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, August 23. 2012Hurricane funWhen I was a kid, one of the most exciting things to do was to take a Sunfish out in a hurricane. Doubt I'd still have the nerve to do that now, but these fun-loving folks in Maine took a Hobie 16 out in Hurricane Earl 2 years ago. Boat reached a max speed of 22 knots before pitchpoling.
Posted by Bird Dog
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19:35
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Tools for ObamaThe vast Leftist propaganda machine is hard at work. Related: Shocker: Donations from media companies go largely to Obama
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13:35
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Who is Mitt Romney?Aired in April, on CBS (h/t Tatler). The talking head notes that Mitt has not developed a "public narrative."
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11:58
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Thursday morning linksBasic chemistry of sex Dealing with one's dark side in relationships Dad, You Were Right About The Lines Is it rape to wake up a sexual partner in a sexual manner? Should I euthanize my 12 year-old? Spanish fresco restoration botched by amateur $14.5M for boy's brain injury from metal bat Climate High-Sticking: The Unmanly Mann Has "Bless his heart" become an insult? How likely is a Repub Senate majority? 'God is in control': Obama gets really religious in new interview (with the election a little over two months away) Senators ask Pentagon to consider debarring United Technologies from future contracts GOP Convention Theme “We Built This!” Poll: Warren Down 49-44 to Brown in MA In Addition to Its Many other Flaws, Obamacare Is Becoming a Racket for Overpaid Government Bureaucrats The coming government-made healthcare crisis Book: Obamacare Is Scheme to Draft Millions of New Union Members The Bipartisan Imperial Presidency - On core questions of federal power there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two tickets. How good police work is the best thing to be done for the poor It Begins… Sandra Fluke & Obama Use Todd Akin to Trash Romney-Ryan & Raise Cash Welcome to College Insurrection Poll: young voters say “key life decisions” are in jeopardy
Wednesday, August 22. 2012The Truth Behind the Bush Tax Cuts and the DeficitThe question of the Bush Tax cuts 'causing' the deficits, and hence the 'need' to increase taxes on the 'wealthy' is one which Democrats spend many evenings discussing. Clearly, Bush was an insane tax-cutter without any good ideas and caused every problem mankind faces today, and frankly every problem we've faced for the last 40 years. He was just that bad. However, a non-partisan look at the cuts indicates something quite different. On a standalone basis, taking out all other additional spending programs from the last 11 years, what we find is the tax cuts paid for themselves, and then some. In other words, the issue isn't the cuts. The issue is all the additional spending which took place after the cuts. To be completely honest, and completely fair, not all the spending was by Bush, either. In fact, most of it was voted on with bipartisan support. Very little could be said to be purely Bush-related, let alone Republican-related. Honesty is a difficult thing in politics. Typically I don't look for anything more than a minimal degree of it, what I prefer is a level of consistency of thought. The Republicans have their own challenges regarding honesty and consistency, but the Democrats have really done a good job of cornering the market on dishonesty and hypocrisy.
Posted by Bulldog
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19:55
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"College Degrees Aren't Umbrellas"George Leef is not convinced that many jobs which require a BA have any need for it. What is a BA anyway? He begins:
Good times, good times Yes, you simply couldn't ask for a more peaceful, tranquil existence. Well, usually.
Weds. morning linksTom Stoppard update The American Chestnut coming back The recipe for happiness? An enduring marriage and an affair with lots of sex California Puts Raw Dairy Farmers in Jail; While in France, Raw Milk is Sold in Vending Machines Ryan's appeal is his normality. Paul Ryan: ‘Happy’ to be clinging to guns and religion Message to the GOP: Maine is not lost! Samuelson: Why Ryan Might Be Right Why Geezers Are the True Enemy Iran Bans Women from University Studies Jake Tapper: The Media is Failing the Country Fred Barnes: How Ryan Recasts the Race - With his big ideas, the GOP's vice presidential candidate makes the incumbent president seem smaller. McGurn: Social Justice and Ryan the Heretic - Church liberals launch an odd line of attack against a free-market champion. Universal Mediocrity - Why do Britons like their sub-par health-care system so much? Gov. Deval Patrick's New Health Law Is Flat-Out Dangerous What Madonna Doesn’t Get About Russia’s Punk Protest Pic below from Theo, with this Corzine quote:
Tuesday, August 21. 2012A few Tues. morning linksVery annoying tech problems today - more links etc later The crisis of women over-using medical services I should have said "over-utilizing" Knowledgable reader made me find out what a razee is “Beer + Pizza = Success.” The key formula for law students. Key to success in anything E.J. Dionne’s idea of a serious budget plan The end of tenure as we know it? Oslo Muslims Demand Sharia-Controlled Zone If they want to re-create their homeland's moral hell-holes in Europe, why did they bother to leave home? Oh. The Welfare checks and the multicultural embrace. If We Still Had Real Journalists, and One Got Through to Obama… No Horses, But Detroit Water Department Employs 'Horseshoer' Romney Attends Mormon Services With Media in Attendance Sounds pretty ordinary to me The NYT again decides not to turn off their A/C to save the planet They want the little people to do it "What we're looking at with Chomsky is a man who has dedicated essentially his entire public life to political evil. I think we are justified in calling such a person a monster." LaHood: ‘I’m very proud’ of DOT stimulus spending at $738,000 per job Where do I sign up? Sen. Scott Brown is in favor of rape? Mass. Gov. Patrick Signs Bill to Exert Control over Health Providers After Billions Of Taxpayer Dollars, Green Transportation Is A Bust That was our money Monday, August 20. 2012Why your taxes will go upThey have to, because of all the things people want to get from government (ie from their hard-working neighbors' pockets). As Bruce said earlier today, government has become the god to whom many pray for the stuff they want to make life easier. Utopia is always just around the corner if only people sacrifice a little bit more for the Common Good. Quickest things to deal with the debt? Cancel Obamacare, reform Medicare and Social Security, and unshackle the economy so we can get some growth going. While they're at it, shutter the Dept of Education, shutter the Commerce Dept, cancel Dodd-Frank, let GM, Fannie and Freddie go bankrupt, and trust-bust the giant banks if they are too big to fail because if I want to invest in a bank, I will do it on my own. Almost forgot one detail: vote out Obama.
Posted by The News Junkie
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15:22
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Nomination: Sub-Header of the Month Award Monday morning linksWhy Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, and Truman Capote All Failed to Write the Great American Novel - It's not a coincidence all three befriended murderers. How Management Killed “The Village Voice” The Unending Battle for the Upper West Side - Property owners take on the social-services empire. ...would you trust your day and your life at 70 MPH to this "branding bullshit" group? What I built — with government help Obama’s GM ‘Success Story’ Headed for Bankruptcy Reich: Raul Ryan wants to starve your kid MoDo thinks so too. Flashback: Bill Clinton Admits Paul Ryan’s Budget Is a Good Plan Gross… Code Pink Activists Dress Up as Vaginas for Free Abortions Rally Obama deputy campaign manager: Entertainment Tonight of equal importance with White House press corps Giuliani Explains: Why I Hammered Joe Biden Mark Halperin: 'The Media Is Very Susceptible to Doing What the Obama Campaign Wants' Recovery Summer 3: July Unemployment Up In 44 States Obama biographer Ed Klein says that about two weeks ago Valerie Jarrett, Obama's brain trust and manager of his Acme Campaign Strategery , offered Hillary Clinton a slot on the ticket as Obama's running mate and she turned it down. Rights for ‘Asexuals?’ Bjorn Lomborg on junk science The Most Powerful Attack Ever on Obama is in Newsweek? The ‘new normal’ excuse - Just an economy that used to grow? Saturday, August 18. 2012The countdown You have to admit — if the world disappears into an alternate dimension, at least it'll take care of runaway inflation. And those pesky Democrats. While I don't think you'll particularly learn anything new here, it's still interesting watching an official JPL guy cover the bases. And if he's wrong? Just do as we learned to do back in the 60's when Russia was about ready to launch 25,000 nukes at us. Just crawl under your school desk. You'll be fine. Saturday morning tasty, salty linksChina's megalopolises may seem impressive on paper, but they are awful places to live. Spanx on Steroids: How Speedo Created the New Record-Breaking Swimsuit Do Parents Have A Moral Obligation to Genetically Upgrade Their Kids? Of course they do. It's called "selecting a worthy mate." Mataconis: Maybe We’re Getting Exactly The Political Culture We Deserve Ryan's seriousness inspires Democratic silliness Georgia high school choruses reportedly not diverse enough to perform with Atlanta orchestra Brooklyn Deli Clerk's Face Slashed Open For Refusing To Sell Beer For Food Stamps Probably a racist Hayward: Are Democrats Starting to Lose It Already? Russia’s Rock N Roll Riot Pizza Franchise Creates ‘Not After Dark’ Delivery Rule In Detroit Mitt and Barack are semi-WASPS Even in Bankruptcy, Unions Get Special Treatment - The pension-debt time bomb detonates in bankruptcy court. WH Press Corps: Obama Dodging Issues, Tough Questions From Journalists He's a flashy celebrity, not a national manager Column: Obama’s reelection strategy is driving America apart Nobel Economists Back Mitt Romney's Plan The Mantle of Leadership Has Shifted: Romney, Ryan Govern in All but Name:
Friday, August 17. 2012Democrats Line Up Against Special OperatorsLarry Bailey unleashed a prepared Democrat chorus to discredit former military special operators who oppose President Obama’s re-election.
Larry Bailey and I are friends. Larry is absolutely not a speaker who minds his PR Ps & Qs, nor ever tried to be a diplomat. He is a devout patriot who has devoted his life to the security of the United States. I am not a birther, nor are those I know who supported his first efforts, the first of several independent other organizations of former military special operators, to raise attention to the concerns – also expressed by several leading politicians, including some Democrats -- that President Obama and his minions exposed national security secrets in order to bolster Obama’s re-election. The usual Obama apologists and partisans quickly expressed their distaste for birtherism, understandable, but used Bailey’s words to attack all the other leaders of other organizations of special operators opposed to President Obama’s re-election. (Here's the leader of one of the other organizations of former special operators.) Omigosh, Obama For America website reveals that there are Republicans among the leaders of the four independent groups of special operators. Obama For America was an internet-based campaign organization for Obama in 2008, re-named Organizing For America after the election for his permanent campaign, and now Obama For America is back. Guess what Obama For America, there are far more Republicans than Democrats among the military, and especially so among special operators in the various military branches James Joyner, who sways with Democrat memes inside the beltway at his blog Outside the Beltway, with regard to one of the organizations of special operators, OPSEC (operations security), chimes in with “the fact that the group’s key spokesmen are all Republican operatives certainly changes the lens through which their charges should be viewed.” Oh, does it? Only for those looking for an excuse to look the other way. Failed Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry – who trumped up his Vietnam veteran status, as usual, rolls out his attack on the over 60 of fellow Swift Boat veterans who exposed his lies or exaggerations about his service in Vietnam, and Kerry’s certain betrayal of Vietnam veterans after in likening us to the army of Genghis Khan. Paul Mirengoff notes: " Kerry never explains why he finds the criticism of Obama “outrageous.” Doing so would have required a defense of the administration’s serial disclosure of sensitive national security information." I’m not defending Larry Bailey’s words, by any means. But, the effort by those supporting Obama’s re-election to avoid and broadbrush besmirch the valid concerns of special operators is typical of the Obama re-election campaign. Patriots, to the Obama folk, are those who support him. The special operators from the military and national security experts, whose lives are actually on the line and endangered by loose self-serving lips in the Obama administration, are denigrated by the Obama minions. In 2004, veterans and their families and friends saw right through John Kerry and, I confidently predict, will see through Obama like a soggy thin tissue too.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
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21:49
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A note to our (few) readers in ChinaI know that we have a few Chinese readers. We would welcome more. A reader in China asked me to post this shout-out. I believe that many in the Middle Kingdom might enjoy a refreshing dose of freedom-oriented Americana - if only to practice their reading! We'd love to see Maggie's go viral in China, but it ain't gonna happen. Politicians would shut us down. We would like it if our Chinese readers would forward our site around to their email list. I do not believe that we are censored by your government. Not yet, at least, despite our dangerously-subversive attitudes towards state power. Disaster vid: Train wreck at Wenzhou
As a disaster documentary buff, I've occasionally dashed over to YouTube to see if some company like the people who produce the 'Seconds From Disaster' or 'Mayday' series have done a special on it. But I've left disappointed. No one's ever produced a comprehensive documentary covering the entire sad event. Until now.
Friday morning linksDogs Can Shake 70% of the Water from Their Fur in 4 Seconds, Here's How Helen Gurley Brown Revisited Sale at Sippican Cottage Furniture ‘Hope Springs’ and the true love myth: Is hot sex necessary for a happy marriage? Psychopaths: The Intelligent, Charming Variant Watch a Plane Crash From Inside the Cockpit - Don't worry - everyone survived and is recovering but this is still rough to watch. Study: Men Paying For Sex From Prostitutes Looking For True Love Marketing Meets Higher Ed Christianity & gun owners in the crosshairs: Chilling tactic exposed McCotter: Serial Fraud Kept Congressman in Office GM could be heading for bankruptcy again SPLC’s hatewatch gives cover to hate Expert on Mental Illness Reveals Her Own Fight $100,000 per Year for California Meter Maids Pension Envy - A glimpse into the public-union mind-set Europe: "The Disease Is Incurable" Chicago Erects Memorial Marker to Commemorate Site of Obamas First Kiss at Baskin-Robbins… A Company Saved By Bain Why The Screwed Generation Is Turning To Paul Ryan Gone with the Wind - Green energy firm sacks two-thirds of American workforce days after receiving $32 million government loan How Bad Data Contribute to Global Warming Hysteria Archeology and war: Are we willing to die to save the past? From Kimball's Mitt’s mea culpa & Obama’s Waterloo:
It's a choice election Thursday, August 16. 2012Election 2012: Time for some well-deserved R&R
Personally, I'm quite pleased with the pick. I originally thought that Romney & camp would go the low-key route — especially after the VP candidate in the last election outshone the guy running for the P slot — so picking a firebrand like Ryan showed they do, indeed, have a message for America. That they are, indeed, going to give it a choice. My one regret is that I didn't start saving all of the "Why The Ryan Selection Is Great News For Obama!" links that suddenly popped up. It would have made for a fun post. Seriously, how insane do you have to be to make such a claim? Palin, sure. Newt, Perry, Bachmann, Christie, Pawlenty, Jindal, Portman, sure. I'd agree. All possible good news for Obama. But not Ryan. Not the one guy even Democrats will tip their hat to for knowing his stuff. And these loopy articles weren't on some backwater blog sites. Slate, Politico, Daily Beast, Puffington Host, Boston Globe, Washington Post, NY Times; all have spit out the "This is great news for Obama!" meme since the selection. One wonders, if their immediate reaction to the announcement is gross hyperbole — what's it going to be like from here on out? I'd look for some real zaniness coming out of these sites in the near future. I'll collect some of the better ones for our mutual amusement. The first official piece of zaniness is below the fold, and I'll also expound on why I think Palin not speaking at the convention is a good thing. Long-time readers know I'm a devout Palinite, so it's not an issue I take lightly. Continue reading "Election 2012: Time for some well-deserved R&R" Thursday morning linksAlthouse went to hear Bob (her photo) I'll be seeing him soon Marriage: Wisdom about Happiness from Jane Austen & Lived Experience Column: Girls don't need Obama's help with math The most terrifying horror movie of the summer College Slut Doubles as Hooker: ‘It was the best job a woman in Manhattan could have’ I guess she did the math How to find that perfect husband in college The New York Times' attack on Lolo Jones 5 Differences Between Boys and Real Men - Being 18 and male doesn't make you a man. The Sad Demise Of The Three-Martini Lunch John C. Goodman: Why the Doctor Can't See You - The demand for health care under ObamaCare will increase dramatically. The supply of physicians won't. Get ready for a two-tier system of medical care. Doctor Pay and Social Priorities - Med-school grads make less than business-school grads, and take on far more risk. Is this model sustainable? Social Security Administration To Purchase 174 Thousand Rounds Of Hollow Point Bullets hmmm US Poverty on Track to Rise to Highest since 1960s Welfare Dept. Mailing Roils Massachusetts Senate Race Politico Equates Obama Attacks with Romney Self-Defense Rove: For Romney, Even Means Ahead Democrats Target Janna Ryan Cute Wellesley grad, lawyer, stay at home Mom with three kids. What's not to hate? Paul Ryan, Master Bowhunter Michelle Obama: If You Elect Mitt Women Will Die From Cancer In Harvard essay, young Michelle Obama argued for race-based faculty hiring The Race Card Cometh Again...And Again New Black Panthers to RNC: Our 'Feet Will Be On Your Motherf***ing Necks' Nice The Pitfalls of Private Investing in the Obama Era Obama created a high-risk, low-reward environment, yet the left wonders why companies aren't investing. The shooting: I Blame Rachel Maddow! I blame global warming Obamacare Doubles Premiums for Many Americans Over 100 Million Now Receiving Federal Welfare That's a lot of votes MSNBC Host Uses Racism and Class Warfare to Attack Declaration of Independence Swing state poll: After picking Ryan, Romney now leads in Ohio, Virginia — and Florida
Wednesday, August 15. 2012Political QQQ"This is an election in which we should be talking about the path ahead, but you don't hear any answers coming from President Obama’s reelection campaign. That’s because he's intellectually exhausted, out of ideas and out of energy. And so his campaign has resorted to diversions and distractions, to demagoguing and defaming others. This is an old game in politics; what’s different this year is that the president is taking things to a new low." Mitt Romney, yesterday
Posted by The News Junkie
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13:38
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Weds. morning linksGiant Burmese python caught in Florida DC Boomtown–The New Versailles French riots: Amiens buildings torched in clashes Brown Targets Warren, Class-Warfare Rhetoric The Democrats’ 2012 campaign: A bloody spectacle, almost too horrible to watch Obama's Strange Dependence on Valerie Jarrett 'TAKE YOUR CAMPAIGN OF DIVISION AND ANGER AND HATE BACK TO CHICAGO' - Details here. A quote from Romney:
VDH: ‘White’ on the Brain:
Sultan: The problem with being a moderate:
"Shockingly, the discussion reflected a “deep distrust” of individuals’ ability to make their own decisions." Why We Need Debate, Not Consensus, on Climate Change Leftist Planet - Why do so many travel guides make excuses for dictators?
Why I'm leaving China (fixed - a very interesting article)
Tuesday, August 14. 20122013 Taxes, etc.: I find the entire US Capitol revolting in its grandiosity.Middle-class taxpayers will pay a mere 50 percent of their income in taxes next year! Meanwhile, Auto Bailout Cost Taxpayers $25,000,000,000. I'll say it again: government is a special interest group, and one of the few growth industries left in the US right now. Washington DC is a boom town: people go where the money is.
Taxes are going to rise much further on the middle class. My simple theory is that the Left wants to take the money we all earn in the private sector, take their cut, decide what we need because we are too foolish and feckless to run our own lives, and then expect us to thank them with our votes for the service. They imagine we need care, like sheep, but we just want freedom from them. The Welfare State Industry underestimates the human spirit, and then shackles or cripples people to make their idea come true. Try saving the money to open a corner pizza joint when you're paying a 50% tax rate. Then, try getting a license to sell beer there. Then, consider your employee cost of Obamacare. At some point, people say The Heck With It and you have an empty storefront. That's the way to end up like Euroland, where nobody tries to do anything except to hold on to their safe crappy job, and everybody just waits to retire on the dole to complete their entire safe, spiritless, crappy life while their government betters live it up. Serfdom. It is a mistake for people to ignore the political appeal of the security of serfdom or slavery to the State or the Lord of the Manor, or dependency on the State, as long as those words are not used. Re the photo, I find the entire US Capitol revolting in its grandiosity. What are we - the Roman Empire? Possibly many disagree about that, but, as a New England Yankee with a long pre-revolutionary heritage here, I strongly object to the notion of an imperial city. Those idiots should be meeting in a church basement where they might acquire a little humilty.
Posted by The Barrister
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16:37
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Tuesday morning linksPic via Theo A day late: Happy Left-Handers Day! Photos of abandoned insane asylums What Do You Know How To Do? A History of the Past: 'Life Reeked With Joy' The Frick Museum: SANCTUM IN THE CITY "...the belief in the spiritual superiority of natural things owes more to German paganism than to Christianity." Yep. "Nature" is only valued by those who can easily return to the gifts of civilization. Remarkable interview with Prof. Muller Ryan Pick Targets Key Demographic
Paul Ryan's Overton Window Yet Democrat Erskine Bowles Called Ryan Budget 'Sensible, Straightforward, Serious' "Paul Ryan" - Admit It, I Scare The Ever-Loving Shit Out Of You, Don't I? "Watching some of the Sunday shows ... and reading the usual suspects online, I was struck by how even knowledgeable liberals still do not understand what Obamacare has done to them." The Coming Battle for Medicare:
"Hanson suggests that liberals feel that they are morally superior, doing God’s work, and therefore do not have to obey the rules..." The first ad with Ryan. Not bad: Monday, August 13. 2012I need to empty my wheelbarrow full of linksRNC Chair: Obama 'Has Blood on His Hands' Gasparino: The fight’s on for America’s future Mead: 2012: Suddenly, A Historic Election? The failed policies of the past, or something better? The NYT hates Paul Ryan, so that's a plus. Paul Ryan means even more trouble for an already troubled Obama campaign
Posted by The News Junkie
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13:30
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