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. |
Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page
Categories
QuicksearchLinks
Blog Administration |
Saturday, June 30. 2012Saturday afternoon linksWe had some internet glitches today but now the Farm is open for business again. Let's blame the fathers Curious George Will Give You Lung Cancer Purple Heart for PTSD? Advocates Say Yes Life causes PTSD. It's just a matter of degree. John Roberts’s Compromise of 2012 75% of Obamacare Costs Will Fall on Backs of Those Making Less Than $120K a Year
"Probably"? Farmers: Friday, June 29. 2012A note re Obamacare, from a Bird Dog PupetteAn email from one of my kids: I just came up this this at my desk. "New services" means new medical services people will use now that they have insurance - along the lines of preventative care etc, which in my option may decrease "S" in the long term but not enough for an overall economic benefit. This model assumes the cost of insurance will be the same for everyone. My colleagues think it is a pretty robust equation. Seems to me she gets to the heart of it. No, insurance companies cannot afford it without raising rates to a level which is impossible for the middle class and unacceptible to the federal regulators. Like requiring people to buy hybrid Rolls Royces that they don't want and cannot use. Then the companies will be blamed for the prices and few will remember that the government required the whole mess (just like the housing bubble). As we have noted many times, Obamacare: A System Designed to Fail. Image below via Moonbattery. Here's one opinion: Barry Hussein Obama’s magical unicorn ride to Socialist Utopia, day 1
Posted by Bird Dog
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
10:38
| Comments (4)
| Trackbacks (0)
Friday morning linksPhotos: Before and after views of neighborhood burned by Waldo Canyon fire South Portland Schools Now Instructing Mothers To Just Have The Obstetrician Scrape Off The Vernix And Drop The Thing Off At The School National Lampoon's European Vacation - Chevy Chase would love this one. Dr. Vibrant's Back: Richard Florida Redux Health-Reform is Constitutional: Here are the Tax Implications Health Care Law Has Already Lost in Court of Public Opinion Henninger is right, here: The President That Time Forgot - ObamaCare was a legislative monolith, out of sync with an iPad world. With 51 Senators, GOP can eliminate mandate Bad Deal on Student Loans - Taxpayers should be suspicious. Clown Science: Liberal vs Conservative Brains David Brooks is so gosh-darned cute when he tries to explain Republicans to Democrats. Bird group sues Obama administration over wind power Screw Tibet: Hollywood Embraces China's Censorship Thursday, June 28. 2012Big Brother update
First off, in case you missed it, you might want to glance over my first post on spy drones. I then started collecting articles for a future post, and here we are. But what's to note is that these aren't a bunch of whiny, bitchy rantings on some backwater blog site (like, you know, mine), but coming from the major news organizations. I would also note that I mentioned the 'private sector' in the above post, and the first two links here are what I was referring to. All the rest have to do with our beloved Beware the spy in the sky - Daily Mail
Google's, Apple's eyes in the sky draw scrutiny - Reuters Big Brother’s all-seeing eye - Washington Times Talk of drones patrolling U.S. skies spawns anxiety - Washington Times Don't let drones invade our privacy - CNN Drones over America: Are they spying on you? - MSNBC Drones, computers new weapons of U.S. shadow wars - USA Today Massive experimental drone takes to skies above Edwards AFB - LA Times 64 Drone Bases Located On American Soil - Slashdot Is a Military Drone Base Coming to Your Hometown? - ABC News So, as these things go, it's nice to see the major news organizations aren't backing away from the story. I suppose this is figuring that all the while they're planning on building up their own 'eye in the sky' fleets. As soon as one news organization scoops everybody with some really boss footage of some horrendous disaster using a drone, they'll all have to jump on board. Those are the rules. And all of that just barely scratches the surface. Continue reading "Big Brother update" Thurs. morning linksHow happy hour can help your heart, boost brainpower, and even flatten your belly Somin: Final Thoughts on the Eve of the Individual Mandate Decision 75 Percent of Women Say They Won't Date Unemployed Men USDA Wants Americans to Throw Parties to Get More People on Food Stamps Drug Approved for Chronic Weight Management Michelle Obama Descended From Slave Owner Debunking The Fast & Furious Gun Control Conspiracy Kimball: Univ of VA as a Microcosm of Educational Profligacy We're From the Government, and We're Here to Help You Lose Weight Barack Obama Makes Youth Appeal Based on Irresponsibility Ideological Litmus Test at University of Wisconsin Explosive Video Documents Depth of Putin's Mafia State Germany: To Save the Euro, Leave It I am with a fearful neoneo on this:
Wednesday, June 27. 2012Weds. morning linksCollege For All? No, Too Many Waiters And Janitors Have Degrees Crowdsourcing a New Report On Government Job Destruction “Antarctic ice shelves not melting at all, new field data show” Prediction: Global Warming Will Cause Everything EPA fines oil refiners for failing to use nonexistent biofuel Obama’s Ineffective Reelection Argument Obama to campaign on … change? Or on more of the same? Obama campaign uses company with operations in India and China to book travel VICTIMHOOD, THE UNKNOWN IDEAL ! Germans Look To Obama Only As An Example Of What Not To Do Interior secretary: State fracking oversight just isn’t good enough for me Tuesday, June 26. 2012New Jokes about the Idiots in Washington
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects
at
14:10
| Comment (1)
| Trackbacks (0)
Tuesday morning linksThose two peacocks are the same color Your lying eyes “The decline of America began with the replacement of hamburgers and bourbon with quiche and chardonnay.” How Bt Corn And Roundup Ready Soy Work - And Why They Should Not Scare You Viewing Images of High-Calorie Foods Brings On High-Calorie Cravings, Research Finds Duh What is So Good About Growing Old Everybody must get stoned "Economic freedom is the best tool man has ever had in the perpetual struggle against poverty." "I have written before of my belief that climate has become the first post-modern science." Via Insty, Government wants more people on food stamps Road to serfdom FBI Tracking 100 Suspected Extremists In Military MITT ROMNEY, A MODERN DAY FITZWILLIAM DARCY? Decline In Obama's Chicago Clue To His Second Term Arizona Senate President says Obama is acting like a 'spoiled child VDH: Is the Country Unraveling?
Egypt's Lesson: Incitement is Not a Secondary Issue Yeshiva University Team Discovers the Arch of Titus Menorah's Original Golden Color A Hamas victory at the UN Human Rights Council
Monday, June 25. 2012Free speech livesDespite the wishes of the Left, free speech remains foundational in the USA. What is amazing to me is that there were any votes on the Supremes opposed. Why would anybody in America want to squelch voices and opinions? Unless they have contempt for the peoples' opinions? It's a sickness, and it has a foothold, but not quite a majority, on the Court. We The People need all points of view, and we have the duty to apply our BS Detectors and biases as best we can. Seems to me that politicians are the biggest purveyors of self-interested BS, but their expensive speech cannot be outlawed. Monday morning linksImage above: Matisse's 1906 Le Bonheur de Vivre. It's in the new Barnes Museum in Philly. Is food medicine? Immortality is but a diet away. Putting Failed States on the Map EU should 'undermine national homogeneity' says UN migration chief Morsi Says “Our Capital Shall Be Jerusalem!” Bawer: Fear and Loathing of Reality at ‘The Nation’ Romney Is Mr. Normal:
Rex Murphy on Obama: America’s celebrity president The Obama campaign never sold Obama; it sold the idea of Obama. Obama/Biden campaign hit bottom with wedding gift appeal MSNBC Yapper: Top Dem Senators Fed Up With Obama’s Incompetence NYT: Democrats shocked to discover that 2,700-page Obamacare bill that no one read or understood could be ruled unconstitutional How ObamaCare Increases Income Inequality Obama: We need more taxes and regulations, so we can have more bottom-up economics Hmong pilots saluted in Maplewood A response to Dr. Paul Bain’s use of ‘denier’ in the scientific literature
Sunday, June 24. 2012Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012I took Chemistry from a Nobel winner chemist in a classroom of 250 eager students, many of them hopeful pre-meds. He clearly had been assigned to one undergrad class, but he didn't seem to resent it. He had fun talking to a class of undergrads, but he talked about whatever he wanted to, whatever was on his mind. He liked to talk about how the planet was running out of oil so there would be no substrate left for medicines and organic chemicals. He said everything you need to know is in the textbook and, if you are confused, try to grab a TA. Well, the impatient TAs had zero interest in that chore. As a result, many of us formed study groups which were great fun. I wanted to learn Chem so as not to be an ignorant person, and later took Organic for the same reason, despite being a History major. The Chem exams were a bitch. The five in my study group all got As, back before grade inflation. Science grades were curved. The reason our group did so well was partly because one of our study approaches was to create difficult problems for eachother. We'd meet at night in an empty classroom and do everything on the blackboard (remember them?). Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012
Posted by The Barrister
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
14:25
| Comments (9)
| Trackbacks (0)
Saturday, June 23. 2012Weed without the highGenius Israeli scientists have produced a medical marijuana without THC. I'm sure this will be a big hit. Saturday morning linksA History of Women’s Bathing Suits The beautiful Friesian horse Stanford White-Designed Fifth Avenue Mansion Sells For $42 M., 2012 Townhouse Record You overweight folks are damaging the planet Should people be taxed by the pound? By the UN, of course? Alert! World on the verge of chocolate crisis What sorts of people are in super-max prisons? Microsoft Surface Could Totally Change the Tablet and PC Markets Checking the APA's Findings on Homosexual Parenting Back to the City - Young millennials prefer urban living, says Alan Ehrenhalt. Cities are much more fun for young single people Tinsel Town has hijacked Obama’s campaign They bought it, they own it Europeans hate to work Europe’s Self-Inflicted Decline: French Taxing, Italian Regulating, Greek Mooching, and IMF Economic Illiteracy Obama Wants Your Birthday Money & Wedding Gifts Good grief Lawyers, lawyers everywhere and no straight story Obviously Death by government health care
You Lefties know the answer. Napolitano: Can the President Rewrite Federal Law? California high speed rail is dead Obama widens Latino voting gap The Negative Effects of Minimum Wage Laws Doctor Claims Euthanasia Significant Part of British Health System Should We Hire Even More Teachers, Cops, and Firemen? How Badly Does the New York Times Hate the Third World? Obama’s lies and the media’s betrayal Defense Spending Has Actually Shrunk Relative To The Economy Over The Last 40 Years - What’s Happening in Iraq After the U.S. Withdrawal? An interview with Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, an Anglo-Iraqi political analyst Sorry, Washington Post, Romney didn’t get rich moving U.S. jobs overseas Friday, June 22. 2012355 jobs for $10 billion tax dollarsThe Withering Cost Of The Shiny, Green Jobs What does this say about the government's respect for the money we send them?
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects
at
13:31
| Comments (2)
| Trackbacks (0)
Friday morning linksThe Birth of Zoning Codes, a History Americans’ pre-crisis wealth was an illusion Well-behaved women don't deserve a spot at Princeton Should Rich Families Leave Their Wealth to Their Children? Why can't women have it all? The answer is simple: because no one can. Helpful Hints for Bloggers and Moms: Fielding Insults 101 Surprise: Economic Mobility is Alive and Well in America! Deeply sorry they were born white Average raise in 2009-10 for CEOs of 18 nonprofits double that for private-industry workers Ponzi Comes Full Circle: ECB Will Rate Sovereign Bonds It Accepts As Collateral 70% of people in Mexico are overweight Rich people are skinny If you want to see a liberal media member's head explode, compare Fast and Furious to Watergate. If you want to see an entire newsroom freak out, say that Fast and Furious is worse than Watergate. Rio +20 Earth Summit: Wandering Through the People’s Summit The Cuba Fallacy - Lifting the U.S. embargo would not bring democracy to Havana. The truth about Germany and the 'clean energy economy' ‘Marked for Life’ in North Korea Thursday, June 21. 2012Thursday morning linksWhat's wrong with being a yummy mummy? Isn't choice a good thing? The Beach Boys still get around Impact of Student Debt on Future Housing Demand Washington, DC's Capital Bikeshare: Tax $$$ for Rich, Educated, White Riders There's A Triple Tax Increase In Your Future Unions against pay increases Larry Summers says he has no idea about how to save Europe Was most of Obama's autobio fictional? Who is Barack Obama and why has he been saying those untrue things about himself? Tom Friedman says Obama needs an economic recovery plan Huh? The French determined to destroy business Flaming the Flame: The Case of the Mysterious Cyberleaks After Years of War, Taliban Becoming Drug Cartel Stolen Kremlin records show how the Soviets, including Gorbachev, created many of today’s Middle East conflicts Washington’s Ten Thousand Commandments - Regulations and red tape should be campaign issues this year. The Legality of an Attack against Iranian Nuclear Facilities Hinderaker: Obama’s Claim of Executive Privilege: It’s Frivolous Wednesday, June 20. 2012Gunwalker hits homeThanks to Issa's persistence. Why didn't the admin simply say that it was a bad plan, so they stopped it? How hard is that to say? Only administrative incompetence could have led to this spiraling mess. McCarthy: The Plot Thickens: Obama Asserts Executive Privilege to Block Fast & Furious Disclosures. How good is this guy?
This is from back when F&F was ordered by Obama in 2009 (thanks, reader):
Thus, a lousy and aggressive, if reckless, border plan, OK'ed by Obama and Holder, that resulted tragically. A fatal SNAFU, resulting in American deaths and many Mexican deaths. Why not just say so? Admit a well-intentioned but ultimately tragic error. That is termed "manning-up." There is nothing much to conceal here that I can see. Unless there are tons of unfortunate emails about the PR approach to the mess that would be embarassing to the Administration. Stupid, unnessary cover-up? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Or am I missing something? This is stupid stuff. The Admin's covert leaks to the media are the bigger scandal. This is a sideshow, despite these terrible and unnecessary deaths. Nobody died in Watergate. Brian Terry's Family: Turn Over The Documents, Mr. President. Jamie Zapata's Family Files Suit Against the DoJ Executive Privilege Kicks Off Regular Season
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
15:37
| Comments (32)
| Trackbacks (0)
Weds. morning links: First day of summer, in the northVia Insty, 10 things not to say to someone when they’re ill The 50th Anniversary of “Silent Spring”: A Lethal Legacy Shocker: California Looks To Use Cap And Trade Revenue For Non-climate Purposes Asians Pass Latinos as Biggest Immigrant Group Let's have Michael Novak school Michelle Obama Obama Bows to Mexican President How Mitt Romney Will Lose Immigration Issue to Obama, Who Has Deported Record Numbers of Immigrants. Mr Barroso, Europe’s crisis has nothing to do with America Problems with Romney: He says "gosh" and "golly" Problems with Romney: Invented ones - LIB MEDIA LIARS BUSTED – Purposely Distort Romney Speech in Highly Edited Wawa Moment AP’s Job Openings Coverage Understates Significance of Steep Drop Report: Connecticut was among nation's worst at saving for public benefits The Widening Gap Update - States are $1.38 Trillion Short in Funding Retirement Systems China’s Caribbean Adventure - Beijing is flooding the region with investment. Should America be worried? Obama's DREAM Act Decree - Not As 'Advertised' (Much Worse) Official PA terminology guide: Instead of "terror" say "resistance" Tuesday, June 19. 2012"Ungovernable"The MSM pundits always wail about "ungovernable" when their pets fail at their jobs. I remember when NYC was said to be ungovernable when Dinkins was mayor. It was amusing and gratifying to see how governable, prosperous, and civilized NYC became when Giuliani was elected. Taranto discusses the history of the "ungovernable" meme. Related: Romney Holds Lead Over Obama for Eleven Days Straight
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects
at
14:58
| Comments (4)
| Trackbacks (0)
Tuesday morning linksSamuelson: Scrapping college for all (Part 2) Obama Caves, Won't Force 1,200 Kids Back Into Failed DC School System Obama the Reactionary King Con: The Legend of Obama
Klavan: I oppose Obama because he's black Chicago Teachers Union Demands 30 Percent Pay Raise VDH: "Securitygate" — the Administration's Release of Covert Details of the War on Terror is Far More Serious than either Watergate or Iran-Contra The U.N.'s Internet Power Grab - Leaked documents show a real threat to the international flow of information. More UN: “Sustainable justice” = redistribution of scarcity:
A Tale of Two Trials: Soviet Propaganda at Home and Abroad Monday, June 18. 2012Monday morning linksFor Everything Else, There’s the Marx Card Albert John ('Van') Van der Leun: A Sharp Man How the Recession Made Me a Gentrifier in My Home Town How San Francisco Rent Control Laws Distort the City's Housing Market and Benefit the Rich Remember this? Clinton Signs Legislation Overhauling Banking Laws Top 10 Things President Romney Can Do Now That We Know Old Media Approves of Rescinding Laws by Executive Order California Ushers In a New Era of Bipartisan Plunder - The Golden State descends to a new low. Thornton: The Pathologies of Progressivism:
Sunday, June 17. 2012Sunday morning linksPhoto via the Pirate. Dads become Dads by being charmed by somebody like that. Don't go to art school if you want to learn to paint A new book: Dark Pools: High-Speed Traders, A.I. Bandits, and the Threat to the Global Financial System Well, HFT seems to have faded out. Too many algos fighting eachother over pennies. America's Friendliest Places for Starting a Business Ottawa airport wired with microphones as Border Services prepares to record travellers’ conversations Researchers Whose Work Was Cited to Justify Bloomberg’s Large Soda Ban Explain Why it Won’t Work
You know who’s hurting women? Rich women like Ann Romney “I’m a Sexy Woman, So Stop Objectifying Me!” I'm a sexy man. I can't help it. Wish women would stop objectifying me, and appreciate me for who I really am. Well, maybe not... Good Grief! New Study Says I’m A Democrat!
Peter Hart (D) Focus Group: Independents Who Voted For Obama Are Now Turning Away ‘Green grabs’: The dark side of the green economy
“We have evolved,” the professor concluded his piece, “to need coercion.” Coercion by you, no doubt... How much do you know about Obamacare? Gov. Scott Walker: Let's grow our nation's independence, not dependence Clint Eastwood:
Steyn: Ground Control to President Obama Goodwin's O invents own legend:
You don’t Say: ‘Young illegal immigrants’ amnesty could tighten competition for jobs, college’ Via Insty, NIH Panel Urges Steps to Control Growth in Biomedical Research Trainees A Polish village's forgotten Jewish dead Saturday, June 16. 2012Why Obama's immigration move is politically smartIt may be sneaky, cynical, and seems like a unconstitutional abuse of power, but this is hardball politics being played here. It's a power play, to mix metaphors. Here are the clever parts: Obama preempts Rubio's plan (they want to kneecap Rubio), it helps with some key states, and anybody who opposes the idea seems cruel (it's not as if most Americans worry about Constitutional nuance - mostly people seem to just like an idea, not like it, or not care). So whether his proposal ever comes to pass or not, Obama has called "Check!" on the Hispanic and immigration issue. Maybe Checkmate on the politics of those issues. He is following the plan to pander to each constituency, each "community" he can. Solidifying a possibly-wavering base of voters with goodies of all sorts, and conveying caring sentiments. Obama wants to win. I don't know why. I spose it's a sport and winning is the point. Axelrod has lots of tricks up his sleeve. He's from Chicago so you cannot misunderestimate him. They play rough, and they cheat without qualms. See Obama’s policy strategy: Ignore laws. Laws are just a nuisance when there is so much at stake.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
12:06
| Comments (9)
| Trackback (1)
Saturday morning linksYour dad, your hero - Happy Father’s Day to the old man:
Should Women Marry Young or Old? How Much Licensing is Too Much Licensing? It's the 41st Anniversary of Our Shameful, Deadly and Costly War on Drugs. Can We Call a Cease-Fire Ilya: Do Government Subsidies for Health Care Justify Paternalistic Soda Pop Regulations? Hey, let's decriminalize drugs, and criminalize soda pop Gee, I Wonder Why Teen Unemployment Is So High? Mead: There Are No Winners In The War Against The Young Not Your Daddy’s Republican Party. Neither is it your big brother's. ... instead of going to Ohio on Thursday with a compelling plan for the future, the president gave Americans a falsehood wrapped in a fallacy. Eurabia update How to defund the Left Steven J. Rosen: Israeli Settlements,American Pressure, and Peace Nixon Emerges a Victor in ‘War on History’ Waged in the Wake of Watergate Lamar Smith: Obama's amnesty for illegal immigrants is against the law That doesn't matter. It's a powerful political gesture, at least. TNR: Obama’s Immigration Move is Huge News. Here’s Why. Breaking Its own Rules: Amnesty’s Researcher Bias and Gov’t Funding Oh, My: Survey Says -- 75% of Doctors to Drop Medicare The story of the Beautiful Cities movement:
Watergate and the leaksMost Americans do not remember the details of the Watergate charges and facts, if they ever knew them. Instead, the word Watergate has been used to villify President Nixon, most of what he stood for, and almost any scandal since is called a -gate. Fred Thompson was the Republican counsel on the Congressional Watergate Committee. In a look back that is important to read, Thompson reflects on the context, the charges, the findings and what the findings ignored. As the subtitle of the piece says, "Caricatures of the evil Nixon don’t help us learn how to counter abuses of power." Today, we still suffer, not just domestic breakins or coverups but the far worse wholesale usurpation of Congressional power by this President, the betrayal of allies, and the gross undermining of our national security. A taste of Thompson:
Oh, and remember, millions of lives were lost to the communist takeover of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, once the Watergate reaction put a large Democrat majority in Congress.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
in History, Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
00:33
| Comments (4)
| Trackbacks (0)
« previous page
(Page 271 of 496, totaling 12398 entries)
» next page
|