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.
He is the man with slide guitar. Rumor is that he was invited to join the Rolling Stones, but declined. A sentimental song, because farming is an industry now.
Wolves were exterminated in the Northeast US centuries ago. In the 1800s, the sheep farmers hated them, put bounties on them, and killed every last one.
That's an olde New England Catboat, fully-refurbished with a small diesel engine, a hand-pump head, and three reefs in her sail. Not that I would sail when I needed 3 levels of reef. Watermen did in the old days, for sure, and anybody can be caught in a squall.
Like most boats, Catboats were designed as work boats. Recreational boating and yachting are recent developments.
I kinda love this craft despite the fact that, right now in life, I'd rather drive the tractor.
It is clear that it is worth doing both, but not on the same day. For what it's worth, I do back squats once weekly, deads once weekly, and leg press once weekly for lower body resistance exercises.
It is difficult and slow to build lower body power with my particular physical architecture (runner's build), but I work at it. Just increasing the wts by 5 lbs/month is great.
Psychiatrists are often more alert to perimenopausal mood and cognitive changes. Whether estrogen replacement treatment is always the best solution is another question.
President Biden has promised that by 2022, the residual American military forces will leave Afghanistan. When that happens, it will complete the trifecta of American failure in its three major wars in the last half century: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam. Having spent years in Vietnam, when I look back, several causes for our failure there stand out.
I've been thinking a little about China. Of course, all governments lie but to imagine that China cares about you, much less its own masses, would be crazy. At least when the US federal government lies (very often) there are people outside the MSM to notice, and humble websites like ours to report it. Fmr. NY Times Science Editor: Mainstream Media Chose Propaganda Over Research on COVID Origins. Of course they lie.
Our reader Ben David has a good reality check on the Middle East:
Let me save Maggie readers some precious time:
You can safely skip all articles by pundits analyzing Palestinian "strategy". They invariably ascribe to Palis values, motives and perceived best interests that are obvious to Westerners but totally foreign to Muslim/Arab culture.
Everything can be more accurately explained by seeing Muslim culture clearly and unflinchingly.
-The unconcern for home-team suffering
- The lack of anything resembling responsible leadership or stewardship
- The virulent tribal hatred
- The cynical money trail
- none of it is unique to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
And most Western pundits can't get past their own upbringing. Their naive assumption that "they want what we want" hamstrings these articles, and blinds them to the obvious conclusion that Muslims do not value and want what Westerners do. They are not "rational actors" as we Westerners conceive it.
This is true of almost all Western pontification aboit the Muslim world.
The piece of New England where we were trout fishing yesterday was packed full of mostly-migrating warblers. A migrant trap. In a week, most will have gone north to breeding grounds.
This stream valley is a first-growth woodlands, plenty of underbrush (Shadbush, wild azalea, Mountain Laurel, etc.) and some small swamps full of swamp critters. A few pasture giant trees still standing. Probably was pasture 70 years ago, with woodlots on the slopes. Instead of cattle tramping through the stream, it's back to nature with otters, beaver, and a new forest.
Warbler migration time in May is big fun for birders. One reason is because they are in breeding plumage. Another is because they pass through in great waves, unlike fall migration back to South and Central America. A third reason, I guess, is because all of our other passerine migrants arrive at the same time as the warblers.
My goal would be to ID warblers by their song instead of trying to catch them by binoculars. They flit through the new leaves so frenetically, and some are so high, that it's just annoying. They have moved by the time you get the binocs up.
If I could memorize most of their tunes (and all other passerines), I'd consider that a huge life accomplishment. I could walk through a place like a blind person, still "seeing" everything.
As I have said, the most warbler species I have ever seen in one day (24) was in NYC's Central Park in a May some years ago. Here's a sample of what birders do in May, on the US Central Flyway in Ohio -