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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Tuesday, October 25. 2011Poisonous demagogueryFrom Matt Patterson on Obama:
More taxes is not good enough. They want the prosperous to be dead. At Maggie's, we want everybody to be prosperous who wants to be. Two good books I am enjoyingLosing It: In which an Aging Professor laments his shrinking Brain. Pictures of the Mind: What the New Neuroscience Tells Us About Who We Are
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:52
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Doc's brave blogging experiment
I thought I'd ask for your opinion on something before publishing the post. Yes, yes, I know that sounds crazy, and perhaps it is. They've recently changed my psychotropic drugs here at the sanitarium (also affectionately known as "Maggie's Farm" by the regulars in honor of the sweet ol' gal who runs the place), and I've increased my caffeine intake of late, so perhaps I've lost that delicate chemicular balance required to write a modern blog post. All I know is that I had such good luck when I suckered that first sap into proofreading it (I wouldn't want to mention any names, but his initials are B.U.L.L.D.O.G.), that I thought I'd open it up to the Maggie's Valued Readers™ for further input before hitting the 'Publish' button. It's about one of everybody's favorite subjects: Global warmening! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'd be posting my global warming opus soon, but I held off because I wanted to run it by a few people and make sure I was touching all the bases. I mean to cover everything in this baby. For example, Bulldog reminded me of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was one of the first jump-off points ("The glaciers are melting!") for the AGW movement. My article mentions the Thames freezing over in the early 1600's and he noted that the Hudson and Delaware rivers had also frozen over, and that reminded me of the Northwest Passage, another item on the AGW list that deserves to be shattered. And, as many people will tell you, when it comes to shattering hopes and dreams, I'm just the guy for the job. So, fellow (and fellowette) anti-AGW aficionados, what say ye? Corrections, updates and additions are welcome. Any pro-AGW dribble will be cited in a future post arguing for the return of 15th century insane asylums.
Posted by Dr. Mercury
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:14
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OWS in defense of North KoreaFormer Soviet Citizen in Dust Up with the Useful Idiots of OWS (h/t Moonbattery).
Tuesday morning linksToon is another one from Theo. He has a good toon collector on his staff. Why Mrs. BD and I like Norcia The Global Costs of American Ethanol A YouGov survey for The Sunday Times this weekend found 66 percent of Britons back a referendum on European Union membership. I don't understand why anybody would want a vast unelected government sitting on top of their own government Fareed Zakaria: Less Than 50% Death Tax Is “Un-American” Difficult for me to comprehend some peoples' blind faith in the wisdom and benevolence of governments Stunner. Video Reveals NY Times Reporter Is Also an #OWS Activist Barone: Cult of Global Warming Is Losing Influence Hewitt: The California Disease Don’t worry, your centralized medical records are safe Funniest global warming headline More states limiting Medicaid hospital stays What the 'Taxing the Rich' Rhetoric Really Means The institution out to conquer evil in this case is the deadly serious École de Guerre Économique, Bernie: How Obama Will Try to Win Obama’s Foreign Policy: Manchurian Candidate or Keystone Kop? Blood Money… Abbas to Pay Released Terrorists’ Pensions With US Aid Money Lives of the Great Patriotic War: The Untold Stories of Soviet Jewish Soldiers in the Red Army During WWII The Englishman on OWS:
Occupy Wall Street Protester: What’s With All These Greedy Bankers Working Such Long Hours? h/t, Tiger There should be laws limiting working hours! Not fair for some people to work too hard! Sheesh. Dairy farmers in MA have already been working for 4 hours when these socialist people are just waking up for their free breakfasts. h/t Theo: Monday, October 24. 2011Going to Market with GrouponWe all look for great deals when we buy things. Groupon has taken this concept and turned it into a phenomenon. Alas, it is an easy concept to mimic. Living Social, Facebook, and Google have all launched similar products. Meanwhile, the Groupon idea is not always a winner for the small businessperson seeking to corral new or increased business. I recently utilized one of their offers at a local business. While it was a savings for me, it represented a loss to the business owner. This is the risk many people are willing to take to drive business, leading many to try Groupon once and abandon it. The Groupon story from a sales and income perspective is fraught with issues. There was a time any dot com business could drive an IPO skyward. The new ideas coming out today are too easy to mimic and barriers to entry are low. Maybe someone can explain why Linked In is priced at $92, when it only earns $.07 per share and has competitors targeting it like mad? These new businesses are not groundbreaking ideas and are being overvalued. Groundbreaking ideas are what will drive the economy forward. Not IPOs for coupon books.
Posted by Bulldog
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18:34
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Shut Up And Drive Driving MusicLast night I watched the Fast Five movie (latest in the Vin Diesel franchise). It had lotsa good driving sounds and, of course, good driving action scenes. Below is my favorite from Fast Five. Before you get to that, here's Rihanna, in the spirit:
Cosmic freak out du jourDark energy: the universe is destined to become a very cold and lonely place:
Sheesh. Sounds like Maine. I blame climate change.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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16:37
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Yah Mo Be There: "Just reach out and call His name"Lochner"Either the Commerce Clause gives Congress a plenary power to regulate anything it pleases or it doesn't; and let's have that argument," says George Mason University law professor David Bernstein. Dalio: There are no more tools in the tool kit.At Surber. It's about deleveraging. A quote:
He thinks we have a decade of economic doom in the US anyway. His biz is global. Morning swimYesterday morning I left the marina at first light and headed out to one of the coves across Lake Murray for some largemouth fishing. I'm cruising along when I saw this thing bobbing along off to my left. At first I thought it was a submersible (hey, that is possible) or an errant catfish trot line (more likely), but it was moving too fast - about 1.5 mph. As I moved closer, it turned out to be a four point buck just swimming along enjoying a Sunday morning swim across the lake. Of course, I didn't have my HD Flipcam, the point 'n shoot or my big DSLR - I had my cell phone with its crappy lens and awful telephoto. I moved in as close as I could and shot the video, but when I tried to get really close, he veered off away from land and I didn't want that. So I got what I could get, backed way off the deer and followed it into landfall. He made it just fine and dandy - got up on the beach, turned around, took a look and headed off into the woods. Job well done. I knew deer can swim a fair distance, but this one was in for a good mile and a half of exercise given where he was and the direction he was heading. Interesting morning. QQQ"Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-state of mind." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Monday morning linksCosmetically imperfect teeth? Leftist Censors Defeated at UC Santa Barbara 24 years ago today, Borking was born Yet One More Doomed Education Reform:
CBC running scared: State broadcaster's false attack ads demonstrate how financial probe is desperately needed Why Dems are winning the money war Globalization Is Great—Except When It Isn't The Wild Ride of the 1% - The once-stable incomes of America's biggest earners now fluctuate dramatically from year to year. And as go the rich, so goes much of the economy. California: Regs Run Amok: A bumper crop of bureaucracy The Muhammad al-Dura Hoax and Other Myths Revived In California, teenagers must get permission from their parents to go to a tanning salon – but they can get abortions without their parents knowing. The US Military – Maybe Not What You Think Libya's liberation: interim ruler unveils more radical than expected plans for Islamic law Related: 'Stay Tuned for the Next Pro-Democracy Upheaval in the Middle East. It’ll Be the First One' Rhode Island: Little State with a Big Mess Sunday, October 23. 2011Sunday Night Going Home Driving MusicBlue States are dangerously irresponsible
Seems to me that most of it is about pols being in bed with government unions, and splitting the pie at the taxpayers' expense. In blue states, who represents the citizens against the union machines? My state government (CT) is owned, top to bottom, by the government unions and functions like a Mafia conspiracy preying on the taxpayers. Dems have nationalized the method: Has Harry Reid lost his mind?
Perhaps the goal is to have everybody working for our government overlords. Feudalism. Government jobs are a necessary evil and are functionally parasitic, not a basis for the real economy which is required to work and make a profit to pay those government bills. McConnell is right: These are local and state concerns, not federal concerns. The federal government has enough to deal with as it is with its constitutional duties, and is not doing a very good job with that. States and localities have to run themselves, or surrender their sovereignty to the feds. Like Greece. That is not a good idea.
Posted by The Barrister
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14:17
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Educational Consumerism: Who Wants to Be Evaluated by Students?It's all about this "consumerism" rage in the past two decades. Students are consumers of education, patients are consumers of medical care, citizens are consumers of government services, prisoners are consumers of rehabilitative services. It's a strange point of view. The notion that students evaluate profs as if school were American Idol seems perverted to me. School is not infotainment. I can be an entertaining speaker and did some litigation in my distant past, but I would never teach where my career, even in part, depended on student evaluations. When teaching, I like to be a demanding SOB, intolerant of anything short of excellence and keeping people on their toes. In the end, people are thankful for my demanding attitude. Vera Lynn FestIf Saturday Night Went Well Driving MusicSongbird de Jour: the Winter WrenSaw one yesterday, flitting slowly through some shrubs. You will occasionally see them in the winter everywhere in the eastern US, hunting for bug larvae. Darker and maybe smaller than a House Wren (which cannot survive a northern winter), they tend to be quiet and secretive in the winter as they pick through brambles and wood piles in the snow. Tough little guys. Survivors. A bit about them here.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:24
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Sunday morning linksMajor ALS Breakthrough – Common Cause of All Forms of ALS Discovered America's Emptiest Cities, 2011 (h/t neoneo) Together, I Shall Ride You To Victory - A Very Special Announcement by T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII Wind Energy Can Be Deadly for Bats and birds I just don't have the time - 5 minutes/day Modern Giordano Brunos Think Again: Nuclear Power - Japan melted down, but that doesn't mean the end of the atomic age. Occupy Wall Street and the Jews Mogadishu on the Mediterranean? - Muammar al-Qaddafi is dead. Now comes the hard part -- preventing Libya from turning into another Somalia. Prelutsky: Shooting Holes Into Obama’s Campaign Strategy I have to admit that I don’t understand the “I am the 99%” shtick coming out of OWS. If these people are saying that 99% of the country is poor, with only 1% holding the wealth, perhaps I don’t understand poverty as well as I should. Rush Limbaugh favors Clinton-era spending levels!?!? Steyn: Biden’s Fourth-Grade Economics - How to justify unaffordable and inefficient stimulus Kids do understand Santa Claus The Wall Street occupiers, like their brethren in other cities, are a combination of crackpots, misfits and crazies. But some are crazier than others. Krauthammer sours on Herman Cain: ‘He is winging it’ I agree. He is likeable, though. Of course. Men want sex, and women don't...right? London has suddenly awoken to the costs of indiscriminate greenness and is proposing to reduce the solar subsidies and — this is big — now threatens the multibillion dollar subsidies for its massive (and massively ugly) wind power scam. Is Pat Buchanan right about NATO? NATO = USA, EU = German Empire, UN = ? Econ. Professor Explains to #OccupyWallSt Crowd How Marxist America Will Work - Of course, it's only a coincidence Democrats support the #OWS movement...
From today's Lectionary: Debating theologyMatthew 22:34-46
Redneck YankeeConnecticut, last winter. Only in CT do junk hoarders have a back yard full of busticated Volvos - or Saabs: Saturday, October 22. 201140 Years of WonkaIt's been 40 years since David L. Wolper brought Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the big screen. His adaptation was somewhat different than the book, including a name change to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The book remains a staple of children's literature. While the movie went through a remake in 2005, the original remains a classic. It has lines that are familiar to all who have seen it, and its songs still resonate. An interesting side note about the author, Roald Dahl. He was a spy for Britain in the United States during World War II (along with several other well known personalities such as David Ogilvy). He spent quite a bit of time trolling the social circles of Washington and New York City, collecting information. During his time here, Dahl began writing and found his calling.
One hopes Charlie Bucket has managed his global empire properly and treats his Oompa-Loompas well. I haven't seen any in Zucotti Park.
Posted by Bulldog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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18:50
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