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, April 23. 2013Mayor Bloomberg: Interpretation of Constitution Will ‘Have to Change’ After Boston BombingMayor Mike, the Nanny of all Nannies, is a control freak. He could have been the inspiration for the quip "If you're so rich, how come you ain't smart?" Mayor Bloomberg: Interpretation of Constitution Will ‘Have to Change’ After Boston Bombing (fixed) I think he'd prefer a police state. He already instituted Food Police in NYC. "Freedom" is not in his lexicon. "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, 1759
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Doc update Between a small handful of very appreciated donations, an unexpected check from the stock broker (one of the stocks I sold last summer had been held up in a court case) and getting a small retainer to construct a web site for a soon-to-be local businessman, I could stay online for now, but I'm worried that I'll be right back to square one in a couple of months, albeit this time with a large outstanding debt to the hospital that I'll have trouble paying. Put another way, right now I feel great mentally but poor physically. Assuming they find out what's wrong, I'll then feel great physically but poor mentally! Pic: Artist's concept of Doc's life right now If I'm going to suspend the Internet service, I have to call them before 6 pm today, so I'll think about it. Any thoughts on your part are welcome. On the subject (your thoughts), am I wrong in thinking there's absolutely no way to make money online outside of direct involvement, like webmastering? I spent half a day investigating all of the "5 Ways To Make Money Online!" articles out there a while back and not one of them is actually viable. I was thinking there might be a few things around, like the incredibly boring job of 'data input' (transferring data from paper or electronic forms into a database program), but I couldn't even find that. If anyone has any thoughts on the subject, I'd be interested. Tuesday morning linksSomething Wonderful: Amanda Thatcher reading at Margaret Thatcher's funeral ceremony Richie Havens Dead at 72 Bill Bars Health-Care Cost Assistance for Immigrants Flight Delays as Political Strategy - The FAA furloughs traffic controllers rather than cut other How Chuck Schumer ran rings around Marco Rubio Are the Tsarnaev brothers white? - Whatever their racial status, they seem to What? Obama political arm strikes fear in GOP Anonymous Tribune Co. Reporters Rip Koch Bros.: 'Terrifying' Diversity is bad? Boston Bombing Victim Lingzi Lu Was Involved With Christian Student Ministry Merkel says euro members must be prepared to cede sovereignty The mandarins know what is best for you Monday, April 22. 2013Georgetown admissions
Still, this story must upset some people, and some alums: Georgetown University, a cover-up?
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Monday morning linksBeware The High Priests of Locavorism Danes Rethink a Welfare State Ample to a Fault These were the Vikings! Enviros blame fracking for deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion 8th grader suspended, arrested for wearing NRA shirt Boston Bombing: David Remnick Waxes Sympathy Over Evil FBI hunting 12-strong terrorist “sleeper cell” linked to brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Maybe I always "otherize" bad guys. Most of us make a special effort not to destroy people when we feel pissed off about something. Mass. police: Bomb suspects didn't have gun permit If only the Tsarnaev Bros. had lived near more liberal intellectuals Boston frames surveillance debate Uncle Sam Doesn't Believe in Online Privacy There may be as many as 500,000 Muslims in Austria; a country with a population of only 8.4 million. Nearly 8 percent of Vienna is Muslim. The Muslim population of Austria doubled in two decades. It will take less time for it to double again. Half of the Muslims in Austria are under 25; twice the number for the general population.Succeeding now where they failed in 1683. Sunday, April 21. 2013Re the Czech-Chechen confusion of the Low-Information CommunityVia Volokh:
Here's a fun selection of Pauli "Walnuts" quotes. Sociopathy can be amusing.
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Motive
Related, Sultan discusses Coexist
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Saturday, April 20. 2013One of my sistersMy Lefty, Massachusetts resident, Boston-educated sis today: "I just want to know why we allow any immigrants into our country anymore. Are we crazy?"
Ben Stein wondersThe post includes a quote from the fair-minded Ben Stein wondering whether Obama was the Manchurian Candidate.
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Political Quote of Yesterday"I've been wondering all evening how long it'll be until suspect #2 is teaching at Columbia." Via Synthstuff
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Saturday morning linksGermany: It's illegal to complain about parasitic, Western-civilization-hating middle-eastern immigrants PC has turned Europe into the Thought Police we thought they had turned their backs on. Everybody knows that regular Europeans hate the Muslim invasion imposed upon them by their moral and intellectual superiors. Pre-school "education" - A Bad Idea That Refuses to Die It used to be called "babysitting" Is there a connection between college grade inflation and the higher education bubble? Related, The Lake Wobegone Effect at Dartmouth "A"s cost a lot of money Climate hawks have some explaining to do Author has his facts wrong Mexican immigration wave ended years ago
Terror Experts: Boston Attack a Victory for Islamic Jihad Report: 3 arrested in New Bedford in connection to bombing suspect Immediately Following Arrest of Boston Bomber – Media Weeps for Jihadist Killer There is a profound moral confusion going on Letter from the Family of Lu Lingzi Naming of Boston suspects foils racialist, sociological agendas The "Borat Boys" were overly-assimiliated New York Times shows sympathy for Boston terrorist suspects The Left's Spin on Boston Marathon's Chechen Terrorists The U.S. Anti-Muslim Crowd Is Quite Pleased with Itself "Coexist" - Steyn on the politicization of mass murder Via Driscoll:
Toon below via Lucianne: Friday, April 19. 2013Movie Review: 'The Avengers', 'The Big Bang'So, how 'bout a movie review? First, 'The Avengers'. Language warning is in effect for both of these clips. Like a lot of people, I draw a fairly distinct line between Science Fiction and Science Fantasy when it comes to books and movies. As long as it's somewhat scientifically possible, it's good in my book. Or movie, as the case may be. Throw in a magical cube that can harness the power of the universe (this movie, the two 'Transformer' movies, etc, etc) and you've pretty much lost me. Put another way, some guys are Batman guys, other guys are Superman or Green Lantern guys. That's just how it is. As a Batman guy, I've been fairly luke-cool to the rash of superhero movies that have hit the big screen in recent years (read: Hollywood is so out of fresh ideas that it's now making movies of comic books), with the one big exception being 'Thor', which earned its own review. Each of the superheroes in 'The Avengers' has already had a movie or two, and this is the gang getting together to fight the deadliest foe of all. You know, the guy with the magical universe-harnessing cube. MTV Movie Awards: "The Avengers" Wins Movie of the Year Meh. See above. It was okay, but when you've got vicious armed aliens pouring through an interdimensional hole in the sky, I think it loses a bit of its charm. Discount all that, however, and it's a pretty good flick. I wouldn't put it on my Recommended List (see above), but it certainly gets a nod for some excellent special effects and some very witty banter at times, especially when the irrepressible Robert Downey Jr. is around. The reason I'm doing a review on it is because of two scenes that I thought were really well done and I thought I'd share them with you. Both involve the very pressable Scarlett Johansson. In the first one, they're speaking a bunch of Russian that's accompanied by on-screen subtitles in the movie. They're talking about a couple of key players and their status in the Russian mob. The head bad guy is so sure of himself that's he blabbing away. Then the phone rings, spoiling everything. In the second scene, the Avengers know Loki is going to use one of them as part of his evil plan, but the trick is to find out which one. Obviously, the answer is to send in the master interrogator.
Very pressable. Again, while being a bit too fantasy-y for my tastes, it has some great bits and the special effects are outstanding. Certainly worth the rental. We'll continue with 'The Big Bang' below the fold. Continue reading "Movie Review: 'The Avengers', 'The Big Bang'" NPRHeard a bit of NPR this morning discussing the terror brothers. A number of the Boston professors and MIT students they interviewed opined along the lines of "this is what can happen when we aren't welcoming enough to immigrants." They all refused to opine on the Muslim angle (scared to?). An MIT Prof of Poli Sci said "One message is that each of us as individuals should try to do all we can to help immigrants feel more at home." It was not satire.
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Friday morning linksFor the latest updates on Boston, turn on your radio for the events of last night. It's one heck of a story this morning. Boston police have provisionally identified the two men as suspects in a string of violent incidents outside of Boston as Mike Mulugeta and Sunil Tripathi, both here on student visas. (that appears to be wrong info) War and Sports Shape Better Artificial Limbs The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century (h/t Vanderleun) Sierra Club Authorizes “Civil Disobedience” Against Tar Sands Roger Kimball: Calling a spade a spade in Boston Get rid of the corporate income tax. It's not worth it, and there are better ways to collect the money. Why is the free market retreating and why is the state always advancing? Henninger: Clinging to Guns—and Abortion - Everyone clings to something, and we now know what liberals cling to. Gun Control Vote Exposes Clueless MSM The Desperation of Obamacare Advocates Gallup Poll: Majority Think Wealth Should Be Distributed More Evenly
Thursday, April 18. 2013A Lame Duck President (with 24-hour/day armed protection)Gun and Bible-clinging redneck New Yorker that I am, even I did not really object to the background check law in itself. Seemed harmless enough, but also seemed pointless to me because the bad guys never get background checks. Even Sen. Feinstein acknowledged it would do nothing for gun violence. My issue was beyond the symbolic issue, it was the incrementalism. Federal registration for the good citizens. That's where people like Morning Joe don't get it: Morning Joe Host Shames Senators Who Killed Gun Reform: ‘We’re The 90 Percent And We’re Going To Win’ No you will not "win", and definitely not as long as politicians and celebs and rich folks get their own personal protection from armed guards. Peons like me do not have those perqs or the money to hire them. Here's another interesting piece: Exploiting Families Of Sandy Hook Victims Backfires. Indeed an embarassing and disgusting display. Boob bait, but the bubbas weren't biting. But here's the key piece. From Tim Stanley's Barack Obama can't pass gun control despite 90 per cent support. Truly, he is a lame-duck president: Barack Obama is a lame-duck president. Nobody listens to what he says anymore, nobody is interested in winning his approval and nobody much cares if he thinks they have “let the country down”. This is typical for a second-term president who has lost all their leverage because they’re no longer running for office and everybody is patiently waiting for the day when he quits the White House. But Obama's difficult personality has doubled the size of the challenge. Gloating in victory, adolescent in defeat – the Prez doesn’t make it easy to work with him. Why should conservative senators give him a legislative victory after he has spent four years painting them as knuckle-dragging rednecks who hate women and the poor?
Photo is, once again, our dear friend Marianne's home protection Taurus Judge. No elderly woman with a disabled husband should be without one in her knitting basket, whether in town or country.
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Game Review & Manual: Silent Hunter 4 Luckily, there's a speed-up option so you don't actually have to sit there staring at the computer screen for eight days while you cross the Pacific Ocean. You'll see the speed-up used in a few places in the following video. It's to note that this video is mostly comprised of scenes taken directly from the game, most using the 'external camera' view. Click on the little symbol on the player's tool bar and watch it in full-screen mode. But first, John Milton's 'On Time'. Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race, Which is no more then what is false and vain, For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd, And Joy shall overtake us as a flood, Of Him, t'whose happy-making sight alone And now the intro.
Admittedly, that's not your average game intro. Full article is here. Thursday morning linksTen Reasons Kids Leave the Church Global warming causing huge storms on Mars The Top 5 Most Irritating Terms In Evolution Reporting Nanny Bloomberg very pissed that his $ can't buy the US Senate Top Democrat Baucus Sees 'Huge Train Wreck' for Obamacare For-profit Higher Ed is Fine - Government Funding is the Problem President blames the NRA The NRA represents millions of good Americans Obama's Preschool Push Is Backed By Faulty Evidence Tuition fees well-spent The End of Full-Time Work in the American Retail Service Sector Wednesday, April 17. 2013Weds. morning linksHurray for Earth Day: Emma Watson bares body for Earth Day Any excuse will suffice to get nekked with cameras. I think Gaia makes her hot. Playful fun: The Psychology of Submission - We pull back the covers on steamy bedroom power plays. Tie me up, ladies, and have your way with me? Hmmm. Maybe... PSA test leads to further procedures, harms: study Queer Gardens, for college credit If anybody calls my gardens queer, I'll slap you, bitch This Slacker Doesn't Even Work Weekends A real New Yorker. Beautiful life, working at 90 1/2. Unsubstantiated accusations against my son by a former girlfriend landed him More Columbia and Cornell co-eds seeking “Sugar Daddies” They are termed "whores." Ancient profession. More kindly, "mistresses." Free market Capitalism at work. Everything has a market price including bodies whether dead or alive. I have this problem all the time If race is to be taken into account, what percentage should an individual possess? I have 6.25% Redskin blood. Can I get anything free because of my historical oppression? I have not had my Neanderthal level checked yet, but it's probably pretty high too. Endangered species to boot, conservative Neanderthals who want to bring back cave dwelling in the Ice Age. Homeland Security Website: 'Learn How DHS Helps Keep Our Nation Safe' You could close the whole dumb Bush boondoggle tomorrow and it would make no difference What is California's biggest problem? It's the weather! Maybe they would prefer Maine, where it's 37 degrees F this morning, and there is still a foot of snow on the ground. Californians: Prepare For A 50% Hike In Pension Costs
It's done. Dead, but not buried yet. Education fact of the day: DC charter schools now enroll 43% of the city’s students, with plans to expand further Gun control bill in peril ...even if Maduro’s dubious election victory is allowed to stand, the Chávez revolution is in big trouble. Tuesday, April 16. 2013A bomb Rorshach Test
In the absence of information, it's a Rorshach of peoples' hopes and fears, and on the teevee, talking heads attempt to instill their prejudices to gullible low-info voters according to their preferred narratives. No info? A chance to write something onto their blank slates that might stick to their emotions. Meanwhile, we have a mass murderer on trial in Philly, a knife-man attacker in a school, and 4 killed in Chicago just last weekend with illegal handguns. We know those details. Evil exists everywhere and no laws can eliminate evil. Stay strong and calm and carry on. See human history. Our thanks to all of the first responders everywhere, and to all of the good civilians who pitch in when help is needed and run towards trouble instead of away from it. We will never be free of trouble, but strong men and women will always run to the sound of the guns. Tuesday morning linksBoston: Mr. Rogers Knows (Photo via Drudge) Streetcars: an inconvenient truth Florida Battles Slimy Invasion by Giant Snails Escargots? Molluscs are tasty. India's lions and tigers being eliminated by poachers All about dark matter Conn Carroll: Fracking revolutionized American energy as green energy failed California's Blue Civil War: Knives Drawn in Education Fight It's for the children It's Time to End the U.S. Embargo of Cuba - The U.S. government has been tireless in pursuing a policy that does not look better with time I agree. Cass Sunstein: The Poster Boy for ‘Inside Every Liberal is a Totalitarian Screaming to Get Out’ Bowdoin: Putting the “Liberal” in Liberal Arts Rob Woodall: Mitt Romney Was Right About '47 Percent' Statistic Climate scientists struggle to explain warming slowdown There's no slowdown, there's a stop. I suspect their data was largely wrong all along. A cooling trend is going to be an inconvenient truth because people tend to prefer warm weather. I like cold and snow and sleet in winter and warm in summer. In-between April is the worst, but we must be just happy to be alive. Germany to Greece: So Sue Me Will the EU lead to war? Financial war, at the least... Former officer allegedly leaked U.S. military secrets to Chinese girlfriend Monday, April 15. 2013The day of reckoning doth approacheth And that's saying a lot. So, there's your update. I'll just be posting a Computin' Tip later on today. The good stuff starts tomorrow and will run through next Tuesday. After that, I cannot say. Monday morning linksTriple play: Because Satan Is a Yankees Fan The Real Reason No One's Buying PCs Anymore: They've Gotten Too Good Or...Did Windows 8 kill PC sales? Paul LePage: Beretta, Colt and Magpul—Come to Maine Senate Uses Doctors for Gun Control NYT Admits Union Pensions Aren’t Sacred Media Acknowledge Blowing Gosnell Story, Pledge Extensive Coverage L.A. Times: "Immigration bill would spark surge of legal arrivals" James Lovelock: A man for all seasons - The guru of Gaia is a maverick environmentalist who supports fracking and nuclear power. Does he believe the human race has a future? The Left's Fantasy of Progress Study: CA High-Speed Rail Will Lose $124-$373 Million A Year Top Obamacare Adviser: Doctors Told to Focus on “Cost Value” and Volume… Not the Patient Professor Yarbrough responds, re the Bowdoin expose Jesus Never Said I Couldn’t Paint the Baby The Decline of Obama - How to lose friends and influence. Frank Bruni on politicians as love gluttons
Via Ricochet's The Price of Utopia:
Reminder: Obama supported infanticide Huge gender gap persists in college degrees but gets no attention Bernie Sanders: Warming is not a hoax Californians Sign Petition to Ban and Confiscate Firearms Capriles almost won in Venezuela Friday, April 12. 2013Friday morning linksSteyn: The Unfinished Revolution in the UK Re Maggie: The Silence of the Feminists Amherst College Ignores Racially Motivated Prank Against White Male Students Louvre Workers Walk Off Job Over Increasing Problem Of Pickpockets At The Museum Five ‘Takeaways’ From Obama’s Budget America is now being run by the logic of the urban machine. Vineyards may intrude on Polar Bear habitat Why Chemotherapy That Costs $70,000 in the U.S. Costs $2,500 in India Soldier priest to get ultimate medal Blame all around in Stockton - The risk was unmistakably clear when creditors lent the troubled city money during a borrowing binge. Energy updates, including a new estimate that the US has a 110-year supply of natural gas Baroness Thatcher's American football star grandson takes on the world of U.S. politics Smoking Is a ‘Preexisting Condition’ - D.C. exchange board bans “discrimination” against smokers. The Real Lesson of JC Penney: Sometimes, You're Stuck - It's fun to blame Ron Johnson, but it's doubtful that anyone else could have saved the ailing retailer. The history of racism in the United States - a 100 year anniversary
Thursday, April 11. 2013Zero tolerance for different opinionsBen Carson steps down as Hopkins commencement speaker. A sad day when somebody can feel unwanted for believing that marriage is for a man and a woman. Of course, it's their loss, not his.
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Thursday morning linksRemarkably Audubon-like photo of eagles sharing a meal from Smithsonian, via Am. Digest. Heather MacDonald never ceases to amaze: Rigoletto, L’Elisir, and Clemenza - Considering three new Met opera productions She does opera reviews too? She is too much. Well, she went to Andover so maybe that explains it. Yale, Oxford, and Stanford Law too. Here's her bio. My year on Match.com - I'd done so many scary things in my life, but this might be the scariest. At the age of 58, I joined a dating site What Really Happens When You Flush on an Airplane? That plumbing requires serious engineering Many Moms love to do it, but any health benefits seem to disappear when corrected for income and social class. Poor people breast feed less. Wood: The fuel of the future - Environmental lunacy in Europe Wood is fuel for barbarians like me and Sippican. It's just pre-fossil fuel for rednecks and Neanderthals. Almost 100 million people aren't smart enough to enlist in the military As Dr. Merc pointed out, precisely 50% of Americans are of below-average intelligence. Strange how it comes out to exactly half, isn't it? That's not fair. The US equity market: It's not a rally, it's a credit bubble of epic proportions David Stockman on The Federal Reserve: is "off the deep end" What he says Can the Weiner get up again? He is an astonishingly obnoxious jerk. War on Poverty: $15 Trillion Wasted Not to mention the incalculable costs of the unintended consequences How to milk the system: Lawyers & disability claims Andy Kessler: The Pension Rate-of-Return Fantasy - Counting on 7.5% when Treasury bonds are paying 1.74%? That's going to cost taxpayers billions. Gun Manufacturer to Leave Conn. After New Gun Control Law Historically, CT was the center of weapon manufacturing VDH unloads: Confessions of a Counter-Revolutionary What he says about everything New MSNBC promo: You have the right to health care, education, housing, and food at all times Same as children and slaves IRS: We Don’t Need a Warrant to Read Your Emails Energy Journal: Shale Ripples Hit Middle East and Russia Minority contractors ‘game the system,’ find havens in D.C. homes Minority (ie black) shell companies profit by acting as contracting pass-throughs for service and manufacturing companies. Despite seeming fraudulent, it's entirely legal, encouraged in fact by the government. One easy way to profit from skin tone is to offer to be an intermediary conduit for white-owned businesses.
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