Maggie's FarmWe 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. |
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Wednesday, October 16. 2019Wednesday morning linksBison Return to Badlands National Park for First Time Since Late-1800s Destroying America’s History One Icon at a Time ‘The Rise of Jordan Peterson’—A Review The right way to handle homeless mental illness The More Public Money Gets Spent To Solve "Homelessness," The More Homelessness There Is The Cost of Immigrant Medicaid Coverage Under Current Policy Trump makes black women fat Lebron James Sides with Chinese Communists: Attacks Rockets GM Daryl Morey for Pro-Freedom Tweet and Lectures on Perils of Free Speech Bill Barr's Brilliant Touchdown Run at Notre Dame Why impeachment, and why now? Time for an end to wars of sincerely good intentions Guardian: Trump is right to take troops out of Syria. Now they must leave Iraq and Afghanistan Tuesday, October 15. 2019ImpressionistActor/impressionist Jim Meskimen (Parks & Recreation, Whose Line?, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) recites "Pity the Poor Impressionist" poem in 20 celebrity voices, with the help of SHAM00K.
Tuesday morning linksThe Zombieland 2: Double Tap Trailer Is Here! DAIRY COWS: TANGLED UP IN THE GREEN NEW DEAL California's Gavin Newsom decides state's big, voter-approved gas tax won't be for repairing highways after all There’s A New Documentary About Jordan Peterson But Theaters Are Afraid To Show It I Was Protested At Bard College For Being A Jew The Age of Mutual Assured Cancellation - Journalists should reconsider their embrace of character assassination. Sen. Rand Paul: If socialists can't find a crisis, they'll create one How I changed my mind… about global warming Caravan of Migrants Bound for U.S. Didn’t Make It Too Far Trump: Vulgar president or great president? Or both? EXPOSED: THE CNN HATEFEST CNN Whistleblower Reveals Network ‘Vendetta’ Against Trump, Obsession With Impeachment CrowdStrike and the Impeachment Frenzy - No wonder the Dems are nervous: The alleged Russian hacking of the DNC’s computers is proving to be a Hillary campaign and DNC scam that went unchallenged by Messrs. Comey and Mueller. Finding a Vaccine for the Impeachment Derangement Virus - Can any of the Democratic candidates pull America back from this madness? Via Althouse: Montagnards: Tough Fighters Hanging on in Vietnam Monday, October 14. 2019Monday morning linksWhat Columbus Day Really Means - If you think the holiday pits Native Americans against Italian Americans, consider the history behind its origin Thomas Edison’s Greatest Invention - It wasn’t the light bulb or the phonograph or the moving picture—or anything tangible. It was a way of thinking about technology. SpongeBob Squarepants Is A ‘Violent,’ ‘Racist’ Colonizer, College Professor Says University program teaches faculty and staff how they ‘support racism and white supremacy’ Issues 2020: Millennials Aren’t Drowning in Student Debt Should Men Be More Like Women? California’s Green Energy Dreams turn into its Power Outage Nightmare NBA Security Confiscates Pro-Hong Kong Signs, Ejects Fans As National Anthem Plays In the Background Bill Maher: ‘We Don’t Go For All The Bulls*** On The Far Left’ Goodwin: Madness of leftist zealots Elizabeth Warren Is Jussie Smollett Intel Expert Tony Shaffer: Government Officials Trained in “Information Dark Arts” Are Using These Techniques Against President Trump If You Can’t Compete You Must Impeach Schiff: 'There doesn't need to be a quid pro quo' How Obama’s Senior Response Director Profited From Disaster in Puerto Rico Olga Tokarczuk: Poland’s “Patriots” Struggle To Accept The Nobel Prize Do We Owe the Kurds a War? Kurds agree to Russian-brokered plan to allow Assad into their territory TRADE DEAL WITH CHINA IS A BLOCKBUSTER France: More Death to Free Speech What Is China Doing In Africa? Sunday, October 13. 2019BeechIn North America, Beech is the most dense and heavy wood second only to Ironwood (which is a slender tree). Up here, Beech, Oak, Hickory and Maple tend to be climax hardwood forest. Beech will wear out saw blades fast. Wildlife love the beechnuts. White Beech is native, but Copper Beech is not, and is vulnerable to the evil fungus. With the help of my hearty and cheerful Colombian friends, and a 22-ton splitter, we produced around 3 cords of beech firewood in a nice cool rain. Not splittable by hand - that wood is like iron and the knots are like steel. The unsplit logs have been seasoned since March, so they are quite dry. That dense hardwood will burn forever. Priceless, and smells good too. Sorry that monster tree had to go, but it had the fatal fungus and the falling branches could kill somebody. Around 3 cords I think - that's a double row. I plan to plant a Pin Oak next to where the Copper Beech was. Nice trees, lots of acorns. Reminds me of the old axiom "When's the best time to plant a tree?" Ans: "20 years ago." Realistically, best time to plant a tree is fall. It will get a good head start in spring before the weather warms. Ready to go as soon as my chimney sweep shows up to clean out the flues. We luckily have 3 fireplaces in our cottage. Homey, cozy, New Englandy is what we like here. Wish we had a wood stove in the kitchen, but I'm planning for a stone firepit out back so outdoors and s'mores can be year-round.
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From today's LectionaryLuke 17:11-19 17:11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 17:12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 17:13 they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 17:14 When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. 17:15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 17:16 He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17:17 Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 17:18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 17:19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." Saturday, October 12. 2019Saturday morning linksThe Private Life of Lord Byron by Antony Peattie review – portrait of a paradox Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan - What the Amazon founder and CEO wants for his empire and himself Kansas Schoolgirl Arrested, Charged with Felony for Brandishing Finger Gun Electric-Car Owners Shocked by California Blackouts Battery Derangement - Electric vehicles won’t save the planet and won’t survive without subsidies. How the NBA censored me on American soil College Republicans stand by statement on ‘brutal societies’ in pre-Columbus America Air Force Concludes Investigation into Aircrew Trump Resort Stays China is winning the battle for corporate America's soul You Know Those Adorable, Convenient Hotel Mini-Shampoos? California Banned Them San Francisco’s False Solution - By doubling its homeless-services budget, the city is treating the symptom, not the problem. Liz Warren, CNN Cheer the Abuse of 9-Year-Old Children Paraded as Transgender Warren is prone to rewriting her personal story All pols got away with it before the internet. George Washington's cherry tree? Dems who move the Overton Window Biden brings town hall to standstill, reminisces on ‘gay bathhouses’ and ’round-the-clock sex’ Hillary Clinton Blasts Facebook for Not Censoring Enough Voices ELIZABETH WARREN WRAPS HERSELF IN THE VICTIMHOOD OF OTHERS You Can’t Ignore Politics in Impeachment Trump Administration Threatens Sanctions on Turkey “It’s Very, Very Good” – Chinese Top Trade Representative Tells Reporters: Trump Trade Deal Brings “Peace and Prosperity to the World” Friday, October 11. 2019Friday morning linksAll the ways American teenagers are under enormous pressure to succeed DC Council approves 'emergency' bill to rename Columbus Day 'Indigenous Peoples' Day' Three years after LA tax payers approve $1.2 billion for homeless housing, not a single unit built yet. “…higher-than-expected costs…such as consultants and financing…comprise up to 40% of the cost…” 14 Times American Companies Self-Censored Or Apologized To Appease Communist China Portland Trail Blazers Join Boycott Against Israel NBA Coach Steve Kerr Ignores Brutal History Of Communist China, Attacks United States. Critics Shred Him Online. The Guardian wants a UK climate skeptic book burning Warren Panders To Low Income Folks With $1 Trillion Climate Justice Plan Democrat launches primary challenge to Ocasio-Cortez Trump's New Executive Orders To Restrain the Administrative State American Thinker's scoop on Trump getting Port of Long Beach out of Chicom hands getting noticed Melania’s Home Country Sets Up Citizen’s Defense Force to STOP Illegal Migrants Trump Is Killing a Fatally Flawed Syria Policy Turkey's Syria offensive explained in four maps Turkey Flooding Europe with Migrants NATAN SHARANSKY: WHY BDS FAILS MY 3D TEST ON ANTI-SEMITISM The Hidden Face of Nationalism in Islamic Lands Thursday, October 10. 2019When you get a nasty bug and miss over a week of daily workoutsHappened to me last week. Food poisoning, 2 days of vomiting and lots of fruitless retching resulting in some sort of scratch or something on my lower esophagus (my diagnosis). Could not eat - or barely swallow Gatorade. Bad pain, to make you bend over, grimace, and utter bad words. Luckily for her, Mrs. BD was in wonderful Milwaukee having a fun time with pals so did not have to participate, help, or be inconvenienced by my misery. Seems like a cool town. I got a Harley sweatshirt out of it. Was able to handle some soup on Sunday, so got back to gym on Monday having lost 6 lbs. Still little appetite, but that's sort of normal for me because I love tasty food but only in small volume. It takes very little nourishment to keep me in good shape despite daily workouts. My point is that a week+ illness can measurably set back your strength and fitness in a way that a 10-day gym-free active vacation can't. This week I have been worse with everything - weights, cardio, calis, endurance. It could take me 3 weeks to get back to where I was. Slowly. Imagine the effect of a year without challenging exercise. Terrible, soft, lazy. Nobody wants that. I bitched to my genius trainer that it's a damn shame that fitness doesn't just ratchet up - and stay there. He said "We're biological, not mechanical." Duh. I know our bodies are coded to self-destruct after age 35 or 40. I thought that if it all ratcheted up, we gym rats would all look like the Incredible Hulk. We'd be amazing specimens.
Thursday morning linksFAREWELL, TOMAHAWK CHOP! The Lights Are Out in California, And That Was the Plan All Along California: Say Goodbye to Charter Schools - New union-backed law is the beginning of the end for California’s 27-year experiment in giving poor kids a way out of horrible schools. Hillary tried to protect Weinstein Does she have a thing for bad boys? Julian Castro Wants to ‘Phase Out’ Nuclear Power Elizabeth Warren Whips Out "Environmental Justice" Plan For Poor Communities Kamala Harris Promises 6 Months of Paid Family Leave How do you run a business with that? House Dem: We’re Going To Pass Gun Control And Climate Bills While Impeaching Trump Rep. Ilhan Omar: My Adultery is the Fault of the Republicans and the Jews New Revelation Blows Up Entire Premise Of Impeachment Inquiry: Ukraine Reopened Investigation Into Biden In March 2019 Burisma Holdings Paid Joe Biden $900,000 For Lobbying Activities: Ukrainian MP The “Whistleblowers” Are Deep State Spies Democrats Enter Robespierre Phase Of Impeachment Democrats' Fear of Durham About to Reach Panic Level Durham Broadens Investigation into 2016 Russia Probe, Adds More Agents and Resources There is No Middle Ground with Today’s Democrats or the Deep State - If you’re wondering how all of this stops, how we return to normal, I will tell you what a friend told me: “There is no normal. There is only Clausewitz.” Turkey Begins Assault on Kurds as Trump Defends Withdrawal We had just 50 troops there, and Turkey is a NATO ally. Remember, Kurds and Turks have been at war for 400 years...The ME is insane, quagmire. No US interests there, and Israel is self-sufficient. Wednesday, October 9. 2019Wednesday morning linksWorld’s super-rich hit by private jet pilot shortage Life is tough Camille Paglia, Now More than Ever - More than anything, Camille Paglia’s style and élan vital invites readers to think further about culture and ideas and, in a society dominated by ideology, this is something we need now more than ever. NBA chief Silver stands firm as China backlash mounts NBA Issues Another Statement Trying To Clean Up Appeasing China, China Drops Their Broadcasts American Digest has the offending South Park show Why so touchy, China? Ocasio-Cortez Calls For Abolishing Prisons In The United States She's very good at staying in the news Hillary Rockets Into 3rd Place On PredictIt As Rumors Swirl Over 2020 Run Did James Clapper Just Admit Obama Directed Him To Go After The Trump Campaign? TRUMP REFUSES TO PARTICIPATE IN IMPEACHMENT FARCE Mr. Trump Goes to Washington He was sent to rock the boat. At NR:
German Interior Minister Warns of Migrant Wave Bigger Than 2015 Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome... Tuesday, October 8. 2019Somebody ought to put this to musicKinda cheesy but a tear-jerker, worthy of The Dead or somebody. Vanderleun's lyric Closing Time in Big Sur.
Yom KippurBruce didn't do a post for Yom Kippur (at least, not yet), but it's the holiest day of the Jewish calendar as I understand it. Often, I wish we Christians had held onto those High Holy Days. They are deep, deep. Tuesday morning linksImage borrowed from Ace The centre of the Milky Way exploded three million years ago Exercise could slow withering effects of Alzheimer's - Imaging shows less brain deterioration in physically active people at risk for dementia Primary dementia risks are overweight and maternal history Feelings Now Acceptable As Answers To Math Problems Teacher Allegedly Displays Graphic Saying Confederate Flag Means ‘You Intend To Marry Your Sister’ Pope Francis Considers Lifting Celibacy Requirement for Priests Might make sense Is Yale a cesspit of sex crime? Obviously should be an all-girl school The Weaponization of the MeToo Movement: America’s Due Process Crisis I Went to See Joker and Didn’t Get Shot The U.K. Must Ban Pointy Knives, Says Church of England - When the human condition resists perfection through legislation, the answer always seems to be more—and stupider—laws. Hammers next. First they came for my guns... What if there is no Climate Emergency? Is it legal to wonder? Bummer: Electric/Hybrid Vehicle Owners To See $75 Extra Fee NYT: Allowing Free Speech is like Allowing Carbon Pollution They say that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, but Hillaryland must be the saddest. No. Disneyland is the saddest. People spend a lot of money to pretend to be happy in a sad, sad, phony place. MacDonald: San Francisco, Hostage to the Homeless - Failure to enforce basic standards of public behavior has made one of America’s great cities increasingly unlivable. Ben Stein: Nixon: Victim of a Media Riot - For friends who ask, here’s the man I knew. And please remember him especially on Yom Kippur. CNN: Joe Biden Avoided Interviews Because He Didn’t Want To Be Asked About Hunter Biden VDH: The Madness of Progressive Projection - The only Trump “crime” was in his winning an election he was not supposed to win. So after the election, prior illegal acts were redefined as legal, and legal ones as illegal. 93 Media Mistakes in the Trump Era: The Definitive List Constructing an obstruction trap For example, Dems Subpoena Pentagon And Office Of Management And Budget In Impeachment Probe This is civil war, Washington vs the people. Why Are They Trying to Destroy Trump? Intel Community IG Stonewalling Congress On Backdated Whistleblower Rule Changes - Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for U.S. intelligence agencies, acknowledged that his office secretly changed key whistleblower forms and rules in September, but refused to explain to lawmakers why those changes were backdated to August. Audio Of Ukrainian Official Admitting He Interfered In U.S. Election To Help ‘Hillary’ KOWTOWING, South Park Style Well done Primo Levi and Israel Monday, October 7. 2019Monday morning links
Image via Tucker Carlson unleashes severe criticism of US Intel Community Port-Out Scams and SIM Hijacking: How to Protect Yourself Empire Strikes Back Against Red Meat Revelations Record-setting Burmese Python that's 18 feet 4 inches long and weighs 98 Pounds is caught by trappers in Everglades Isn't there a good market for snakeskin? Online Dating, Now The Most Common Way For Couples To Meet, Is Desegregating America College Due process legal update In Harvard’s Magical Admissions Process, Nobody Gets Hurt Stanford Strips Campus Buildings Of Names With "Complex Legacies" Women Are Burning Out More re Chagnon: Noble Savages Revisited Top EU Court Wants Global Removal of ‘Hateful’ Content on Facebook Trump Joins Europe in Requiring Health Care Insurance From Arrivals The Middle Class Is Getting Richer Under Trump The Bidens: "Stone Cold Crooked" Joe Biden's son advised crooked Romanian businessman sentenced for corruption Russia Collusion 2.0: "The most ironic aspect of this entire Trump-Russia collusion charade is that Hillary Clinton and the DNC colluded with Russians to essentially manufacture the entire thing." ‘Trump Is Still Getting Impeached over Russia’ The Pre-Impeachment of Donald Trump Never Stopped Audio, Email Evidence Shows DNC Colluded With Ukraine To Boost Hillary By Harming Trump, Report Says Sunday, October 6. 2019Abbey Road is #1 again in the UK, 49 years laterFrom today's LectionaryPsalm 37:1-9 37:1 Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, Saturday, October 5. 2019From 2004From “Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us” in London’s Observer, Feb. 21, 2004: Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters. A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. ‘Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,’ concludes the Pentagon analysis. ‘Once again, warfare would define human life.’ The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority. . . . As early as next year widespread flooding by a rise in sea levels will create major upheaval for millions. Saturday morning linksNYC Is Now Going After Food Delivery Services Muslim Activists Demand McDonald’s Serve Food That Complies With Sharia Law… The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Intelligent Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing! A Harvard Dean Applauds a Yale Dean’s Assessment of ‘Diversity’ DeVos Fires Warning Shot at University Mideast Centers Devil In the Red Hat: What the Bridgeport Diocese Abuse Report Can’t Say Western medicine is colonialism Why are California Utility Bills so High? Trump moves to suspend visas for uninsured immigrants September Unemployment Rate Falls To 3.5%, A 50-Year Low, As Payrolls Rise By 136,000 Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee from Outer Space Amazing Coincidence That Nancy Pelosi’s Son Also Has Business Connections With Ukraine Even when invented, they create a sense of unease Report: Ex-CIA Impeachment Whistleblower Dug Up Dirt on Trump in Ukraine IT’S A COUP: Former CIA Analyst Fred Fleitz Says SCHIFF AND NANCY PELOSI Colluded on CIA Whistleblower Complaint to Gin Up Impeachment Sorry, Dems: It’s OK to ask for foreign help in a criminal justice investigation In fact, here's the treaty Washington Post awards Adam Schiff ‘Four Pinocchios’ for false comments Bonus quote (heard on radio today from a Brit journalist): "You know your president is from construction because his spine is made of rebar." Saturday Verse: W.S. MerwinOctober (1961) I remember how I would say, “I will gather These pieces together, Any minute now I will make A knife out of a cloud.” Even then the days Went leaving their wounds behind them, But, “Monument,” I kept saying to the grave, “I am still your legend.” There was another time I have seen the spider’s triumph The promises have gone, Friday, October 4. 2019Migration
More details on Monarch migration, which is winding down now: Monarch Migration: 2019
A bit of a hassle, but worth doingOn the advice of Maggie's Farm, I managed to find some spare hours to get my REAL ID driver's license (which all legally in the US will need in 2020), my Pre-check TSA number (no lines, no undressing, etc), and, lo and behold, my Social Security Card. The TSA fingerprints you. In the process, remarkably, I found my original birth certificate. How and why I had that little antique document is beyond me. Stuffed mouldering in the back of some old drawer. Part of the hassle was getting a SS card. I haven't had one for decades, old one probably disintegrated. But you need one as part of the REAL ID process, which entails a fun visit to the SS office with all sorts of supporting stuff. I think I now have all the legal documents I need, including my Concealed Carry permit. All of these documents vet you out fairly well, it seems. The latter vets you through the police and the FBI. Should a REAL ID be required to vote? Friday morning linksHOMEMADE HOT SAUCE The Smoothie Consistency Act of 2020 Guardian Grudgingly Admits Meat Found to Be Healthy The Bible and the big bang Panera Cares and consequences of compassionate virtue-signaling Job applicant outraged after company shares her bikini photo on Instagram as 'PSA': 'This is not doing you any favors' Facebook suffers legal blow in EU court over hate speech Virginia Doctor Gets 40 Years for Prescribing Half a Million Opioid Pills Elites Against Western Civilization - Teaching youth that there is nothing good about our democratic cultural inheritance, the intellectual class is working to discredit our past and demolish our future. Despite Rahm Emanuel’s tax hikes, city pension debt grew by $7 billion since 2015. Here’s why. What Comes After Transgender? Make room for the “transabled” and hospitals and doctors forced to perform operations that conflict with their ethical and religious principles. Bible Belief Is ‘Incompatible With Human Dignity’ British Court In Transgender Case: Experts Warn We Have Only 12 Years Left Until They Change The Timeline On Global Warming Again Diversity is a warfighting necessity Biden Inc. Over his decades in office, ‘Middle-Class Joe’s’ family fortunes have closely tracked his political career. The media failed the public on collusion, and they're failing again on Ukraine Ukrainian Officials Didn’t Believe Trump Used Funding As Bargaining Chip Adam Schiff-Ukraine connection comes under scrutiny Chris Matthews: Shouldn’t Democrats Be Looking At Impeaching Mike Pence Too? Media Horrified That President Who Always Punches Back Keeps Punching Back Schiff's lies about no advance knowledge of whistleblower complaint make the impeachment efforts look like a conspiracy Russia’s Novaya Gazeta Drops Documents That Show Ukrainians Transferred $3.4 Million in Criminally Obtained Money to Hunter Biden’s Business Accounts New Marine Corps Video Aims to Set the Public Straight About What Jarheads Do Thursday, October 3. 2019A young physician's story
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Thursday morning linksWhy Little Women Still Matters, More Than 150 Years Later Who was Saint Telemachus? CRISPR Might Be the Banana's Only Hope What ‘The Times’ Got Wrong About Slavery in America Math, in case you didn’t already know, is racist. Dartmouth prof calls for mandatory white privilege courses. She said that the “greatest tragedy” is that racial minorities do not question core American principles of personal responsibility and equal opportunity. New York City Bans Calling Illegal Aliens, "Illegal Aliens" California’s Labor of Love - Sacramento tries to save the declining union movement with taxpayer money. The Corn Lobby vs. Orange Man UK Rugby Referees Quitting Over Transgender Players Breaking Women's Bones "There Is No Climate Emergency": Scientists Call For Reasoned Debate The Media Has Been Pushing For Trump’s Impeachment Since Before He Took Office Dems Have Been Impeaching President Trump Since Day One Impeachment Is About Putting Down the Peasants’ Revolt A Deep Cleansing of the Deep State Is Coming All thanks to the Democrats in their crazed state. Germany to Boost Border Checks Amid Surge in Illegal Immigration
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