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

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Monday, August 28. 2017

Monday morning links

Toon via Never Yet Melted


 Endangering America: The crazy quest to topple history


How to push Grandpa over the edge (viral video) 


Gotta love the giggling grandkids 


 Study Proves 'Fat But Healthy' Isn't a Thing


 Mindfulness would be good for you. If it weren’t so selfish.


 IS MINDFULNESS MEDITATION A CAPITALIST TOOL OR A PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT? YES


Altucher:  The Nine Surefire Ways To Fail At Anything


Full extent of Harvey’s aftermath starts to come into chilling focus


Why Houston did not evacuate 


Congress debating federal flood insurance 


 NYT: "Blacks and Hispanics Are More Underrepresented at Top Colleges Than 35 Years Ago"


Blame racism 


 Why Is Congress Not Investigating Obama’s Unprecedented Political Espionage?


All governments love to spy on their citizens 


 Law Professors Condemned as Racist After Praising America’s 1950s ‘Bourgeois Culture’ - UPenn students, alumni slam professors for 'promoting hate and bigotry'


 The ludicrously misnamed Southern Poverty Law Center has become a scam operating as a left-wing hate cult.


 66% of Americans now fear speaking their minds in a politically correct nation: poll


 Who Wins if Free Speech Loses?


 Charles Barkley Labeled "White Supremacist" For Telling Black People To Stop Killing Each Other


 Brent Bozell: The Slow Death of the Republican Party


He is pissed about their timidity 


 Conservative Surge Puts GOP Control of States at 95-Year High


 Democrats Are Working Hard to Destroy Their Party


 The Left Will Blame Trump for Hurricane Harvey


 The Destructive Power of Progressive Overreach - Good for Trump. Bad for progressives. Bad for the country.


Yuval Levin on Trump's reckless executive failures 


 Lindsey Graham: President Trump Focusing Against Congress "A Very Thought-Out Strategy, There's Nothing Crazy About It"


 THE RACIST ATTACKS ON AMERICA AND TRUMP - Why the Left hates the president and the nation he heads.


 Another example of climate alarmism idiocy – Germany’s dieselgate


 SOMALI SHOUTING "ALLAHU AKBAR" ATTACKS SOLDIERS IN BRUSSELS


That is not news anymore 


 With Afghanistan, Third President’s a Charm - Obama declared combat operations ended in 2014—except they didn’t

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 06:49 | Comments (18) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

A lot of the Anti-Trump stuff is just theater for the chumps, especially the arrested adolescents who have a lot of ego investment in personalities and public figures, not to mention the soap opera women who crave "drama". I can't relate but there have to be a lot of consumers, who fall for click bait.
Most Trumpkins know that DJT is a stand in and that they are the real target for their resistance to the vision (re: self aggrandizement) of their betters, oh, and for their privilege. You know privilege, you might be more familiar with it as the work ethic.  It incorporates concepts like self actualization, self discipline, fairness, loyalty (though not blind loyalty), integrity, civic mindedness, reliability and accountability, courage, autonomy, problem solving, cleaning up after oneself, conserving or saving and postponement of gratification, being productive and contributing to the community and the economic pie.
#1 Exasperated on 2017-08-28 09:44 (Reply)
Houston didn't evacuate, but the sensible Houstonians did. The ones who stayed literally don't have sense enough to get out of the rain. What are you, five? "It's not my fault, it's your fault because you didn't tell me to get out of the way of a huge storm we've known for days is coming right at us."
#2 Jerryskids on 2017-08-28 09:51 (Reply)
Re: fat and health. There are two fatal mistakes in this story. One is that they always conflate “fat” or “obesity” with overweight. If my ideal weight is 190 am I fat or obese at 195??? Here is a quote from the article “Even if you are classified as metabolically healthy, (excess weight) was associated with an increased risk of heart disease," They are in fact saying that my excess 5 pounds is provably unhealthy and can lead to disease and early death. Is it true? Arguably what they really mean is 30, 40, 50 lbs overweight but they don’t say that.

Then in the same article they again conflate with this “This reinforces the fact that obesity in itself is a risk factor,". Again I ask are they saying 5 lbs overweight is obese? Arguably even 30-40 lbs overweight isn’t obese. So which is it? Is it obesity or simply being “overweight” I think what they mean is grossly overweight as in not just 30-50 lbs but perhaps 50-100 lbs overweight. Most of us will associate “obese” with someone who weighs 350-500 lbs. You know it when you see it, THAT is obesity not 5, 10, 20 lbs overweight but 200-350 lbs overweight.

The second fatal flaw in their premise is conflating “overweight” with diseases associated with “overweight” For example their quote “we know that there is a very high correlation between obesity and numerous health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. “ Are they unaware of the high correlation between race and “diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease”? Or age and “diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease”? Let me be clear, there is a “high correlation between race and “diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease” and being human. It is NOT simply a result of being overweight. In many cases diabetes will as a side effect/symptom cause you to be fat/obese not the other way around.

I am not advocating obesity or being overweight, what I’m advocating is honesty in medical science and perhaps the need for them to take more classes in statistics. I think what is actually happening here is that the scientists/doctors are knowingly conflating overweight and disease with “good intentions” to convince people to become a “healthier weight”. But isn’t it possible to convince overweight people to lose weight without lying and conflating facts?

Diabetes is a genetic disease. If you have it being overweight or underweight isn’t going to give it to you or cure you. If you don’t have it being overweight or underweight isn’t going to give it to you. Obesity, true obesity where you are 200-350 lbs overweight, is genetic and you cannot diet yourself to normal weight and keep it there for the rest of your life. Simply being overweight is also consistent with your genetic predisposition but you can indeed lose that weight by diet and keep it off by common sense eating.

One last point, if you are normal weight and normal health it is still likely that you will die at a younger age that that fat aunt that you only see at family reunions. How can that be if being lean and fit is sooooo damned healthy??? Because life is a crapshoot and you are your parents child and inherited their genes good and bad. Everyone is different. All you can do is do what is best for you. There is no magic diet or prescription to good health or longevity.
#3 GoneWithTheWind on 2017-08-28 10:27 (Reply)
As a woman who experienced being told I was 'out of standards' in the Navy by 2 or 3 pounds, yet was thinner than my shorter, squatter female sailors, THANK YOU.

The idea that there is an 'ideal weight' for a range of body types is ridiculous. I had to be taped (caliper tested, for those who don't know what 'taping' means) every 6 months when I was in the Navy b/c of their dumb weight standards. I passed the taping every time.

Yet I saw 'apple' women who were round and completely out of shape pass the weight test every time.

I am tall (almost 5'10") and very muscular in my lower half. Also large boned (not a euphemism, truly large boned). I went through Boot Camp about 4 pounds over the max weight for my height, lost 2 sizes, and still was 1 pound over my max weight after Boot Camp. It was ridiculous.

Some women are naturally most muscular than other women. Some women have large bones. How does a weight range calculate for that? It does not.

Tired of being told that 5 pounds over a 'maximum weight' for my height is going to doom me. It wasn't true in the Navy, and it's not true now. One reason I hate BMI, it does not take body differences into account.

I would like to see a BMI range for each body type. Women have many more body types than men. No one seems to care. :-(
#3.1 MissT on 2017-08-28 13:24 (Reply)
 Brent Bozell: The Slow Death of the Republican Party

He is pissed about their timidity 

Pissed at their timidity or really pissed at their double cross of constituents, refusing to honor the promises that got them elected and effectively "collaborating" with the Dems in every way possible?

The GOPe has merely confirmed that they are the "conservative" faction of DC's UniParty!
#4 Old Codger on 2017-08-28 10:45 (Reply)
Why Houston did not evacuate

If Houston had a Republican mayor, the MSM response would be SCANDAL! INEPT GOVERNANCE! But as Houston has a Democrat Mayor, and has had one for years, the MSM response will be, "Oh well."
#5 Gringo on 2017-08-28 11:05 (Reply)
Is a "partial evacuation" too complicated for the Houston politicians? "Everyone in low-lying and drainage areas should evacuate". "Low lying and drainage areas" specifically defined by elevation above sea level, and a map. Its not too complicated, even for politicians, but they are only interested in opportunities for graft and corruption, so don't bother themselves with trivia like true public welfare.
There will be lots of opportunity for graft and corruption when rehabilitation benefits are distributed through politicians.
#5.1 jaybird on 2017-08-28 11:20 (Reply)
How odd that the only discussion can be over:"No evacuation" or "Full evacuation". No creative room for in-between? In the 12 years since Rita, all the Office of Emergency Planning leadership has learned how to do, apparently, is throw up its hands and call the governor an idiot.

In the leadup to Ike in 2008 - after Rita - there was a mandatory evacuation of low-lying areas in Houston. In 2015 and 2016, there was catastrophic flooding in those same areas. Was it really that hard a decision to ask for voluntary evacuations of people with those recent flooding experiences, and orders for business / government closures etc - since the prospect of full evacuation was so fraught with catastrophe?
#5.2 Aggie on 2017-08-28 12:02 (Reply)
aggie, you are rational, and make sense, so would make a much better mayor for Houston than the incumbent.
#5.2.1 jaybird on 2017-08-28 13:53 (Reply)
Hah! No thanks, happy where I am, and I'd be back within a week anyway. Here was the NOAA National Hurricane Center on Wednesday morning last week: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2017/HARVEY_graphics.php?product=5day_cone_with_line_and_wind

There will be plenty of of 20-20 hindsighters to come I'm sure. The important thing that must happen is to learn from this disaster. It does not appear that OEM has learned as much as they should have from the past 10 years' flooding events, but there are probably as many good reasons for this as there are bad excuses to go with them. Stay safe everyone and good luck.
#5.2.1.1 Aggie on 2017-08-28 14:09 (Reply)
Lower percentage of Blacks and Hispanics in colleges now than 30 years ago: CLEARLY due to RAAAAACIST college administrators.

Houston didn't evacuate: Some people never learn, others, well...

SPLC: A left-wing hate group that runs a scam, is, I think, more accurate than the other way around.

Charles Barkley: Shows the idiocy and raaaaaacism of the blacks calling him a white supremicist.
#6 Sam L. on 2017-08-28 13:12 (Reply)
Houston didn't evacuate:

The real problem is that Houston allowed homes and commercial building on flood plains. I am old enough to remember when you could not build in a flood plain. I can assure you that every inch of greater Huston was mapped years ago and they knew within inches how deep the water would be when a big hurricane came through. This was a massive failure of the city and county building inspectors and more than likely by the state legislators.
#7 IdahoBob on 2017-08-28 18:54 (Reply)
IdahoBob: The real problem is that Houston allowed homes and commercial building on flood plains.

For years, Texas' lax housing regulation has been held out as an example of the free market at work. By allowing urban sprawl, it helped keep housing values low. However, by allowing urban sprawl, it resulted in paving over vast areas of wetlands, exasperating the problem of storm drainage.

QUOTE:
2015: More than 38,000 acres of wetlands vanished in greater Houston over the past two decades despite a federal policy that "no net loss" can be caused by encroaching development.
#7.1 Zachriel on 2017-08-29 06:25 (Reply)
The article cites no sources except "researchers," and a small on-the-ground study. The problems seem to be mostly lack of required documentation, which might disguise a real problem but are not actual evidence for it. Assertion after assertion, not backed up. Might be true. Might not.

I'm going to ask straight out: do you get paid for this?
#7.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2017-08-29 23:54 (Reply)
Assistant Village Idiot: The article cites no sources except "researchers"

The article includes this information: "Texas A&M University's coastal watershed program, which worked on the study with the Houston Advanced Research Center." Perhaps this will help.

QUOTE:
Houston-Area Freshwater Wetland Loss, 1992–2010: Since 1992, the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area has lost at least 5.5 percent of its natural freshwater wetlands. Although a 5 percent loss in 20 years is unsustainable by any accounting, some areas experienced loss at rates that are catastrophic. For example, Harris County lost almost 30 percent of its freshwater wetlands, including most prominently the iconic prairie pothole-pimple mound complexes.


Assistant Village Idiot: I'm going to ask straight out: do you get paid for this?

Our opinions are our own, and freely given.

You're welcome.
#7.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-08-30 08:44 (Reply)
First, the paragraph in the article which includes your quote doesn't say what you claim it does.

Second - that was evasive about the payment, and I'm taking it as an admission. Is it one of the David Brock groups that throws a little your way and supplies you with talking points?
#7.1.1.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2017-08-31 16:36 (Reply)
Assistant Village Idiot: First, the paragraph in the article which includes your quote doesn't say what you claim it does.

That Harris County lost 30% of its wetlands is certainly significant. Apparently, the link didn't work. Here it is again:

Freshwater Wetland Loss in the Houston Metropolitan Area: A Quantitative Estimate of the Loss between 1992 and 2010

Assistant Village Idiot: that was evasive about the payment

Not sure what about "freely given" you do not understand. We do not charge nor do we accept remuneration for posting.
#7.1.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2017-08-31 18:19 (Reply)
Another problem was the abnormally warm Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for a significant fraction of the available moisture and storm strength.
#7.2 Zachriel on 2017-08-29 06:40 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.