I'm in so much trouble

Over the years,the Spousal Unit and I have had a disagreement or too. No, really. One of these is about guinea hens. I think they're so ugly they're cute. She thinks they are loud, messy and obnoxious.

But last night when a friend emailed saying he had some baby guineas and asked if I wanted any, I replied with a profanity-laced affirmative. I was mostly kidding. He was serious. Before I really thought it through I was on my way to my buddy's farm.

I wound up coming home with 11 babies who are now residing in a box in the house with a heat lamp shining above.

They are kind of cute at this point but they are already LOUD. The only consolation is that one guinea peeping is almost as loud as all of them peeping together so there's really not much difference, really, between having three or four and having eleven. That's my story anyway.

They do seem to quiet down a bit when I sing "Mule Skinner Blues" to them, but that's not something once can do 24/7

So while guineas are in the house, El Cabrero is in the doghouse.

YOU ALREADY KNEW THIS: austerity is a bad idea.

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ALSO A TARGET, of course, is the Affordable Care Act. Here's some interesting public opinion research on that topic.

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CAT YOGA. You knew they did it. Here are some outstanding examples.

FINANCIAL ADVICE on a 4x6 index card.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

An idea whose time has gone

Austerity was all the rage and still is in some circles, especially those that favor government by artificially created crisis, like the fiscal cliff, debt ceiling blackmail and the idiotic sequester.

Here are several looks a why austerity in a weak economy is a bad idea and why more people are walking away from it. Note: some of these are wonky but you'll have that some days.

First, it isn't doing that great in Europe.

Second, groups like the Center for American Progress are walking away from the idea of a "grand bargain"/bad deal, something they had previously supported.

Third, here's why they're calling for a reset to the fiscal debate.

Fourth, it makes more sense these days to be an infrastructure hawk than a deficit hawk.

WILL HE LISTEN? Here's E.J. Dionne's advice to the president.

IT'S NOT ALL BAD. WV's high school graduation rate is improving and has now caught up to the national average.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED