We 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.
“As an administrator, those are the kinds of things I’m really sensitive to – what are the students saying – because even if it’s not true, the perception is their reality,” said William L. Howard, assistant vice president of academic services at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. In other words, while a student’s method of calling attention to perceived prejudice may be flawed, that perception of prejudice still exists. “If you say, ‘This is not an issue on my campus,’ and a student has an experience that is counter to that, you have to listen to them.”
Baloney. If the fraud is their reality, they do not belong in school.
So far, so good. In case you haven't heard the horrific news yet, Bird Dog is on vacation until Tuesday, leaving the site in the clutches of the likes of me and Bulldog.
The modern, sophisticated mind reels at the very thought.
If you happen to see the big guy, let him know that everything's cool. I simply deleted all of those warning notices I received from the FCC yesterday, figuring by the time they get around to handing out the indictments, our valiant editor will be long back. I'm sure a quick phone call to Washington will clear everything right up.
As for today's video, I've run across a small handful of web vids over the years that really touched me inside, mainly because of the accompanying music. The collection is here.
One’s reaction to Cathy’s remarks shouldn’t turn on views of gay marriage – an issue so far from being a closed conversation that polling routinely shows the public split roughly down the middle on it. Rather, it should be anchored in the simple fact that the Chick-fil-A president didn’t breathe a word of intolerance, bigotry or even derision. In fact, he didn’t even make a political statement.
The poisonous trend at work here is a complete inversion of the traditional understanding of “tolerance.”
As articulated in the great Western tradition of liberalism (the name given to the political philosophy espousing individual liberty before it was hijacked by statists), tolerance means granting others the freedom of their own actions and views so long as they don’t harm others.
This view was ably expressed by Thomas Jefferson in his Notes on the State of Virginia, when, in regard to religious liberty, he said, “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
Yesterday I received a notice in the mail. Apparently, Obamacare be beri beri good to me. My kindly insurance carrier is sending me government has forced my insurer to send me a rebate on 0.5% of my premiums from last year. That should be about, let's see, $32.50.
I really like getting money back from anyone. I suppose I should be pleased. But I'm not, I'm offended.
It seems that the ACA has set what is considered to be a 'reasonable' amount for spending on administrative costs and the coverage of medical fees. That split is 15% for administration, 85% for fees and services. My carrier hit only 84.5% on the fees and services portion, which means I get .5% back.
Dreadful news, I'm a'feared. Bird Dog has gone on vacation for a week.
(the old-timers in the audience burst into tears at the thought of the horror to come)
That's right, the tyrannical, oppressive firm, guiding hand of our beloved editor won't be around to keep us in check, and I suppose just about anything might happen. As, unfortunately, usually does. Hence the tears.
For example, one really horrible thing to see would be a link to the Maggie's Farm Smut Guide, which isn't normally available because no self-respecting blogger would ever link to such a vile, disgusting piece of trash.
Much less blog on the site that produced it!
Also, you might still see a few pre-dated posts by the big guy. That's his not-so-subtle way of telling us Mutinies will NOT be tolerated! Death awaits those who try! It's a fair precaution, given the ripe opportunity.
So, buckle down, me hearties, and we'll see if we can't weather this storm together. In case of fire, please throw a glass of water at your monitor and maybe some of it will seep through and cool down the server. If you see a big "CENSORED BY THE FCC" screen, well, that's why we usually have an editor.
Jenkins: Is Obama Beating Himself? With "you didn't build that" going viral, the president's campaign is reportedly looking for a positive message. But what message?
How many more millions will be on food stamps and disability by the end of the decade? According to the Heritage Foundation, in the United States government spending accounts for 42 percent of GDP, in Canada 44 percent. Those two points are apparently the difference between a sturdy republic of limited government and self-reliant citizens and a notorious semi-French socialist basket case of effete wimps. Oh, wait: New Zealand's about the same as America.
...believe it or not, the federal government is now starting another initiative to force banks to lend to low-credit-rated blacks and Hispanics -- not just anybody but specifically blacks and Hispanics -- and is threatening -- and already imposing -- huge punitive fines if they don't. Moreover, this time they're going even further. They're going to take over thecredit rating agencies and force them to change their standards to accommodate blacks and Hispanics so that nobody will have any idea who is a bad credit risk and who is not. In so many words, the government is about impose its will on the whole home-lending market and force another round of bad loans so that the banks are going to be looted once again so that even the federal government may not be able to bail them out this time.
Designed to fail, like the Health Care bill. They'll blame the "greedy bankers" again, while forcing them to do stupid things which lose money. Then they will want to nationalize the banks and eliminate the reality of credit risk. Laws that try to cancel out reality are never a good idea but can gain plenty of political support.
My dad took a huge chance without any help, grants, assistance -- no safety net -- and started our small company in our garage. He worked hard, and he did finally achieve "solid middle-class" levels by the time I moved out on my own, but I'll tell you, things got pretty thin at times.
On my own I worked for my dad, and I worked hard. Neither of us ever asked for anything from the government. I paid my taxes. I married. My wife and I both worked for the company. We saved our money. We gambled with the future, investing our efforts into that small family business that paid us little. In fact, among the three of us, we made less than we paid our top employee.
We lived simply; we didn't eat out except sometimes a take-out pizza. We didn't have much, but we were working for the future.
That's what my Dad did, but he never hit the big time. Didn't care too much, just wanted to be honest and to get by on his own with some masculine dignity. Still proudly working every day at age 72. He will never retire because work is in his Polish-Yankee blood and he was not made for leisure.
Welcome to the Dependency Society, where citizens and public servants alike have their hands out, and sometimes even in the till.
In all, some 45 million Americans are now on food stamps — a record high. And more Americans went on “disability” over the past three months (246,000) than actually found jobs (225,000).
It’s vicious cycle: The bad economy leads to job losses and reduced income; lower or nonexistent incomes force more people to take advantage of the safety net; government spending on “entitlements” rises to meet the demand; deficits widen; borrowing soars; the economy worsens — and ’round we go again.
Yet President Obama and the Democrats soldier blithely on, proposing $3 trillion budgets, running up massive deficits and pushing the national debt — now almost $16 trillion — into the ionosphere.
And, for the most part, the Republicans go right along with them.
Why? For votes. It’s just that simple.
Yep. What did FDR's aide say? "Tax, tax; spend, spend; elect, elect." Bread and circuses for the plebs, provided via the patricians. It keeps the plebs fat and malleable, until it doesn't. Gimme more!
Michael Mann, the professor who created the climate-change "hockey stick", announced over the weekend his intention to sue National Review over Mark's Corner post "Football and Hockey".
Impartial, clinical, objective observations on my part:
Gunther Holtorf's 23-year road trip - Back in 1989, as the Berlin Wall fell, Gunther Holtorf and his wife Christine set out on what was meant to be an 18-month tour of Africa in their Mercedes Benz G Wagen. Now, with more than 800,000km (500,000 miles) on the clock, Gunther is still going.
Liberals are not idiots. They’re just like you were when you first moved out of your parents’ house. It’s like their research is cryogenically frozen right before Google was invented. However, unlike extremist Muslims and Hasidic Jews, some of the things they believe are actually correct.
One of the problems with having multiple bloggers on a site such as this is that everyone has a different idea of what's "not quite too sexy" for what is, ostensibly, a refined, cultured site that tries to present a wide range of topics in at least a semi-dignified manner. Nobody here is a 'prude'. We all admire the human body in its God-given form. But, by the same token, using gratuitous sensationalism merely for sensationalism's sake doesn't seem to jibe well with a penetrating look at the national economy or the growth of the psyche in a young child's brain.
So, a line must be drawn, rules must be written.
The problem, of course, is one of getting bogged down in the minutiæ. The rule clearly states "no frontal nudity" — so does that mean 95% frontal nudity is okay? It clearly states "no bare nipples" — so does that mean covering them with the thinnest gauze in the known universe gets a pass?
Wet gauze, no less?
That's the point I was at in my thought process when suddenly, in an incredible one-in-ten-billion happenstance, two of my brain synapses lined up correctly and I had a revelation:
The rules don't have to be written!
Because Maggie, herself, has already shown us the way. Below, fellow and fellowess bloggers, you will find a wide variety of examples of posts which have already been approved by the governing board and are, indeed, on the site this very day. Merely right-click on one of them and open 'Properties' or 'View Image Info' and you'll see the direct link to Maggie's. So if the picture in your post looks just like one of these, you're good to go.
For the rest of you, as a quick example of what we're up against with the governing board, here's what appears at first glance to be a revoltingly rude picture that's obviously pushed the bounds of decorum way too far:
Despite the sordid events that took place that day, the above shamelessly revealing photograph was deemed 'okay' by the governing board because of its obvious authenticity. Hence the confusion among us bloggers. We figure if that kind of raunchy material isokay, then it's pretty much "anything goes" around this joint, and that's when we get into trouble.
So show us what's permissible to post, dear Maggie. Let history be our guiding light.
The procedure is very straightforward and easy. Simply use the officially-sanctioned picture below as your guide for each area and emulate it as closely as possible. Use the Windows Magnification Tool if necessary. When you feel your picture is "in sync" with the online guide picture, you'll be ready to post with no fear of repercussion.
RULE #1: NO BARE NIPPLES
Exceptions:
A: Unless covered by the thinnest gauze in the known universe:
B: They're painted:
C: On a wall mural:
D: Covered in sludge:
E: Or it's Christmas:
RULE #2: NO BARE BOTTOMS
Exceptions:
A: Except...
B: when viewed...
C: from the...
D: side:
E: Or covered with a bathing suit:
RULE #3: NO BARE CROTCHES
Exceptions:
A: Unless covered in sludge:
B: Covered by the darkest shadows of the netherworld:
C: Or it's too far away to see anything, dammit!
RULE #4: NO PENISES
Exceptions:
A: Unless it's "art":
B: Or at least somebody's idea of it.
RULE #5: NO FEMALE FRONTAL NUDITY
Exceptions:
A: Unless it's painted:
B: Is a video that starts off with "NSFW":
C: Or is back behind the barn:
SPECIAL RULES
This is the traditional 'gray area' that's a little hard to define, but let me give you some examples and you'll catch on.
1. This picture would have been soundly rejected if the two photoshopped faces had been reversed:
Seeing Hillary with deep cleavage would have been deemed far too risky for our readership's delicate sensibilities, and some of the younger ones might have snapped. We all have our breaking point.
2. If a male had posted this:
He would have, correctly, been soundly condemned for perpetrating the frustrating, almost-impossible-to-achieve ideal that the 'perfect woman' has the hips of an 18-year-old boy.
But since a female posted it, it's perfectly okay.
3. If a female had posted this:
She would have, correctly, been soundly condemned for perpetrating the frustrating, almost-impossible-to-achieve ideal that the 'perfect woman' has the hips of an 18-year-old boy.
But since a male posted it, he's just considered a big dumb ape who doesn't know any better.
That's why this 'gray area' stuff is confusing.
SURVEY RESULTS
As a guide to what type of pictures your readers might enjoy, we've extensively surveyed the Maggie's Farm readership and these are the categories they most prefer:
A. Pictures they can have on the screen when you-know-who suddenly walks into the room:
"What are you doing, dear?"
"Oh, uh, picking out new bedsheets for your birthday, sweetheart!"
B. More stacked, knock-kneed girls in heels and short skirts holding lollipops:
Romney sat for an interview with Brian Williams yesterday and Williams garbled the warm-up to a question about Romney’s running mate. “I know how much you love quoting unnamed Romney advisers,” Williams said, then cited a source close to the campaign who said Romney is looking for a “boring white guy.” Romney responded to Williams:“You told me you were not available.”
Over the transom:
At a high school in North Dakota, a group of boy students played a prank.They let three goats loose inside the school.But before turning them loose, they painted numbers on the sides of the goats: 1, 2 and 4.
School Administrators spent most of the day looking for No. 3. And you thought there was nothing to do in North Dakota.
I am getting a kick out of this dumb Chick-Fil-A story. I suppose it's a good story for late July, for the entertainment value.
As I understand it (never seen one in NY or New England), it's an Atlanta-based, family-owned and very popular chain of fast-food chicken joints. Chicken sandwiches! I don't know whether the outlets are franchised or company-owned.
The founder is a traditional Christian who happens to hold a traditional view of marriage. Most Americans do, but that doesn't matter. President Dan Cathy had the temerity to say:
“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit,” Cathy said. “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”
I suspect good ol' Col. Sanders felt the same way. So do I. Politicians who desire to show their cultural leadership (who asked them to do that?) are now all about banning Chick-Fil-A from their burgs. You have to laugh. People want to eat these sandwiches.
I mean, like, you know, they aren't banning Catholic churches, are they? Or Baptist churches? Or Muslim mini-marts? Or mosques? Or businesses whose CEOs are Catholics? I suspect the folks at Chick-Fil-A HQ are just enjoying the free publicity, and wondering about this crazy world. They don't need the money. I think the family is still amazed by their popularity and the growth of their recently-tiny, simple business. Plain old fried redneck chicken on a hamburger bun.
When will the word get out that the owner of Subway is a married, never divorced and never-gay Roman Catholic? Funny thing about this dumb brouhaha is that it makes me hungry for a Chick-Fil-A. I've never thought about it before. They must be pretty darn tasty to deserve all of this attention.
Probably tastes like chicken.
(Almost forgot to mention that the family didn't build that family food business. The government did it. Let's nationalize Chick-Fil-A, and Subway too.)
Sicily is a spectacularly beautiful island between Europe and Africa. It is surrounded by sea as clear and clean as gin, but what happens on dry land there is as dark and disturbing as sewage. In Sicily, which gave the world the word “Mafia,” it is impossible to tell the difference between a mafioso and a politician. Follow the money—if you can.
I have been to Sicily many times for work and on holiday. Its stunning countryside is dotted with stately old abandoned houses in the baroque style. I love it there. It would be great to own one of those houses and they cost next to nothing, but what would be the point? How could I possibly live in Sicily? Life is tough enough here in the “red” Romagna surrounded by “ex” communists who years ago sent me a bullet in the post for my eldest daughter (now eight) because of something I wrote.
That's what these fall elections boil down to, this year. A stark choice in attitudes towards the relationship between the individual and the state. A Parental State vs. a Servant State. The country votes roughly 50-50 on that, which, to my mind, is pathetic in a bold nation like this. Too many people looking for a caretaker instead of embracing opportunity.
Lots of people are embedding this Scott Brown ad. The strange, shrill anger in Harvard prof Warren's voice is disturbing. She needs to be reminded who pays for the roads - and for her salary. The angry condescension towards the free commerce which makes this nation alive always bugs me, especially from those who have never engaged in it:
Give him a chance. He can be pretty smart sometimes, if not all the time. Certainly nails the psychology: Media Desperately Trying To Tie Batman Shooting To Conservatives:
Pic of a storm cell in southern Connecticut, on Sunday, taken by our webmeister. 
Day two and counting.
Dreadful news, I'm a'feared. Bird Dog has gone on vacation for a week.
Image via 
Image via 
Shark bites swimmer in Truro
The hidden world of sharks
Never a dull moment:
I am getting a kick out of this dumb Chick-Fil-A story. I suppose it's a good story for late July, for the entertainment value. 
