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, July 12. 2011In sunny, snowy California todayI'm out here for a few weeks. Here's the latest shot, from the beach at Serene Lakes, Soda Springs near Donner Summit and I-80, elevation c. 6,800 feet. Note the boat slips and the bare feet!
July 12The Twelfth - A Glorious Day to Celebrate Freedom:
Has the press overlooked all of the taxes Obama has already increased?Of course they have. Taxes upon taxes upon taxes The other womanWhy it's not a bad deal to be somebody's mistress. A quote from the review:
I read the whole review. It might be a good deal for some to be a mistress (or a gigolo), but I am certain that She Who Must Be Obeyed would be grouchy if I had another woman on the side. In her opinion, she owns me.
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:07
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Doc's Secrets: The Teaser
Are you aware the best meal at Subway Sandwiches isn't even on the menu? Are you aware you can buy used books on Amazon.com for a penny? Are you aware you might be able to buy four printer ink cartridges on Amazon for ten bucks? If you live in a warm clime and drink iced beverages, is your drink coaster properly sopping up the drips? Are you (1) male, (2) in your mid-30's, (3) enjoy sex and (4) want to keep enjoying it? Would you like to discover the terriblest truth about woman and be set free in the process? Would you like to prevent summer & winter colds? Would you like to prevent getting sore throats? Would you like to prevent getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Would you like to quit sneezing from allergies? Are you planning on using your teeth past the age of 50? Do you know how to stop a sneeze in its tracks? How about hiccups? If you grow pot, would you like to increase your yield by 1,000%? Would you like to contact every single member of Congress at once? Would you like to be on TV at the Olympics? Would you like to be in the Guinness Book of World Records? Would you like to hear the real story of the hippies? Would you like to find out about a wonderful source for pirated software, TV shows, etc? Would you like to make a zillion dollars with an easily-produced product? Would you like to try reinventing the first whiskey liqueur in history? Would you like to know where there's an official iridium strike to make your fortune? Stay tuned tomorrow for... Doc's Secrets. Tuesday morning linksThe Class-Size Debate Never Graduates High School Norm on circumcision Number of Legal Jobs Continue to Shrink, Number of Lawyers Continue to Rise HUMOR IN UNIFORM: Photos Show The Funny Side Of Life On The Front Line AVI revisits Charlie on the MTA The Coming Collectivization of American Health Care - Collectivizing American doctors will fail as badly as collectivizing Soviet farmers. The Cultural Proficiency Journey: Moving Beyond Ethical Barriers Toward Profound School Change,” Beyond "ethical barriers"? Obama wants $1 trillion in taxes on top of what he's already signed - WSJ: Let’s not forget Obama’s already-imposed new taxes Video: President Obama promises ‘massive job killing taxes’ if re-elected I'll Gladly Cut Spending On Tuesday For a Tax Increase Today Lynching a runaway slave Gillard puts future on the line with radical plan for Australian carbon tax . Related: Inevitable: Qantas, Virgin Airlines Passing Australia’s Carbon Tax Along to Consumers Driscoll: Liar’s Poker Meets the Community Reinvestment Act EU calls emergency meeting as crisis stalks Italy The EU will have its hands full of welfare states CURL: Mr. President, do the math: $250,000 per year isn’t rich Flat jobs data signal weakest recovery in decades/ What recovery? Unemployment remains high and jobs scarce 2 years after Great Recession ended France tells Libya rebels to seek peace with Gaddafi Remind me, we are there why? Democrats’ Incoherent Push to Cut Defense What's wrong with Defence jobs? Obama Regime Imposing the Same Race-Based Loans That Brought On 2008 Collapse Brilliant! Black economic gains reversed in Great Recession. Says Protein:
Why the Dems are now stymied, at Am Thinker:
Can you identify these lovely boats?The owner must be prosperous, or profligate, to have two of these. His and Hers? Man, I just can't stand a show-off... Pic is of a Long Island Sound harbor last weekend.
Monday, July 11. 2011Another medical myth demolished: Salt and HealthWhen I was in training, a wise old Doc told me to tell the old folks to eat all the salt they like, but to take their blood pressure medicines if they have hypertension. Still, if you have congestive heart failure, it might help your management to limit salt intake. There are countless myths about diet and health. The truth is that most of it is driven by wishful thinking, the wish that we might control our fates as easily as by deciding what to have for supper. The only dietary-related thing (besides basic sustenance) that probably helps health to some extent is to get your Vitamin D from plenty of natural sunlight (instead of from pills or diet) over much of your body, while avoiding sunburn and avoiding obsessive use of sunblock.
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
in Medical, Our Essays, Psychology, and Dr. Bliss
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17:46
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Marine Corps BallsPrediction: There will be many of Hollywood's sexier actresses attending Marine Corps Balls next November 10, thanks to Marine Corps balls. Another reason today's Marines are the best yet, and deserve to have more strut in their stride: In Vietnam, one of the guys sent a letter to the president of Hunts Foods asking him to send a case of Hunts Snack-Packs. The Hunts president wrote back that his son served in Vietnam and he was very pleased to send a case. Immediately, we were all writing to presidents of various food companies asking for a case of our favorite. My choice was for Ring Dings. Although squished and melted when a case arrived, I had a big chocolate smile all over my face. But, none of us had the sense of one of today's Marines who sent a Youtube message to Hollywood actress Mila Kunis asking her out to the next Marine Corps Ball. She accepted the invite. I bet more Youtubes are being sent now to other sexy Hollywood actresses. Beats Ring Dings. And, melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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17:09
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"The Real Reason We Have A Budget Problem That No One Has The Guts To Talk About"
Or the upcoming Obamacare taxes. QQQ“Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.” Frederic Bastiat, via Marginal Rev's excellent The Great Fiction Polar BearsPolar Bear populations have been increasing steadily since 1950. Image from a piece at Watts. Monday morning linksScrubbing your mug shot from the net is a growing business. But at $99 per mug shot, who can afford to remove them all? I suggest government subsidies. The UN’s plan to dominate the world of energy and to redistribute wealth? “Climate change” What's their Plan B? They might need one if they still want to rule the world. VDH: The Great Madness of 2004-10 The hatred, the worship, the diagnosis Met Office supercomputer tops polluting list:
Translate that as "vital for their jobs." Chávez Is Believed to Have Colon Cancer Heather MacDonald responds to defenses of DSK's maid OK, Heather - but it is still not right to stiff your sex workers Wehner: A Jobs Report That Defies Description Reason: The Price of Big Government - Do the benefits ever outweigh the costs? Bookworm: Why poor people should pay taxes (not lots of taxes, but some) We agree that every person or family should have some skin in the game, or just be parasites View from the Left (the NYT): Their plan: raise taxes and increase government spending. However, that is always their plan for everything. Their faith never wavers. Joe Klein: Time to Ax Public Programs That Don't Yield Results His example is Head Start Unemployment Unexpectedly Up, President Hardest Hit Geithner tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that it's a very tough economy. He says that for a lot of people "it's going to feel very hard, harder than anything they've experienced in their lifetime now, for a long time to come." Apparently he has no Plan B and is plumb out of ideas. Thanks, Timmy. We understand that a government cannot control an economy, but you guys did the opposite of what Reagan did. You guys jumped on the recession as a golden opportunity to increase the size of the federal government - and for pork. Source: Dealing with Obama: “…beyond bizarre”
Sunday, July 10. 2011US Marines Training At Israeli Counterterrorism SchoolWinslow HomerWhy shutters on all of the windows in Italy?Some shutters are inside the glass, some outside. They are all used, not ornamental. The reason they are there is because, in stone, stucco, or brick construction, you have natural daytime air conditioning if you don't let too much sunlight in during mid-day. You will never see air-conditioners, because they don't need them except in modern office buildings. The low-humidity Med climate, with cool nights, is perfect for humans with stone buildings. I just stumbled on the random fact that Hartford CT, Cape Cod, Rome, and Istanbul all exist on latitude 41 N. Of course, just along that latitude is not the quickest route. Great circles and all that. Big CitiesFrom Mead's Beyond the Big City Blues:
Posted by The Barrister
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Diesel OpeningOur friend Nathan sends us this slice of pop culture from his visit to San Francisco. I never heard of Diesel, but Maggie's is light on pop culture. You might say that it's not really our beat. Attended my first Diesel opening Friday. OK, my first anything opening. L., who helps Diesel, an Italian label, find possible stores and set up their design in U.S. cities, had invited me. Thursday late, she called, saying that Francis or Danieli of Diesel had called desperately saying that they needed extra props for the store: old TV sets, beat-up furniture. The theme was to be the aftermath of a tornado. We hulked a dusty tubed TV into her BMW, then over to the store on Market Street, where we were met by a cheerful helper, who opened the car door and announced, “Hi, I’m Jeremiah,” which name was also tattooed on his left neck, should a vampire be interested in the brand name of his source. But, easy to overlook Jeremiah’s name tattoo amongst the other skin art on him and others. Branson also was helping with the design. He tops two meters and his height is enhanced by a dyed black hair wave that brings to mind Hirokawa’s tsunami prints; a flip of the wave at the top gives him a lopsided look, which he straightens with a smile. As we lugged TV, he unloaded broken branches for the window display. Tornado-esque.
Continue reading "Diesel Opening" The Flight of Apollo 11: Raw & Uncut Edition
"NASA CENSORS BLOGGER - WHY??" screams the New York Post. No, along with their global warming hoax, I'm sure NASA will want to keep this baby free from any controversy and safely under wraps. We won't be bothered as long as we toe the party line and at least pretend it happened. With that said, this clip is a refreshing breath of air from the usual frenzied documentary-style show, where the scene changes every 2.1 seconds and you rarely get a chance to just sit there and contemplate the damn thing. If you're really old and were alive back in the 80's, you might remember those airplane shows where each 1-hour episode would be on a specific plane. It'd be on some ancient WW II bomber and there'd be endless minutes of it just... flying... along. No machine guns a'blazing, no enemy fighters on the attack, no 500-pounders being dropped, no narrator blathering away; just the big plane lumbering along and the drone of the engines. Using the same camera angle. For minutes upon end. You had to be a real lover of flying to watch those shows — but for those of us who were, it was terrific. This reminds me of that.
Posted by Dr. Mercury
in History, Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:00
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BabylandIt's been Babyland here this Spring at ye olde New England homestead. Lots of nests, lots of baby birds fledging right now. Within 15 yards of our cabin, this year we have successfully harbored nests or homes of: 2 pairs of Robins What's the secret? No cats and plenty of dense shrubberies, gardens, and evergreens. A big brush pile and some weed patches too. When the leaves fall, I will find other nests I didn't realize were there. Usually, a Song Sparrow, Goldfinch, or a nifty little Warbler nest. I did not have the chance to do a breeding list for the entire Farm this year. It's easily done: You go out at 5 AM in early June and cover all of your land, listening for territorial songs while keeping your eyes open. At night, the owls. Next year... Pic: The House Wren family is raising their babies in there. Every once in a while, one peeks out.
Posted by Bird Dog
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09:07
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Sunday morning linksJeter Homers for 3,000th Hit, First Yank to Do it New Internet Top-Level Domains Coming It's about time Sowell said it in 1975 McArdle: Hoover Was No Budget-Cutter Disgusting. Memphis Reporter Mocks Mitt Romney’s Mormonism Mitt would be better off as a Muslim Priuses: Battle Formation! The Implacable Left Reads Obama the Riot Act Media Matters and Dem Groups Form Organization to Track GOP Candidates with Army of Videographers Dirty tricks, basically. My theory is that Conservatives are all too busy doing or creating real jobs to do this sort of thing. The GOP's Demographic Problem Media Bias 101: How liberal lies seep into our pop culture and become “fact” (UPDATED) The New York Times: Lying For The DFL
From today's Lectionary: "First sell me your birthright."Genesis 25:19-34
We often use this story as a metaphor for what Americans have been doing with their birthright of individual liberty, but I know that's not what the story is about. Saturday, July 9. 2011Kiss My Royal ..."When Women Confuse Being Asked Out With Being Raped At Knifepoint In An Elevator"More on Skepchick and Dawkins. I'm with Dawkins on this one. Guys have to be bold enough to hit on girls that charm them. Bars are the worst places to do that, but there is no best place. Elevators? Well, I dunno, but the location is not the point. If guys wait for gals to do it, they might wait forever, and the human species ends. If a gal doesn't want to be approached, she can wear a wedding ring, or a button that says "F-off." Or a facial expression that says the same thing. Don't try to look Lesbian - some guys will view that as a challenge unless you are butch and fat. Read the piece. The comments are fun.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:28
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Tinker, TailorWe love Fawlty Towers, and can quote most lines from them, and Brideshead Revisited was darn good, but the best series ever made for TV was from John LeCarre's book Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Six hours of dark, haunting intrigue, with the best casting imaginable. Alec Guiness is understatedly great, of course, but the others are equally remarkable. The character development is the best part of the series: the spy stuff provides the dramatic tension. Even in the post cold-war era, one hell of a story. Perfect TV. See it.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:27
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