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)
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Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
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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
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Wednesday, January 21. 2026

Wednesday morning links

What MLK might have to say about America today


Why Brits love roast beef


11th Airborne to Minneapolis?


We Knew Kamala's VP Search Was Bad. Turns Out, It Was Straight-Up Unhinged.


 Rep. Jim Clyburn Tells the Ladies of ‘The View’ That Republicans Are Trying to Bring Back Slavery


Newsom Strains To Flip Script On California's Failures


The Logic Behind Trump’s Push for U.S. Control of Greenland


Can the Ayatollahs Fall?


Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 08:03 | Comments (20) | Trackbacks (2)

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I thought they liked roast beef because it was simple and bland, like they are.

My wife loves roast beef. I could live a long life without it and it would never cross my mind.
#1 jack walter on 2026-01-21 08:32 (Reply)
Grew up in the British tradition of Sunday roast beef. Four pound roast - with a piece of suit atop to give flavour - was our Sunday fare. Monday and Tuesday featured cold beef (Dad had beef sandwiches in his lunch), and Thursday saw the remainder ground up and presented in a spaghetti sauce. Don't remember it as being overly bland, but still enjoy the taste of beef without extras.
#1.1 Frances on 2026-01-21 21:49 (Reply)
You should be beholden to no man as master. So, here's your government apartment, government house, government job, government food, government school, and government check.
#2 Another guy named Dan on 2026-01-21 09:55 (Reply)
If slavery were to become a trade, Clyburn wouldn't fetch a penny and would likely become a fulltime melon thief. There is a certain word that speaks to him and their culture.

Slavery speaks to just how awful life in the colonial era really was.

MLK knew the content of his own character very well. That he would dream of a time when they should all be known by the content of their character is a fine testimony of his contempt for white people.
#3 TallyWhagger on 2026-01-21 10:43 (Reply)
It is likely that tapes the FBI has on MLK will affirm what some biographies have already stated about his character. It would not surprise me that MLK day will go away. Those tapes are public in January of 2027. There will surely be efforts to keep them buried.
#3.1 indyjonesouthere on 2026-01-21 10:57 (Reply)
Newsom in California is like Bloomberg in New York. Neither had or have appeal beyond their borders.

The 11th Airborne is very climate adaptive to Minnesota. They should do well there. Bring bayonets.
#4 indyjonesouthere on 2026-01-21 11:04 (Reply)
Architecture Of Plunder: Why The Modern Democratic Party Is A Kleptocracy

QUOTE:
The genius of the Democrat kleptocracy lies in its ability to make the taxpayer fund their own political subjugation. In a traditional bribery scheme, a corporation gives money to a politician for a favor. This is illegal and risky. The modern Democrat machine has professionalized this by inserting a middleman: the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

Consider the flow of money. The federal government, under Democrat stewardship, allocates billions in grants to "community organizations," "activist groups," and "non-profits" ostensibly for public welfare—voter education, green initiatives, or social justice programs. These entities are staffed almost exclusively by partisan operatives. The funds, stripped of their "public" designation, are then used to build voter rolls, organize protests, and push radical policy agendas that benefit the party that wrote the check.

It is a closed loop of money laundering. You pay taxes. The bureaucrats you did not elect send that money to an activist group you do not support. That activist group uses your money to campaign for the bureaucrat’s boss.

"They have not just seized the means of production; they have seized the means of distribution, turning the U.S. Treasury into a campaign war chest."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/architecture-plunder-why-modern-democratic-party-kleptocracy
#5 feeblemind on 2026-01-21 11:54 (Reply)
Right now if you have $1.40 in pre-1965 dimes, quarters or half dollars it is worth about $95.00 at any coin store. Some of the recent increase in silver is due to over selling and shortages. But some of it is the result of the market catching after big money interests had held prices down. 1965 doesn't seem so long ago. And yet our dollar has dropped in value by that much. Of course the price of silver or the value of the dollar today doesn't even take into account our almost $39 trillion in debt. You do know that they cannot ever pay it off, right? When that shoe drops it is going to destroy our economy and likely cause the next great depression.
#6 OneGuy on 2026-01-21 12:13 (Reply)
OneGuy: Some of the recent increase in silver is due to over selling and shortages.

Silver is currently about $95 per troy ounce. There are about 0.0723 troy ounces in a silver dime, so the melt worth of a silver dime will buy you more than a gallon of gasoline. In 1965, gasoline was about $0.30 per gallon, or three silver dimes. As prices fluctuate, that's within a reasonable margin to say they are comparable.

If you calculate inflation, then $0.30 is $1.40 today. So, gasoline was somewhat cheaper then. On the other hand, computers are a whole lot less expensive.

OneGuy: $39 trillion in debt. You do know that they cannot ever pay it off, right?

Well, you could cut off Social Security and Medicare, which is the lion's share of the budget. Or, it will require increased taxes. What do you propose? (You only have to get the deficit down to about 2% of GDP, then growth should take care of the rest.)

Imagine when Clinton had the U.S. on a glide path to low debt. When he left office, the American public was given a choice between a "lock box" preserving the surpluses for the future, or tax cuts now (mostly for the rich). Through a peculiarity of the American electoral system, American got tax cuts now.
#6.1 Zachriel on 2026-01-21 12:41 (Reply)
Oops. According to [url=https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm]this[/i].

$0.30 in 1965 is $3.12 today, about the price of gasoline in both time periods.
#6.1.1 Zachriel on 2026-01-21 12:43 (Reply)
The melt value of a silver quarter is $16.83. Your inflation calculator is faulty. It explains why inflation has destroyed the middle class. One look at the Dow/Gold ratio also informs you that Gold has gained more in dollars than the Dow stock market since 1999. The Clinton administration masterminded the Fannie Mae collapse in the real estate market that required massive bailouts of banks to prevent a financial collapse. The Clinton trick was to allow home purchases with nothing down and not enough income to pay the mortgage. Barney Frank and company prevented reforms to end the scam. And yes, Barney sat on the board of the Silicon Valley Bank that went belly up as well. Franklin Raines from Fannie Mae eventually was fined over 30 million dollars for his part in the fiasco. Clinton and Gore also sold off the Elk Hills federal oil reserve without Congressional approval. It wound up in the hands of Armand Hammer's Occidental Petroleum, the old Gore family friend. That is your "glide path" to low debt and today's welfare fraud found in Minnesota, California, and New York democratic policies.
#6.1.2 indyjonesouthere on 2026-01-21 13:39 (Reply)
Silver at this very second is worth $93 an ounce. A quarter contains 0.1808 ounces of silver. The math equates to a 1964 quarter being worth $16.81. This makes $1.40 in pre-1964 coins worth $94.52. The spot price changes constantly so the exact value of $1.40 in coins changes too. To nitpick about a few cents higher or lower kind of misses the point.
#6.2 OneGuy on 2026-01-21 17:52 (Reply)
OneGuy: To nitpick about a few cents higher or lower kind of misses the point.

That IS the point. A silver quarter will buy roughly as much gas then as that same silver would buy today. And 25¢ would buy about a gallon then, while inflation adjusted that would be $3 today and still buy about a gallon of gas. What has changed is the nominal value.

More important, once upon a time, valuing money against gold or silver may have made sense, but today, economic power is not found in precious metals.

Now, you could reasonable complain that the fruits of economic expansion have not been distributed fairly, but that's a different argument than you were making.
#6.2.1 Zachriel on 2026-01-21 18:03 (Reply)
Your math isn't even close. A silver quarter will easily buy 6-7
gallons of gas now but less than 1 gallon in the 60's. And the Dow/Gold ratio shows that the Dow stock market has lost money since the 1999 top when stocks are measured in Gold rather than fiat dollars. This is why the middle class is getting decimated by inflation. Inflation is a sneaky tax. Thank the Fed for fiat currency.
#6.2.1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2026-01-21 18:52 (Reply)
I thought Greenland was an insane idea at first, and wondered if all Trump's bluster was pure negotiation tactic. We all have a natural bias toward the world map we learned in grade school as the way the world should be. But the defenders of the idea have asked excellent questions: what is the basis for Danish control of Greenland? How has it benefitted the Greenlanders? What pressures will China and Russia bring to bear, and what independence will Denmark have in being able to make decisions? How does this affect us? How does this affect Europe long-term? Why do we think the Danes have Greenland's best interests at heart?
#7 Assistant Village Idiot on 2026-01-21 13:44 (Reply)
And neither Denmark nor European NATO can defend Greenland.
#7.1 indyjonesouthere on 2026-01-21 14:11 (Reply)
Assistant Village Idiot: what is the basis for Danish control of Greenland?

Among other things, recognition of their sovereignty by the United States in 1916 as part of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, then again, with the 1941 and 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreements. Also, the United Nations, of which the United States is a ratified treaty member, which says national borders should not be changed through conquest or force.

Assistant Village Idiot: How has it benefitted the Greenlanders?

Denmark provides substantial subsidies and a strong social safety net, including universal health care, which the United States lacks. Also, as part of Denmark, Greenland is under the NATO defense umbrella.

Assistant Village Idiot: What pressures will China and Russia bring to bear, and what independence will Denmark have in being able to make decisions?

Currently, there is a huge amount of pressure and a threat to the sovereignty of Greenlanders—from the United States.

Assistant Village Idiot: Why do we think the Danes have Greenland's best interests at heart?

Compared to Trump? Denmark has recognized the right of Greenlanders to self-determination—something the United States has apparently lost sight of.
#7.2 Zachriel on 2026-01-21 17:20 (Reply)
Another nonsensical word salad only the kiddieZ would find important.
#7.2.1 Zachinoff on 2026-01-22 17:49 (Reply)
The Invasion of the West by enemy states will destroy every Western democracy. It must be reversed. Two federal laws should be passes:
1. Everyone in America who is not a citizen must register once a year.
2. No one who is not a citizen can reside in America for more than 6 months a year.
#8 OneGuy on 2026-01-22 11:29 (Reply)
And;
3. End, retroactively, birth citizenship. There are estimates of 1 million Chinese spy's and military inside the U.S. many of the by birth citizenship and many because of Biden or whoever the puppeteer was. They must go. They are a bigger threat than terrorists are. What they are part of will make 9/11 look laughable. They will sabotage our entire infrastructure and military when China invades Tiawan. If they are successful they will so weaken our defense that China will parley the Tiawan invasion into a U.S. ground invasion. The are not here to open restaurants or jobs.
#9 OneGuy on 2026-01-22 13:56 (Reply)

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