Wednesday, March 30. 2016
 Rumor from my Irish barber: the difference between the spelling of whisky or whiskey correlates almost perfectly with whether the country of origin has an “e” in its name. (For purposes of this game, Scotland is considered a country.) I’m not convinced and want to hear from the Farm! Yes, Japan spells it without an “e”. The sole major outlier in the USA we found was Maker’s Mark Whisky, trying for a more effete look.
Many people eat more food than they need for health, on a regular basis. It is not termed Gluttony any more - it's now Binge Eating Disorder.
It's about a pattern of impulsive eating, mainly carbs, and it tends to make people heavy. There are pills for it.
It is interesting to me that so many of the things that used to be called sins are now called Disorders.
Former Trump Operative: The Donald Never Wanted to Be President
I think it was a self-promotional lark, but it turned serious. Now what? Get out, Donald. You have had your fun. Either that, or get yourself educated. Begin with the US Constitution (that means the rules that constitute the union and the government, Donald).
Evidence the guy has no clue what he is talking about: Trump names health care and education, along with security, as the top functions of the federal government
Well, he got one out of three right. When he gets things right, it seems to be by accident. He is a Music Man.
At Betsy:
Even some of Trump's strong supporters are having trouble defending his brand of crazy. Ann Coulter, one of the most incoherent, attention-grabbing people out there, has been fervently defending Trump all over the place. Yet even she is having trouble sometimes defending him.
Defending billionaire businessman Donald Trump is like constantly having to bail a teenage son from prison, author and political commentator Ann Coulter groused in a recent radio interview.
"I'm a little testy with our man right now. Our candidate is mental! Do you realize our candidate is mental?" Coulter said jokingly during a taping of an episode of the "Milo Yiannopoulos Show," which is scheduled to air in full this weekend. "It's like constantly having to bail out your 16-year-old son from prison."
 We have picked Saturday, April 23 for this year's hike.
Join us if you want. We had a good time last time we did it. Met a bunch of pleasant Maggie's people. We could easily cover the length of Manhattan in one day, were it not for the darn crossing lights. Doubles the time, and interrupts the hiking rhythm.
Bring camera, good shoes. Rain or shine. It's designed to be a day-long thing but of course people can flake off whenever.
Bulldog will post details. It will be a different route this time. I hope he plans to include the full length of Central Park, and for a cool cheap place for lunch in Harlem or Washington Heights or wherever.
 Emergency call to my IT consultant yesterday - "One of my machines is totally screwed. Nothing will open." Guy arrives, sits down, and in 20 seconds says "You just need a new mouse." And leaves. Sheesh. Talk about feeling stupid.
Photo is cat looking for new mouse.
Do Teenage Girl Scouts Really Require Adult Supervision While Selling Cookies?
In Germany, yes.
How Does A Penis Transplant Work? Here's what the first American recipient will undergo
"Penis donors"?
University Cancels ‘Vagina Monologues’ Because a White Lady Wrote It
Transgender Man Sues Barbershop for Discrimination
Penis donors again?
College student warns: ‘Zootopia’ movie is ‘call to arms for white people’
Supreme Court: Non-Union Employees Must Now Pay Union Dues to Public-Employee Unions
Forced union membership is wrong
Marines across the Corps will be challenged on their unconscious
prejudices and presuppositions as women get the opportunity to become
grunts for the first time.
Millennials bolt from socialism once they become employed and start making money
FBI Investigating Reports Of 17 Men Chanting, Firing Off Shots In Apple Valley
Obviously racists called the cops
Schneiderman:
Even though most pundits and politicos have concluded that
Trump’s support is driven by anger, the truth is, it is more about fear.
Americans are terrified that their nation has hit an iceberg and is sinking.
Trump: He's Mean, but Is He at Least Bright?
To be as kind as I can, I think I'd term him "incurious"
Is Trump Right About NATO?
I think so
Paranoid politicians, sensational journalists – the Isis recruiting
officers will be thrilled at how things have gone since their atrocity
in Belgium
Fidel Castro Just Dumped Obama
Frog, scorpion
Sometimes Jihad Is Just Jihad - Examining the West’s habit of blaming itself for the terrorism directed against it
Tuesday, March 29. 2016
 The New Old Masters -
New Yorker Jacob Collins and his devoted students seek a radical reclamation of artistic tradition.
Readers know that I am a fan of all sorts of art, from cave paintings through Renaissance to Cezanne to Thomas Cole and including Picasso whose taste, touch, experimentation, and vitality impresses me more with each passing year.
Does excellent technique equal excellent art? Is there a difference between fine art, design, decoration, and illustration? Does "art" evolve? Does the camera matter?
I tire of those questions.
Is there such a thing as talent? You betcha. I know for certain, because I have none. I envy talent - to a sinful degree.
Is the Art World full of hype and hooey? Of course. There is $ in the art biz.
I hate going to museums. Problem is, you have to, to stare at the good stuff up close.
Is "new" better? Nope.
Image is a Collins self-portrait. I would let him do a picture of me anytime he wants to.
A conversation with Tyler Cowen. (Podcast and transcript). Prof. Haidt is a thoughtful fellow.
The most important finding in psychology in the last 50 to 100 years, I would say, is the finding that everything you can measure is heritable. The heritability coefficients vary between 0.3 and 0.6, or 30 to 60 percent of the variance, under some assumptions, can be explained by the genes. It’s the largest piece of variance we can explain.
Not very flattering about Hillary
True? It is all truthy, anyway.
 Bison coming 'home' to Montana Indian reservation
Cool
‘No kill’ animal shelters have unleashed an epidemic of suffering. Is a life of misery any better than a quick death?
How the Government Stole Sex - Screw morality—the state is now intervening in American bedrooms under the mantle of stopping sex discrimination.
Feds to Fine Schools for Not Following Michelle Obama’s Lunch Rules
Her kids don't eat that crap
The NYT editorial board thinks AR-15s fire in ‘rapid bursts’
ACADEMIC ABSURDITY OF THE WEEK: VINDICATING MADONNA
Emory Doubles Down on Beclowning Itself
Williams College: ' Coddled’ students and their ‘safe spaces’ aren’t the problem, college official says. Bigots are.
Williams College must be a hotbed of bigotry
Does The United States Still Exist?
“What’s The Real Agenda Behind Climate Change Alarmism?”
Schism on the Left: James Hansen’s climatic ‘canon’ gets fired from a cannon
Immigrant population over 15% in record 16 states, over 25% in 6
Fundamental transformation
Obama reiterates refugee promise
Who voted for that?
Listen to the Victims of the Free Market
The Myths of Black Lives Matter - The movement has won over Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. But what if its claims are fiction?
Hey students! I would kill to be so oppressed!
Glenn Reynolds: How PC culture is killing higher education
Scripps College goes Emory
AN OPEN LETTER TO EMORY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT JAMES WAGNER
" I’ve seen very little from the MSM that leads me to believe that it has great affection for either this country, or the majority of the people who inhabit it."
Why STEM classes are tough on women and minorities
Examples of STEM classroom practices that contribute to a chilly climate are weed-out courses, courses that grade on a curve, a competitive environment, reliance on lecture as a teaching method, an individualistic culture, and comprehensive exams.
Useless things the government does with your money
ObamaCare may force employers to pull the plug on millions of health plans, CBO report finds
The Stupid Psychopath Problem
OBAMACARE AT SIX: A LEGACY OF DECEPTION - Virtually every promise the president made on behalf of his “reform” law has been broken
Milo on Bernie:
Milo Yiannopoulos: And be wrong about everything… Why is it that just because someone is old and left-wing that they’re nice? We don’t say that about right-wingers. Why do we automatically assume that just because he’s old and doddery, has white hair and he sounds like a crazy old lunatic that he’s a nice guy. Really? Is he a nice guy? No he wants Socialism in America. That’s poisonous, ugly, oppressive political philosophy that has made people suffer everywhere that it has ever been tried… Why is he a nice person? What has he ever done that proves he is a nice person?
Z-man:
Europe operating as a market-state without external threats and a pacified population gave the ruling class of Europe the sense that this arrangement would work long term. Then the king went crazy and flung open the doors to Muslim invaders. Initially, this was not a problem as the ruling class lives in bunkered enclaves, removed from the consequences of their polices. They have no reason to care if the train stations are carnivals and rape and assault by the dusky sons of Mohamed.
But, the people have noticed that their liberties are slowly and methodically being curtailed in the name of public safety. When you can only enjoy a traditional parade from behind barricades and armed soldiers, you’re going to start having dark thoughts about the people who caused this...
Why Britain (and Europe) depends on migrants
Sheesh. Screwed-up culture. There is no dignity in dependency.
Belgian Soldiers Deployed to Fight Terrorists Had No Bullets in Rifles
The U.S. Army Is About to Double Its Howitzer Range
Monday, March 28. 2016
Science Versus Orthodoxy Enforcement In The World Of Nutrition.
This could almost be a companion piece to my earlier link today.
How Journalists Can Help Hold Scientists Accountable
It's a good idea in theory, but few journalists have the skills to analyze the work behind the press releases they receive. To tell the truth, I do not have the skill any more to look deeply into the work behind the reports in medical journals. This makes me a skeptic.
Why Are Millennial Men Such Wimps?
Any college president who adopts the rhetoric of “safe spaces” is already lost.
Related, “MY THERAPIST JUST LAUGHED AT ME"
Professor Ordered To Apologize For Conservative Blog Post, Or Lose His Job
American College Of Pediatricians Warns: Youth Transgenderism Is Child Abuse
Blue Civil War Escalates - Connecticut Democrats are going after Yale
Why the poor in the US are not poor
America’s Ethanol Industry Shows Why it Needs Subsidies
Obama Administration’s ‘Equity’ Ideology in Public Schools Breeding Violence
Hillary: Consequences Are for Schmucks
Secrecy is the root of the Clinton email scandal
Trump Aide: People Are Angrier Over Trump’s RTs Than Illegal Immigrants Murdering Americans
Hey! Don't Overreact to That Issue, Overreact to My Issue
Organisers cancel Sunday's Brussels attacks 'March Against Fear' - for security reasons
How to deal with Islam? I repeat, take it at its word.
Europe Has 'Battered Spouse Syndrome' When It Comes To Islam
Russia is no threat, and NATO is obsolete
I agree:
In fact, the War Party entrenched in the nation’s capital is dedicated to economic interests and ideological perversions that guarantee perpetual war; they ensure endless waste on armaments and the inestimable death and human suffering that stems from 21st century high tech warfare and the terrorist blowback it inherently generates among those upon which the War Party inflicts its violent hegemony.
iU.S. leadership matters today, just as it did after World War II
Pope Francis Says Defeat ISIS with “Message of Love” – ISIS Says New Attacks on the Way
Loving your enemy is not about being effective. However, discernment is also called for.
As SDA notes, "Frog, meet Scorpion""
Liberal Teacher Takes In Muslim Refugee, His Colleague Finds What’s Left Of Him
Sunday, March 27. 2016
The Daoud Affair - How Western intellectuals turn themselves into the enemies of an entire class of liberal writers from Muslim backgrounds
The Western intellectuals accuse the liberal from the Muslim world of being a racist against Muslims, or an Islamophobe, or a “native informant” and a tool of imperialism. Sometimes they accuse the liberal from the Muslim world of stupidity, too, or lack of talent. This was Salman Rushdie’s experience in the years after he came out with The Satanic Verses, back in 1988, which he has described in his memoir Joseph Anton. The experience of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, originally from Somalia, offers probably the most widely discussed example after Rushdie’s. But the pattern of Western condemnation can be observed in many other cases as well, directed at liberal writers of different kinds and views—the authors of political essays, memoirs, literary criticism, journalism, and novels, from backgrounds in countries as diverse as Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Kamel Daoud’s Algerian colleague, the novelist Boualem Sansal, last year’s winner of a prize from the French Academy, has come under this kind of condemnation. And now the pattern has reemerged in regard to Daoud himself.
A Loaded Gun: The Real Emily Dickinson - She was less like a recluse, more like a bomb going off.
Saturday, March 26. 2016
Easy jobs for early Springtime today:
Purple pansies in a big pot - they do not mind cold nights
Planted a pack of Sugar Snap peas in the garden. Soil still cool and damp, but whatever.
Planted the 3 new dwarf hydrangeas in the front garden - they should be swell by July. A garden border is never done.
Moved some perennials around. Now is the time. A border is never done.
Planted my new hardy Chicago Fig in the back garden. Sturdy plant, hardly budded out yet. Counting on a modest crop this summer.
Put 2 new tires on my wheelbarrow - solid tires this time, from Home Depot. Got sick of the inflatable ones.
Started a tranche of Mouse Melon seeds indoors. Last year, I started them too late. Need more containers for more Mouse Melon seeds. Really do enjoy those little buggers and most people up here have never seen 'em. Need enuf seedlings to share with my gardening pals.
Limed the lawn. It works. Rule of thumb: Fertilize things before green or buds emerge cuz the roots have already started growing. I did the delightful Milorganite 3 weeks ago. Thanks, Milwaukee. I like strong grass that can take abuse. In early June I will aerate it with a rented plugger. A mess for a week, but trodden turf loves it and so do the worms. Lawn is a stupid thing, but...
America to Establishment: Who the hell are you people?
They are your betters. Bend over and get used to it. They know best.
Beginning of Canto 1, Inferno
Midway along the journey of our life
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.
How hard it is to tell what it was like,
this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn
(the thought of it brings back all my old fears),
a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer.
But if I would show the good that came of it
I must talk about things other than the good.”
How Dante Saved My Life - A midlife crisis is cured by The Divine Comedy
Friday, March 25. 2016
“Inequality: Diagnoses and Prescriptions”
I have a better idea. The median household income in the US is around $50,000- 55,000 per year. I suggest, to eliminate inequality, that in the US we tax any income over $50,000 at 100%, and mail government checks to those households under $50,000 to bring them to the mean. Much in savings will come from eliminating all welfare, housing, and government medical programs.
To further level the playing field, all savings and assets should be taken by the government for the greater good. Funds from these can be used for free diapers, condoms, medical marijuana, urgently-needed collegiate safe spaces, and PhDs in anything you want. Cuba figured it out way before I did. Did I mention free TV, cigars, and rum?
As the High Administrator of this evidence-based scientific New New New Deal, with all of the responsibilities, worries, and burdens involved, I will obviously need to expect special compensation. Fidel has how many billions in Swiss banks? Something like that would meet my needs just fine. Even a little less. Special accommodations will be necessary for sub-administrators of course.
This experimental program should begin with government employees and politicians, and proceed to journalists, academics, artists and writers, professional athletes, and to all of Hollywood before moving to the general population. It takes a village to build Utopia so many must sacrifice and continue to work as hard as they used to. For the common good.
Hillary says ‘We Don’t Build Walls.’ Yeah we do.
American elites live in walled worlds, with armed guards.
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In Newly Created Life-Form,