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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Thursday, June 20. 2024

Thursday morning links

 Willie Mays, RIP


Saw him play with the NY Mets as an older guy


New psychology research shows acts of kindness predict seven types of well-being


 Brain scans identify 6 types of depression in new study


 The Girlification of America


 Germany Passes Gender Self-Identification Law Allowing INFANTS To Transition, Imposes Massive Fine For “Deadnaming”


How Progressive


 The Murky Business of Transgender Medicine


 The College Fix’s 20 most outrageous campus stories of spring 2024 semester


 Chicago Teachers Demands $145K Salaries After 80% of Students Can’t Do Math


 President of Chicago Teachers Union says conservatives take an ‘oath’ to prevent black children from learning to read


 The Misinformation Dis(mis)course Revisited : The Losing Battle of The Academic Expertocracy


 "Scientific American" calls for federal homeschooling regulations.


 ‘I’m Stuck Between the Woke Left and the Nativist Right.’


Not me. I like legal immigration


Jihadists Brutalize Non-Muslim Women, Feminists in West Remain Silent


 Senate Passes Legislation to Accelerate Development of Nuclear Energy Power Plants


Good news


Kotkin: The Road to Neo-Feudalism - Western societies stand on the brink of a great reversion towards a demographically and economically stagnant society reminiscent of the Dark Ages.


Stuart's Wednesday Potpourri


How many Americans have been assaulted, raped, maimed or murdered by illegals who have streamed into our country at the invitation of Joe Biden’s open border policies?


All Roads in the Muslim World Lead to Beijing. Israel Will Have to Engage China

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 09:35 | Comments (19) | Trackbacks (0)

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End teachers unions. Give teachers the support that the need to do their job. Fire the teachers who fail to do their job.
#1 OneGuy on 2024-06-20 10:25 (Reply)
QUOTE:
Stuart's Wednesday Potpourri . . . “France has become irrelevant! It will become a purveyor of overpriced handbags to the nouveau riche of China and a theme park for Chinese tourists!"

In fact, France has a highly developed economy, the 7th largest in the world, and is rated the 10th most innovative country.

QUOTE:
"There is not a single industry in which France excels."

Globally, France is the 8th largest manufacturer. Other important French economic sectors include nuclear power, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, agriculture, banking, tourism. And yes, France is a global leader in luxury goods.
#2 Zachriel on 2024-06-20 12:21 (Reply)
QUOTE:
The Misinformation Dis(mis)course Revisited . . . Centrally, empirical scientific research – on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, climate science, election fraud – only delivers contingent and never necessary truths.

Sure. That's true of our knowledge of the Holocaust, too. Or that the Earth moves.

QUOTE:
The Holocaust is a past event that has a massive evidential basis in for example innumerable testimonies, photographs, film material, the locations of extermination camps, the material evidence found there, and so on.

That's right. There is also massive evidence to support the claim that COVID vaccines saved millions of lives, that anthropogenic global warming is occurring, and that extensive election fraud did not impact the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

QUOTE:
Unreservedly (and too generously) granting the direct efficaciousness of said vaccines, what we do not know yet are the middle- and longterm side effects – morbidity and mortality of the global use of this medical technology.

The evidence is that serious side effects from the COVID vaccine are rare, normally show up soon after vaccination, and even rarer for those side effects to lead to death. Delayed adverse effects are possible, but it's been more than three years since the vaccines became publicly available, and there's no indication of widespread problems. That's what the evidence shows.

Or, you can just make up stuff.

QUOTE:
Worse, it suggests that research into the side-effects is unnecessary as we already ‘know’ that “COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives.”

Of course, that's not how scientists work. There is extensive research into COVID vaccines and their short and long term effects.

QUOTE:
As such, the authors openly make a bad-faith case for censorship because they are experts and therefore the hoi polloi must listen to and accept the missives only the experts can dispense.

Huh? They recommend debunking and prebunking, not censorship.
#3 Zachriel on 2024-06-20 12:44 (Reply)
Wtf with the gish gallop ChatGPT.
STFU and go away..
You're annoying the adults.
Again.
#3.1 Zachinoff on 2024-06-20 14:36 (Reply)
In spite of censorship, 'safe and effective' has been debunked. And the VAXX is not a vaccine according to the Jacobson SCOTUS decision.
#3.2 indyjonesouthere on 2024-06-20 14:56 (Reply)
Surely if Home schooling was seen as a leftist, and not a conservative movement the Scientific American would be singing it's praises
Prove me wrong
#4 Dale on 2024-06-20 12:50 (Reply)
Scientific American is no longer scientific and only nominally American.
#4.1 Another Guy named Dan on 2024-06-20 15:08 (Reply)
State funded vouchers for every student/parent for education at any public, private, parochial, or home school establishment. Test all students. If students are not learning then end the voucher money to that institution or home school establishment. Demand accountability. The current system only requires attendance for payment.
#4.2 indyjonesouthere on 2024-06-20 15:09 (Reply)
Chicago Teachers Demands $145K Salaries After 80% of Students Can’t Do Math


Gosh, it those salaries were bumped up to $175K, could they get the math (non)proficiency up to 100%?
#5 Mike Anderson (Link) on 2024-06-20 14:47 (Reply)
Senate passes legislation to accelerate nuclear power plant development.
This should have been done decades ago along with nuclear waste disposal sighting. Quit the tax credit program for "green" energy along with ending grants for the fake climate change models and modeling that produce irrelevant data that is only useful for grifting politicians that want more power and control. Use that money for actual nuclear energy development that produces assembly line plants rather than all custom design plants.
#6 indyjonesouthere on 2024-06-20 14:50 (Reply)
Niall Ferguson: We’re All Soviets Now

Ferguson draws parallels comparing the final years of the USSR to our present situation.

It is a very very good read but quite long.

Here is an excerpt that illustrates the chasm between the ruling class and the little people.

QUOTE:
To see the extent of the gulf that now separates the American nomenklatura from the workers and peasants, consider the findings of a Rasmussen poll from last September, which sought to distinguish the attitudes of the Ivy Leaguers from ordinary Americans. The poll defined the former as “those having a postgraduate degree, a household income of more than $150,000 annually, living in a zip code with more than 10,000 people per square mile,” and having attended “Ivy League schools or other elite private schools, including Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, and the University of Chicago.”

Asked if they would favor “rationing of gas, meat, and electricity” to fight climate change, 89 percent of Ivy Leaguers said yes, as against 28 percent of regular people. Asked if they would personally pay $500 more in taxes and higher costs to fight climate change, 75 percent of the Ivy Leaguers said yes, versus 25 percent of everyone else. “Teachers should decide what students are taught, as opposed to parents” was a statement with which 71 percent of the Ivy Leaguers agreed, nearly double the share of average citizens. “Does the U.S. provide too much individual freedom?” More than half of Ivy Leaguers said yes; just 15 percent of ordinary mortals did.

The elite were roughly twice as fond as everyone else of members of Congress, journalists, union leaders, and lawyers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 88 percent of the Ivy Leaguers said their personal finances were improving, as opposed to one in five of the general population.

The entire piece is worth the read.

https://www.thefp.com/p/were-all-soviets-now
#7 feeblemind on 2024-06-20 16:46 (Reply)
Japan Banking Giant Norinchukin To Liquidate $63 Billion In Treasuries & European Bonds To Plug Massive Unrealized Losses

Will this start a stampede to the exits for those holding government debt?

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/music-just-stopped-banking-giant-norinchukin-liquidate-63-billion-treasuries-and-european
#8 feeblemind on 2024-06-20 16:50 (Reply)
There are a lot of banks underwater on their bond holdings. Some are being bailed out via the Fed. The Fed buys their bonds back without discounting them due to the rise in interest rates so the banks are left whole.
The only note worth buying now are 2 year floating rate notes that currently pay just over 5%. Their rate adjusts as though they are T bills. They are a safe haven for now. The market is not a safe haven now.
#9 indyjonesouthere on 2024-06-20 17:19 (Reply)
Re Willie Mays, RIP

A sad day.

For those interested in useless trivia. Mays was the oldest living member of baseball's Hall of Fame. With Mays passing the oldest living member is Luis Aparicio, a stellar shortstop who played for the White Sox and Orioles.

When I was a kid in the 60s, baseball consumed my life. When the World series was over I counted the days until pitchers and catchers reported for spring training.

Mays was a favorite of every kid that followed baseball and one of the small joys in life was to open a pack of baseball cards and get one of Willie Mays.

I never saw him play in person, but i do recall him hitting home run #49 in the 1962 playoffs vs the Dodgers. In those pre-division days, playoff games counted as regular season games.

I recall listening to Harry Carey call St Louis games back then (there were very few Cardinal games on TV). When we played the Giants and Mays came to bat, I can still remember crossing my fingers and holding my breath with anticipation, praying our pitchers somehow found a way to get him out.

Anyway, the years went by and with divisional play I started to lose interest in baseball. The 1973 Mets went to the World Series with an 82-79 record, proving to me that divisional play was a farce because the best team, based on the marathon of the baseball season, might no longer go to The Series.

Still, I recall watching Mays in the playoffs that year and noticed how he was trying to compensate for his slowing reflexes by opening up his stance. I was rooting for him to do well, but he was well past his best.

He was a great player and we have lost another link to a long ago era.
#10 feeblemind on 2024-06-20 17:53 (Reply)
The Red Sox could have had both Willie Mays and Frank Robinson playing next to Ted Williams, but the Yawkeys were inveterate racists:

https://samuelburleigh.medium.com/the-shameful-history-of-the-red-sox-and-yankees-dismissal-of-black-talent-60bf4d56d982
#10.1 bob sykes on 2024-06-21 08:50 (Reply)
'Jihadists Brutalize Non-Muslim Women, Feminists in West Remain Silent'

Again, It's Only Wrong When White People Do It.
#11 Maniac on 2024-06-21 10:32 (Reply)
Maniac: Again, It's Only Wrong When White People Do It.

NOW Condemns Violent Hateful Attacks Against Israel

UN Women: UN Women condemns the attacks on civilians in Israel & the Occupied Palestinian Territories, & is deeply alarmed by the devastating impact on civilians including women & girls.
#11.1 Zachriel on 2024-06-21 14:02 (Reply)
Brain scans identify 6 types of depression in new study.....

Gee....I wonder who is funding the study?
#12 Tim on 2024-06-21 12:39 (Reply)
QUOTE:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (grant nos. R01MH101496 (to L.M.W.; NCT02220309), UH2HL132368 (to J.M. and L.M.W.; NCT02246413), U01MH109985 (to L.M.W.) and U01MH136062 (to L.M.W. and J.M.)) and the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation (to L.M.W.). Providing treatment data, iSPOT-D (NCT00693849) was sponsored by Brain Resource Ltd. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation or writing of the report. The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

You can find the grant specifications at clinicaltrials.gov. You're welcome.
#12.1 Zachriel on 2024-06-21 14:08 (Reply)

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