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Maggie's FarmWe 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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Thursday, May 2. 2013The boatThe craft which ferries you from Saint Simons Island across the Hampton River and through the marshes to the Little Saint Simons dock. Just a 200 hp Yamaha. That's a good, quiet engine. Not cheap.
Wednesday, May 1. 2013Beach BoysHearing this motivated me to catch up on Brian Wilson's life. The Beach Boys are still touring, but not with Brian. Was it really Sgt. Pepper that tipped him over the edge? What's the largest US river east of the Missippi?My dream jobA surprise
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects
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12:01
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Tuesday morning links Methane study, EPA debunk claims of water pollution, climate change from Subjective Well‐Being and Income: Is There Any Evidence of Satiation? More Subsidies for Prosperous Farmers What Does It Mean To Be an American? Why the immigration debate should be about language and culture more than jobs—and not just race. Buyer's Remorse: Democrats having second thoughts about Obamacare How Today’s Events Explain the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict New Research Sheds Light on Nazi Influence in Arab World Colorado billboard below via Gateway
Early morning birdingChecking out a marsh edge before breakfast, Little Saint Simons Island, Georgia. We found a Stilt Sandpiper in that marsh hanging out with a flock of Lesser Yellowlegs.
Tuesday, April 30. 2013The Unluckiest Generation: What Will Become of the Millennials?
I feel bad for the kids of the Obama Generation, but they elected him. Coming Out in AmericaYesterday, Jason Collins came out as the first openly gay, active, NBA player. Collins is a center for the Washington Wizards and is supposedly the first active professional sports player to come out. I don't think that's true. After all, several female players, such as Brittany Griner who is going pro this year, are openly gay. I'd even argue that if you didn't know Martina Navratilova was a lesbian during her time on the pro tour, you just weren't paying attention. Of course, she wasn't 'open' about it. Not sure how more open she could've been, but it was pretty evident to me and I was only a teen. But Collins is, supposedly, big news. Big enough to be a top story on every major sports and news broadcast. In fact, I can't get away from it this morning. It's getting more than a reasonable amount of coverage on every morning TV show. Continue reading "Coming Out in America"
Posted by Bulldog
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14:28
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5 Money Lessons Every New Graduate Needs to KnowAre you prepared for the Global Cooling Crisis?I know our friend Sippican up in Maine is getting ready. Scientists say period of 250 years of global cooling ahead due to changes in the sun. After that, presumably the warming crisis will resume to great alarm. No wonder they have changed the name to "Climate Change." Can't go wrong there, because weather happens. Here in the Northeast, climate tends to change daily, and seasonally too.
Posted by The News Junkie
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12:48
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Tuesday morning links Which Ideology Can Lead Black Americans to Happiness and Wealth? 35% of Mexicans would emigrate to the US Come And Get It: USDA Pushes Food Stamps To Illegals Tsarnaev family received $100G in benefits Daniel Kessler: The Coming ObamaCare Shock Spring Nature Camp
No flight delays, system worked like a charm. Flew into JAX, rental car, got to Saint Simons in time to catch the small outboard out to Little Saint Simons Island. 12-24 guests, 10,000 untouched acres of maritime forest and 7 miles of ocean beachfront without a soul on it - unless shore birds have souls. No roads, just sand tracks. For a Yankee, that ocean water was balmy in April. At Dr. Merc's request, I will get organized and gradually post a few of the over 60 pics I took. Those barrier islands have interesting ecologies. And I will post my bird list (our team easily went over 100 species in just a few days). Thanks to all for pitching in at Maggie's.
Monday, April 29. 2013Don't stretch before exerciseI never have done so even though stretching makes you look like a serious athlete. Reasons Not to Stretch Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope are excellent warm-ups, if one wants it. Remedial education in college
The soft totalitarianism of our Moral and Intellectual SuperiorsThe Road to Totalitarianism is Paved with Good Intentions. "Good," of course, excludes freedom considerations from the equation. I'm with Coyote: Individual freedom is the greatest social good. The New York Times vs. David Mamet
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Posted by The News Junkie
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12:46
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Re-posted because the speech is so interesting: Charles Murray discusses American civic cultureDo not miss this speech - it is fascinating video: The State of White America. It's 60+ info-packed minutes. Murray is like a statistically-armed de Toqueville for our time. I needed to hear it twice. The guy is delightful to listen to. It's not really about politics, but he does mention American principles, American Exceptionalism, and what is required for a self-governing citizenry. "Self-governing," of course, has a dual meaning. A lot of it is about class and "social capital" in America. One quote from him: "The upper middle class seems to be keeping all the good stuff to itself: religion, marriage, morality, civic and social engagement, industriousness, and long work hours..." Another: "The federal government can be accused of confusing itself with the rooster who believes that his crowing is what makes the sun rise..." Another: "Marriage civilizes men." (Yes, the gals do try, don't they? And we guys fight back, pathetically, by not shaving on Saturday morning.) Another useful phrase: "The people who makes things more difficult for their fellow citizens..." All very interesting and relevant. I don't care much about class, college degrees, or elitism, but I do care about integrity, responsibility, curiosity, industriousness, and a number of other character traits. And of course I do care about traditional American culture and the work ethic. Like Murray, I do not buy into the European "relaxation" ethic and the aspiration for a stress-free life: humans are not cattle, and cannot have dignity or pride without being productive or constructive in whatever ways they can find. Anybody can make themselves useful if they want to. Philip F. Gura’s ‘Truth’s Ragged Edge: The Rise of the American Novel’Early 19th C. American fiction was wild and crazy: Philip F. Gura’s ‘Truth’s Ragged Edge: The Rise of the American Novel’
Posted by Bird Dog
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12:39
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Monday morning links
Well, I suppose we should start off with the serious stuff, like how soon we're all going to die from global colding. If you read my article here, you're aware that science has now established that all of the warming over the past century is a direct result of global colding, and estimates of our continued existence range anywhere from 35 years to 35 minutes. Second Coldest Start To Spring In US History As if any further proof was necessary. How To Start A Black Market Industry In One Easy Lesson: Colorado resident: "Hey, man, wanna buy an ounce of pot for $500?" Other resident: "What? Are you crazy? It's now legal in this state!" Colorado Officials to Consider Marijuana Taxes of Up to 30 Percent "In that case, I'll take two!"
Breaking News From 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012: NATO Crash Kills 4; Taliban Begin Spring Offensive You could set your watch by it. In regards to our slow deployment from Afghanistan over the next year, from the movie 'Rambo III':
So at least we're in good company. Voice of Alexander Graham Bell Heard in Recovered Audio Recording
And to think; we're still using discs 128 years later. Alex, old boy, you were way ahead of the curve. Washington State Dumps 'Sexist' Words Like 'Penmanship'
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Speaking of oppressed minorities, my buddy Shutterbug is a Mac aficionado and incorporates all things Mac into her life (iPhone, iPad, iCar, iHubby), so I sent her the following iArticle which she iAppreciated so much I thought I should iPost it here. What Your iPhone is Trying to Tell You I thought the third suggestion, "Knock off all that stupid 'i' stuff!" was a bit over the top, but the rest of it seems like solid advice. And speaking of phones... Smartphones Outsell ‘Dumbphones’ for First Time, Report Says On the other hand, why a phone that can connect to the greatest collection of lies, half-truths and outright spin in the history of mankind is called 'smart' is anybody's guess. Excuse me, I meant peoplekind.
On the blogger scene, I think it'll be interesting watching to see if any right-wing bloggers pick up on a certain parallel. Prior to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, it had been estimated that Saddam Hussein had murdered somewhere between 200,000 and 350,000 Iraqi Kurds with various weapons of mass destruction, Sarin gas (a cousin of the Mustard Gas used in WW I) being at the top of the list. There were also clues that Hussein was starting to think about putting together an atomic bomb, but the real factor was stopping a mass murderer the likes of which hadn't been seen since Cambodian Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge purge in the early 70's. After the invasion, the liberal, anti-Bush MSM conveniently forgot that the term 'weapons of mass destruction' includes three categories; nuclear, chemical and biological and, when literally tons of Sarin gas was found but no nukes, Bush lied, thousands died! I covered this here. So, here we are with a Democrat in the White House when suddenly... Syrian Blood Tests Positive for Sarin Gas, U.S. Spies Say
In other words, if some half-baked Mid-Eastern potentate is using weapons of mass destruction on the citizenry, then we need to step in and stop him! I haven't seen any of the right-wing bloggers pick up on this massive hypocrisy yet, but I assume they will as the story progresses. Political News
Michelle Obama Calls Her Bangs ‘Irritating’ – and She’s Not the Only Celeb Over the Hair Trend
Personally, I think Michelle looks simply fabulous in bangs, so it appears not all of the news coming out of Washington this week is good. Sunday, April 28. 2013The Yellow Rose of TexasInteresting song, written about Texas' War of Independence from the vantage point of a black Texan soldier. Later, adapted and adopted as a Confederacy song.
LeadershipExecutive decision-making is a skill. Good executive decision-making seems to be a talent. These are neither skills nor talents that I was blessed with, but that's probably just as well. I've never been much of a leader, and never a good follower either. My major life decisions have always made me nauseous. Medicine has been the right field for me. Independent work, endlessly interesting, and cautious, careful, conservative decision-making comes easily to me. From Harvard Biz School, "While elevated narcissism and self-promotion has been shown to result in quicker promotion early in one's career, its negative impacts are revealed in positions of higher authority." As in the sports world, in the biz world, if you cannot produce winning decisions consistently and with integrity, you will eventually go down. It's rough out there. I hear all of the stories and all of the excuses, but the most talented and honest do pretty well and never make excuses for their disappointments. Competition is a big part of life, and an exciting part of it.
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
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17:03
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Who Runs Our Colleges-- Administrators or Faculty?The growth of school administrators, from public primary schools to private colleges, has been much commented on. I have no idea why it has been such a strong trend. The origins of ugly architectureFrom Dalrymple's Destructive Creation:
It's all interesting, but I think Dalrymple's larger point is that, in life, unpleasant things: poverty, ugliness, cruelty, dishonesty, etc. are the default settings. Special qualities are required to move the dial above the default setting, whether for an individual or for a society. But back to the arts: there is no "progress" in arts. Just changes of fashion.
Posted by Bird Dog
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12:23
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The Great Spirit Bluffs Peregrine Falcons
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