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.
At brunch on Sunday after church, a friend's wife told me how she managed to find a breeder with a fresh litter of prize Clumber Spaniel pups. She sent my pal off to bring one home two weeks ago.
He came home with two.
"I figured the pup would need a playmate." Liar. I know what happened: he couldn't decide which of the ones rushing to lick his hand, so he took both. She told me his little dog-buying trip cost them close to $6000.
Last time I went to look at a litter of pups, I would have bought the whole darn litter of 8 unless wife and daughter had been present to lend some sanity to my puppy-weakened condition and limited me to one. Note to self: Stay away from puppies. Lead me not into temptation.
Here's a Clumber Spaniel site. Yes, they do hunt, but I've never seen one in the field.
“We must create a national consensus that the health care system is in crisis.” and “To win we must not just generate understanding, but emotion—fear, revulsion, anger, disgust.” – Page 545
In much the same way that advocates of “Global Warming” continue to repeat that “The debate is over” those pushing the President’s Health Care Scheme continue to parrot that “We can all agree that our current system is in crisis…” Right? How often do we hear that? Meanwhile, polls show that 80% of Americans are HAPPY with their health insurance. But politicians who cite these numbers are painted with a broad dismissal and vilified for wanting to do nothing while Americans are dying because they have no health care.
The plan, from the beginning was to manufacture a crisis in health care. And, with the willing media on their side (“This will require an ongoing highly integrated earned-media messaging program that brings the growing crisis into relief over the next two years” – Page 545) that crisis becomes a stipulated FACT, not a political position, not an opinion, but a given. This book was written in 2007 and the plan calls for implementation over “the next two years”… do the math.
So, now the “Crisis” has been manufactured and a solution has been put forth. Now, how do our progressive leaders plan to win the votes of politicians and the support of the American people?
“We must focus especially on the mobilization of the labor movement…” and “Over the next two years, we must design and organize a massive national field program” – Page 546
This silly thing is going around the email circuit, so I guess we can use it here:
"The good news is that I truly outdid myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take them down after 2 days ... First, the cops advised me that my clever display would cause traffic accidents as they themselves almost wrecked when they first drove by. Secondly, an old lady grabbed the 75-pound ladder and almost killed herself by climbing to the top (she was not happy). She was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove into my yard."
To date, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has never offered any evidence of a “human fingerprint” on the modest (0.5 degrees Celsius) warming that occurred between the 1850s end of the Little Ice Age and 1940. They haven’t even given us a convincing story about the 0.2 degree Celsius warming that occurred from 1940 to 1998 (part of that tiny warming has disappeared). James Hansen’s predictions of massive overheating, given to the Senate in 1988, have been overtaken by a quiet sun and a telling drop in global ocean temperatures.
The public has noticed there’s been none of the long-predicted runaway warming — or any warming at all since 1998. They’re reading the Climategate emails of the “consensus scientists” confessing they don’t know why warming stopped. That’s a huge confession.
The public cares less and less for tired scare stories of a parboiled planet.
The 111 new bureaucracies and agencies in the Dem health care bill, via Never Yet Melted:
1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61) 2. Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62) 3. Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72) 4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76) 5. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111) 6. Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131) 7. Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138) 8. Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155) 9. Technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying Exchange coverage (Section 305(h), p. 191) 10. Insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Commissioner (Section 306(b), p. 194) 11. Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 307, p. 195) 12. State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 308, p. 197) 13. Grant program for health insurance cooperatives (Section 310, p. 206) 14. “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321, p. 211) 15. Ombudsman for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 321(d), p. 213) 16. Account for receipts and disbursements for “Public Health Insurance Option” (Section 322(b), p. 215) 17. Tele health Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589) 18. Demonstration program providing for “culturally and linguistically appropriate services” (Sec 1222, p. 617) 19. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648) 20. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653) 21. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672) 22. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681) 23. Independence at home demonstration program (Section 1312, p. 718) 24. Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734) 25. Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 738) 26. Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 753) 27. Q/A and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(1), p. 784) 28. Q/A and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 786) 29. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 796) 30. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 804) 31. Independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 859) 32. Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers for Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 933) 33. Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 978) 34. Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 1647, p. 1000) 35. Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 1058) 36. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1730A, p. 1073) 37. Nursing facility supplemental payment program (Section 1745, p. 1106) 38. Demonstration program for Medicaid medical conditions for mental diseases (Sec 1787, p. 1149) 39. Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 1162) 40. “Identifiable office or program” for “coordination between Medicare and Medicaid” (Section 1905, p. 1191) 41. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198) 42. Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 1214) 43. Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 1224) 44. Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 1236) 45. Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 1240) 46. Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 1253) 47. Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 1254) 48. Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 1258) 49. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272) 50. Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 1275) 51. Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 1286) 52. Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1295) 53. Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1301) 54. Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 1305) 55. Grant program for research and demonstration projects for wellness incentives (Section 2301, p. 1305) 56. Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 1308) 57. Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 1313) 58. Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 1322) 59. Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 1330) 60. Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 1352) 61. Grant program for nurse-managed health centers (Section 2512, p. 1361) 62. Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2521, p. 1372) 63. Grant program for interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training (Section 2522, p. 1382) 64. “No Child Left Unimmunized Against Influenza” demonstration grant program (Section 2524, p. 1391) 65. Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398) 66. Grant program for interdisciplinary training, education, and services for autism (Section 2527(a), p. 1402) 67. University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities education (Section 2527(b), p. 1410) 68. Grant program to implement medication therapy management services (Section 2528, p. 1412) 69. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors in underserved communities (Section 2530, p. 1422) 70. Grant program for State alternative medical liability laws (Section 2531, p. 1431) 71. Grant program to develop infant mortality programs (Section 2532, p. 1433) 72. Grant program to prepare secondary school students for health care training (Section 2533, p. 1437) 73. Grant program for community-based collaborative care (Section 2534, p. 1440) 74. Grant program for community-based overweight and obesity prevention (Section 2535, p. 1457) 75. Grant program for reducing the student-to-school nurse ratio (Section 2536, p. 1462) 76. Demonstration project of grants to medical-legal partnerships (Section 2537, p. 1464) 77. Center for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p. 1478) 78. Council for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p 1479) 79. Grant program to support demonstration programs for regionalized emergency care (Section 2553, p. 1480) 80. Grant program to assist veterans who wish to become EMT’s (Section 2554, p. 1487) 81. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 2562, p. 1494) 82. National Medical Device Registry (Section 2571, p. 1501) 83. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 2581, p. 1597) 84. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 2581, p. 1598) 85. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 2581, p. 1602) 86. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1610) 87. National Women’s Health Information Center (Section 2588, p. 1611) 88. Centers for Disease Control Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1614) 89. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women’s Health Research (Section 2588, p. 1617) 90. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1618) 91. Food and Drug Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1621) 92. Personal Care Attendant Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 2589(a)(2), p. 1624) 93. Grant program for national health workforce online training (Section 2591, p. 1629) 94. Grant program to disseminate best practices on implementing health workforce (Section 2591, p. 1632) 95. Demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (Section 3101, p. 1717) 96. Demonstration program for substance abuse counselor educational curricula (Section 3101, p. 1719) 97. Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722) 98. Intergovernmental Task Force on Indian environmental and nuclear hazards (Section 3101, p. 1754) 99. Office of Indian Men’s Health (Section 3101, p. 1765) 100. Indian Health facilities appropriation advisory board (Section 3101, p. 1774) 101. Indian Health facilities needs assessment workgroup (Section 3101, p. 1775) 102. Indian Health Service tribal facilities joint venture demonstration projects (Section 3101, p. 1809) 103. Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873) 104. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for diabetes prevention (Section 3101, p. 1874) 105. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for health IT adoption (Section 3101, p. 1877) 106. Mental health technician training program (Section 3101, p. 1898) 107. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1909) 108. Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators (Section 3101, p. 1925) 109. Program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Section 3101, p. 1927) 110. Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1966) 111. Committee for the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1968)
Once upon a time, scientists, unlike prophets, were inductive. They sought to interpret evidence in empirical fashion, rather than twist it to "prove" preexisting suppositions. The Enlightenment taught them to welcome transparency and free expression, not (as in the Medieval Age) to form cabals to hound out heretics. Public intellectuals and grassroots activists were devoted to promoting proven ideas, rather than making fortunes through the shrill advocacy of unproven ideas. In the age of cynicism, penances were sold to sinners to allow them without guilt to satisfy appetites that conflicted with their doctrine; by contrast, the lives of moralists reflected the simple creed they advocated for others. Governments acted on scientific consensus, not theories that were the most favored or trafficked in popular culture. Debates, not propaganda cinema or cheap invective, adjudicated honest disagreement; people of the lab and library, not Hollywood celebrities and rock stars and their wannabes on campus, informed the public about scientific dispute.
How strange: This was to be our new age of science; instead, we are getting alchemy, the inquisition, and the reign of the superstitious.
...the Obama administration is expected as early as Monday to formally declare carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant.
An "endangerment" finding by the Environmental Protection Agency could pave the way for the government to require businesses that emit carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases to make costly changes in machinery to reduce emissions -- even if Congress doesn't pass pending climate-change legislation. EPA action to regulate emissions could affect the U.S. economy more directly, and more quickly, than any global deal inked in the Danish capital, where no binding agreement is expected.
The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41% The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60% The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%
The NYT drank the Kool-Aid years ago - for political, not scientific reasons. They know nothing about science or math (how much stats did Pinch take in college?), but they do know that they approve of any kind of authoritarianism of the elites and the experts as long as they and their Manhattan pals are the elites and experts.
I think that it is notable that they have finally admitted that Climategate exists. They have not quite gone so far as to admit that a debate about the science - or about the hysteria in which they have participated in avidly - exists.
It is important that scientists behave professionally and openly. It is also important not to let one set of purloined e-mail messages undermine the science and the clear case for action, in Washington and in Copenhagen.
They did not decide to mention that those emails go to the heart of all of the hysterical pronouncements of the IPCC. The CRU is the beating, seemingly duplicitous, heart of the entire movement.
Rather than being the cynics and skeptics that we expect of hard-nosed journalists, the NYT predictably drinks the Kool-Aid because it suits their authoritarian politics. Pathetic, limp - and unprofessional.
The Bird Dog pup and his bride have just returned from a friend's wedding in Murcia. The pup was best man, and his friend's lovely Spanish bride did indeed wear a lace mantilla.
They emailed me a few photos of Murcia. View from the cathedral:
A nation of Watanabes. My view? There is no such thing as predatory lenders. There is such thing as greedy, predatory, amoral borrowers and risk-takers on the bank's nickel.
Sometimes Ace gets serious and, when he does, he says wise things. As in this piece (which is not really about Palin). h/t, Villainous. One quote:
...politics is not about Simon Pure purity on questions. They are advancing the idea that politics is about coalition-building, doing what is necessary to attract 51% to your flag, and that those they consider too hardcore about conservative principles are doing the party a disservice by elevating philosophical integrity and ideological coherence above the vagueries and punts often necessary to negotiate a rough consensus.
An outrage indeed. The re-do of the Sunmaid girl. They made her less ethnic, and no longer a field worker.
I have heard many views on this: House Republicans Seek Reprieve For Navy SEALs. I tend to think it's like those cases where they arrest a 6 year-old girl for having a butter knife in her lunchbox.
NSFW: Obama's Safe Schools Czar. This creep would have been arrested if he came by my elementary schoool.
For just a little while, enjoy a truly remarkable, unique, more than pleasurable musical experience.Experience the cross-blending of superb musicians and voices from around the globe.
My family, from 4 to 62, sat transfixed before the TV one late night last week as this concert on PBS, this tale and result of ten-years’ creation, literally had us all smiling and lifting our jaws from our chests.The story of this effort is told here.
Click on the YouTube link, for "Stand By Me," then click on some of the others, like "War/No More Trouble," "Don't Worry," "One Love."
May peace find us all, and may we find and deserve peace, brothers and sisters.
It is the most important scandal of our time. Climate alarmists are trying to impoverish the world, ostensibly in order to cool it down but really, in my view, to achieve the liberal holy grail of government control over everything. The scandal comes along at a critical moment to cast doubt on whether the "scientists" behind the global warming scare are doing science at all. Rather, their own words suggest that they are engaging in a combination of politics and fraud.
The skeptics were regarded as cranks and shills for evil polluters, such as the oil companies. If they got coverage at all, it was negative.
Now comes Climategate. It is out of step with the media agenda. What does the media do now?
“Ignore it,” has been the first answer.
Regard it as an unimportant story[4]. Not nearly as important as Tiger Woods or the couple that crashed a White House party. It is just another hacker, and undoubtedly the work of one of those oil company shills. Yes, ignore it. It will fade away.
The second answer: Write about Climategate’s general unimportance and give the parties involved a platform to dismiss the charges. Various outlets took minor steps to cover the story in a limited, dismissive way.
SCIENTISTS BEHAVING BADLY: Steve Hayward on the ClimateGate scandal. “The behavior of the CRU circle has cast a long shadow over the entire climate science community, and many honest scientists will now undeservedly bear the stigma of Climategate unless a full airing of the issues is conducted. Other important climate research centers with close ties to the CRU–including NASA’s Goddard Institute and the Climate Change Science Program at NOAA–should not be exempt from a full-dress investigation. Such a reevaluation must begin with an understanding of the crucial role the CRU circle has played in the global warming drama.” Read the whole thing, which provides a nice summary of the issues so far.
Image: The new palms and rising balmy waters at Maggie's Farm Resort and Spa in central New England. It's about time. We bought the place for that exact purpose, cleverly anticipating the arrival of the palms and beaches.
3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,
3:2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3:3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
3:4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth;
3:6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
Another offering from Capt. Tom, from his home town.
The East Woodstock, Ct, Congregational Church
Founded in 1760 and built in 1801, the North Woodstock Congregational Church is a prime example of the "barn" style church found in rural New England (there are two other churches in Woodstock that are clones).
This church is particularly interesting in that, other than the addition of electricity and new roof, it has not been modified at all since it was first built. It still has the gated seating areas for those more affluent parishioners where families would sit together the more important sitting closer to the front.
The interior is original plaster with dark oak trim - the kind of varnished oak that becomes deep and rich color that only time can provide. Just looking at this church, one feels the weight of history and time.
Side note: One of the social/historical features of Woodstock that has always fascinated me is the variety of the ways its citizens worship. Three Congregational, one Baptist, one combination Unitarian/Congregational hybrid, one Baptist/Congregational hybrid and two Fundamentalist Evangelical.
Kind of makes us Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans the odd ones out.
Ed: Thanks for these posts, Captain. We'll take more whenever you are ready.
Some people like to crate their dogs at home, and some do not. Furthermore, some dogs love their crates and some hate to feel confined. We tended to crate our previous dog, but not our current pup. I never minded the look of a dog crate or two in a family room, but Orvis has some that are more functional for people - and which look more like furniture.
This silly thing is going around the email circuit, so I guess we can use it here:
Cute gal, to cheer us up, via 
Christmas puddings 
The NYT drank the Kool-Aid years ago - for political, not scientific reasons. They know nothing about science or math (how much stats did Pinch take in college?), but they do know that they approve of any kind of authoritarianism of the elites and the experts as long as they and their Manhattan pals are the elites and experts. 
Image via 
Just when it seemed as if, finally, there could be some real open discussion about the data, 
Luke 3:1-6
