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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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Friday, January 6. 2012Send The Crazy Uncle To The AtticTo now, Ron Paul has been given prominence due to his poll results. Libertarianism and restraint in foreign involvements appeals to many Republicans as well as to others disillusioned by the overstepping of federal intrusions into our lives and the often bumbling and always difficult implementation of foreign policies. But, Ron Paul is not the answer. Indeed, his simplistic and conspiratorial utterances, his views shared by those who most actively oppose or attack the United States and its allies, place him beyond any pale. This ad takes his foreign policies head on: Or, Glenn Beck reveals the committee Paul formed with Barney Frank, of all people, to reorganize defense with a $1 trillion cut: 11 out of 14 are funded by George Soros! Oh yeah, Paul has his head screwed on, backwards. Got Pheasants in the freezer?
This may be my favorite Pheasant recipe: Pheasant Braised with Red Cabbage and Apple. I plan to make some soon. A simple dish, but a treat for dinner guests. The meat must be pink in the middle but the skin crispy. Forget the legs - pheasant legs can only be consumed in a confit. I like to throw a splash of reduced gibier sauce on top, to finish it off. A Pinot Noir is a good idea too - a white wine is always wrong with poultry and/or game birds. If you have a favorite Pheasant recipe, let us know. Big DataA piece from author and Harvard Prof David Weinberger on his new book: To Know, but Not Understand: David Weinberger on Science and Big Data. A quote:
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:37
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A case of Ho Chi Minh's Revenge for the Pupette
She's feeling a little better, now. She's a good, hearty and brave traveller. We taught her that. She'll go anywhere and do anything, doesn't mind getting lost, doesn't mind being on her own, and isn't afraid of getting sick - as long as it's all cheap. She's been almost everywhere already, without us parents - out West, Europe, etc. (All of my kids are like that. Their Mom was adventurous like that too in youth, hitchhiking all around Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East with a backpack. Now, her Mom prefers a bit more comfort in travel but still has the vigorous Go Go Hi Ho attitude to life which is a blessing for me.) What normal college kid would want to sit at home with the old folks during winter break? Not one of them. At least ski with friends, or go somewhere fun and exciting on the cheap. Mine have never stayed at home, comfortable as it may be here at ye olde cozy Yankee cabin homestead by the fire. We preach, and try to make an example of, adventure and accumulating experience and experiences - the good ones and the bad ones. Learn more from the bad ones. As my "Oystersmiling" pupette says, "The world beckons." The world is her oyster. What a fine attitude. Pupette was laughing in her email about spending a day in a "Commie medical clinic" next to a jolly Aussie couple with the same affliction. Aussies - always jolly, always at least half-drunk, never worrying about anything. She reports that the docs and nurses were wonderful and kind, and that she absorbed 7 bags of IV normal saline which brought her back to life. Seven bags? Sheesh. I call that "low on oil." She's back in Saigon now, and posted a few more of her pics. The Americans in the pics are her cute self, and her pal who is working in Saigon. Excuse me - I mean Ho Chi Minh City. Photo is a bag of Normal Saline. AKA salt water - human fluid is the same thing as sea-water, and not by accident. Nurses inject a bag of it into themselves when they have hangovers at work, or so I have heard...
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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11:23
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"Death to Pennies"
Personal thoughts: — IMHO, the greatest invention of the 1990's was the 'penny tray' at convenience stores. — I've referred to them as 'pocket pollution' for decades. — When I get home from shopping, I empty my pockets, file any important receipts, dump any coins in the change jar and drop any pennies in the waste basket, where they rightfully belong. Friday morning links![]() Like babies, dogs pick up on human intent Migration of whooping cranes halted in Alabama because of FAA regulation Does hot sex prevent breast cancer? Doubtful, but it's never a bad idea anyway Sign of Discontent: NYT’s Largest Union Sends Letter to Sulzberger With Over 500 Signatures How $1 in health insurance gets spent Nine of the Top Ten Religious Persecutors Are Islamic in Advocacy Group’s Annual Rankings Wind farm requires diesel engines Like the Greeks, Romans don't pay their taxes The desire for government policies to address the "obesity crisis" Good grief Will Republicans Hand the Left a VAT Victory? - Mitt Romney won't rule out the possibility of imposing a tax that's the fast track to a European welfare state. Mitt Romney Is Stuck Because He's Not A Pro-Growth Republican He isn't? Kudlow claims he is. Wilkinson: Why I am not a bleeding-heart Libertarian Half of World’s Richest 1% Live in America – Obama Wants to Change That David Brooks: Obama is ‘certainly more liberal than I thought he was’ It always takes David years to see the blindingly obvious. He should write his op-eds, then past-date them a few years. He is a naif, and a pussy-man too - but that's why he has his job. Commentary: Upcoming Election Will Determine America’s Standing as a Superpower Rhode Island Miracle Explained - How a liberal state reformed its pensions. Thursday, January 5. 2012Bird Brain Academic Group ThinkAt Minding The Campus, Brooklyn College history professor KC Johnson presents the devastating critiques, from venues venerated by the left, of leftist Brooklyn College Political Science professor Corey Robin's book about conservatives. As KC Johnson concludes:
I nominated Corey Robin for leftist quote of the day. In short, Robin is a bird too commonly found in the professorate of US colleges. Don't Get FixatedWhen driving or flying an airplane, or on patrol, never get fixated on one point. Keep your eyes moving across the landscape. Here's an illustration. Instead of staring at the center dot, keep your eyes rotating circularly around the three outside dots. See what a difference that makes. Works for life, too: don't get fixated. You'll miss too much. Great Coffee
I did have an excellent cup of after-dinner coffee recently, and was advised that it was Royal Kona. "Not Kona - Royal Kona." They made it with a French Press. Coarse grind only, for the French Press. I drink coffee black and hot. Chef told me that Royal Kona is the best coffee in the world, and Jamaican Blue Mountain is second. I see that they can be purchased online. I'm not particular about coffee, but that was damn good, with just the right touch of bitterness. What coffees do our readers drink? Our sponsor's Dunkin? Maxwell House? Whatever the minimart has in the pot? Royal Kona? Or, God forbid, Starbucks? (I know we have some closet Starbucks fans out there.)
My Doc insists on 36" - plus some medical economics
She Who Must Be Obeyed forces me to get a "physical" every three years or so, just to annoy me. A gallon of blood, a total body scan, stress test, colonoscopy, fully poked and prodded, finger up the butt, etc. Costs a fortune. Doc also insists on a half-hour interview about how my life is going, Diet, happiness quotient, work, friendships, exercise, sex life, how are the kids, future plans, fun and recreation. Thinks he's a shrink, and likes to talk to people about their lives, while I would rather leave my body off for a check-up like leaving the car at the shop. Actually, I think he's a very fine, caring Doc who happens to hold the strange, idolatrous and heathen belief that health is life's priority. (Plumbers feel the same way about your plumbing, don't they?) He does a good job at never appearing to be in a hurry, so I feel lucky to have him in case I develop a problem. We all will, sooner or later. Eventually, it will be a fatal problem. We can all count on that. I put it all off as long as I can because I am allergic to doctors, much as I respect them. Anyway, last week he told me that, for my age and build, he wanted me to achieve a 36" waist. He also said, in all care and kindness, something like "If you don't want to follow my advice, I invite you find another doctor." Almost that, anyway. He was also rough about my cigar pleasure, but figured that 2/day was OK with him. Maybe 3. When I pressed him, he confessed to a few per week himself. My question is always "What good is one's health if you don't have a fun, stimulating, adventurous, satisfying, and somewhat decadent life?" And I am not even Medicare age. He opted out of Medicare a couple of years ago. He says Medicare reimbursements cannot cover his staff's wages as a solo guy. What it means is that he'll still take on Medicare-age patients, but they will have to pay him themselves from their piggy-banks. If truly poverty-stricken, he'll offer a break but no freebies. He doesn't "take" any insurances either. He also told me that, when he decided to opt out, Medicare patients comprised 30% of his practice population, consumed 90% of his time, and comprised 25% of his income. He figures he donates a day per week at a teaching clinic, and that that is enough charity for him. How many people donate 20% of their work time and income to charity? Like most doctors these days, he prefers not to bother with people who do not want to take decent care of themselves. The price you pay to have him available to you if you get in trouble is the occasional exam and sanctimonious health lecture. For me, every few years, stretched out as long as possible.
Posted by The Barrister
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:07
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One more late entry to the Bake-OffAnna Netrebko:
Beaver snares for under-ice trappingI think you will never see this lad at an OWS encampment, screaming "Gimme." What a great kid. From his accent, Canadian or near the border, eh?
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:07
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Thursday morning links
Walmart’s Ancestor - A new book chronicles the rise and fall of A&P. Walter Williams: I love greed:
The Great Golden State Business Exodus Whitewashing History for California's Kids In the UK, the dole pays out close to the UK median working wage Their politics sanctions - or encourages - dependency and lack of dignity Advisory group recommends withholding billions for high-speed rail Capitalism Is A System Of Wealth Redistribution Always seemed to me that a mortgage is just renting from a bank, while you assume all the risk and all of the costs Obama defies lawmakers with recess appointments to NLRB But if Bush did this... White House: When Congress Won’t Cooperate, Obama Will Take ‘Small, Medium and Large’ Executive Actions But if Bush tried that... Children of the Corn: The Renewable Fuels Disaster The Beginning of the Negative Campaign Probe reveals feds pressuring agents to rush immigrant visas – even if fraud is feared How to Confront the Anti-Israel Fixation of the Left New forms of Terrorism in Turkey A Call for Sanity in the Anti-Romney Rhetoric Wednesday, January 4. 2012An "O mio babbino caro" Bake-OffWe were fortunate to see a rare performance of Puccini's one-act comedy Gianni Schicci ("Johnny Skicci") by the Chelsea Opera a year or so ago. The vocal highlight of the opera is the famous aria O mio babbino caro, sung by the little manipulator Lauretta to her dad. "Daddy dearest, I'll have to die if you won't let me go out with Rinuccio anymore." The trick of it is to sound like you really want to twist Dad's heartstrings. If you can sing like these ladies to your Dad, I'm sure he'll let you do whatever you want. Here's the bake-off:
Kiri:
Mirella Freni:
Leontyne Price:
Maria Callas:
Renee Fleming:
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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16:40
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Everybody gets richFrom Kevin Williamson's Future tense, V: Everybody gets rich - On unwinding the welfare state:
and
Hope and Change happening in NHNew Hampshire Ends Affirmative-Action Preferences at Colleges:
I am strongly in favor of preferential treatment for skills, talents, achievement, and potential. Commuting, Taxes and Spending in 2012I was informed, as 2011 waned, that my tax credit for commuting would fall from $230 a month to $125. This bothered me. Not because I feel I deserve a credit to commute, but because I can't figure out what the government is trying to do.
The fact is, if public transport is a 'good' we should all take advantage of no matter what, then the government should pay for it by taxing everyone and making it available for 'free' - as they do in Portland. Of course, I oppose this idea entirely. However, if the theory is that we can get people to do something that is 'good for everybody', then isn't this the way to do it? Half-measures, like credits, subsidies, and other methods of this ilk only mask what is possibly (though probably not) a problem - that public transportation isn't really viable. There are ways to determine whether this is true, but not for the average commuter. What is the premise behind having a tax credit for public commutation? I like it, I'll use it if it's offered, but I didn't demand it, nor did I write Congress to keep it at $230/month. The cost, to me, of increased taxation due to the lower credit will be about $270 over the course of the year, so it's not a big deal. Why not just get rid of it altogether? If public transport is truly efficient, then it would make much more sense for me to take it, rather than driving into the city myself (or carpooling). My commute is about $330/month. The cost of driving (assuming the Federal allowance of .55/mile and $150 a month parking) is about $780/month. Even if I made a more realistic assumption of about .25/mile, public transport is still an advantage. But public transport is heavily subsidized. So I really don't know which is more efficient, and determining this is very hard. Here is the issue: Subsidies and tax breaks are supposed to promote the 'public good'. But how do I know which is more efficient, let alone even better, for me personally? If it is a 'public good', then its value will be transparent without subsidies and credits. I'll take whatever credits get offered. It would be crazy for me not to. But I'd much rather have a clear means of determining which makes more sense by comparing simple features like cost, time and effort (hey - in the end, I like reading on the train, so if it did cost more I'd probably still take it). It is precisely this lack of transparency that makes other government initiatives, like Obamacare, a pure misallocation of resources. Unable to determine where our real efficiencies lie, we opt for what we assume is 'best' or costs us least. But we cannot know for sure if these things really make sense at all.
Posted by Bulldog
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays, Politics
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12:34
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Weds. morning links
Monopoly - Official Trailer Man eats pizza slice from EVERY joint in Manhattan What Vietnam Taught Us About Breaking Bad Habits Ohio unemployment falls, but so does support for Obama WaPo: Gloomy numbers for Obama The latest briliant intellectual offering from one of our nation’s Ivy League universities. It’s January 2012 and so far we’ve avoided the Climate Apocalypse Progress: Canadian Senate Listens to Global Warming Skeptics Why Best Buy is Going out of Business...Gradually US Closes 2011 With Record $15.22 Trillion In Debt, Officially At 100.3% Debt/GDP, $14 Billion From Breaching Debt Ceiling The Stratfor Scandal "They [Catholics and others] will either have to change their views..." Tuesday, January 3. 2012The Romney boysA reader sent us this info about the Romney lads whose pics we posted this morning:
Stanley Brothers with a tune for 2012"I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long..."
For the New Year: Satiety, the Animal Pleasures, the Cardinal Sins, and "Addiction," Part 2
Oh, maybe never, I hear my readers thinking. I put the word "addiction" in quotes because I am not referring to physiological addictions such as to narcotics or alcohol, but to the pop culture use of the word, as applied to chocolate, food, sex, money, power, buying, etc. The casual use of the term, of course, refers to the difficulty in stopping the behavior when it doesn't make sense. I opened the topic earlier, in The bad news: Eating less keeps your brain younger and more vigorous (with comments on satiety) Some people are studying the brain to try to understand satiety. Some, interested in overweight, are studying foods. I think they are barking up the wrong tree (Yankees might not realize that that is a reference to coon hunting with coon hounds). I believe that most of these "addictions" are more subcultural and psychological than physiological. Returning to the topic of food, the well-respected scientific journal Elle points this out in Satisfaction Guaranteed:
Some subcultures believe in big eating, some in savoring, some in minimalist eating, and, for some, food is just not a central part of life at all - Northern Europeans, for example. I was raised, for example, to learn that a lady always eats slowly, and never finishes the food on her plate. Not in public, anyway. It's not considered ladylike. Continue reading "For the New Year: Satiety, the Animal Pleasures, the Cardinal Sins, and "Addiction," Part 2" Tuesday morning linksNeo-neo thinks the Romney boys are hunks. I think Mrs. R rates a perfect Mrs. Late-Middle-Aged Barbie. Is she 60 years old? Well, here's Raquel Welch at 71, lookin' hot. "Progress." What is it? The Greatest Paper Map of the United States You’ll Ever See An atheist with some tough and strange messages to atheists:
Everybody "believes in something," even if it is only Self. Self is a false idol. Question is whether the "something" is worthy of devotion. Ahead of Iowa Obama campaign readies to fight Romney Father Christmas Stabbed to Death by Muslim Fanatics inTajikistan Religion of peace and tolerance kills Santa. Better not inform the kids or they might develop some intolerance too. This was evil. How journalists create the news Are we finally seeing an end to the ridiculous ethanol subsidies? A good thing. Ethanol is for drinking, not burning. CURL: Is Romney the next Kerry?
Still, everybody seems greedy for OPM. I want my MTV. Columbia jumps the shark: Columbia offers ‘Occupy 101’ I'll offer to teach Tea Party 101 for free. After all, it was a much bigger deal, with clean, non-sociopathic and polite people, involved tons more people with no arrests, and had real impact. Guess the Academic Left doesn't care for those sots of things. 40,000 new laws as of January 1. How can we be expected to know them all? We're all crims these days. Americans bought record numbers of guns last month amid an apparent surge in popularity for weapons as Christmas presents. That's a good thing. The good folks should all be armed, and guns are fun tools. Furthermore, an armed Santa is a safe Santa. The AP’s 2012 Playbook For Romney Accusations of antisemitism are building against the Center for American Progress (CAP), the left-wing umbrella organization that serves as a “brain trust” for Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the Obama administration. Bumpersticker below stolen from Legal Ins: Monday, January 2. 2012Fix Me, JesusWe made it to the final night of the Ailey's NYC season at City Center last night. Mrs. BD commented that Ailey is now the only modern dance company that can fill a large venue in NYC for three weeks straight. Yes, they did Ailey's Revelations, along with some Paul Taylor and a very cool piece by Ohad Naharin. A jolly, sold-out, and enthused crowd. We tried the pre-theater supper at the famous olde Russian Tea Room for nostalgia's sake. Good vodka, same olde atmosphere, the Russian food not great (certainly not as good as when Jackie O hung out there) but the Vodka selection was excellent - around 40 varieties. The lad and I had the Russian Standard (their vodka shots come ice-cold in little flute glasses). OK, I know - the place has become a little tourist trap for Euro-trash celeb-seeking visitors, but it's still kinda fun and they do have a good caviar selection on their regular menu (We think Petrossian a great place for mid-town caviar etc., but Maggie's Farm is not Zagat's): Fix Me Jesus, from Revelations. What Christian has never prayed for that? The pupette and her pals loved it all. So did I. It was my second time.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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17:24
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The quest to understand consciousness and the "autobiographical self""What Do the Law Schools Think They're Doing?"Everybody knows what they are doing. They are trying to run a guild in a post-guild society. One aspect of that is keeping prices high - the prices for the schools, and worse, the prices for the poor clients and to hell for those who cannot afford a lawyer but are not poor enough to get a cynical, burned-out Legal Aid person. Justice is exorbitantly - and unjustly - expensive and, as I have often said here, I think a better case could be made for socialized legal coverage than for socialized medicine, because equal justice is an American ideal, but illness is just human fate. In my view, the American legal system is a broken and often piratical mess run for the benefit of the lawyers (most politicians are lawyers). Just consider how many people settle unjust and annoying claims simply to avoid legal fees. Via Bader in Minding the Campus:
Of course, if you want a Big Job in a Big Law Firm, you will want a Big Degree. It's just one more example of greedy Big Education's monopoly on credentials. Big Oil, Big Tobacco, Big Government, Big Education, Big Farming, Big Tort Law. Same old story. Just follow the money.
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