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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Wednesday, February 11. 2026

Wednesday morning links

Stop Pushing College for All - Making higher education less expensive includes expanding alternatives to it.


CRISPR-Cas9 and the Ethics of Scientific Inaction


Why The Recent Claims Of AGI Fail: Plus, A New Test For AGI


A Ballroom Built the Trump Way


Tenure: What is it Good For?


How voters fleeing California turn other states blue


Pump the brakes on Newsom’s rail madness


Mamdani Turns NYC into Wasteland of Corpses and Trash


The New European Surveillance State - EU Europe is increasingly abandoning a civilized approach to dissenting opinions.


PM Starmer Most Unpopular UK Leader in History - Turning over the country to Muslim terrorists didn't make him popular.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 10:29 | Comments (24) | Trackbacks (0)

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"A Ballroom Built the Trump Way" After seeing just how crowed the attendees were at a state dinner last year I understood why Trump was doing the project. The people and tables were so close together it was almost impossible to walk down the isles between the tables. With the craziness of the world tents outside do not seem to offer much safety for those attending.
#1 JC on 2026-02-11 12:29 (Reply)
JC: I understood why Trump was doing the project.

Perhaps. But in a republic, the legislature has to be involved when it comes to the preservation and building of government properties. The president is just leasing the White House on a temporary basis.
#1.1 Zachriel on 2026-02-11 13:29 (Reply)
So, toss it to the legislature. I'm sure they'll get on it immediately, run it through all the proper committees, put it up for bids, get the properly connected contractors in, then wait for the historical preservation activists to do their things, take all their objections into account, revise plans accordingly, resubmit for the bidding process, open wallet further to pay for the changes deemed necessary, start construction, stop construction when the money runs out, throw back to legislation for more money, add two extra bathrooms, run changes through committees, handle complaints by preservationists, stop construction to investigate the contractors for cost overruns and possible fraud, find no fraud and allow them to continue - so it might be finished by 2045?

After all, there's no REAL hurry, is there?
#1.1.1 JLawson (Link) on 2026-02-11 13:57 (Reply)
James: So, toss it to the legislature. I'm sure they'll get on it immediately, run it through all the proper committees ...

"Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time". — Winston Churchill

"Sometimes, you need a dictator." — Donald Trump

"Republicing is hard." — James (paraphrased)
#1.1.2 Zachriel on 2026-02-11 15:34 (Reply)
"Building a ballroom that has been asked for for 150 years using private money is dictatoring." - Zach (Paraphrased)
#1.1.2.1 AlCzervik on 2026-02-11 16:23 (Reply)
AlCzervik: Building a ballroom that has been asked for for 150 years using private money is dictatoring.

It is anti-republican to make decisions that belong to Congress. Nor is there evidence of requests to tear the East Wing and replace it with a White House ballroom for 150 years. There have been requests for additional space for entertainment since Reagan, but that's a far cry from unilaterally tearing down the East Wing. Regardless, if there really were a consensus, then there is no reason the president couldn't go to Congress. After all, his party controls both chambers.

Here's a hypothetical, does Trump have the power as president to change the Lincoln Memorial?
#1.1.2.2 Zachriel on 2026-02-11 16:53 (Reply)
With them delaying any improvements since Reagan, how many more decades do you think the project should be delayed?
#1.1.2.2.1 JLawson (Link) on 2026-02-11 16:59 (Reply)
Clinton and Gore sold the Elk Hills oil reserve to Occidental Petroleum aka Armand Hammer during their term without any authority from Congress. Armand Hammer was a Gore family friend. Go ahead, show me the legislation and bidding that authorized the sale. And show me the Zach outrage over the sale.
#1.1.2.2.2 indyjonesouthere on 2026-02-11 18:07 (Reply)
ChatZPT: Here's a hypothetical, does Trump have the power as president to change the Lincoln Memorial?

No, because that is a designated historic structure, unlike the east wing of the white house. It would require more approval.

The White House updates need Congressional approval for public spending. Of which there is exactly $0.00. Ergo, no Congressional Approval. Just like Truman's balcony addition, Nixon's bowling alley, or as Louis miller stated, Obama's basketball court.
#1.1.2.2.3 AlCzervik on 2026-02-11 18:17 (Reply)
JLawson: With them delaying any improvements since Reagan, how many more decades do you think the project should be delayed?

Them? Do you mean Congress? How did you think republics worked?

AlCzervik: unlike the east wing of the white house.

You're basically arguing the president can tear down the Capitol and Supreme Court buildings, as they are both exempt from the National Historic Preservation Act. Can't imagine how that would be a problem for the republican form of government.

Building the ballroom falls under 40 U.S.C. § 8106: "A building or structure shall not be erected on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress."
#1.1.2.2.4 Zachriel on 2026-02-11 20:56 (Reply)
(Oops. That should have been attributed to JLawson.)
#1.1.2.3 Zachiel on 2026-02-12 08:10 (Reply)
Now do Obama’s basketball court.
#1.1.3 Louis miller on 2026-02-11 17:20 (Reply)
Louis miller: Now do Obama’s basketball court.

Sure. Obama's basketball court adapted an existing tennis court for dual use, mostly by repainting lines and minor resurfacings, but no new construction. Obama paid for it out of pocket. That clearly wouldn't fall under 40 U.S.C. § 8106 concerning construction on public property. That is hardly the same as tearing down the East Wing and building a huge new structure.

Keep in mind that the president is only on a temporary lease. Now, imagine your tenant tore down the east wing of your property without permission, promising to build something in its place, but not even having plans.

It's emblematic of how power is becoming increasingly concentrated in the executive. Turns out the United States has been on the honor system all this time.
#1.1.3.1 Zachriel on 2026-02-11 21:11 (Reply)
So in their deep and extensive research into the subject, Zach-bot somehow missed this nugget that explains why Trump is well within the law: The decades-old exemption that lets Trump fast-track White House rebuild
#1.1.4 Anon on 2026-02-12 14:51 (Reply)
Anon: Under a nearly-60-year-old law, the White House and several other notable buildings are exempt from a key historic preservation rule -

After your deep and extensive research into finding a way to salvage Trump from ignominy, you somehow missed that this issue was directly addressed above.

While you might perversely argue that the president has the unilateral power to bulldoze the Capitol and Supreme Court buildings because they are exempt from the National Historic Preservation Act, building the ballroom falls under 40 U.S.C. § 8106: "A building or structure shall not be erected on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress."
#1.1.4.1 Zachriel on 2026-02-12 15:02 (Reply)
(To be clear, if you believe in the republican form of government, separation of powers alone would keep the president from bulldozing the Capitol building, but there are also specific statutes, 2 U.S.C. §§ 1801–1808, which delegate the power to the Architect of the Capitol. Then again, if the president ignores the plain law of one statute, why not another?)
#1.1.4.1.1 Zachriel on 2026-02-12 15:23 (Reply)
Now do illegal aliens.
#1.1.4.1.1.1 Louie Miller on 2026-02-12 17:08 (Reply)
Louis Miller: Now do illegal aliens.

How is that relevant to the proposed White House ballroom?
#1.1.4.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2026-02-12 20:13 (Reply)
But a building or structure had already been erected on that site, so not at all clear that statute applies here.
#1.1.4.1.2 Anon on 2026-02-13 18:57 (Reply)
Anon: But a building or structure had already been erected on that site, so not at all clear that statute applies here.

Is the ballroom a “building or structure” being “erected”? The answer is clearly yes.
#1.1.4.1.2.1 Zachiel on 2026-02-13 21:30 (Reply)
Tenure, what is it good for? Nothing. It is similar to the Civil Service protection of, so called, experts that Woodrow Wilson wanted for expanding government. A great hiding place to protect the incompetent, irresponsible, and corrupted that inhabit government and academia. The MSM was aggrieved that they didn't think of such a protection racket.

Euro surveillance state/Starmer... flush several times to get those turds sent for proper disposal.
#2 indyjonesouthere on 2026-02-11 18:21 (Reply)
Fleeing California. See also New York changing Vermont a generation ago.
#3 Assistant Village Idiot on 2026-02-11 21:40 (Reply)
No, AI does not have human-level intelligence

Who knows what AI might become, but it is not now what you think it is. First of all it isn't "artificial intelligence. It is a massive computer program with massive input capability. In theory it can do prescribed tasks at a superhuman rate with few or no mistakes. In fact it mostly can only do whatever the human programmers thought to enable to do and results will depend on the quality of the input. For example imagine what answers AI would give you if Wikipedia were it's primary source of knowledge. Wikipedia is the classic example of biased data. It is "owned", controlled and censored by left leaning activists. Wikipedia isn't alone in being intentionally wrong about things that matter. Imagine a computer making decisions based on what most of our leading main stream media outlets report. The bottom line is, as they say in computer programming, "garbage in, garbage out".

But wait! It get's worse. Everything that can be defrauded will be defrauded. Human nature will find a way to use AI for personal and political advantage. Currently there is an excellent example of this and that is the 2020 election. It is now known that some of the machines themselves were programed to change 7% of Trump votes to Biden votes. Never mind the "data" if the system itself was designed to produce fake results and the system is held up as perfect by defenders and defrauders how will you ever know if AI is right?

Last point. Zachriel is most likely AI or at least uses AI to generate responses and Zach is almost never right and always left wing biased. THAT is what AI will be and already is.
#4 OneGuy on 2026-02-12 10:32 (Reply)
OneGuy: In theory it can do prescribed tasks at a superhuman rate with few or no mistakes.

That's not how Generative-AI (currently) works. By its very nature, it makes mistakes. If you assign it a complex task, it may very well approximate the answer even when an exact result can be calculated. Typically, they're not even very good at counting large numbers.

OneGuy: Human nature will find a way to use AI for personal and political advantage.

Of course. One danger is that humans could become less valuable in terms of productivity. That would leave them outside the benefits of the economic system and under the thumb of AI oligarchs (such as Musk, Altman, Thiel). That is not inevitable, though.

OneGuy: It is now known that some of the machines themselves were programed to change 7% of Trump votes to Biden votes.

No, we don't know that. The most thorough review of ballots was in Georgia. They hand counted every ballot, confirming the machine count to a high degree of accuracy.

OneGuy: Zachriel is most likely AI or at least uses AI to generate responses

We have been posting on Maggie's Farm since long before Generative AI has been available (GPT-1 in 2018).
#4.1 Zachriel on 2026-02-12 11:20 (Reply)

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