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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Tuesday, April 9. 2024Upcoming Election 2024So yeah, still crazy busy with my final Radiation every day and Chemo - but finally ending next Monday and moving to feel better. Moving onward, Jack Smith keeps falling apart. And my guess is almost every one of the Trump in-law issues will eventually fall apart and make nothing. Already Smith is falling apart, and even Georgia is winning its gains and management. Only Carroll's case against Trump "won" because it was a civil case - but it takes a lot to review all that information and assume she had a truth - which was damn near impossible and unlikely. But given Trump it was easy to win and push it - so they did. But even that could still be rejected as more information comes in. While I don't push for anyone in particular in November, here is what I know. I wouldn't ever vote for Trump or Biden - I'd fare exclude Biden, really - and I'd really like to see a more open number of opportunities but know that is highly unlikely. That said, the size of spending for local injection to win your party is basically over without any of the local tests. Biden and Trump ARE the two main elections which MEANS that the MOST spending for advertising will occur starting late August and mid September it will really take off. This money wasn't spent for local party gains - that ended quickly without much spending. Now the goal(s) MUST BE - SPEND THE MOST YOU CAN TO WIN THE NATIONAL ELECTION. As an FYI - Biden will have to rig things. Expect him to. It would not surprise me to rig and cheat and make all kinds of questionable things. But he's just not bright enough to win. I have to assume the Democrats will hope they win him and then find a pass to shift him out finally afterward. I can see them trying to rig that... Tuesday, March 5. 2024Minor Political News Post3/4, Monday, was full of a ton of news which is beginning to show how small portions of the Republicans, but mostly Democrats, are failing massively. SCOTUS eliminated almost all the anti-Trump ballot attempts - and the vote was 9-0, though some Democrats made a few key points. Democrats pushing for that, at the state level, failed. A certain troll seemed to say it was perfectly "legal" when we all knew it wasn't. Once more a silly attempt by this flawed idiot drawing attention to useless information sources and flawed politicians shifting laws to pursue their personal idiocy goals. Stuff is slowly improving, though. Democrats look more and more dangerous rather than helpful. Sunday, March 3. 2024Updating an Old Bible Post 2011
Sorry, been extremely busy and traveling this past week. Many visits to my doctors and updates on starting my chemo and radiation tonight and tomorrow. Hoping for some extensions from benefits. The reason I am adding this was an hour with my Pastor. I'll write more about that meeting. However, we spoke about 1 Samuel 8, politics (and my specific reason for leaving masses due to political statements often misguided due to not speaking about 1 Samuel 8, and he admitted he was behind on it) and the fact I've written versions of this 3 times. Once in college for a class that earned me zero grades. Once in grad school which led to a shift in a former leftist set of professors who often misstated Biblical versions of political views. And the third was in 2011 here on Maggie's. Enjoy and feel free to comment. It will be my 5th writing (since I sent this and some updates) to all my friends recently).
The first political systems, from an institutional standpoint, were monarchies. Monarchs either considered themselves gods, chosen by 'the gods', or "Chosen by God". In almost every sense, the political system was tied somehow to the spiritual beliefs of the nation. During a college course on Democracy, my professor spent the better part of an hour and a half discussing the implications of this concept. He pointed out that God Himself chose Israel's first king, and approved of their choosing a king. I immediately raised my hand and asked "But God didn't want Israel to have a king, did He? He considered Himself their king and allowed them to have Judges which acted as their spiritual and moral guides on earth." Continue reading "Updating an Old Bible Post 2011" Monday, January 1. 2024Gotta Love the NonsenseIf you don't love it, it would drive you crazy - and it certainly does. Several states have either tried, and failed, or succeeded so far, to remove Trump from their ballots. The best example recently was in Maine. Where an unelected official pushed this through, then had the temerity to explain their reasoning. That reasoning is best described as a version of "I had to destroy democracy to save democracy." It's a classic trope and one which is often crafted in literal and legal fashions to make them sound smarter, better, and more caring for all. As if we want them to do this. The person who did this claims, in a manner I have yet to really completely wrap my head around, that doing this was a method of getting "better leaders" and avoiding "election sabotage." Now how making Trump's candidacy and the right of people to vote for him isn't election sabotage must require some elaborate rhetoric, and certainly she tried very hard to explain it. Naturally, it's all nonsense and she's basically, in the most respectful fashion I can dredge, an idiot with few redeeming qualities to hold the office currently held. Continue reading "Gotta Love the Nonsense" Wednesday, November 1. 2023Want to Boycott Israel?Boycott Israel. It's a great idea if you're angry at Israel for developing a strong economy and thriving culture. You may be upset at them for invading Gaza, and you can support the right for Palestine to have their own nation. Truth be told, Israel and the UN have offered Palestine a nation several times, and each time been rebuffed. Israel also isn't happy about returning to Gaza. Remember they removed all Israeli settlers, and the IDF, years ago with an understanding that it would be demilitarized. Funny how that worked out.
Continue reading "Want to Boycott Israel?" Saturday, October 21. 2023Oldie but goodieTuesday, September 26. 2023What is "an American"?Wednesday, January 19. 2022Ruminating on Woke HistoryI've not been contributing since about September, and I apologize for the long gap. I apologize only because it's rude to disappear without letting people know where you're going and I do my best to avoid being rude. In a nutshell, I've been overwhelmed at work, which is a good thing. After not working for many months, I managed to land a (much lower level) position which is working out very well for me and my long-term prospects have improved dramatically in the last few weeks. Of course, improved opportunity means additional responsibilities. Which means more time at a desk, at least in my current role. At my age (pushing 60), that's something many others cannot say. They're either at or near the pinnacle of your career, or winding it down. As I have done 4 other times in my life, I'm winding up again and feeling great. One thing I do is try to go for a walk each day for at least an hour. Fresh air and exercise enables me to be nimble of body and mind. I'll listen to history podcasts while I walk, or just think. Recently, after a particularly difficult conversation with a friend who has gone full-on Woke, I chewed the mental cud and began to wonder where all this Wokism is headed. It suddenly struck me what the essential problem of Wokism and Cancel Culture represent. In the name of creating and expanding opportunity, these people are limiting it severely. I wondered what history would look like if Woke and Cancel mindsets had been in place for a longer time than just the last decade or so. Not that we need another discussion on Wokism, but I felt this was a good mental exercise. Continue reading "Ruminating on Woke History" Friday, December 24. 2021Defining "the common good"And what are "natural rights"? From The fallacies of the common good by Kim R. Holmes:
Saturday, December 11. 2021A political turningVia American Digest, Long Read of the Week: The Turn by Liel Leibovitz. It begins:
Friday, October 22. 2021Legal plunderSunday, October 17. 2021What Americans wantFrom Sandel's Just Deserts at Powerline:
Thursday, September 9. 2021Cancel culture
She could be canceled for that article, don't you think? It is a form of terrorism, and none of it is "for the better." You can scare people into not saying what they think, but you can't scare them out of free-thinking unless you start with the little kids. Oh, wait... Wednesday, July 14. 2021Rubio on CubaToday Marco Rubio made a statement on Cuba that is both timely for the citizens of that nation and for those of us here in the US. "We don’t just condemn this tyranny. We condemn this communist, this Marxist, this socialist tyranny.” Rubio then demanded that America make “clear about whose side we’re on.” “The first lesson we need to take away from it is that Marxism, socialism, doesn’t work." Rubio continued, “The way socialism, the way Marxism has always worked, the way it’s always empowered itself, is it goes to the people and immediately divides them. It says there is an oppressor class and that there is this victim class and these evil oppressors, capitalists, in the case of socialism or traditional Marxism, they oppress the victims.” I visited Cuba several years ago, when I had the opportunity. I felt it was a good chance to see Communism in action, and to see a nation that is (rather literally) stuck in the late 50's and early 60's (and earlier, based on some of the cars I rode in). I was clear that the people, as we are seeing now, want freedom. Many know that Castro hoodwinked them, but once in, there was little they could do to get him out. Castro was good at convincing many, whose families at one time had little or nothing, that his way was 'better'. Over the years, most have learned this is simply not true. Cubans are now aware of the reality of the world, mainly because of (in spite of the government's restrictions) the internet. They lack many modern conveniences and opportunities. But they are not lacking in skill or entrepreneurialism. A nation that can survive, and thrive, in the face of communist limitations says more about its people than it does about its government or system. I wish the Cuban people well and hope they can somehow manage to toss off their yoke of oppression. If they do, Venezuela's tyrants may not last for long, as Cuba is their last reasonably-sized supporter in this hemisphere. Cuba still has a lot to offer, and we can hope the people find a path forward in spite of Biden's insistence to avoid the obvious. I notice Bernie and AOC, both believers that Cuba is somehow special and different and 'better' than the US, have been silent. Rubio hit the nail on the head, though, and within his statements, he was taking a swipe at BLM, Antifa, and the other leftists in the Democratic Party. Saturday, July 10. 2021People ask Andrew Sullivan "What happened to you?"Sullivan's essay reminds me of what Reagan said of the Democrats: "I didn't leave them; they left me." What Happened To You? The radicalization of the American elite against liberalism: He sees the nation's power institutions going crazy. He know these middle-class white lefties will be the first cohort to be hung from the lamppoles.
Monday, June 28. 2021Glenn Loury speaksAn important essay at Quillette by Glenn Lowry: The Bias Narrative versus the Development Narrative: Thinking About Persistent Racial Inequality in the United States. He says "systemic racism" is a political narrative:
It's a lengthy piece so I'm sure he could not include every factoid, but I find it interesting, when considering these things, that the bourgeois black family in the US was stronger in the 1950s than today. I don't think "urban black dysfunction" existed then. Correct me if I am wrong.
Friday, May 14. 2021Merriam-Webster, the Ministry of TruthI am now a proud "anti-vaxxer." Actually, I'm not. But Merriam-Webster does define me as one. The funny thing is, I've gotten vaccinated. For polio, smallpox, MMR, tetanus, and even recently I received my second shingles vaccine. I got the shingles vaccine on the day I turned down the coronavirus vaccine. I have my own personal reasons for turning down the new vaccine. After all, I've had covid, and it was a bit tough, but nothing I couldn't handle. I have other reasons, too, which I won't share since the information on all of this is convoluted and tends to spark arguments (not discussions). It is not hard science by any stretch. Even my doctor, when I gave my reasons for rejecting it, tried to convince me to get it by saying "we know so little about it, the vaccine is a good idea." I replied that if you know so little, it seems odd that you're convinced that the vaccine will help me. I hardly see that as a reassuring argument. She agreed (which surprised me) and said "just realize you may get it again." I told her I've gotten the flu many times, too. Even after I was vaccinated. My reasons are mine alone and I'll get the answers and make my determinations as I go along. I have that right (in the old United States I did...). I'm not opposed to the coronavirus vaccine, either. I suggested my father (85, with heart issues) get it when he asked me if he should. He is a retired doctor, I laughed when he asked me, but I was honest. He agrees with my reasons for not getting it. It could be he's not seeking to have a discussion, but I know he has his own questions. Mrs. Bulldog got it (and, as I suspected, had no side effects, as she has been exposed to covid several times and never gotten it. Long exposures, both from me and friends. She really is a Viking.) and I supported her decision to get it. My mother (85 and frail) got it. Other members of my family have gotten it. I just have my own questions about this particular vaccine. I have a right to question it, and be skeptical. Even today, it's not uncommon to see or hear about fully-vaccinated people testing positive. I doubt this means they have covid. In fact, I'm willing to bet heavily the tests are incorrect (as so many are). I'm also not afraid of getting covid again. I dealt with it once, and it wasn't bad. I'm in better shape now than I was then (lost about 5 lbs, lifting more, using the elliptical for longer stretches - I made it a goal to get in better shape), and know how to deal with it (low sugar, lots of water, Vitamin D and lots of sun and fresh air). There are also improved treatments if I'm wrong. All that said, I'm not an anti-vaxxer. Not even a little. Not even a tiny bit. I'll get the vaccine IF my questions are resolved by my doctor AND if I reach a point that I feel it is useful and necessary. In the meantime, I'm not a threat. At least not health-wise. That said, I do oppose mandates and forcing people to do things they don't necessarily want to do. And if opposing mandatory vaccine programs makes me an anti-vaxxer, then I am a political problem to some people. What annoys me is that I'm defined by Biden and Merriam-Webster as an anti-vaxxer. That's wrong. The dictionary has extended its definition far too broadly. It's also wrong to have a President tell me that I have to choose between a mask and a vaccine. He, of all people, is unqualified to make this determination. He's just a power-mad elderly man with dementia (at least I think he's got dementia, he certainly behaves that way). I've gone without a mask pretty much everywhere (mostly outdoors, though I keep one in my pocket). Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Block Island, New Orleans, North Carolina - I've done quite a bit of traveling. I wear the mask if I'm asked to, but not otherwise. As time goes by, people will see I'm not a risk. But for now, politically, I am. I am a massive risk politically. And I'm loving it. I won't make people do things they oppose. I appreciate others who realize this is the essential reason for the creation of our great nation. Monday, April 26. 2021Albion's Seed, The "New Right," and TrumpAs I see it, practical politics does not require philosophical consistency. However, there are attitudes with long histories which continue to shape practical politics. Is there a "New Right"? I do not know what "Right" means in a country in which freedom from overly-intrusive government is termed "Right". Monday, April 19. 2021Leftist Narratives Imploding, Still Doesn't MatterThe most recent one to implode is "the 1/6 insurrection led to the death of a police officer." That is now absolutely not true. Assuming you believed that (or the "insurrection" meme) is what happened. Being a natural skeptic, I didn't believe much of the official nonsense 'news' that was shared. After all, I knew many people who were there that day, and none of them were in the Capitol, all were outside protesting. While appalled at the few who did rush the building and do damage, they all said it was a small number by comparison to the group outside, which was peaceful. Other Progressive narratives are breaking down, too, though. Progressive stronghold Portland is still a hot mess. Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Cuomo's mismanagement of Covid is set aside for a more Progressive-friendly sexual misconduct. Maxine Waters has in the past, and is now, inciting 'insurrection' and won't face impeachment. Gaffe Machine Biden keeps putting his foot in his mouth. His son is on a make-nice tour answering softball questions to clear his image. Wikileaks published emails showing Dominion's legal firm offered assistance to the Clinton campaign in 2016. All this dirt is readily available and very little is going to make the mainstream news (frankly, I'm shocked the Russian bounty story's dismissal made it to the mainstream, as that was one of Biden's memorable hot buttons). It's hard to understand why anyone pays attention to mainstream news. DeSantis' treatment is such that one can only shake their head in wonderment at the brazen nature of the lies and deceit. Living in one of the few (there really aren't many - just look at the map of popular votes for all the blue sections) bastions of Progressive thought, I am often stunned at what people are willing to listen to and believe. Comfortable lies rule the day. Say what you want about alternative news sources being 'fake news'. Determining what's real in the supposedly 'credible' media is a feat in itself. Tuesday, February 9. 2021Animal Farm comes to the USAFrom VDH's Our Animal Farm - The Left’s 1960s dream is America’s 2021 nightmare.
Wednesday, January 27. 2021Journalists against free speechJournalists Mobilize Against Free Speech It's an interesting development. Evil, of course by American standards, but, as the article points out, the USA is an outlier in the world when it comes to free thought and free speech. Establishments and powers hate freedom. Thus American values. Where is Tom Paine?
Friday, January 8. 2021A Dose of RealityHopefully calm will be restored as the nation moves back toward some semblance of whatever it is we consider 'normal' for the last 9 months. I hope things continue to improve as we move out of the Covid scare and fear mongering (yes, Covid is real, I had it as have many friends, but no it's not so bad for 95% of the people who get it). If we can move past all this, my job opportunities may improve. Then again, who knows? I know few of you are on Facebook, but I am (or was). It allowed me to reconnect with friends and family and it's a useful tool. I've also shared Maggie's articles there with my friends, and met many other people who I share interests with. I am well aware of the privacy issues, but I know how to navigate them (part of my everyday job) and manage them effectively. There is, however, one thing I can't manage. It's the real problem we're facing today. It's the reason I deactivated my Facebook recently (after letting people know how they can reach me if they want/need to). I am aware of many HR Departments doing sweeps of social media to find things out about people. I have heard several stories of pro-Trump people losing job offers. This doesn't surprise me at all in NYC today. The shift here has been significant from not just hating Trump to full-fledged belief that anyone who supports him is a deranged psychopath. I have never been a Trump supporter, but that doesn't mean anything because I've never hated him, either. It's best to hate him with the passion of a thousand suns in order to win approval with many organizations today. I haven't loved him, haven't hated him, I've merely tolerated him, and realized his persona was a massive problem but that he was accomplishing some good things. I was for honesty and balance of thought and reason. Today, you can't be that way. You have to be a true believer, or at least not come across as a believer of "the other side". In other words, it is almost a requirement to be Progressive to be "acceptable". Such is the nature of modern definitions of Diversity - be like us or you're not acceptable. I'm all for Diversity. Diversity of thought, and respect for other views, without accepting the enforcement of those views on others by law, social shame, or other means of behavioral modification (brainwashing via education, for example). Continue reading "A Dose of Reality" Wednesday, January 6. 2021Regarding Today's Activity in DCThe real issue I see coming out of what's going on in DC is not what has happened. What occurred in DC is not that different from what's been going on all summer. It's not right, it's uncalled for, and it doesn't matter who you support. It's just lawless behavior and it should've been stopped in the summer - just as it should be stopped here (and I'm sure it will be). It's wrong that the media spent the whole summer telling us riots were 'peaceful' protests and didn't care about the destruction of businesses and livelihoods. That was wrong. The only thing we 'lost' here was a few hours and a slowdown to the certification. As a result, the credibility of our journalists has reached a new low. Today was wrong - we cannot pretend that this kind of behavior is acceptable regardless of who we want in office. But we've been told all summer that rioting is fine. It just matters what you're rioting 'for', I guess. The REAL problem, as I see it, is that finally the politicians have a taste of what they've wrought...and they will use it to insulate themselves further from the people. And that will be a very bad situation. These politicians have outsourced their riots to other cities for years. They've never felt the wrath of the people. Now that they have, they are blaming the people for the problems they, the politicians, have created. You can be sure they will find ways to continue to distance themselves from us rather than realizing this is just the start of the people demanding our PUBLIC SERVANTS act like what they are, rather than acting as our overlords. Saturday, December 26. 2020The Perennial QuestionIs Die Hard a Christmas movie? My son says no. I say yes. My brother says yes, the director John McTiernan says yes, and a host of others say no. Others play Solomon and split the baby. It's not a movie with a Christmas theme, but does include the element of Christmas. So, "no, but..." Another way of looking at this is to ask if there was a message regarding "the system" in Die Hard. It was based on a book which was clearly anti-capitalist in nature, and McTiernan states it was supposed to be anti-capitalist. Frankly, I think he lost on that score. The proletarian nods don't really add up well. Capitalism had been so successful in providing more for all that by the time the movie was made some of the items he felt delineated 'wealth and privilege' from 'working class' were no longer meaningful. They are even less so today (assuming our economy had not been locked down, which has only exacerbated some of the divisions of wealth which were barely noticeable before). That said, the most noticiable delineations of class today are not wealth-related, but power related as our "leaders" lock us down and lecture us on how to behave, only to go do the exact opposite things which they suggest we do. The real 'class warfare' today is power vs. the lack of it, not whether one has more money than someone else. Of course, that was always the nature of 'class warfare', but Leftists love to obscure that fact with a veneer of basic economic BS that only people with common sense can see through. McTiernan, therefore, fails miserably in his goal of making a legitimate anti-capitalist story. Mainly because there is no legitimate anti-capitalist story to be made. Unless you are a "trained Marxist" and know how to create one out of whole cloth. (For what it's worth, the term "trained Marxist" always made me laugh. I studied Economics at The New School, which tried very hard to push the Marxist agenda, and I read quite a bit of Marx, Hobsbawm, Gordon and a host of other Marxist garbage. So I'm a "trained Marxist" and one of the things every single Marxist professor said was "Marx left no blueprint, only an idea with no path forward and no clear goal except revolution." That's why Marxism and Leftist thought is such utter BS. Unlike Classical, Neo-Classical, Monetarist or even Austrian schools of thought, Marxism is just an idea and not a fully-formed one, but full of childish and misleading binary concepts. Though I will credit Marx with completely shifting the study of History in a very meaningful and useful fashion.) At any rate, to me Die Hard is very much a Christmas movie and very much a pro-capitalist one. After all, Hans Gruber himself, like so many Marxists before him, only cared about the power he was managing (his gang) and the money he was trying to collect, and was utilizing a facade to perpetrate his crime...you know, like BLM and Antifa today. These movements are cargo cults, full of images that seem to 'make sense' but cannot ever effectively achieve the goals they have set for themselves because they are inclined only toward one thing. Perpetual Revolution.
Thursday, December 24. 2020A Damaging Change in Posture
It seems WHO has descended fully into madness. Herd immunity seems to have shifted from being acquired to being delivered by Big Pharma.
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