
...where welfare money goes...I'd like to know how much goes to lotteries.

Lottery - definition - a tax on the poor and ignorant.

Don't you realize when the gubmint looks at lottery proceeds they are really thinking - not taxed enough.

Please stop supporting this con game.
#7 maddog on 2024-01-26 11:29 (Reply)
You would be surprised how much is 'laundered' and spent at casinos. Minnesota ran into the problem several years ago.
#7.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 13:37 (Reply)
My stepson went through a rough time when his wife left him for drugs and eventually ended up in jail and he had three kids under age 6 and they don't dole out lots of welfare to men so he got some help with housing and food stamps and nothing else. Every month on the 1st I would give him $50 and he would buy $100 worth of food stamps with it. That is where a lot of the food stamp assistance goes, they sell it so they can buy drugs and alcohol.
#7.1.1 Dave in LA on 2024-01-26 14:45 (Reply)
I am sorry to disagree with scientific intellects, but I am looking at 2 inches of snow on the ground where there should be about 2 ft at this time of year. We have maybe 10% of the high mountain snowpack we would normally have at this time of the year. You know what that means? All those vegetables grown down in AZ may not happen, those swimming pools in NV better start cleaning up that water and So. California? I have no clue how they are going to get the water that they need. I predict there will be at least a 40-60% reduction in snow pack by the time we start the melting season.

Typically here in the valley, we get a nice snow of 3-4 inches on the ground just after school starts--not this year.
The media reports "ski resorts finally open", but does not report how much of that snow is man made and how shallow it is.

BTW just for some off-the-wall thinking how about this? The geographical areas I am speaking of here in the high Rocky Mountains of the northwest are the same areas over which the Chinese balloon loitered for several days last February. Sorry, but I am prone to knee jerk reactions to coincidences :-)
#8 Anne on 2024-01-26 11:57 (Reply)
We are in a La Nina phase over the Pacific which almost reverses the effects felt in North America vs the El Nino phase. These are cyclical. We tend to get a dozen or more El Nino years in a row and then 2 or 3 La Nina years in a row. I don't know how long you have lived there but if you have lived there for 20 years you went through this before and seemingly don't remember. It is what is known as "weather". It isn't global warming, although the "warmies" use it to convince the ignorant that it is "unusual weather caused by global warming. It isn't spy ballons or CIA weather modification. It is merely weather following the same cyclical patterns it has followed for millennia. If you continue to live there and after we "cycle" back to El Nino than expect to see this (La Nina) happen again. It could be 10, 12, or more years but it will happen again. That is the definition of "cyclical". And if you are young, then, good news! You will see it happen many times. Because it is the predominant cyclical weather pattern over the North Pacific and North America.

It also tends to affect England and some of Europe too because it is a really big cyclical weather pattern. It is what it is.
#8.1 OneGuy on 2024-01-26 12:44 (Reply)
OneGuy: These are cyclical.

That doesn't explain why El Niños are getting warmer. In addition, as the globe has warmed, the swings between El Niño and La Niña have increased.
#8.1.1 Zachriel on 2024-01-26 13:12 (Reply)
Scale is in tenths of degrees. Not exciting.

Most of that is explained by lots more samples in recent years.
#8.1.1.1 John Fisher on 2024-01-26 13:17 (Reply)
John Fisher: Scale is in tenths of degrees.

A few tens of degree in sea surface warming, El Niños, or cooling, La Niña, is sufficient to have broad impacts on the global climate.

John Fisher: Most of that is explained by lots more samples

How would more samples increase the mean of observed temperatures?
#8.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2024-01-26 13:24 (Reply)
That chart is temperature anomalies, not average temperature. As such it is subject to growth simply due to more data, similar to the 'increase' in intense rainfall events now that rainfall is accurately measured on an instantaneous basis with Doppler weather radar instead of rain gauges.
#8.1.1.1.1.1 John Fisher on 2024-01-26 15:54 (Reply)
John Fisher: As such it is subject to growth simply due to more data, similar to the 'increase' in intense rainfall events now that rainfall is accurately measured on an instantaneous basis with Doppler weather radar instead of rain gauges.

The count of intense rainfall events is additive. The mean of temperature anomalies is an average, and not subject to increasing simply due to more data. Rather, increasing data increases the precision of the mean.

For instance, if we have two stations showing anomalies of +0.5 and +0.3 respectively, then the mean anomaly would be +0.4. If we add a third station with an anomaly of +0.3, then the mean anomaly would be +0.37, which is lower not higher than the mean of the two stations.
#8.1.1.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2024-01-26 16:08 (Reply)
Never forget that Zachriel supports forcing young girls to share a locker room with adult men.
#8.1.1.2 TireOfThis on 2024-01-26 14:49 (Reply)
TireOfThis: Never forget that Zachriel supports

We never made such a claim.
#8.1.1.2.1 Zachriel on 2024-01-26 15:01 (Reply)
TireofThis: Never forget that Zachriel supports forcing young girls to share a locker room with adult men

Zach-GPT: We never made such a claim.

And yet, somehow, based on what you wrote, everyone knows it's true.
#8.1.1.2.1.1 eeyore on 2024-01-26 16:34 (Reply)
And we shall remind people of this at every opportunity.
#8.1.1.2.1.1.1 TiredOfThis on 2024-01-26 18:36 (Reply)
QUOTE:
Great News! The Climate Is Much Better Than Predicted. Now We Can Calm Down!

While Spencer is a respected scientist, Spencer's article is an essay not a scientific paper. We mention this only to indicate that it may not include everything required to evaluate his conclusions.

However, if you look at his included chart of Global Average Surface-Air Temperature Variations, it shows about 0.2°C per decade warming. At that rate, the increase from 1980 to 2100 will be about 2.4°C. As for the climate models, note the lack of error margins. NASA, on the other hand, shows the model ensemble with close fit to observations. It's possible that Spencer didn't include updated figures for carbon emissions.
#8.1.2 Zachriel on 2024-01-26 13:20 (Reply)
We are still coming out of the old ice age. I expect nearly all glaciers and a considerable portion of the polar ice caps to disappear before this ice age is over.
Regardless, CO2 is not the causative agent as indisputable evidence is available from ice cores and geology rock studies to end the CO2 narrative. The narrative is only pushed in order to implement control on our lives. For the elitist and admin state it is only a means for control, power, and money.
#8.1.2.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 13:53 (Reply)
Zachriel: What doesn't it know?

Leveling up! Level 7 Climate Cultist grants you access to the prayer "Words of Confounding" allowing you to distort and mask the truth for 10+d10 minutes.

Astrophysicist, property lawyer, affirmative action expert, search engine, newspeak dictionary, constitutional scholar, carrier of Trump Derangement Syndrome, master of the non sequitur, pretentious movie critic, high school civics teacher, financial analyst, the ackchyually guy, nitpicker, Historical art critic, armchair economist, poverty expert, theoretician of science, Covid apologist, speech therapist, climate scientist, civil engineer, sociologist, political analyst, Biden apologist, divorce lawyer, epidemiologist, Federal prosecutor, atmospheric scientist, military strategist, Level 2 Priest of Vaxx, Keeper of the Science! Gateway, civil trial lawyer, faulty comparison detective, Level 7 Climate Cultist, Immigration lawyer, game theorist, Alternative energy policy analyst, common law scholar, medicare specialist, business analyst, military strategist, Israeli-Palestinian conflict expert, coffee farmer, defender of perverts.
#8.1.2.2 eeyore on 2024-01-26 14:53 (Reply)
Quibble-DickZ: What doesn't it know?

How to stop annoying the grown-ups and get a life maybe?
#8.1.2.2.1 Zachinoff on 2024-01-26 16:58 (Reply)
I am sorry to disagree with scientific intellects, but I am looking at 2 inches of snow on the ground where there should be about 2 ft at this time of year. We should have close to 20ft of snowpack by this time of the year we currently only have maybe 10% of the high mountain snowpack we would normally have at this time of the year. You know what that means? All those vegetables grown down in AZ may not happen, those swimming pools in NV better start cleaning up that water and So. California? I have no clue how they are going to get the water that they need. I predict there will be at least a 40-60% reduction in snow pack by the time we start the melting season.

Typically here in the valley, we get a nice snow of 3-4 inches on the ground just after school starts--not this year.
The media reports "ski resorts finally open", but does not report how much of that snow is man made and how shallow it is.

BTW just for some off-the-wall thinking how about this? The geographical areas I am speaking of here in the high Rocky Mountains of the northwest are the same areas over which the Chinese balloon loitered for several days last February. Sorry, but I am prone to knee jerk reactions to coincidences :-)
#9 Anne on 2024-01-26 11:59 (Reply)
Southwest Ohio hasn't really had much of a winter this year. I've heard people bleating about global warming, but I recall a similar winter way back in the 80's when we were still mowing grass in December. Both times, I think, it's been the fault of the El Nino/La Nina cycle going off track (which it's probably been doing every so often for millennia). Or maybe it's because of that massive volcano in the Pacific, spewing gigatons of water vapor into the atmosphere. I am so over "climate change", and for the record, I'm pretty sick of the COVID hysteria too.
#10 RebeccaH on 2024-01-26 12:07 (Reply)
I have a suggestion for President Trump when he gets back in office. Dismantle the Dept of Ed. Don't just fire the 4400 employees but instead make everyone of them teachers and put them in the worst school districts. No! Not as punishment but that is where the help is needed. Make them teachers! Make the Dept of Ed actually "educate" someone. Wouldn't that be great?

And don't just Terminate the $66.6 Billion budget use it to improve the schools in rural America, in Appalachia and the rural South and Midwest. Most big cites, even those with failing schools don't need more money or better infrastructure but the rural small poor areas badly need help.

What a revolution this would be, to actually use money earmarked for education on, wait for it, education!! Ta da!!
#11 JustMe on 2024-01-26 12:53 (Reply)
QUOTE:
The US Has The Biggest Govt In The History Of The World... By A Very Wide Margin

Well, the United States has the biggest economy in history of the world, so that in itself is not a problem.

QUOTE:
  • More than 70 million Americans are on Social Security.
  • More than 65 million Americans are on Medicare.
  • More than 81 million Americans are on Medicaid.

There's a very large overlap among those numbers. Most people support the continuation of these programs.

QUOTE:
We cannot provide enough money to keep it going

Unless you relegate many of the elderly to penury, there needs to be some sort of pension and medical insurance system. Other nations, most with lower per capita GDPs, manage to provide a base level of support. However, the United States keeps cutting taxes, while keeping these programs and increasing military spending, even as the population ages.

QUOTE:
They know that if we tried to live within our means, it would instantly plunge the U.S. economy into a horrifying economic depression.

Well, if Americans want to keep their social programs afloat, there's always the possibility of increasing taxes. But something having your cake and eating it too.
#12 Zachriel on 2024-01-26 13:01 (Reply)
A better possibility is to end all immigration and remove all of the illegals. Then fire 50% of the admin state and remove all the regulations they have illegally instituted. That is just the tip of the 'social welfare' iceberg. Replace social security with a requirement that people open their own retirement accounts. It could be withheld just as social security is withheld. The same with medicare. Replace it with a private option that is also withheld. It isn't hard to balance the budget but it removes power and control from the government. Something the admin state and ruling elite despise.
#12.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 17:33 (Reply)
OR we could remove all non-citizens from the dole. Problem solved, no need to raise taxes. Your welcome.
#13 OneGuy on 2024-01-26 14:47 (Reply)
OneGuy: OR we could remove all non-citizens from the dole.

Can you quantify the federal spending for non-citizens on the dole?
#13.1 Zachriel on 2024-01-26 15:00 (Reply)
Here is a starter piece for your benefit.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/illegal-immigrants-with-anchor-babies-using-up-more-welfare-than-american-citizens-report-5553945?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=whatfinger&src_src=partner&src_cmp=whatfinger

According to FAIR 150.6 billion and a dozen states that provide Medicare. And the cost is increasing by the year.
#13.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2024-01-26 17:23 (Reply)
Quibble-DickZ frantically searching ChatGPT for another annoying response. .
Wait for it.
#13.1.1.1 Zachinoff on 2024-01-26 17:54 (Reply)
Luckily I had just set my coffee down or would have choked and had coffee coming out of my nose after that comment.
#13.1.1.1.1 OneGuy on 2024-01-27 09:48 (Reply)
Z: Can you quantify the federal spending for non-citizens on the dole?

So, no, you can't.
#13.1.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2024-01-27 10:40 (Reply)
There are over 2300 separate "welfare" programs in the federal budget spread over 7 different cabinet level departments for the express purpose of obfuscating the facts on welfare. How much? Who gets what? What percentage is kicked back to lawmakers and their special interests? What percentage is simply blatant buying of votes. etc. It is literally impossible, on purpose, for the citizens/voters to get this exact data. Which allows those who support this obfuscation and corrupt system to demand that you prove it is obfuscated and corrupt and when you can't they grin and glow and poke you in the eye once again.
#13.1.1.1.1.1.1 OneGuy on 2024-01-27 12:09 (Reply)
OneGuy: How much?

Yup. That's the question.

OneGuy: It is literally impossible, on purpose, for the citizens/voters to get this exact data.

So, no estimate it possible. It could be $0. It could be $1 trillion. There's no way to know. Yet, you think you can eliminate the deficit if you "remove all non-citizens from the dole".
#13.1.1.1.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2024-01-27 12:25 (Reply)

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