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 |
Monday, November 19. 2012"Megastorm" SandyBy the time Sandy hit the northest coastline, she was no longer a hurricane. She had degraded into a husky Nor'easter, but, with the coincidence of a full moon, her storm surge was well above that of the ordinary Nor'easter. Not a "megastorm" as the news hyped it. I knew that just by taking a walk outside on that Monday evening. Blustery, but not hurricane-blustery. In the northeast, we are accustomed to the inconveniences of powerful Nor'easters. Trees fall down. The sea surges over the beach. Not unusual. However dramatic and destructive Sandy was, she was nothing like other storms of the past century. What has changed is not storms (we've had far fewer in recent decades). What has changed is coastal development in historic flood zones in the densely-populated northeasern US. It's a bad idea, and should never have been subsidized by the federal government. It's the same stupidity on the gulf coast. Free market flood insurance would have largely prevented most of the damage because people would not have built things in flood zones. Subsidized flood insurance had the predictable unintended consequence of promoting development of flood zones. A perverse incentive. Flood zones should be for animals, not for peoples' houses. John Hinderaker has an interesting take on the politics of Sandy.
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects
at
14:53
| Comments (11)
| Trackbacks (0)
Monday morning linksChart above is via Too much education makes people economically dumb because each of those blue states is in serious economic trouble Video: Extraordinary white humpback whale off Norway Barefoot running This Survey Is Devastating For Microsoft: 42% Of Windows Users Plan To Switch To Apple Meet the Man Responsible for the Death of Canada's Gun Registry (h/t SDA Leading psychiatrists question psychiatry's diagnostic manual 8 Reasons Homeschooling Is Superior to Public Education - Almost all of our Founding Fathers, the most brilliant authors and orators of all time, were home-schooled. Fight Over Nativity Scene In Santa Monica Heads To Court Something to be thankful for: real cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for ten this year is 1.4% cheaper than last year Is Giant Reed a 'Miracle Plant' or the Next Kudzu? Skilled women needed for real jobs Claim: EPA Head Used Secret Email to Hide Documents Why Paris Hilton Makes a Poor Poster Child for the Death Tax Obama’s “tax negotiations” are no such thing Campus bans Ann Coulter, invites professor who calls sex with animals potentially ‘satisfying’ Pelosi Unsure on 11th & 14th Amendments: ‘Whatever It Is, I’m with the Constitution’ In 37 Chicago Precincts, Romney Received No Votes For all the gnashing of teeth about the inequities of American health care, for now, at least, Americans have the best access to timely health care. The EPA hearts Big Ethanol
Betting with Trillions - Prison of Debt Paralyzes West Kissinger: Iran must be President Obama’s immediate priority UPDATE: BBC and CNN React to Pallywood Video Footage Gaza Mess is Obama’s Fault Too Sunday, November 18. 2012Sunday morning linksMy pic is Fairfield, CT's Greenfield Hill Congregational Church. Timothy Dwight was once pastor there. This back country congregation was gathered in 1725. History of the church here. Always must remember that a church is the people, not the building. The sun unleashed a monster eruption of super-hot plasma Friday Long Island Residents Dealing With Sandy-Related Garbage Nightmare Lincoln: A review 65% of the 392 top colleges surveyed maintain speech codes and other restrictions on expression that violate First Amendment principles How Free Speech Died on Campus - A young activist describes how universities became the most authoritarian institutions in America:
Ranchers, farmers brace for 'death tax' impact View from the Left: Obama Won. Now It's Time to Change the System
Why are Hispanics a privileged minority when Irish aren't? Adultery: Medieval Barbarism — It Wasn’t All Bad Hunch: Obama doesn’t want a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff FEMA: Welfare Masquerading as Disaster Relief - FEMA's head defends the agency's post-hurricane response by saying that emergency relief is not its job. An Unusually Stupid Court Ruling on race in schools
The New York Times Sides With Hamas Real Racism And Hatred In America Is the Muslim Brotherhood Behind Protests for a Change in Jordan? The elite currently in power in the Western mass media is never going to comprehend the Middle East
Saturday, November 17. 2012Things the MSM swept under the rug for the past four yearsIt has long been my view that the O is/was a celebrity candidate, a fluffy media creation lacking in substance and in mastery of anything but smooth talk. A sweet-talking guy. For a related essay, see I began to make a mental list of the potential news items over recent years which would have been pounded, would have been subjects of relentless, damaging front-page stories, had Obama been a Republican. - More Americans in poverty than in decades Add your own lists and items in the comments. It's therapeutic!
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
13:12
| Comments (10)
| Trackbacks (0)
Rush says he was wrongRush Limbaugh: We've Got To Fight In The Sphere of The Culture. I think he's right, at least in part. Rush's tendency is to imagine that voters apply hard logic. It puzzles him when they do not. However, in retail politics, cultural signals and tribal signals matter. Policy wonks like me think it's superficial, but you can't get a policy until you win an election. There are plenty of low-info voters out there who vote on emotion, affinity-feelings, and things like that. Mitt Romney was an excellent candidate on paper, but too many voters just couldn't "relate" to the guy. Actually, he did quite well, all things considered. A quote from Ace's post:
The "culture" doesn't care what gays do, and doesn't want to know or to think about it. The "culture" likes pop music. The "culture" is squeamish and ambivalent about abortion, and prefers to sort-of accept it and ignore it. These things are signals, not real policy issues. Let's face it: Conservatism and Libertarianism is a bit dorky. Mitt Romney probably never heard of Beyonce, and all I know of her is the name. Would not know her from Adam. I am more of a JS Bach guy. An East Village dork, but you wouldn't know it if you met me in the pub.
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
12:32
| Comments (11)
| Trackbacks (0)
Saturday morning links
It's Katrina redux, but with mostly white faces this time. Retirement Plans Can Make Loans, Hardship Distributions to Sandy Victims The best thing I ever did for my kids’ education is getting her out of the Saskatoon Public School System MSM falls for “New Coke” poverty con Raging against reality in Euroland Maine’s striking Hostess workers say company’s collapse a strong message of union resolve New White House Petition Demands Obama Nationalize Twinkie Industry General failure - Senior officers’ ethical collapse BREAKING: The president knew the truth about Benghazi How’s That Obamacare Waiver Workin’ Out for Ya? NRC Report on Electricity Grid Vulnerability Intel officials unable to say who changed CIA talking points on Libya, lawmaker says McCain Smashes Obama Back: You're Incompetent or Corrupt People’s Republik Of California Now #1 In Poverty The Poor We Shall Always Have With Us. . . as long we keep using the new supplemental poverty measure. If you get your health insurance through a job, you might lose it as of Jan. 1, 2014 The Audacity of 51% - Get ready for higher taxes and no spending reform. Compassionate Conservatism Redux - Bush 43 was on to something important, and he got the votes to prove it. Gov. Rick Scott: Get over the election Ron Paul’s farewell speech (VIDEO)
Europe's Baby Boxes & China's Coerced Abortions Nicaraguan democracy is being snuffed out. Russia expands treason law, critics fear crackdown If the past is any guide, increased conflict in Gaza will be accompanied by international demands for Israeli restraint, frivolous accusations of Israeli war crimes, and perhaps even complaints to the International Criminal Court The Muslim Brotherhood's rise in Egypt, the chaos in Sinai and new alliances born of Syria's civil war made Hamas think it could attack Israel with impunity Has the High Commissioner for Human Rights gone mute?
Friday, November 16. 2012Friday morning linksWhether you’re pushed into a major decision by loving emotions or anger and disappointment, watch out; the forces behind your decision might be pushing you off a cliff. Out of Touch - E-reading isn’t reading. Could You Live On Social Security? Cheap surgery: Oklahoma Doctors vs. Obamacare - Surgery center provides free-market medicine. Did the Election Save ObamaCare? Obama Administration Just as Scared of Carbon Taxes as the Rest of America Failing School Has Every Teacher and Principal Rated ‘Highly Effective’ When recent graduates don’t know how our government is supposed to work or how our economy works — and they voted for Obama by a wide margin — that’s a general-education problem. How the Welfare State Hurts the Poor and Causes Unemployment Papa John’s faces food fight over Obamacare VDH: Oh, We Forgot to Tell You... Surprise! Jobless Claims Up 78,000 Week After Election; PA, OH Worst Hit It's the American people who are to blame, for it is we who have lost our morality and our love, knowledge, and respect for our Constitution Obama Administration Gave Petraeus's Wife a $187,605-Per-Year Job What Has Movement Conservatism Accomplished in the Last 15 Years? Fake Indian has fake conversation to avoid fake journalists To Protect Obama From Libya, Media Turns McCain Into Captain Ahab Benghazigate: Obama Now Blaming Petraeus for Rice’s Video Lie Jesse Jackson Jr. says Jesse Jackson Jr. is disabled and if you agree, he’ll go away. Barack Obama's Persuasion Army - The president has finally made the permanent campaign a reality.
Libya timeline suggests cover-up in attack - Hearings aim to get to truth China’s Illicit Flows Are ‘Big Issue’ for Money Laundering Miraculous Recovery by Injured Gaza Man? Pallywood is in high gear as Gazans dupe BBC viewers in time-honored style. Accountability of Hamas under International Humanitarian Law Fact Sheets #42: Hamas Gaza: Would You Raise Your Child in This Neighborhood? Thursday, November 15. 2012Thurs morning links5 Cars That Depreciate In Value The Most Five whooping cranes bed down in Alabama on cross country migration Harsh review: As Not Seen on TV - Restaurant Review: Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square String Theory Now on Life Support Do You Trust the Government with Your Computer? American Service Sector Now Outpacing Manufacturing Google rakes in more ad dollars than entire US print media The Demise of Twinkies? Yes, It’s True. Parasitic Unions Kill Their Hosts (or, in this case, Hostess) ‘Saudi Dakota’ sets more records for oil production in September as US moves towards world’s top oil producer Special Report: How a vicious circle of self-interest sank a California city HuffPo Blames Sandy on Global Warming, Meteorologist Responds Commenter at Watts re the EU:
That's for sure. Nobody. At Drudge:
Obama Admits White House Gave Ambassador Rice Bogus Information on Benghazi The presser:
Like he doesn't know. Obama’s uninformative press conference Still lying constantly: Same Old Obama Does he lie and deceive more than any president ever? He does it without consequence, because the press has his back. Sultan: "The difference between the left and the right is that the left has a five-year plan and the right has a five-second plan." Do conservatives need better Coalition Politics? Obama's TV Ad Campaign Targeted Low-Information, Unlikelier Voters In Cable Reruns Related: Inside Obama's shadow campaign The WaPo Marvels At Obama’s Luck And Timing Ways and Means issues yet another subpoena for Sebelius Reid: This Scott Brown guy is a highly partisan “travesty”
Lessons for an Army During War A stunning initial success for the IDF. Now what? The World Hears Only Arab Claims-What About the Kurds? Is Obama Purging Military Commanders? Wednesday, November 14. 2012President: Easiest job in the world?Perhaps it can be, if you are never engaged with any of the details. In response to our link this morning to What Does Barack Obama Do All Day?, a reader offered this sample presidential schedule from last July - well before the campaign got going: White House Schedule - July 15 to July 21, 2012. Is it possible he really doesn't know what is going on? I recall reading that, at the Harvard Law Review, he never did any of the work or ever wrote anything, and would just stop in occasionally to briefly say Hi to everybody. It's curiously unengaged, and many hard-working people might term it lazy. Why pursue the job if you don't like to work? Or is the presidency really the easiest job in the world in which 99.9% of the effort is delegated? How many private sector CEOs play as much golf and basketball as Obama does? Roger has opined here that the job is to be a political figurehead on the bow of a great partisan ship. You show up once in a while, and some PR person tells you what to say. You say it in mellifluous tones, then run off to the golf course or to a fancy fund-raising party where everybody kisses your behind.
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
17:49
| Comments (5)
| Trackbacks (0)
Weds. morning linksToo many smart Asians Chevy Volt update:
What Does Barack Obama Do All Day? VDH: A Country Unhinged:
Fordham University Pressures Campus Republicans to Cancel Coulter Speech Her speech is too dangerous and subversive for young minds... Today’s plot twist: Police find Paula Broadwell’s driver’s license in D.C. park Blackmail: Krauthammer: White House 'Held Affair Over Petraeus's Head' For Favorable Testimony On Benghazi Stick it to blue states a/k/a Country First:
Bookworm: The cult of personality trumped ordinary considerations Citizens United Not End of the World Is Obamacare too much work for the Obama administration? Old Soviet jokes become the new American reality ‘Robust’ EU sanctions no match for Tehran’s tricks, experts say - ‘By the time one company is blacklisted, the Iranians have set up 10 new ones’ 'Absolutely no way’ Arafat was poisoned, says top doctor who teaches at Paris hospital where Palestinian leader died Tuesday, November 13. 2012Tuesday morning links5 Deep Insights Gained from Watching Hoarders - What you can learn about yourself from people who sleep on garbage and pee in a bucket. A new Rolling Stones collection Bond Girls Through the Years A wonderful Elvis moment “No Meat on Mondays in Los Angeles” DC’s Mexico play - A rare chance to end drug war British Police Arrest Man for Burning a Poppy and Posting the Picture on Twitter It's not a bug, it's a feature. Higher poverty = Dem votes. Decline and Fall - California votes for more: taxes, spending, debt, government THE CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD CAN DISBAND Here's What Your Taxes Will Look Like In Obama's Second Term Sultan plays tactician (and it makes sense to me): How we can win Re-elected, Obama takes aim at religious liberty Hinderaker: It’s Time to Let the Bush-Era Tax Rates Expire Public Outrage Turns Against Businesses Struggling to Cope with High Obamacare Costs Monday, November 12. 2012Back to 'Normal'Like some (or many) of Maggie's readers and contributors, my family and I were bedeviled the past two weeks by Sandy and a freak winter storm. We encountered Sandy after returning from a visit with my son, who is in Ohio at college. While we were in Ohio, we picked up flashlights, batteries and other odds and ends, having been forewarned that these items were sold out already in New Jersey. On the drive from Ohio back to NJ we were surprised to see so many trucks from utility companies. All were headed toward the storm, making my "it's all hype" attitude shift toward one of "what do they know that I don't? I sure am glad they are taking this seriously." In July, I wrote about how we take some things for granted, and the mindset of progress. I wrote it after a storm which made me think about why we put so much effort into clean-ups. After Sandy, I'll double down on what I wrote, because there are attitudes which are geared toward productivity and those which are not. Productive people prepare for the worst, and then begin to build as soon as the worst has past. What I saw, within 24 hours of the storm, was virtually every house on my block clearing debris off their yards to prepare for pickup by the Department of Public Works. Several of us took it a step further and started making runs down to the Conservation Center instead of waiting for DPW. I was amazed at how quickly all of us put our minds toward moving past the storm. As concerned as we were with the lack of power, there were bigger issues to deal with, both at that moment and in the days ahead. Continue reading "Back to 'Normal'" Monday morning linksAffairs are partly about narcissism Matt Steele Outdoors (3) Shooting Grip Essentials England: And Next They Came For Bacon Sex, Yale, God, and ‘Raunch Feminism’ Move to San Francisco, Get a Free Sex Change ... the Obama administration spent $5.60 for every $1 of economic growth. Foodstamps Surge By Most In One Year To New All Time Record, In Delayed Release Denmark seriously rethinking the world’s first “fat tax”
Can't count on Rasmussen anymore Good Boy: Obama Lets Obedient Media Know Their Place After Election “Imagine the howls if Bush played golf during the post-Katrina cleanup.” Now They Tell Us: Costs of the GM Bailout The Disappointment of Living in an Electoral Republic Sarah Westwood: Advice From a Lonely College Republican - The GOP is like a supermodel who's been doing photo shoots under fluorescent bulbs without any makeup. MORE DEAD BODIES Discovered in Sandy’s Wake – Media Yawns – Obama Golfs Not Quite Like Being There - Firefights and ambushes make for melodrama, but our soldiers' most difficult struggles are more mundane Forward! Canada Lures Energy Workers from U.S. Diplomats still in Benghazi say they had long questioned U.S. reliance on local militia China's next first lady: a folk singer who threatens to shake up political life Dark Blots on the Blank Slate - An epic yet intimate history of how the Soviets attempted to remake every aspect of life in Eastern Europe in the wake of World War II. Saturday, November 10. 2012Saturday morning linksThe Pros and Cons of One-Night Stands Oliver Sacks on indigo How Bimbos Saved the American Republic Behind Downton Abbey:
To understand the revolution in modern energy, we should first understand something about horsepower BURN GASOLINE TO PREVENT CLIMATE CHANGE Hooray!… 44,000 Member Airport Screeners Union Ratifies Contract With Government
With Obama Re-elected, States Scramble Over Health Law Morning Bell: What Does the Election Mean for Obamacare? Adviser: Romney "shellshocked" by loss The Reality Check Election: How Romney lost on culture and economics This is what fear of the State looks like Why Hispanics Don’t Vote for Republicans What a Navy Guy Says After an Election Like That Ten Little-Known Consequences of a Second Obama Term Alert: Immigration sellout underway? "Repubs are going to have to do some serious reinvention otherwise they’re going to have a tough time in the coming years. And the Tea Party movement isn’t paving the way for success."
Red Flag Over the Atlantic - China is angling to take over a U.S. airbase in the Azores. State Department Games Benghazi Investigation RubinReports: Israel’s Situation and Strategy In Obama’s Second Term The Palestinian Conflict with Israel is Not the Core of the Middle East Conflict Friday, November 9. 2012Brilliant: "Politics is downstream of culture.""Politics is downstream of culture." That's what the man says, and it certainly seems true these days. It's what I have been thinking. Sales, marketing, and branding matter. I disagree about Herman Caine, however.
Somewhat related is this piece at NRO: It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing. Again, I agree. I never saw a single Romney ad in my blue state. Not one. And Harsanyi sounds right: http://www.humanevents.com/2012/11/07/democrats-are-the-silent-majority-for-now/
However, as Jeffrey Lord observes - http://spectator.org/archives/2012/11/08/when-conservatism-is-a-secon/2 -
Posted by The Barrister
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
13:50
| Comments (7)
| Trackbacks (0)
Friday morning linksIs There Such a Thing as the Female Conscience? (my illo is via Theo but it's really a serious essay) Here Are the Places Where You Can Buy Wine From Amazon The Universe Is Almost Done Making Stars - Star formation is now 30 times lower than at its peak 11 billion years ago. I blame climate change A book: Far From the Tree - "He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple severe disabilities, with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender." http://www.amazon.com/Far-From-the-Tree-ebook/dp/B007EDOLJ2/ref=kinw_dp_ke Why All Politicians Lie - It's a job qualification. Sorry - my link box isn't working this morning, so these links do not keep the Maggie's front page up unless you right-click: Ensuring condom use on porn sets called challenging - http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-1108-porn-20121108,0,5770187.story How the Owl Tracks Its Prey - Experiments with trained barn owls reveal how their acute sense of hearing enables them to catch prey in the dark - http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2012/6/how-the-owl-tracks-its-prey/1 NYC Dark, The Manhattan Power Outage After Hurricane Sandy - http://laughingsquid.com/nyc-dark-the-manhattan-power-outage-after-hurricane-sandy/
The Urban Electorate: Why Republicans Can't Afford to Concede the City Vote Ever Again - http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/11/urban-electorate-why-republicans-cant-afford-concede-city-vote-ever-again/3829/ Miller: If Romney’s what’s wrong with America, this country has serious problems - http://hotair.com/archives/2012/11/08/miller-if-romneys-whats-wrong-with-america-this-country-has-serious-problems/ Democrats cement California hegemony - Party picks up enough seats to command two-thirds majorities in Assembly, Senate. http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/democrats-377075-legislature-tax.html Unions Lose Big in Michigan - http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/11/08/unions-lose-big-in-michigan/ "I think a lot of stuff will be coming out over the next few weeks and months that was carefully kept off the radar before Election Day." http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/157280/ Another example with guns: http://moonbattery.com/?p=20717 Election Consequences: Decline of Doctor-Owned Practices - http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/08/Election-Consequences-Decline-of-Doctor-Owned-Practices Jungleman: "The GOP should abandon its provincial ideas. Changing political positions on a few issues is easier than changing voter minds." http://jungletrader.blogspot.com/2012/11/opinion.html U.N. ELECTS GENOCIDAL SUDAN TO TOP HUMAN RIGHTS BODY - UN Watch Urges U.S., EU, U.N. Chief to Speak Out http://www.unwatch.org/cms.asp?id=3587950&campaign_id=63111 Thursday, November 8. 2012The folly of waiting for "government help"At great expense to you, the federal government has sold you a lemon. No surprise there: Forgotten by FEMA: Volunteers step up in storm-ravaged NYC borough. When American people can get beyond any infantile expectations of government, it can be wonderful to see what they will do for eachother. Believe it or not, when last night's snowstorm was predicted, the tiny number of inept and seemingly useless FEMA people fled the flooded boroughs of NYC in their SUVs. (See BAD SIGN: FEMA office on Staten Island closes 'due to weather') Also, via Mead: In New York we get a mayor who makes war on Big Gulp sodas while proving himself inept at basic government functions such as clearing snow Meanwhile, volunteers and church groups have been constantly busy there since last Weds.
Posted by The News Junkie
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
13:02
| Comments (10)
| Trackbacks (0)
Grouchy Thursday morning all-political election reactionsFEMA: Disorganized federal workers add to mayhem The polls were fairly accurate California Passes Prop 30, Raises Taxes Reform Denied - On election night, Californians stand by high taxes and untrammeled union power Despite the hoo-hah, fewer people voted in 2012 than in 2008 Major Regulations for Health Reform Coming Soon The brutal truth for the GOP and the conservatives: The electorate has shifted Hope Over Experience - A divided country gives Obama a second chance. Michael Barone: Wrong, but Still Smart Dick Morris: I Was 'Wrong,' Blames Voter Models Bozell: A Dreadful Media Campaign How Romney Lost And three lessons for conservatives going forward. In Boston, stunned Romney supporters struggle to explain defeat Redstate: Status Quo Ante Karl Rove may be a big loser tonight, but his brand of politics is here to stay. McCain (h/t Vanderleun):
Puerto Rico votes for statehood:
"I like to be in America, everything free in America..." Reeling conservatives face ‘recalibration’ at their core - Republicans reassess makeup, tactics, war image
Wednesday, November 7. 2012Ouch. That election did hurt.I finally have my power back (no thanks to government but with thanks to private industry who had a big job to do) just in time for a cold Nor'easter with snow blowing in and, while deeply disappointed but not surprised about the national elections, I am finding them interesting to reflect upon. A few things I have been thinking about are these: - the MSM runs interference for Dems, with passion and without regard to their professional integrity. They have done so since Nixon. It's worth billions in campaign funds or, really, it's priceless. They still have vast reach and influence in the culture at large. Just ask Obama. - a sad thought: the American life I live and the things I live by seem not to be the majority way anymore. That's too bad, but I won't change. John Hinderaker has the same feeling: America is a deeply divided country with a center-left plurality. Quote:
- What's with Hispanics? Are they a solid voting bloc? Would Rubio have made a difference? Who knows. He was my choice. - I give Mitt Romney a lot of credit for the nature of his campaign. A good man, not a rock star. - Sultan gets part of the Conservative-Libertarian challenge:
Posted by The Barrister
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
14:54
| Comments (13)
| Trackbacks (0)
Anti-Israel Circles Of Influence On CampusThe Times Of Israel just published a new piece from me: "Anti-Israel Circles Of Influence On Campus." The focus is on faculty. Students may suffer but they come and go. The professors stay on, to indoctrinate more students, many of whom will go on to leadership positions in the US or their countries of origin. I use the example of one prominent US campus. Names are named. "There are many other professors at UCSD who could be highlighted. The ones chosen are to illustrate how the ripples of influence on attitudes toward Israel emanates from the core Israel haters to the euphemistic ones to the useful idiots, and thus on to gullible students and faculty." To quote myself, "What one sees is circles of influence, with the inner circle providing the splash and outer circles adding to the wave. It is that wave that creates a campus atmosphere which gives the impression that the entire campus is critical of Israel and that, it is charged, creates a hostile atmosphere for Jewish and pro-Israel students and faculty." This is similar to what is occurring on many other US campuses. The leading figures at each interact with their like at other campuses and influence many others at other campuses. Exposure is an important remedy.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
in Education, Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
11:39
| Comments (0)
| Trackbacks (0)
Weeping Wednesday LinksIt is Tuesday, 8:18PM in San Diego, and Fox and CBS both just called the election for Obama. The Democrats look to actually be picking up some Senate seats, the Republicans holding the House. All Republicans can hope and pray for during the next four years is that court challenges slow the Obamashackle to tie America down in regulatory chains, China keeps buying our increasing debt, that the very aged Supreme Court justices take their vitamins, and the international jackals transform into lambs. Not much to hang a hat on, is it? Actually, much reason to feel hanged. If you have children, better get them to learn to live frugally, study and work hard, and develop resilience and intestinal fortitude. That's all that will save them. I'll leave it to others, maybe myself Wednesday morning, to sound smart about this debacle ‘The most important election since 1860′ - Jason (12) asked me which presidential elections were most important. I answered, 1800 for setting the Jeffersonian course of the new nation, 1828 for Andrew Jackson's version of "power to the people", 1860 for Lincoln, the Civil War, and the decades of recriminations after, 1932 for FDR's reshaping of America, 1980 for Reagan resteering America back to confidence and prominence, 2004 for rejecting defeatism, and 2012 for again a major fork in the road for America, which is looking from the electoral projections we're f**ked. What are your pick(s)? Palestinian girl tries to goad soldiers into lashing out:Video documents 10-year-old cursing, spitting at soldiers in attempt to provoke violent reaction – that never comes It's not just the major newspapers: Four years later, college newspapers that once supported Obama abandon him Judge issuing order to reinstate booted Philadelphia election officials, Republicans say + New Black Panthers Back at the Same ’08 Polling Place in Philadelphia And a few more from Bird Dog - Bill O’Reilly: “It’s Not a Traditional America Anymore” TUCKER CARLSON AND NEIL PATEL: Wave goodbye to the Obama media Majority of voters see America on wrong track Via Drudge: All things considered, could anybody have done a better job than Romney? I doubt it.
and
Tuesday, November 6. 2012Afternoon links, with thanks to friends, neighbors, and fellow Maggie's contributorsPics above from down my road last week - Thanks to all for keeping Maggie's going and/or for keeping me going in Sandy's aftermath. As we Conservative-Libertarians always say, "It takes a village." I had gotten so accustomed to working and sleeping in the cold (28 degrees F when we woke up this morning), the central heat of the past couple of hours feels a little suffocating. Also, thanks to all those linemen and utility engineers from Canada and all over the country. Good guys who do real work and make real things. Finally, as in the Academy Awards, thanks to my Mom who kept calling to make sure if we were OK. Bless her heart, she had no heat or power in her place either, but she said "We're fine. We have blankets and candles. I can read next to the wood stove with your Dad." Bruce has kindly agreed to do the honors once again tomorrow morning (yes, it feels tense!), but I'll unload some items right now: Remains of Pigeon Found Carrying WWII Message In a chimney. Every 60 years is not frequent enough to clean a chimney. Girl Talk: Why Relationships Fail Kimball on the late great Jacques Barzun Asian Americans’ Affirmative-Action Quandary If you didn't read Roger's post about Romney, scroll down to earlier today, and read it. Obama’s tough closing message - He has a bold vision of government Duh Voting Obamacare: Health Care Law to Drive Doctors to Retirement - A doctor tells PJ Media exactly how his practice's finances and his patient's care will be damaged. Obamacare Drops Full-Time Employment Cheerful news: Election 2012: How The Winner Will Destroy America EPA on crash drive to end coal use as we know it – and the jobs that go with it Trende: 2012: A Close Race, With a High Degree of Uncertainty NEW BLACK PANTHERS Are Back at Philly Polling Station Hayward: The Stakes, as Seen by The Left Obama's Machiavellian Ploy Foreign election officials amazed by trust-based U.S. voting system Mitt Romney: The Amiable Terminator
It's been sort of amusing watching people from the right side of the blogosphere weigh in for over a year with political advice for Willard Romney. They'd take a flurry on the pizza guy. Look over there, they'd say! If only Romney was a fat, loudmouthed ex-congressman, smug for no reason, then he'd get somewhere. Yelling RON PAUL! would solve everything. Why doesn't he foam at the mouth like the porcine blowhard from New Jersey? Romney just smiled and kept going. Let's face it: Romney is the Amiable Terminator. He won't stop until he's shaken the hand of every Sarah Connor in the phonebook, and asked each in turn if she needs some canned food to tide her over until payday. Then he goes back to the phonebook and starts in on all the Sarah Connellys. Romney is a rare thing in American public life. He is what he is. You can see how pleasant, but stiff, he is in that video. He cannot be what he is not, even while his position requires that he mix with people who are not like him. Some might call that good manners. People who have no manners don't recognize good manners in others. They call it standoffishness, or aloofness, or call you a robot for being polite. Many see decency as a kind of accusation. There's no other way to evaluate the Republican response to Romney. They don't know what to make of a decent, earnest person. They were hoping for devious so they could win. The other side does that constantly, why shouldn't we? Romney's not interested. He owes you nothing if he loses. You owe him a lot for him even taking up the cudgels on your behalf. He's successful and happy and politics is bucket of guts to step in for a person like him. Blog writers are just blog commenters that go first, and they all know what Romney should be doing. They envision the perfect candidate -them. I might point out to these kings of that rock there to this clod of earth under their shoes, that Romney got himself elected Governor of Massachusetts. You're giving political advice to a Mormon Republican who figured out how to be elected governor of Massachusetts. Romney's detractors on the left aren't worth talking about. Romney and his family could be defamed --and Lord, weren't they -- but there's close to nothing in his personal or public life that isn't above reproach. People are imperfect creatures of course, but every once in a great while you meet people who seem incapable of deliberate misbehavior. The human foibles we are all subject to can be teased into imprecations of malice, but any reasonable person can see there's no there, there in the Oakland of Romney's misdeeds. He's a nice person, a capable and commendable businessman, a competent and genial public administrator, he's married to a nice person, they raised a large crop of nice people together, and so forth. I come not to praise Romney, nor to bury him in predictions and advice. I'd just like to express my thanks to him, here, where he surely will not see it, for allowing me, once in my life, to vote for an entirely decent, honorable, and capable person to be the chief magistrate of the United States. That has never happened to me before. To me, he cannot lose. America might. It won't be his fault. It's just gravy that a vote for him is a vote against his opponent, who is, and always has been a malicious, callow, greedy, grasping, low-rent A-hole. I won't even mention it.
Posted by Roger de Hauteville
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
09:56
| Comments (8)
| Trackbacks (0)
Sunday, November 4. 2012Sunday fun Web Vids Take To The Skies — all aviation-related vids The Music Is The Message — where the accompanying music plays a major role Video Articles — Full-length articles geared around one or more vids Bag O' Clips — My own custom movie trailers Special Vids — Everything else, plus some very intriguing disaster vids I also have a few other sites that might be of interest: Rainy Day — Original articles & humor System Backup — The pro way to back up your system Windows Guide — Windows tips & tricks The Google Earth Project — An endlessly fascinating program Doc's WordPress Guide — The best way to fire up a blog or web site Home Repair — Not a 'how-to' site, more of a 'can-you?' site Ratville — Pet rats are actually quite intriguing Doc's Secrets — Whereupon I reveal... Consider today the calm before the storm. Have fun, kick back. For better or for worse, the election nightmare will all be over soon. Palin/Paul 2016! Okay, I meant almost soon. Saturday, November 3. 2012Living off the grids during SandyA few notes: - Hardware store is out of lamp oil - LBJ's federal flood insurance is a perfect example of unintended consequences. The perverse incentive was to encourage people to build on flood plains and coastal areas. Yes, flood insurance is subsidized by you. - Said by Newt on the radio today: "Barack Obama is a show horse, not a work horse." - Threw out everything in both fridges and freezers today. Bummer. However, I cooked the bacon hoping for the best, and made bacon and tomato sandwiches. Delicious. I even used the warm mayo from the fridge. And I am still fine. - Pupette evacuated from NYC decided that living in the cold and dark was getting old, so finagled a trip to San Francisco. - None of the computer systems I have had access to can do what my own can. Quite annoying to be off all the grids. - Received this email today from our occasional contributor Bulldog in New Jersey. It begins here, more below the fold with some of my comments:
Continue reading "Living off the grids during Sandy"
Posted by Bird Dog
in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays
at
18:55
| Comments (12)
| Trackbacks (0)
« previous page
(Page 260 of 497, totaling 12404 entries)
» next page
|