Maggie's Farm

We 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.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

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Tuesday, July 7. 2015

Tuesday morning links

Henry Knox before he was a fort


Are Cats Really Wild Animals?


How they make Kiwi Shoe Polish


Flamin' Hot Cheetos Are the American Dream


I have to try them


The Deadlift: 3 Reasons Why Just Picking Up Heavy Things Replaces Most of Your Gym



Done with perfect technique, the deadlift is a perfect example of why the use of major multi-joint exercises is superior to a collection of smaller exercises.



I "enjoy" the exercises which involve multiple muscle groups. Not only are they extremely stressful and fatiguing, but they seem to be more useful for life than fussing over small muscle groups. For another example, combining squats with military presses is another hell of an exercise. Also, lunges with heavy hands - and ropes. You know it's tough when your grunts turn into 4-letter words.


The Church of Sustainability now sweeping college campuses is really primitivism and unsustainable


Rock Climbing in the Middle of New York City’s Central Park


The Richest Person In Every State


After 167 years, Chicago futures pits will mostly shut down


Streetcars: A Scam That is All About Class


"... when he can’t pay, it’s the fault of the evil banks for having “loaded him with debt”"


Oregon Democrats Want Public Scholarships For Illegal Aliens


The NYT Unintentionally Presents Evidence Against the Minimum Wage


How the Affordable Care Act Is Reducing Competition


Mexican Elites Secretly Agree With Donald Trump


Another Gun Control Claim Bites the Dust


TANCREDO: INDEPENDENCE DAY, TIME TO THINK RADICAL THOUGHTS


VDH:  Obama has built a legacy, all right: appeasement, staggering debt, racial animosity . . .


The Rick Perry Revival


‘Morning Joe’ Crew Guffaws as Hillary Clinton’s Director of Communications Tries to Explain Rope Barrier


As Hillary Clinton stumps at Dartmouth, College Democrats no-shows, College Republicans turned away


Farage:  Greece votes No: The European Union is dying before our eyes


Can Airbnb Help Turn Cuba Capitalist?


Cuba has universal poverty (except for govt officials). If the govt released their controls on commerce, that poverty would be reduced overnight.


Trade with Cuba? We already do $300 million worth


The China Policy Dilemma*


Iranian Official: ‘All the Nuclear Activities of Iran Will Continue’ Under the Nuclear Deal

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 05:40 | Comments (19) | Trackbacks (0)

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I watched the Kiwi Shoe Polish video. Interesting. Continued to watch a couple more of "Wired" videos. One was about Tap Water. They stated "that as long as your tap water is not near any fracking, your water won't catch on fire". I recall long before fracking there were incidences of "water" catching on fire. Makes me wonder about some other facts they claim. It would appear, on the surface anyway, that truth is based on ones opinion.
#1 I.......... on 2015-07-07 07:47 (Reply)
Fracking:
"And up from the ground came a bubbling crude, oil that is....."
If you relied on the media, you'd never know that oil and gas are part of the earth's crust and have tainted water in some locations since forever.
#1.1 Exasperated on 2015-07-07 12:05 (Reply)
I've watched lots of old movies, mostly (IIRC) on TCM rather than in person) and do not remember EVER seeing someone set fire to his just-polished shoes (cowboys didn't do that--OK, they never polished their boots).
#1.2 Sam L. on 2015-07-07 13:16 (Reply)
Are Cats Really Wild Animals? Some is some ain't. Ours ain't.
#2 BillH on 2015-07-07 09:21 (Reply)
"In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods. They have not forgotten this."
#2.1 JK Brown on 2015-07-07 09:55 (Reply)
I would think the difference is less wild vs domestic as it is the different lifestyles. I've lived with both cats and dogs for years and I think cats are more like your neighbors. They'll greet you, socialize a bit, but they have their own lives to live. Dogs are more like your children. They become tightly involved in the family, consider themselves as part of it and are very anxious for acceptance.

This all relates more to their relative histories than to domestication. Cats of all kinds are primarily solo hunters (as are most predators). Even lions in a pride really bring down prey individually, though some sharing takes place. Wolves are very different. Hunting is a highly coordinated activity, with rested wolves sometimes taking over a chase as others tire. Hence, they can bring down prey far larger than a lone wolf can (in this way their style of hunting matches humans more closely than any other animal). Being so socially structured, dogs (and even hand raised wolves) tend to bond with the humans as members of their pack.

That's one reason why a human can manage a very powerful dog as compared to a comparably sized feline (my dog sleeps in the room with us, but I couldn't imagine sleeping in a room with an 80 lb mountain lion, no matter how 'tame')

It is amazing that cats tolerate us at all, when you think about it.
#2.2 jay on 2015-07-07 12:21 (Reply)
Humans and wolves are both cursorial animals -- they chase big animals until the animals are exhausted then bring them down. Plains Indians captured their first horses this way. We share that trait. I don't know of any other such animals.
#2.2.1 JorgXMcKie on 2015-07-07 22:22 (Reply)
I was thinking mostly in terms of whether a cat is offish, i.e. not interested in people or their ways. Our present cat loves just being around people, whether acquaintances or strangers, watching what they're doing and such, without being intrusive. Our former cat, while friendly and sociable when she wanted fed, stroked or to go outside, didn't hang around just to be hanging around.
#2.3 BillH on 2015-07-07 13:01 (Reply)
The dead lift: Mark Rippetoe is a legend because he is mostly right about everything to do with weight training. Long ago I learned from him the three key lifts and I have relied on them ever since. Even into old age I can bench and squat what I could in my youth.

Men of all ages should make weight training their primary fitness route. It's cheap, safe and highly effective.
#3 The Z Blog (Link) on 2015-07-07 09:27 (Reply)
Article doesn't really explain why Greece voting against the EU economic plan, which may result in Greece dropping the Euro as currency, should mean the collapse of the European Union. (but it would be nice if it did)

Why they ever thought that countries with so many different languages and cultures would or even should attempt a close union with a small elite decreeing the laws and morals to abide by.

Perhaps something smaller?
#4 John the River (Link) on 2015-07-07 10:24 (Reply)
The attraction was that a back-water poor country like Greece could hitch their economy to the powerhouses of the EU and grow.

The problem is that instead of developing a strong economy - the Greeks decided to indulge in a lavish welfare state while making tax evasion the national sport. Now they are offended at the idea of repaying the loans they took out to fund their laziness. Greece has an economy the size of Louisiana with twice the population.

Now Tsipras is reneging on Greek debts and insulting Germans. All the EU has to do is wait - Greece will run out of cash and descend into chaos.
#4.1 NJSoldier on 2015-07-07 11:19 (Reply)
"Why they ever thought that countries with so many different languages and cultures would or even should attempt a close union with a small elite decreeing the laws and morals to abide by."

They're leftists, John; they don't understand people, and can't understand that some see things differently.
#4.2 Sam L. on 2015-07-07 13:21 (Reply)
While I dislike the idea of the EU as a political body, the currency makes sense. Without national control over fiat money, the Euro is the closest thing to hard currency there is today.

By removing the ability to inflate their way out of debt, it requires sane countries to be fiscally responsible. The Greeks just didn't get it (ironic since they invented math) and are now on an insane suicide run.
#4.2.1 NJSoldier on 2015-07-07 14:25 (Reply)
Dear MFers--please spend a little time today using Google Maps to get a larger picture of the "Greece Problem". You will see that between Greece and greater Europe there are other interesting opportunities for collaboration--Albania,Macedonia, Croatia, etc. All outside of the Union (correct me if I am wrong). Standing among these groups the Greeks are light years ahead in managing trade, commerce, etc. And, now we have been told that the Chinese Government is negotiating with Greece for a larger lease on the Port of Piraeus (Sp?). My, oh my, it really does appear that Greece is more than just a pretty beach! Even a stony beach in the right place, on the right island surrounded by the right temperature of water can be a pleasant experience. Geography works--use it sometime and use your maps to "SEE"
some realities.
#5 faculty wife on 2015-07-07 10:38 (Reply)
Quite, quite right! Water routes into eastern Asia, land routes to the Mideast, gateway to the Balkans. Focal point of the Med. All prime reasons that Greece has had such an interesting history and got to meet so many interesting people.

The phrase (curse?), "May you live in interesting times." can be said to the Greeks, time and time again.
#5.1 John the River (Link) on 2015-07-07 10:51 (Reply)
Putin seems to have taken notice, too. Obummer is too thick to see the geographical or geopolitical significance.

On the other hand, the Greeks aren't helping themselves either. Greg Gutfeld said it best yesterday when he said the Greek's voting "no" in their referendum was like the passengers on the Titanic voting to hit the iceberg. They seem to be joyfully shooting themselves in the head at every opportunity and making sure everybody knows that they are the best place to throw money away.
#5.2 mudbug on 2015-07-07 12:32 (Reply)
Are Cats With Us Or Against Us: Yes, depending on the cat. Many just want the free meals.
#6 Sam L. on 2015-07-07 13:34 (Reply)
Sustainability: the new term for the old New Englander ethic of "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" (I have also heard it attributed to other sources...) Something that millenials want OTHER people to practice.
#7 ama on 2015-07-07 13:55 (Reply)
Are Cats Really Wild Animals ?

The domestication of animals removes their ability to survive on their own in the wild.
Cats can and do survive in the wild without human intervention. However, they tend to live in close proximity of human habitation just as other wild animals do. Because that's where the food is .

Barn cats, feral cats and rural cats procreate with great abandon and are almost always infected with the feline rhinotracheitis and have short life spans and poor quality of life. The kittens in our barn have pasted shut eyes, nasal discharge, coughing and either starve to death, the mothers take them out in to the field to cull them, or they fall into the steer pen and are stepped on. A tough winter will cull 50-60% of them, and someone (not me) supplements them with dry cat food.
Uninterrupted one sexually mature female cat can have 3500 offspring in a 12 yr period. So if nature didn't take care of their numbers, someone would have to.


In my opinion, cats can survive without us, but without vaccination and intervention in their health, they wouldn't take over the world and they are not "wild".

Although I wouldn't put it past my housecat to start snacking on my remains if I die at home and no one finds me for a few days.
#8 fjord on 2015-07-07 15:46 (Reply)

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