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, May 31. 2019Grandpa's documented life, with watercolors
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:09
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Sorry, alarmistsWhen students quit doing the readingMemorial Day is planting season: A $50 hole for a $5 plantWell, not really. It is planting time for tropical things like tomatoes and peppers up here in Yankeeland. Everybody likes to get an early jump on the season, but it's never worth the trouble. Annual plants do not get going until late May and June here. On the other hand, from now on it's too late for planting shrubs and trees. Water them all you can for the first growing season, but transplantation stress and hot weather is tough. If they hold their own, next Spring they will grow fine on their own - if they like the spot you selected for them. The great Ralph Snodsmith who had a gardening show on WQXR or somewhere for 100 years always said "Prepare a $50 hole for a $5 plant." With inflation, I'd say a $300 hole for a $30 plant. Loosen up the roots of a potted plant, or chop them up a bit if the new plant is root-bound. After that, the hole is the thing. Double the diameter of the shrub or tree. A firm base, and fill with enhanced dirt (peat moss, planter soil, manure, whatever). I mix it all up for fill in a wheelbarrow to give the thing an easy start. Then soaker water plentifully the first year. Why? Because the plant doesn't have a sustainable root system yet, and to make it easier to send out new roots. Dry or compacted soil doesn't have the water space between soil particles in which to send new roots. We planted a bunch of hollies this Spring. Actually, two batches. They are looking good thus far.
Is it a government's job to make us happy?Should Government Produce Happiness? If governments know how to do that, I am all in as long as it does not involve distribution of soma. Maybe governments do know something, because they seem to know how to make themselves happy. Mostly, government seems to annoy and burden me, though.
Friday morning linksRare Color Footage Brings D-Day Memories Alive, 75 Years On UMich decides facial feminization surgeries, Adam's Apple reductions are 'medically necessary' White women cause harm every day Georgia Should Tell Disney's CEO to Go Home if His Actresses Can't Get Through a Month Without an Abortion The miracle of life, from the world's smallest surviving baby Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says a Woman Who Gets an Abortion 'Is Not a Mother' Sociologists Believe Shrieking Left-Winger Who Is Throwing Things May Be Expressing Disagreement Federally Funded Study: Common Core Sunk U.S. Kids’ Test Scores. In several cases student achievement reversed under Common Core, and in every subject studied students would have been better off if states had not adopted Common Core. Maine-Stream Madness: Measles and Misinformation. Is it wise to override common sense? Bill Gates downplays renewable energy: “Do you guys on Wall Street have something in your desks that makes steel? Where is fertilizer, cement, plastic going to come from?’ What’s Behind the Push for Open Borders? Revoke Ilhan Omar's Marriage Fraud Immunity Card Ilhan Omar: If You Want A Merit-Based Immigration System, You Might Be Racist Against Latinos US Will Impose Tariffs On Mexico Until Illegal Immigration Ends Black Voter DESTROYS Trump-Hater Justin Amash: It’s Bewildering That You Can Treat the President in this Way When He’s Doing Such a Great Job for Minorities! Robert Mueller and the Art of Innuendo - He used Wednesday’s presser to take a final cheap shot at Trump It may be impossible to ignore ‘Spygate’ for long IDF reveals ‘longest, most significant’ Hezbollah tunnel on northern border Don’t Blame the Surge of European Anti-Semitism on the Populists Triumph of a Free Society - Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s victory is a tribute to India’s democratic reforms. What do Tibetans, Kurds & Uighur Muslims have in common? All are marginalised by media’s Palestine fixation Top North Korean Official in Charge of Kim-Trump Nuclear Summit – Kim Hyok Chol – Is Executed After February Summit Fails Thursday, May 30. 2019Roman banquets
Except for our technologies, I say that we live today much as did wealthy Romans. Same culture. I agree with this comment at Quora, responding to a query about whether modern-day Italians are descendents of the Romans (not much):
How do you prove that you are innocent of accusations or insinuations?And if you fight back, are you obstructing? Amazing: Mueller's Statement Confirms Whatever You Already Believed About Trump Since when is a prosecutor supposed to determine degrees of innocence? Charles Blow in the NYT: Be bold! impeach now! Just on general principles... Thursday morning linksPhotos: The Incredible Ice Formations of Lake Baikal NBA To Assign 'Adversity Score' To Pudgy White Guys Who Want To Play Professional Basketbal Williams College Professor: For Some Of My Students, Social Justice Ideology Trumps Science Hating White Males Is Not a Curriculum It's also racist and sexist. Some of my best friends are white males. Good guys. Penn Profs Confirm Left's Worst Fears: Racism Plummeted After Trump's Election It’s Not Your Imagination: The Journalists Writing About Antifa Are Often Their Cheerleaders Mueller offers sly impeachment bait Byron York: Retrospective: Mueller and the fatal flaw of the Trump-Russia affair The fatal flaw was confirmation bias. People wanted to believe. It is always wise to identify what one wants to believe and to take that wanting into account. Did Brits warn about Steele's credibility, before Mueller's probe? Congress has evidence Steele was hired by Clinton to smear Trump. He did. It worked. He got a nice paycheck. DOJ watchdog: Former FBI official illegally leaked court docs, disclosed 'sensitive' information and took gift from media Dalio Warns Of "Risky Time As US-China Conflict Is "Much More Than A Trade War" Wednesday, May 29. 2019Wednesday Bob: I'll Remember You"When the roses fade, and I'm in the shade, I'll remember you." love this tune
QQQIf you judge people by their mistakes, you will hate everybody. Scott Adams, who adds that the way people handle their mistakes is the important piece
Posted by The News Junkie
in Quotidian Quotable Quote (QQQ)
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14:59
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A daily calisthenics routine for beginners, re posted
After a few weeks of these simple low-impact calisthenics/cardio daily, you can begin to advance, lengthen, and intensify your overall program. Ignore those calories - it's not true and it means nothing. Sure, it takes an hour to burn a donut or a bagel. So don't eat it. These trainers talk kind of silly, but that's normal. The girl shows you how to modify if you can't keep up with the guy yet:
Wednesday morning links"A British climber who died on the slopes of Mount Everest had warned of the dangers of huge queues for the summit just hours before his death." University offers ‘Problematizing Whiteness’ course A case for studying world history Educators In NYC Told To Associate Objectivity And Individualism With ‘White Supremacy’ Not doing those kids any favors Media Curiously Incurious About MLK Story - Is a Pulitzer winning biographer of Martin Luther King suddenly without standing? CrossFit Quits Facebook and Instagram Over Privacy Concerns, Manipulation on ‘Marketplace of Public Thought’ He Finally Admits He’s Not a Reporter: In New Book, Jim Acosta Insists ‘Neutrality’ Doesn’t Work in the Age of Trump His idea applies to almost anybody with an R after their name Why obstruction and cover-up charges smack of desperation Joe diGenova: John Huber Investigation of Clinton Foundation is a Farce – Never Even Started Byron York: As Barr mulls declassification, a familiar tune from critics Tuesday, May 28. 2019Tucson Trip
We went to Tucson, Arizona for Memorial Day weekend. It's about a 7-hour drive east of the San Diego area. I hadn't been there in 12-years, as part of a thousand mile circle through Yuma (Mostly Muffins are terrific then and still)-Tucson-Tombstone-Coronado Monument-Huachuka-Sedona-Flagstaff-Grand Canyon-various Pueblo ruins- Oatman. There are sights and activities worth the trip at all those spots. But that was with very young sons, so much was also missed, especially hiking. This time we enjoyed the lively refurbished old buildings converted to bars and restaurants downtown and the scenic drive up 8000-feet on 23-miles of twisty-turny road to the top of Mt Lemmon with vistas all around Tucson.
Admittedly, you have to appreciate desert scenery, and the best way to enjoy it is walking step by step examining the frequently changing vegetation as soils and elevations change slightly. There are great walks and hikes in the Saguro National Park (actually two of them, east and west of Tucson). These photos don't show the diversity of vegetation and tiny flowers on short cacti, grasses, and bushes, or the flowers at the top of tall Ocotillo. They do show the largest cacti in America, the Saguro. The seedling is the size of your thumbnail, and most get eaten by birds or trampled or die in too intense sun and heat. The best condition for survival is in the shade of a mesquite bush or palo verde.
They'll grow in an elongated barrel shape, and flowers start to appear at the top after 6-years and later at the end of arms that grow after about 75-years. The flowers are the state flower of Arizona. Each bud flowers for just one day, and there are many buds. Flowering season is May-June. (You can see the buds and flowers at the top of the Saguros in the first photo above, and then at the end of an arm in the photo below.)
Severe freezing, winds, lightening, and disease result in Saguro damage and death. They seldom live more that 200-years. The tallest reach 4-stories in height. Is there a kernel of integrity in grievance studies?Spotting fake news
A Scott Adams podcast: Teaching You Some Tricks for Spotting Fake News When Everyone Else is Getting Duped
QQQ on successBecome the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true. Naval Ravikant. Good advice: redefine what you do until it works.
Posted by The News Junkie
in Quotidian Quotable Quote (QQQ)
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15:24
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Tuesday morning linksCialis and Viagra for heart disease? What's Wrong with Vegan Diets How Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity Was Proven Correct a Century Ago This Week 137-year-old Winchester rifle found in Nevada has new home A Professor Who Argues Against Multicultural Ideology and for Western Exceptionalism Now Fears for His Job No Heroes Left: The MLK Revelations How Progressivism Enabled the Rise of the Populist Right VDH: Colluders, Obstructionists, Leakers, and Other Fools Douthat: How Liberalism Loses - An inflexible agenda and a global retreat. Time Magazine Columnist Apologizes After Trump Calls Out His Fake News By Name Cuba, tropical paradise, imports 2/3 of its food. Why? Monday, May 27. 2019A quick flight to charming Chatham MADefinitely worth the flight just for the nice seafood supper at the Chatham Squire. I love that joint. Great chowder. I have a friend who retired to Chatham village mainly for the chowder. For the nice people too, the Congo church, the old-time architecture, the mild ocean weather, beaches, birding, and closeness to Boston. Some discussion of his new avionics. Funny part: jumping the fence to get back. These guys are resourceful and have lots of fun. For Matt, his plane is just a sports car.
Monday morning linksA history of Decoration Day Here's a story of a paratrooper who survived A Waste of 1,000 Research Papers - Decades of early research on the genetics of depression were built on nonexistent foundations. How did that happen?
17 years of Powerline The Problem with Business Casual Attire The thesis of her feminist book is based on a misundertanding of a legal term SEX robots powered by high-speed internet including 5G will make them “indistinguishable” from humans How an internet mob falsely painted a Chipotle employee as racist RACISM: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Why the Elites Look Down on Manual Labor Mark Meadows: The Democrats Are Raging in Panic Because "There is information coming that will curl your hair" In Latest Transcript Release NY FBI Asst Dir Sweeney Tosses Comey Under Bus — And Has No Idea What Happened to Weiner Laptop Surber: The press serves the Deep State MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace Asks O’Rourke: ‘What Can We Do Better’ To Cover Your Campaign Timing is everything, and timing explains President Trump’s decision to finally pull the ripcord and open the Obama administration’s bag of dirty tricks. Centrist bloc loses majority in EU vote as Greens and euroskeptics gain, early results show German official warns Jews against wearing skullcaps in public amid spike in anti-Semitism Sunday, May 26. 2019Worst commencement speaker in historyHoliday Weekend Animal du Jour: The FisherYou have probably never seen one, but this cat-sized member of the weasel tribe is not rare in New England woodlands. While famous for living on porcupines and squirrels, Fishers will eat anything they can catch (but they do not eat fish). Yes, they like to eat house cats and poultry too. "Due to its alert, secretive nature and solitary habits, most people have never seen this interesting predator. It disappeared from the state by the 19th Century due to agricultural land clearing. Fishers have since made an amazing comeback, and now live in populated areas that offer mature forest habitat and the squirrels it preys on." More about Fishers. Video of Fisher hunting Porcupines Serviceberry JamSome varieties of Serviceberry, more commonly known as Shadbush up here because it blooms during the Shad run, grow in most parts of the US and southern Canada. Some grow as shrubs, some as small trees. If you spend any time tramping outdoors, you will see them. Some varieties are used as landscape plantings (I have used them) but most grow wild, especially in brushy edges. The berries look somewhat like blueberries, and range from red to purple to black. Depending on the variety, the berries can be sour or sweet. All are edible raw, and you can make jam with them too. Serviceberry is not to be confused with the Huckleberry, also a common wild plant. Huckleberry is a common meadow edge plant. QQQ"The demand for racism is outstripping the supply." Somebody said that.
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