Wednesday, February 22. 2017
 Happy Birthday, George Washington.
Via Boudreaux:
The problem of teaching a beginning economic course as a highly technical exercise is an extremely serious problem. The introductory course is the only chance most students have to get an understanding of the benefits we all receive from the amazing economic cooperation made possible only by the markets. And few students gain that understanding from the highly technical presentation they get from many introductory courses. But these students do get clear presentations about market economies in many social sciences and humanities courses that are taught by teachers who have less than an introductory level of economics themselves. What many of them do have is a naïve view that markets are based on exploitation and injustices that can be corrected by government.
Sure, there are plenty of issues to think about in the world and in the US. What Brooks misses in his condescending op-ed is that Trump was elected as a last-ditch effort to address the very things Brooks is upset about. We hope Trump can do that. Hillary would not and could not.
One thing Brooks does not suffer from is Toxic Masculinity.
DHS Orders Breathtaking Crackdown on Illegal Immigration
So it's breathtaking to enforce existing laws? If people do not like existing laws, then change them. I am in favor of changing them.
Mika said it, finally: ‘OUR JOB’ IS TO CONTROL ‘EXACTLY WHAT PEOPLE THINK’
Well, Mika, you aren't doing a very good job controlling me but maybe it's because I only occasionally listen to you.
Alexander of Macedonia is known as Alexander the Great because he killed more people of more different kinds than anybody else of his time.
Will Cuppy
David Cassidy: Dementia at 66 Not Uncommon
Why cities win and cities die
I Spent 20 Years Behind the Wheel of a Big Rig
The Ivy League must be abolished!
Billions Wasted: Structures Built For 2016 Olympics In Brazil Are Now In Ruins
Moving the Olympics around is stupid. I'm for permanent place in Greece
Milo's Mini Apology Tour
The Screwed Generation Turns Socialist - The Depression and WWII shaped the greatest generation, and postwar prosperity shaped the Baby Boomers. Millennials, battered by capitalism, move ever leftward.
If The US Won't Defend Market Capitalism, No One Will
‘Climate Change’ Could Bring Fish Wars!
Curry: Computer Predictions Of Climate Alarm Are Flawed
Ivanka Trump’s Perfume Soars to No.1 Bestseller on Amazon Despite Boycotts
Mar-a-Lago 3, Camp David 0.
LEFTIES FREAK OUT OVER THAT TRUMP MAY CUT FUNDS FOR "PISS CHRIST" AGENCY
Tucker Carlson Mocks Lunatic ‘Refuse Fascism’ Organizer Who Claims “Trump Is More Dangerous Than Hitler”
That gal is a piece of work. "We must resist for humanity."
The ongoing Oroville Dam crisis has received modest national attention, in part because the press hasn’t figured out how to blame it on Trump.
Trump’s Immigration Guidance: Dreamers and Parents of U.S. Citizens Are Safe for Now; Most Others Must Go
In a fundamental shift from Obama, the Trump position is that simply being an illegal alien is unlawful and serious; thus, any additional indication of outlaw behavior is sufficient to warrant deportation.
Democrats in disarray
San Diego Bishop Calls On Catholics To Become Social Justice Warriors Against Trump…
Reporting? Liberal Media Have Much More in Mind Than That
NYT Botches Mexico City’s Sinking Story
The arrogant thinking of liberal sports writers
Conrad Black: A Purblind Press, Unable To Admit Error, Boycotts the President
The Definitive Guide to Repealing & Replacing Obamacare
This Politician Makes the Most Sense on Illegal Immigration
From the UK: The Stop Trump protests are the ultimate virtue signal
Lose weight fast with Socialism: Venezuelans lost 19 lbs. on average over past year due to lack of food
How Sweden became an example of how not to handle immigration
Rioting erupts in immigrant-dominated Swedish suburb
Tuesday, February 21. 2017
Pull-ups and Chin-ups are perhaps the most frequently-used measure of men's fitness, and some form of them belongs in any fitness regimen. What's the difference between the two?
If you are in bad shape, you will not be able to do many, or even one. That feels pathetic and unmanly to most guys. I recall that my Dad had the habit of morning pull-ups and push-ups well into his mid-70s before work (worked until 76). He kept that part of his Basic Training going. He was naturally wiry and strong anyway.
Only the fittest women can do any because they have less native upper body strength and tend to have a higher fat/muscle ratio. Many middle-aged guys find their paltry pull-up counts to be deeply humiliating, and rightly so. Weakness is shameful for most guys, even more so than ignorance, for evolutionary reasons. In fitness training, humiliation and failure are always on the agenda. That builds character, victory does not.
One good test to assess your pull-up potential is to jump up to a bar and see how long you can hang with your chin at bar level. That is, in fact, a good strengthening exercise in itself for beginners. Count the seconds that you can hang up there before slowly collapsing.
Chin-ups and pull-ups test primarily back muscles, and secondarily arms and core. Three sets/wk is plenty. The technique is not to muscle one's way up with your arms, but to lift your chin to the bar by driving your elbows down with full power.
As far as I'm concerned, pull-ups can be viewed as either weight-training or as calisthenics. It's a body weight, multi-muscle group stress and, if 15 reps gets easy, just put on a weight vest to keep it challenging. Here's how to Do More Than One Stinking Pull-Up
Are kipping pull-ups cheating? It depends. Certainly anybody would prefer to do more dead-hang pull-ups if they could. They are hard. All exercise is agonizing, though, if done right. No pain, no gain.
Is Neuroscience the Future or the End of Psychology? Some think the science of the brain will replace psychology altogether.
It's a discussion about reductionism. Things are usually more than the sum of their parts. Dimensions of the soul do not lend themselves to measurement. No cosmic chemist could have predicted that a combination of hydrogen and oxygen would give me a hot after-tennis shower.
Robert Merry has the best political analysis I have read on the 2016 elections. One quote:
... the country was at an inflection point. It desperately needed a new brand of politics that could break the deadlock and set it upon a new course toward its future and destiny. In such times, a gap inevitably emerges between the political establishment, guided by the lessons of the past (increasingly irrelevant lessons, as it happens), and the electorate, always ahead of the establishment in seeing the need for new political paradigms, new dialectical thinking, and new coalitions designed to bust up political logjams and set the country upon a new course.
The electorate is always ahead of the comfortable establishment because the electorate lives in the real world. Voters used Trump to mess up the status quo which had worked well for the wealthy, the press, the bureaucracies, the dependent class, and the politicians but not for the regular people who had been held in contempt. It was a legal insurrection, and today's protesters represent the tired old establishment. Interesting times. I wish Trump and his folks the best of luck.
Studying literature at Harvard is a lot like learning about women at the Mayo Clinic.
Roy Blount Jr.
Monday, February 20. 2017
It's streamable or whatever via Amazon. Detective series, based in Shetland Islands. It's called "Shetland."
Mrs. BD and a daughter say that the protagonist, Jimmy Perez, is their dream male. They both binge-watched it on their laptops, and I am certain now that I must be inadequate by comparison. Bummer.
 It's a practical course in management of any organization, large or small: Caplow's How To Run Any Organization.
There is no need to learn from your mistakes. Better to learn from the mistakes of others.
Many used copies at Amazon.
Sunday, February 19. 2017
Greenfield on the Elites vs. the Americans:
If you live in the world of Facebook, Lyft, Netflix and Airbnb, crowding into airports shouting, "No Borders, No Nations, Stop The Deportations" makes sense. You don't live in a country. You live in one of a number of interchangeable megacities or their bedroom communities. Patriotism is a foreign concept. You have no more attachment to America than you do to Friendster or MySpace. The nation state is an outdated system of social organization that is being replaced by more efficient systems of global governance. The only reason anyone would cling to nations or borders is racism.
The demographic most opposed to President Trump is not a racial minority, but a cultural elite.
We have tried dozens of meatloaf recipes over the years, some complex and some not. We have settled on our favorite, which is also the simplest.
This ought to make 2 loaves:
3/4 lb. ground chuck
3/4 lb. ground veal
1 egg
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 large finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 or 2 tsp. ground mustard
1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 cup of milk
Enough salt and pepper
Mix thoroughly with your hands. Put in meat loaf thing - do not pack or compress it - at 350 for an hour or so, when it has a good crust. Serve with mashed taters, and salad if you must. It's a damn good supper, but even better in a sandwich with mayo afterwards.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
19:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
19:2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
19:9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
19:10 You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.
19:11 You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.
19:12 And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.
19:13 You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.
19:14 You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
19:15 You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.
19:16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
19:17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.
19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
From a friend skiing at Crested Butte yesterday. I have skied Telluride, which is up the road a piece, but not Crested. More dramatic views than New England, but all ski views are wonderful.
Saturday, February 18. 2017
 It's time up here to put in orders for bare root trees, whether fruit trees or otherwise. We use Musser Forests, Stark Bros, and other websites where we can find what we want.
While November might have been the best time to plant them, the second-best time is as soon as you can get a shovel into the thawing ground.
Bare root trees establish themselves quicker than burlapped or potted plants. There are many sites and Youtubes which explain how to properly plant bare root plants. It's not a bad idea to soak the roots for a few hours before planting. When you plant them in dormancy, water them in well and then withhold any watering until green shoots appear.
In the first summer, a deep watering once or twice a week works well. After the first summer around here, no watering is needed after that. In the first Spring, it's recommended to pinch off any fruit tree blossoms that appear, so the plant can devote itself to establishing itself in its home.
I have ordered three Crabapples (edible crabapple, semi-dwarf,as in photo. Not the ornamental) to put in as soon as we get some thaw. Right now we have 12" of snow and the soil is like a rock.
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George Washington: