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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Saturday, January 24. 2015Saturday morning linksIs your car’s engine noise a lie? Traveling to Europe is about to get a whole lot cheaper Good It’s Earnings Season—–So Here Come The Crooks, Led By Alcoa The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think Breaking News from 1933: ‘The Nazis Were Socialists, Not Right-Wingers’ “Struggling Mom” Showcased in Obama’s SOTU Address is Dem Staffer & Has Introduced Obama at Campaign Rallies Goldberg: "The “Life of Julia” was nothing more than an argument for the federal government to replace the functions once performed by family and community. " These 12 Words and Phrases Are Apparently Sexist Now British Feminists: ‘Degrading Sex Acts Are Empowering’ Feds Blow Half a $Million Studying Homosexual Hookup App BLS Report: Union Membership Falls To 30-Year Low…
Whew. She must be really, really smart. Wonder what department she is in. Moonbat Studies? Two examples of how ‘competition breeds competence’ I Thought I'd Get an Elite Education - Unfortunately, the university I attended fell far short of my hopes and expectations. University Bans Word ‘Freshman’ Because It’s Sexist and Promotes Rape 4 ways Obama can help the middle class — without jacking up tax rates MIT Climate Scientist: Global Warming Believers a ‘Cult’ Climate change falling so far off the public radar, a major polling house didn’t even bother asking about it this year Massaging the Message: In a complete inversion of reality, the Charlie Hebdo massacre story is morphing into a parable about how difficult it is to be a Muslim in the West Is your car’s engine noise a lie?
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The addiction article is interesting. Puts a new light on the culture where we see a lot of addiction in "successful" people in Hollywood and the music industry. So they make money and they put on an act but apparently the culture is one we should not permit to continue.
Same for all those rich kids who become addicts. What does that say about their home life if this theory is even partially accurate? I mean if addiction is driven by isolation and lack of good human connections? "The likely cause of addiction..."
The author would have you believe that addiction is caused by not having a "good life". "The rats with good lives didn't like the drugged water. They mostly shunned it,". The problem is that like so many scientific studies they have concluded that it is the cart that pushes the horse down the road. Could it possibly be true that people with mental and social issues are more easily addicted then those without those problems? And that what the scientists are observing is in fact the opposite of their conclusion. The truth is some people have an addictive personality or perhaps more correctly they have mental health issues that make them more susceptable to drugs. It isn't quite that simple of course, a lot of "normal" people choose drugs over a normal lifestyle. But for those who seemingly cannot help themselves a majority of them have mental health problems such as being bipolar. Sometimes this tendency is referred to as the "patient self medicating" as though the intent was thought out and decided upon with research and knowledge. But however it happens most addicts who cannot break the drug addiction had problems before the drugs became part of their lives. Her "areas of work" are "geography from the perspective of Marxist philosophy, social movements, autonomous labour movements, health, and the environment..." Even money whether she goes to work for a politician or ends up street-mobbing (e.g. OWS).
related to MIT Climate Scientist: Global Warming Believers a ‘Cult’
Here is a good post summarizing the global warming scam. Nothing new in it for MF readers. Just well written. 2014 as the Mildest Year: Why You are Being Misled on Global Temperatures http://www.drroyspencer.com/2015/01/2014-as-the-mildest-year-why-you-are-being-misled-on-global-temperatures/ Maybe. But what I have noticed personally is that working temp/free lance jobs and so having a very erratic schedule: I am much more likely to have a drink when I am bored and not working than when I am working on something interesting.
One person does not a study make. But....we know in other animals that boredom and/or isolation lead to self-destructive behaviours. My best example is horses that are isolated or bored tend to crib, weave, and stall walk; the first behavior in particular may have some addictive components. None of these behaviours occur in horses in even semi-natural settings. Why wouldn't people behave the same way? Thank you for this link. I read it and greatly enjoyed it.
Regards Phil I give the article credit for being partly right. It does capture some of what is mythology in addiction treatment.
However, you will notice that most of the evidence is of what things don't work very well - and some of the science in those is quite good - but there is less solid, conclusive stuff that his theories actually do work. The science there is weaker. Yes, cart vs. horse. Very hard to measure that sometimes. QUOTE: Klaven & Whittle: "Why is the German National Socialist Party and Fascism presented in the Media as 'Right-Wing'?" Oh gee whiz. It's not just a media depiction, but the characterization by the vast majority of scholars and historians from that period and still today. That's because the Nazis advocated absolute inequality while Communists advocated absolute equality. The characteristics that Whittle relates concerning authoritarianism can occur on the left or the right, just as libertarianism can occur on the left or the right. This redefinition is very recent, and is largely confined to the political right. It's propaganda. Go read about Musollini founding fascism and his ties to the Progressive movement.
Clue: fascism sprang from and got its name from labor unions. Wow, so right wing means loving inequality for its own sake?
Odd how few leftists give away their money until they've equalized their finances with those of their neighbors. Texan99: Wow, so right wing means loving inequality for its own sake?
No. The political right encompasses a wide range of views. the extreme right advocates absolute inequality, such as the Nazis and their racial views. However, other views on the right include the belief in a natural hierarchy, or support for a meritocracy, or simply that reform has to be slowed in order to prevent social disruption and the loss of essential traditions. "Granted that the 19th century was the century of socialism, liberalism, democracy, this does not mean that the 20th century must also be the century of socialism, liberalism, democracy. Political doctrines pass; nations remain. We are free to believe that this is the century of authority, a century tending to the 'right', a Fascist century." — Benito Mussolini
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Tracked: Jan 25, 10:01