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Friday, October 18. 2013

Divers

Posted by Gwynnie at 04:57 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Thursday, October 17. 2013

The McGiffert Log Loader

A self-propelled log loader, built by Clyde Iron Works, Duluth.

Posted by Bird Dog in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 18:19 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Why pay more?

Meet the ‘Blue Collar Ivies’

Posted by The Barrister at 16:02 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

Fall Shopping

Good stuff, cheap: Sierra Trading Post

Good stuff, expensive: BestGear:

Day-To-Night dresses and interview dresses for younger professionals - with pockets - made in New York City: Nora Gardner

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays at 12:23 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

Thursday morning links

Oreos Are as Addictive as Cocaine, Study Shows

Investment facts of the day

Flesh Eating Zombie Drug in United States

Why does the New York Times refuse to report on the ongoing Palestinian incitement against Israel?

The terrible fall of the American civil rights movement

Students: The Wannabe Oppressed

Why US government IT fails so hard, so often. One hint: Windows Server 2003 is still good enough for government work.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac might not be going anywhere after all

Republicans still don't know who or what they're dealing with.

Phony Indian leading charge against Redskins

Brit Hume: The Tea Party Forced a Major Fight on the Budget and ObamaCare Precisely Because The Establishment Didn't

National Park Service Director Admits White House Was Involved in Closing Memorials

Meteorologists Continue Foreseeing Harsh European Winter, “The Worst in Decades”

The Best Used Car Salesman in the World - Terry McAuliffe and the art of the sell.

What today’s conservatives can learn from JFK

Figures.
Radical Leftist Leading Charge Against ‘Redskins’ Is Phony Indian - See
more at:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/10/figures-radical-leftist-leading-charge-against-redskins-is-phony-indian/#sthash.Z5UeApVd.dpuf

America's Aid and Egypt's Indifference

The New York Times: America Sucks

The Terrible Fall of the Civil Rights Movement

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:25 | Comments (17) | Trackbacks (0)

A little friend in the tules

He almost climbed into our duck boat

Posted by Gwynnie at 04:37 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

Wednesday, October 16. 2013

Theft, welfare, and charity

From EBT recipients stole food this weekend (and every other weekend) (h/t Vanderleun):

Middle class families are forced to watch as food is taken from the mouths of their children and given to others, in an elaborate political scheme to breed dependence and ensure a loyal voting base. If we’re OK with that, why shouldn’t we be OK with what happened at a few Walmarts this past weekend? Sure, YOU can’t walk into your local supermarket and take things off the shelves, but YOU aren’t entitled. Only certain people are entitled, and the government decides who those people are. Don’t you get it?

also

I’d like to at least believe that our tolerance for Welfare stems from some sort of charitable feeling. That still wouldn’t make it right, but it would make it perhaps more palatable. Yet, I know this isn’t the case. I believe strongly in giving to the poor, and my wife and I do just that. Anyone who wants to GIVE, and GIVE FREELY, is more than able to do so. It doesn’t, therefore, make sense to support the Nanny State simply because you wish to help the poor. You could help the poor without the government, and you know it.

On the contrary, I think most of us submit to and accept Entitlements because we lack the moral or mental energy to oppose them.

The UK and Scandinavia are reforming the living on the dole lifestyle

Posted by The Barrister in Our Essays, Politics at 14:11 | Comments (17) | Trackbacks (0)

What did I do for others this summer?

I am ashamed to answer not much, really, other than for friends and family. I am too self-centered. This guy did: Sen. Rand Paul’s summer break includes performing free eye surgery.

Posted by The News Junkie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 11:44 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)

We're all ultracrepidarians sometimes

Otherwise known as talking about things we do not understand.

Thanks for the new vocab, Ted Dalrymple. Like him, I cannot stand being in a room or a car with closed windows unless it's the hottest day of the year. He applied the word in his piece Protecting Everyone From Themselves.

Posted by The News Junkie in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 10:37 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Weds. morning links

Samuel Pepys has a Twitter account

Professor To Sponsor First Annual Penis Monologues

The return of King Coal

Reynolds: Government? Who needs it

VDH: Reading Among the Ruins

Michelle Obama to Appear on The Biggest Loser, Promote Drinking More Water

The ObamaCare Death Spiral and Britain's NHS, Coming to an American Town Near You

US law enforcement agencies have a serious addiction problem to the money that comes from the War on Drugs

A fishing knife: Brickbat: Making a Felony Out of It

The view from the Marcellus shale

Climate Change Goes Back to Court

About That Gaza Humanitarian Crisis

Mead: Europe Is Burning, Slowly

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:21 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

Putting out the decoys

Posted by Gwynnie at 05:19 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, October 15. 2013

New England Real Estate: Wellfleet, MA on Cape Cod

How is this for $230,000? I wonder whether the hobbits come with it.

I know, I know - most of the value of a property is the land - and its location, but the sheet of plywood over the door, you must admit, is a gracious touch.

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects, Our Essays at 17:33 | Comments (10) | Trackbacks (0)

The age of white guilt: and the disappearance of the black individual

A reader referred us to the 1999 essay by Shelby Steele, The age of white guilt: and the disappearance of the black individual,

One quote:

Here is a brief litany of obvious truths that have been resisted in the public discourse of black America over the last thirty years: a group is no stronger than its individuals; when individuals transform themselves they transform the group; the freer the individual, the stronger the group; social responsibility begins in individual responsibility. Add to this an indisputable fact that has also been unmentionable: that American greatness has a lot to do with a culturally ingrained individualism, with the respect and freedom historically granted individuals to pursue their happiness--this despite many egregious lapses and an outright commitment to the oppression of black individuals for centuries. And there is one last obvious but unassimilated fact: ethnic groups that have asked a lot from their individuals have done exceptionally well in America even while enduring discrimination.

Posted by The News Junkie in Our Essays, Politics, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 16:20 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Bad Child Behaviour: Not In Their Genes?

I don't know what this means, but it is interesting.

Child Behaviour: Not In Their Genes?

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss at 14:52 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

The State’s Education Monopoly Increases Prices and Destroys Choice

From the article by Ron Paul:

The goal of academic regulation is to limit the supply of schools that compete against public schools. This is done in the name of guaranteeing the educational quality of the school, thereby protecting the students. Yet the academic performance of the public schools continues to decline, and has done so since the early 1960s. The scores on the SAT and ACT exams continue to fall. The high point was in the early 1960s. So, regulation has not been successful in guaranteeing the quality of education. But it has been quite successful in restricting entry into the field of education.

Posted by The Barrister in Education, Our Essays at 13:16 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Quote du jour

The Washington Redskins are changing their name because of all the hatred, violence, and hostility associated with their name.

From now on they will be known simply as the Redskins.

Posted by Gwynnie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 10:30 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (3)

Tuesday morning links

Photo of document via Ace

A Roman bathhouse still in use after 2,000 years (h/t Althouse)

Texas history: One Little Cannon

10 Things You Didn't Know About US Household Income Allocation

The gambling prohibitionists are at it again.

Chinese Want to ‘De-Americanize’ the World

Walter Williams: Racial trade-offs

Richard D. Kahlenberg: A Fresh Chance to Rein in Racial Preferences

The “Two Cities” Myth - Whatever Bill de Blasio may think, New Yorkers’ incomes rise and fall together.

“Climate Change” Will Cause Lots Of Snow And Cold Misery

Ted Cruz isn't the problem - he's the solution

911 for the third world

Government Shuts down Catholic Services on Navy Base; Church locked; Priest threatened with arrest

Two Words - It's time for American Jews to say thank-you to evangelicals—and to act
accordingly.

Commitment to Swimming Vehicle Throws Off Marines’
Tight Modernization Schedule

Crew members: ‘Captain Phillips’ is one big lie

Joe Scarborough is Out to Lunch while his program’s Guest, Bill Ayers, Spews Unchallenged Propaganda

Ted
Cruz Isn’t The Problem With The Republican Party; He’s The Solution -
See more at:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/10/ted-cruz-isnt-the-problem-with-the-republican-party-hes-the-solution/#sthash.Sz7a5NuQ.dpuf

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:18 | Comments (10) | Trackback (1)

A good day for geese

Are Canadas good to eat? You betcha, and especially if they have been living near fresh water. The easiest thing to do is to breast them out. You can confit the legs and thighs if you want. In our opinion, it's a waste to stew the breast meat. Sauteed rare is the thing to do, then very-thinly sliced.

Posted by Gwynnie at 05:00 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

Monday, October 14. 2013

Wrestling a Bluebird (lawn aerator)

I spent several hours this weekend wrestling with a rented Bluebird Aerator.

I did about an acre of lawn. The machine is not as effective as the kind you tow, but it produces pretty good cores as long as the soil is not too dry and hard. Some heavily-used areas seemed to want to be done twice and some needed to be done thrice where most of the walking and wheelbarrowing is done, but I ran out of steam. It is said that the cores should be every 6 inches or so, but that is difficult to accomplish. The wrestling is because it's a heavy and top-heavy machine, tricky on slopes, and tough to turn without tearing your turf to shreds. After the plugging, I fertilized it all and overseeded the patchy spots. The results should be evident in early May.

Soil gets compressed by foot traffic, lawn mowing, wheelbarrows, etc. You can put a lawn on life support with extensive fertilization and irrigation, but it won't be healthy. Lawns that are walked on should be aerated each year, late Spring or Fall. Athletic fields are typically aerated twice a year and top-dressed once a year with a very thin layer of topsoil/sand mix.

Earthworms are excellent aerators too, but they won't live in compressed soil.

Posted by Bird Dog in Gardens, Plants, etc., Our Essays at 17:20 | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

Gotham’s Goliath: The people vs. the public sector

From the article:

Bill de Blasio’s got the broad narrative right: We’ve got two New Yorks today, with a fat and privileged overclass lording it over everyone else.

What de Blasio won’t tell you is that the class profiting at everyone else’s expense is the city’s public sector. Because the campaign-finance laws privilege this class, their chosen candidates start out any race far ahead. But de Blasio won’t tell you any of this because if he’s elected mayor, this is the New York he’ll be working for.

Posted by The News Junkie in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 16:16 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Superstition about Creativity

From TED talks are lying to you - The creative class has never been more
screwed. Books about creativity have never been more popular. What
gives?

When he considered his creative friends as individuals, the literature of creativity began to seem even worse — more like a straight-up insult. Our writer-to-be was old enough to know that, for all its reverential talk about the rebel and the box breaker, society had no interest in new ideas at all unless they reinforced favorite theories or could be monetized in some obvious way. The method of every triumphant intellectual movement had been to quash dissent and cordon off truly inventive voices. This was simply how debate was conducted. Authors rejoiced at the discrediting of their rivals (as poor Jonah Lehrer would find in 2012). Academic professions excluded those who didn’t toe the party line. Leftist cliques excommunicated one another.

Posted by The Barrister at 14:40 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)