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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Friday, September 23. 2011Friday morning linksBelief in God Boils Down to a Gut Feeling Explain that to Thomas Aquinas CERN: Einstein was wrong India’s Death By A Thousand Paper Cuts China 'Cancels' an Entire City Can Moslem countries do science? Thoughts on Taxes: IRS Tax Rates are Not Binding and Buffett's Tax Situation is An Extreme Outlier Bill Clinton: Obama's Approach To The Deficit Is "A Little Confusing" Obama Touts Jobs/Spending Plan at Ohio Bridge That Won’t Qualify Money for Nothing: Phoenix taxpayers foot the bill for union work Warren v. Scott: The Video the Left Is Urging You to Watch: 'There is Nobody in This Country Who Got Rich On His Own. Nobody' Warren v. Scott: Elizabeth Warren — mob boss *UPDATED* Toward a Nonviolent, Pluralistic Middle East Obamacare is a federally-engineered market failure That's our theory too Handicapped Kids...Better Off Dead CT Gov enacts card check by executive order Shifting Deck Chairs on the Titanic Won't Fix This Mess Correcting President Obama's Myriad Tax Fallacies Al Qaeda is dead! (Again!) It's come down to all lies, all the time. Every time he opens his mouth. Who is he fooling? I ask again, why isn't troika going after Greece's biggest tax evaders who have parked billions offshore in Swiss and Cypriot banks and London real estate? I'll tell you exactly why: because many of the worst tax evaders are corrupt government officials who accepted millions in bribes...
Thursday, September 22. 2011Surreal indeedR2P: Right To Protect or Right To Preen?Mark Safranski is elaborating at his defense issues blog Zenpundit on the problems raised by R2P, Right To Protect, or what I termed “Transnational Elites Uber Alles,” for intervention on humanitarian grounds against those nation’s rulers who our liberal elites dislike.
Regimes who are not in disfavor with our liberal elites, however oppressive, get off more lightly. In the first part of a five-part series, R2P is the New COIN, Safranski says:
Neither COIN nor R2P are strategies. Unlike COIN, however, which is a set of tactics that may be applicable in some circumstances in pursuit of strategic goals (even if those goals may be arguable), R2P doesn’t have any operational tactics. R2P is more a clarion call to action, including actions that are contrary to US laws or popular will, in pursuit of internationalist goals for global governing as defined by transnational elites. Further, R2P is cloaked in humanitarian rhetoric that allows liberal elites to preen, displaying their caring feathers, regardless of their ignorance of the military, regardless of the cost-benefit to US national security, and regardless that it isn’t their children being sent into harm’s way. Lastly, R2P is reactive, not prescriptive of avoiding future threats to US security as a strategy must be. Much the same coterie who want to raise R2P to dominance over US foreign and military policies are largely dismissive of severely hobbling US allies or hollowing our military. The second part of Safranski’s series is R2P is the New COIN: Slaughter’s Premises, Anne-Marie Slaughter being a prominent intellectual proponent of R2P. Slaughter defines a state as legitimate, effectively governed, only if it provides social goods to its populace, regardless of other sources of cohesion or democratic means of choosing leaders. Illegitimate states are targets for R2P, US core security interests aside. Safranski writes me that Part 3 will focus on Authority and International Law, R2P resting upon amorphous, internationalist rule proposed to override US laws, Part 4 on Sovereignty, discussing the radicalness of R2P proponents’ program to replace nation states’ independence, and Part 5 on Legitimacy, Networks and Power, discussing the undemocratic, oligarchic views of the R2P proponents.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
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17:36
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Thursday morning linksThat's Italian! Parents take legal action to force son, 41, to move out Italy produces momma's boys who act macho to cover it up Stiletto Brothel Expansion Proposal Rejected By Sydney City Council Pilgrim Christian Tours A low in jobs, mobility, marriage for young adults They voted for this A pithy, comprehensible summary of 90 years of Arab recalcitrance Coulter: COP-KILLER IS MEDIA'S LATEST BABY SEAL Awaiting the Fall: A Few Thoughts on Mark Steyn’s After America Signorelli puts a lot of thought into his essay 46 million Americans in poverty? NY Post: The Prez is a liar Ex-President Clinton to Newsmax: Raising Taxes Won't Work Top 0.1 Percent Pays More Income Tax than Bottom 80 Percent Our Lefty friends hope we're seeing The final crisis of capitalism I think we're seeing the final crisis of the quasi-socialist welfare state and of the Big Government industry Free money! All ya gotta do is f-. See the second video. I think it is satire Class Warfare: American Communists of 1928 Compared to Barack Obama McCarthy: The Solyndra Non-Investigation - Bankruptcy examiners aren’t prosecutors. Time for a special prosecutor? Or do Chicago politics work on the national stage? Gunwalker looking worse and worse Dance video: $700,000 for 2 jobs Contentions: “Palestine” to Deny Citizenship to 45 Percent of its Palestinian Residents What Comes After 'Europe'? The riots of Athens will become those of Milan, Madrid and Marseilles. Border checkpoints will return. Currencies will be resurrected, then devalued. They say Euroland is a giant fraud. Europe’s Communist Past Haunts Euro-Zone With ballsy vid of Farage. Farage - and Hannan - are wonderful. Britain does produce some wonderful politicians. McArdle: Obama's Deficit Reduction: A Campaign Document, Not a Policy Plan America: The Chief Subsidizer of UN Rapists and Traffickers - The Wilsonian ideals of the UN are not realizable. In turn, the UN is built on a lie: that its diplomats are morally decent. How To Describe This Administration -Incompetent Or Corrupt? Today Canada has a superior tax regime to that of the United States, and a much sounder fiscal situation. They are actually developing their energy resources... Obama has an unusual capacity to conceive of himself in a way that is at odds with reality. The MSM still refuses to call him on it Obama quickly running out of time Belmont asserts that Obama has gotten everything wrong.
US federal debt, via SDA:
Wednesday, September 21. 2011In Ohio, ObamaCare Will Increase Premiums 55-85%At the request of the Ohio Department of Insurance, benefit consultants Milliman, Inc. prepared an estimate of the impact on coverage and rates of ObamaCare when major provisions take effect in 2014. 660,000 are forecast to lose their group coverage from employers. A 735,000 increase in individual coverage is forecast. The percentage of all covered with some type of government coverage is forecast to increase to 31% from 20% in 2010.
Then add in the additional taxes within and caused by ObamaCare. High price to pay, huh. Hope there's any Change left in pockets.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
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23:17
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Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics, and Damn Democrat StatisticsH/T: Hot Air: "the Senate Budget GOP today releases this video to unmask a budget gimmick popularly employed by Democrats as they call for more
Posted by Bruce Kesler
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22:06
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More Faculty Extremism At Brooklyn CollegeKC Johnson, history professor at my alma mater, describes the lack of intelligent consideration by the faculty there:
Read it all. If there's a terrorist incident on campus, call a faculty member, not the NYPD.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
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21:11
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Why they lieJames Pethokoukis explains it. Wealth-creation is not in their lexicon. They view government as the font of The Good. I definitely do not. If government does not protect my liberties and my property, I oppose it. Government protects itself, grows itself. It is subject to all of the flaws of human nature, but has unique and potentially dangerous powers. It has become a big monopolistic, parasitic industry, but one with guns and cops and jails. Anybody who thinks that big government is altruistic is sorely misguided, delusional, naive, or stoned. Drunk on power and perqs, our public servants dread having to return to real life. For more, Warren Buffett’s Tax Story Is Bogus. Buffett is a shrewd fellow, but who made him a saint? Also related is a new book, The Great Lie. We all accept that politicians are liars, but it is more routine for them than we like to admit.
Posted by The Barrister
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17:05
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Taxing Credulity, Part II: FirstsThanks to the lede on the New York cover that Obama is the first Jewish President (Jimmy Carter says he is), other firsts are being claimed: Pam Geller is the first Muslim blogger Albright was the first Barbie Secretary of State (Hillary the second) Bill Clinton is the first faithful husband Ron Paul is the first internationalist congressman Palestine will be the first Muslim state to protect the civil rights of Jews in its borders Congress will be the first to really reform entitlements Palin will be the first female President Bachman first candidate to take foot-in-mouth vaccine Pelosi first to take non-Botox pledge (also first former House Speaker to stop speaking, and first to switch to Republican) New York Times first major newspaper to endorse Perry Klein first kiddee-columnist to take real-world job UN’s first unanimous applause for Israel’s right to security Europe’s first increased defense budgets China first demilitarized nation Gore first global-warmist to sell his mansion and contribute proceeds to air-conditioning for poor Africans Friedman first columnist to sell his mansion and contribute proceeds to Accuracy In Media Bird Dog first blogger to sell his farm and contribute proceeds to fixing NYC potholes Maggie’s Farm first blog to take the no cheesecake-photos pledge (Theo first blogger to ROFL) Chime in with other firsts.
Posted by Bruce Kesler
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11:58
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Weds. morning linksPrager: Why Young Americans Can’t Think Morally - Moral standards have been replaced by feelings. Related: This just in… sin is a medical problem… Pop music: The Boredom of Whoredom Via Insty, What I Learned At Dartmouth Scot Speech To Be Controlled Everywhere Morrissey: Has Obama quit already? Judging by his plans for job creation and deficit reduction, the president has given up on policy accomplishments in favor of playing politics Schoen: Obama Setting Trap for Republicans With His Tax Plan White House: No, We're Not Really Serious About Passing These Jobs And Tax Ideas The Geography of Obama’s Tanking Approval Ratings 'We Were Impressed' - To the New York Times, opinion polls test whether the public passes muster. Obama's Luck Goes from Poor to Horrible, or, Political Comedy Is Never Having to Say, "I'm Funny" Buchanan: Whose Country Is It, Anyway? European model imploding Americans Say Federal Gov't Wastes Over Half of Every Dollar
The Myth of Middle-Class Stagnation. Graph from the article: Man Who Shot Grizzly Bear Defending His Family is Fined Not that we would have been pussies and used the pesticide anyway. Tuesday, September 20. 2011Pres. Obama Taxes CredulityPresident Obama's path to reducing deficits is being laughed off as playing politics with demagoguery while deficits widen. But, according to Obama, "this is not class warfare; it's math." As the Associated Press Fact Check points out:
That doesn't include the higher charges paid by middle-class and wealthier retirees for Part B Medicare, nor the lesser amounts received by them from Social Security relative to prior incomes or contributions. One of the areas targeted by the tax-more crowd is capital gains. There's no recognition of the extra risks involved in investing, that much of the gains represent inflation, or that much or all of the amounts invested were already taxed. Then, there's the false assertion that the middle class suffered most during the better pre-recession period.
President Obama may be appealing to his base, largely made up of those who pay little or no taxes already, but is cementing the attitude of those who are productive who see him as further undermining and stalling economic recovery. The International Monetary Fund just downgraded the economic outlook for the US (and Europe). Yeah, higher taxes should fix that, huh?
Posted by Bruce Kesler
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11:21
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David Brooks: "I'm a sap. An Obama sap."No, you are way worse than that, David. You were played, dude, because you wanted to be played. Had you done the job that you are well-paid to do, that would not have happened. His pressed pants, his skin color, his Harvard Law, and his glibness took you in. No real street newsman would have been conned that easily by an obvious street hustler: I’m a sap, a specific kind of sap. I’m an Obama Sap. You still are, David. You live in a rainbow pony cocoon, a land of wishful thinking. It is pathetic and irresponsible. A journalist without skepticism, a healthy dose of cynicism, and a healthy dose of whiskey, is not worth a damn. You, David, are a pussy journalist. You drink milk with dinner. That's why you work at the Times.
Posted by The News Junkie
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10:21
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Tuesday morning linksOktoberfest begins this week Why wait til Oktober? Autistic and seeking a place in an adult world Quiet's dangerous. Taki: The Day I Left the Left Winning lethal encounters Ice: This is bad news for the people of Greenland who would love to be rid of all that ice that covers valuable resources that Greenlanders could exploit. Gates: Islam is not the problem Similar: Europe’s Moral Decadence Fuels Spread of Islamic Fundamentalism- The left has done its job well: Norwegian reporters, for fear of being accused of Islamophobia, are now actually loath to remind readers that there is such a thing as Islamic terrorism. No historical link between CO2 and temperature I'd call that settled science Erdogan Has Good Reason To Be Crazy Congress resists rush for an LGBT military - Obama Pentagon tries to impose homosexual service unilaterally JFK’s Widow Blasted Times Over Cuba The Chinese government’s ‘vacuum cleaner’ approach to espionage is worrying foreign governments, companies and overseas dissidents. They’re right to be concerned. Is There a Good Reason Why It's Taking So Long to Rebuild the World Trade Center? “We can’t just leave it up to the parents," Michelle Obama Isn't she a parent? Obama Rose Garden speech reveals route to victory in 2012 Obama: Cut Medicare Rahm Emanuel To Unions: [Redacted] You Obama Wants Americans to “Pay Their Fair Share” Except For the 47% Who Pay No Taxes FACT CHECK: Are Rich Taxed Less Than Secretaries?
Monday, September 19. 2011Reagan did it rightRegarding the jobless American economy, the esteemed Prof Krugman wants to borrow more from China, and spend it. Obama wants to raise taxes, and then spend that money on government jobs, union work, and crony businesses. Vote-buying, in short - illegal on the individual level but quite legal on a larger scale. As our reader says, taking water out of one end of the pool and, after taking your cut, pouring the rest back into another side of the pool. How does tax-and-spend benefit anything except the government industry? Does any of that make any rational sense? Or am I stupid? Since the recession, we have had a government doing everything it can to suppress, leash, and stifle the animal spirits of American enterprise. Why are the predictable results always "unexpected"? Where would we be, now, without China's loans? We miss Reagan's common sense. The Dems are blinded to reality by ideological sentiment. Money doesn't grow on trees.
Posted by Bird Dog
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15:06
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CT: State workers are in a class by themselvesFrom the CT Post:
No, indeed. It's them against us. Monday morning linksA different kind of Headmaster? Character-building is the main job of a Headmaster, isn't it? It used to be. Genius headline: Million Dollar Grant To 42-Year-Old Liberal Arts College Sure To Find A Way To Make The 9000-Year-Old Agriculture Industry “Sustainable” » Gallery Girls, Dr. Sketchy and L.A.'s Sexy Underground Drawing Clubs PETA plans to launch a porn site Lex is flying Soviet childhood: journey from Lenin to the Bible U.N. Watchdog Group Barred From Next Week’s ‘Racism’ Meeting in N.Y. Rex Murphy: The media’s love affair with a disastrous president Obama to propose $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue Obama's Recipe for Tax Disaster My money: I deserve to keep it all John L. Esposito: Apologist for Wahhabi Islam Explaining Afghanistan: US Marines find it hard The diversity industry has outlived its usefulness $4 million per green job The deception behind Obama's tax on millionaires Euroland: No good choices This is fun: Sunday, September 18. 2011Heard at a faculty lecture yesterday: "Move to Texas."
From a medical malpractice defense lawyer: "I can pick any one of your charts at random and, in a little while, find a potential malpractice case in there. Why? Because few things in medical care work out perfectly, and they can easily find another doc in your specialty from an Ivy medical school to say, at $1500/hour plus expenses, that he would have done it a little differently. My advice? Move to Texas where they will appreciate you docs. Texas wants happy, caring doctors who do not view every patient as a potential lawsuit."
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
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17:33
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Why buy it if you can rent it?Pimp Your Ride - Why own what you can rent? And why not rent out what you own? This should not apply to girlfriends or wives. Sunday morning linksWhat Lucky People Do Differently than Unlucky People The politics of nostalgia: Crosby, Still, Nash & Pinch Via Tiger: RICHARD RUSSELL: 12 TIPS FOR THE NEW NORMAL
All of your body is belong to us Krauthammer: Playing ‘Medi-scare’ the ‘only hope’ for Democrats Oh, come on, CBS, you can do better The New Face of Organized Labor Meteorologists of the world, unite! Quit Coddling the Rich. Quit Coddling the Poor. Quit Coddling Everybody. The Obama administration has gone on the offensive against for-profit colleges, but Ronald Trowbridge thinks it’s ignoring similar problems at non-profit schools Mead on India: The Most Important Story You Will See All Day? We need these Indians to be reading Maggie's North Dakota Celebrates 60 Years of Oil; Future Looks Bright - ND Could Surpass CA and Alaska Soon Bill Maher: “There’s a Term for People Who Hate Charity and Love Killing – Christian” City Fines Christians $300 For Holding Bible Study In Their Home Brilliant! Bernie: Bad News on the Doorstep Parker: Are Republicans stupid?
Photo is the Litchfield, CT Congregational Church, c. 1750. Architecturally, classic New England Congo churches are plain old-time boxy meeting houses, gussied up with a steeple and a portico. Saturday, September 17. 2011Saturday morning linksThe excellent New English Review is advertising for a Diversity Officer. They wonder how they have been able to function all these years without one. The densest urban environment in the world is rather pleasant Forbes: Want Less Inequality? Stop Subsidizing Schools And Universities Mataconis: You Can Be Compassionate Without Supporting Big Government Carville doubles down: Obama ‘not going to win re-election on the course he’s on right now’ Obama Spends $4,853,000 per Green Energy Job Staggering racial preferences are in use at the University of Wisconsin–Madison We oppose racial preferences at Maggie's. We believe that an Asian gal is no less worthy a human than a Hispanic gal - other qualities being equal. But I do understand - race is all about politics. Still, I don't quite get why, if you're half Hispanic (is Hispanic a race?), you're Hispanic. Are you Hispanic if you come from Spain? Or Argentina? Liberals turn racist Fixing the economy is as easy as pie Obama: America sounds its barbaric yawn Cronygate gets worse. I still think Gunwalker is the creepier scandal. Yo, MSM. We got good fresh scandals here. Where are Woodward and Bernstein? Unexpectably miserable A frustrated, incoherent president wants to blame you for the disaster his client-Statism has created General Amos - Leading the Way For Seapower George Will: At the Pentagon, the specter of a sequester Peretz: Why Won’t Obama List Israelis Among the Victims of Terrorism? Canada's Oil Sands Are a Jobs Gusher IBD: The U.S. Bails Out A Profligate EU Funniest one I saw was a report that "Yesterday I saw three ATMs kill a job in an alley." Paul Krugman Is Back Out From Under His Desk - He’s still a fool and a liar, though. Envy:
I'd be pleased to be rich, but I somehow never get around to doing anything about it other than buying Powerball tickets. My money manager pal tells me that most people stop worrying about money when they have $17-20 million. I'd make out OK with half of that if I scrimped on some things. TSA Creator: The Whole Thing is a Fiasco. Screeners Should Be Privatized, Agency Dismantled Reason Reviews Rehabilitating Lochner
Friday, September 16. 2011Peter Schiff on the Dismal Future of the U.S. EconomyFriday morning linksHuge Gladiator School Found Buried in Austria Oh, Come On, Men Aren't Finished - Women are joining men as partners in running the world, not replacing them. I can drive to Russia from my house A pub in NYC where you can still smoke The Misery Index in Carter territory Waxman blames greedy Jews Samuelson: Europe's Banking Crisis Going Galt: Boehner: “Job creators are on strike” Also, They Gave a Recovery and Nobody Came - Some things even the Obama brain trust doesn’t want credit for. Will the arrival of school choice in the Hoosier State shatter the government's education monopoly? The Trojan horse for trial lawyers in Obama’s jobs bill The Fog of Mediscare The state of our military? Increasingly decrepit WaPo: Obama's Green Energy Loan Program a Bust - Five percent of jobs promised have been created.
Thursday, September 15. 2011Thursday evening links, as promised
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