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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Friday, September 27. 2019Friday morning linksMass transit and govt subsidies: How New Starts Harms Transit Riders Pittsburgh's Comeback NTSB: FAA Should Make Boeing Reassess 737 MAX Pilot Actions When Being Gay Is ‘Not a Big Deal’ - Richie Jackson and Andrew Sullivan disagree about how central being gay should be to one’s identity. " My fear of climate change is eating away at my sanity." I suspect that the letter was a spoof Australian PM Blasts Those Who Exploit Children’s Anxiety On Climate Change Man Sure Is Glad He Switched From E-Cigs To Regular, Healthier Cigarettes Why Is the CDC Still Fostering Potentially Deadly Confusion About Vaping and Lung Disease? A Clean Kill of the Carbon Dioxide-Driven Climate Change Hypothesis? Immigrant Population Growth In The U.S. Slows To A Trickle THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ADAM SCHIFF’S “PARODY” Hillary Clinton: Trump Is An “Illegitimate President” A DEMOCRATIC HOUSE WAS ALWAYS DESTINED TO IMPEACH PRESIDENT TRUMP Liberal Media Lies and OMITS 500+ WORDS from Transcript to Claim Trump Asked Zelensky to Investigate Biden — COMPLETELY FALSE! NYTimes 'Outs' Ukraine-Call "Whistleblower" As CIA Officer The Transcript Is Damning — To Biden, Not Trump These once-secret memos cast doubt on Joe Biden's Ukraine story Pentagon Review, Not Trump, Delayed Ukraine Aid CBS: It ‘Is True’ Trump Didn’t Pressure Ukraine To Investigate The Biden Family… Facts don't matter At Hot Air:
VDH: Why the Impeachment Frenzy May Only Strengthen Trump Communism Success Story: China Invents Camera That Can Pinpoint Person In Crowd Of Thousands… Why India Is The United States’ Best Bet For Balancing China Thursday, September 26. 2019Gender, Age, etc.If I can pick my gender, why can't I pick my age? After all, what surgeons can do these days to alter appearance is remarkable, if you have the dough. They can give you a new coronary artery, or even build a vagina for a guy, for heaven's sake. This age issue occurred to me because a reader asked my age. Half-seriously, I think. So I considered whether the answer should be literal or not. Intellectual/wisdom age, physical-condition age, spiritual age, social/maturity age, tooth age, sexual functioning age, whatever. A couple of costly bridges have restored my tooth age to 20. According to my cardiologist (who I only need for my annual stress test that my trainer requires), my cardio fitness/function is age 30 (after 4 years of daily workouts). I have more physical energy than I did at 45. My weight is about 10 lbs more than when I was 30, but it's mostly from weight-lifting in the past 4 years. My physique is youthful enough, but my face not so much... I joke that Mrs. BD should put a bag over my head but $5,000 could fix that too. My social maturity age ranges widely but I get along with most good people pretty well, and my intellectual/wisdom age can be judged by others. Definitely should be better. And, consider this: I drive a zippy, growling Italian sports car that few 30 year-olds could afford. Lots of my pals decide it's time for toy cars as a reward. I think I'll pick my age as 45, averaging out all of the components. Having written that, watch me stroke out tomorrow. How about you readers? What ages are you, really? The average age of your various components?
Thursday morning links
Re the coffee: There are only two kinds of climate here: Hot Coffee and Iced Coffee. The climate experts just don't get it. It's all good. Universal ethical truths are at the core of Jewish High Holy Days The Desperate Plight Behind “Darkness at Noon” - Arthur Koestler’s novel of the Moscow Trials laid bare the gulf between Communist ideals and the reality they produced. New science shows gluten-free trend is expensive BS It's a fad. Nutritional fads come and go. That's a result of affluence and choices. Some bracing advice to parents of teens Ban pointy knives Adams: A Message for Children About Climate Change MINI AOC IS BACK! Greta and Climate Change Local Man Uses Viral Fame To Raise $1 Million for Charity, Journalist Digs Up Offensive Tweets He Made at Age 16 - Carson King is the latest victim of a cancel culture that's out of control 9 Revelations In The Atlantic’s Essay About NYC’s Kafkaesque Schools - George Packer’s extremely long Atlantic essay contains gems of leftist cognitive dissonance, some funny, some enraging, and some heartbreaking. Here’s a list... If the world’s ending in 12 years, why even go to college? Has Harvard Lost Its Taste for Western Civilization? Stanford University Drops Mandatory Diversity Program After Complaints of Personal Intrusion Campus Hook-Up Culture and Title IX Sex Police Meet Due Process Bernie Sanders Proposes “National Wealth Registry” In Latest Tax The Rich Proposal… Planning a federal tax on assets Biden Campaign Calls Trump Ad Racist and Sexist for Showing Democrats Obsessed With Impeachment Trump turns tables on Biden amid impeachment push, claims Dems threatened Ukraine House Republicans blast Dems' impeachment inquiry in fiery press conference South Korea: The Country That Has Oversold Higher Education Even More Than the U.S. By The Way, Trump Administration Just Scored Another Safe-Third-Country Agreement In Central America Today Wednesday, September 25. 2019Robert Hunter, RIPDead at 78. As I said recently, never a Deadhead but spent a lot of time with them on the Sirius Dead channel in my new car due to not reading the instructions. Maybe Garcia was "Captain Trips" but the music did not seem like that. Hunter was an American folklorist, as is Dylan and as was The Band. Here are two versions of Ripple, one by the Dead and one by Hunter alone.
SquatsSquats are one of the basic powerlifts (+ deadlifts, bench press, dumbell or barbell or cable rows, overhead press, and pullups/pull downs). All are designed and used to build or maintain physical sturdiness and energy. They are the core of the strength component of a fitness program for men and women of all ages. What Muscles Do Squats Target? For me, squats are the most unpleasant strength exercise. Years ago, as a beginner, I started out with body-weight squats, advanced to goblet squats and then to barbell back squatting. I hate it because it gets so damn hard to go heavy, but also because it feels scarey to get low with all that weight on your back. You just can't feel confident that you can get back up. Improvement is slow. If you have short legs, it feels less treacherous but I do not have those.
Three tips: Wider stance, keep knees out, deep breath before you go down and hold it until you thrust up. Here's some good advice: THE MYSTERY OF SQUAT FORM: HOW LOW SHOULD YOU GO, REALLY? In the Youtube clip below, some Boston guy advocates "ass to grass." I do that with goblet squats (a regular component of my calisthenics classes), but never with good weight on a barbell. I just aim to get my butt below my knees. Not so young anymore but, dammit, I do want to get low with the weight because a squat ought to be more than getting up from a chair.
Wednesday morning linksHow Washington’s Food Subsidies Have Helped Make Americans Fat and Sick You Could Never Have Built That Those Killer Robots Can Do Gymnastics Now The Sixth Circuit Pounds Another Nail in the Coffin of the University Speech Code " Do the leftists behind the anti-American indoctrination program of the past decades, of which the 1619 Project is a lagging indicator, think America is worth defending? I doubt it." If You Can’t Sell Your Hysteria to Adults, Try Kids Highlights From President Trump’s U.N. Address HAMMER: Stop Calling Everything An Impeachable Offense Impeach Trump for his haircut Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump Should Be Impeached Amid Biden/Ukraine Controversy: 'We Are in a Crisis' Why the Democrats Have Gone Insane "There has been no President in the history of our Country who has been treated so badly as I have. The Democrats are frozen with hatred and fear." "They get nothing done. This should never be allowed to happen to another President. Witch Hunt!" Goodwin: Pelosi’s impeachment flip-flop changes everything Biden: In Prison, Your Gender Should Be What You Say It Is, Not What The Prison Says It Is Tuesday, September 24. 2019Breakfast pizza in tomato season
Here's my favorite way to use our own tomatoes for breakfast: Put one (large) or a couple of thick slices of tomato on some thin white bread. Then slices of cheddar to cover the tomatoes. Put under a hot broiler til the cheese melts a bit and the exposed bread browns. Not necessary, but a small sprinkle of oregano on top if you must. Perfect breakfast - simple pizza. A shame that the Romans never knew tomatoes. "Something wonderful," indeed: The Weight (on its 50th)
Not The Band's best tune. Too many of their bests to list. They were not rock, just American music. Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Robbie, in my opinion, has perfect taste with lead guitar. No showboating, just the right touches. If you're younger than me, give the "record" a listen. Then thank me. About The Weight Tuesday morning linksMy Book Defending Free Speech Has Been Banned Good grief Some tech CEOs eyed as untrustworthy but certain companies are still favored Don’t Believe All Women, Because Some Are Terrible - Maybe we should treat people like people. No angels on earth Tulsi Gabbard: ‘Can You Imagine if Google’s CEO Was a Conservative Republican Shutting Down Democrat Voices?’
Super. Democrats Have Convinced Half Of Younger Voters The World Is Ending In The Next 15 Years “She seems like a very happy young girl”: President Trump on Greta Thunberg Funny Moonbat Protester Tells Crowd He Broke Down Crying Because He Couldn’t Bring Kids Into This World Due To Climate Change… Warren and Other Dems Call for Fracking Ban — Do they WANT to lose Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania? Dems Cook 10,500 Steaks While Lecturing Americans About Eating Less Meat Dems Will Have To Lie About Their Agenda To Win, Poll Shows
Social Credit Score USA - The impending nightmarish surveillance state. Orwellian Nightmare: Six US Cities Make List Of Most Surveilled Places In The World Vermont Conservatives Have Had Enough of Their RINO Governor Lindsey Graham Calls For Investigation Into Biden-Ukraine Connection; Alleged Election Interference Let's get real: Democrats were first to enlist Ukraine in US elections Whoa: Text Messages Reveal NYT Reporter Told Kavanaugh Source What To Say Mollie Hemingway calls out Mitt Romney Surge: 14.3 million illegal immigrants in US costing taxpayers $130B China to place government officials inside 100 private companies, including Alibaba Monday, September 23. 2019Monday morning linksTour Company Thomas Cook Collapses Would you be retarded enough to build a beach house here - even with the gummit subsidies for storms and floods? It's called a sandbar, idiots. Sandbars are temporary. Our stupid government will even insure you to build on a swamp, too. While they protect "wetlands," mind you. 5 Signs You’re In The Midst Of A Moral Panic Why Liberals and Progressives Lie to Blacks Dems dancing around America's real health care problem: Overweight people Canada’s global warming models threw out actual historical data and substituted models of what the temperature should have Fraud. Why? Governments always need enemies to hold power. Since we're all commies now, climate is the New Nazis. California Begins Issuing $1000 Fine For Each Tiny Plastic Communion Cup Served Youth Climate Activist: Global Warming Damage Becomes Irreversible In ‘Only 18 Months’ Children protest climate on a beautiful day in NYC The Guardian view on the school climate strike: protests that matter Teens pledge not to have kids til climate change ends Good idea Jerry Nadler: Don’t Know If Human Life Will Survive 50 Years, Bacteria And Plants May Be All That’s Left Yale goes all in on climate disaster De Blasio escalates his culture war Does Elizabeth Warren Even Understand What Real (government) Corruption Is? Warren Says the Rich Must Pay Her 'Wealth Tax' Because They've Benefitted from Public Schools and Infrastructure Nag, nag, nag. She made 7 million flipping houses. Guess I should have, but too busy doing real work. Gregg Jarrett: It Appears the ‘Whistleblower’ is Just an American Spy in Our Intel Agency Spying on President Trump Joe Biden's Son Hunter Contradicted Father's Claim They Never Discussed Ukraine Deal Trump Pounces On Biden-Ukraine Scandal As Whistleblower Story Flips On Dems Trump DESTROYS Joe Biden Crime Family on REAL UKRAINIAN SCANDAL Biden is done Comey and Baquet — united against Trump — have caused a nonstop feeding frenzy Sicilians Dare To Believe: The Mafia’s Cruel Reign Is Over EXPLAINING JEREMY CORBYN Only an EU ‘empire’ can secure liberty: EU leader Sunday, September 22. 2019What's underground in NYCConstitution Day, 2019
For those, Randy Barnett and Josh Blackman have built an interactive site: Introduction to Constitutional law. From today's LectionaryLuke 16:1-13 16:1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 16:2 So he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' 16:3 Then the manager said to himself, 'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 16:4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' 16:6 He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' 16:7 Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.' 16:8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 16:10 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 16:11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 16:12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 16:13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." Saturday, September 21. 2019George Gershwin
And this - forget Sinatra, this is the ultimate NYC tune. He came up with it riding on a train, aka subway:
Wild Horses
I see no reason to protect them. You can argue that the same goes for cattle, but the plains historically had their own cattle: Bison by the millions. Two Cape Cod JelliesThe locals know all of the best wild Beach Plum spots, and clean them out before anybody else. I do not think they can be cultivated, but the plants can be bought. Very slow growers. However the rose hips from the beach roses (Rosa rugosa, a native of Asia) also make a delicate jelly. We have a bunch simmering right now. Lots of recipes online. Roses and apples are closely-related. Saturday morning links: First day of Autumn around hereWeather and climate are perfect today. Perfect for hiking and farm work. 15 Stats That Show Americans Are Drowning in 'Stuff' The War on Vaping Why? Purdue not taking any food for thought from anti-Chick-fil-A protesters No chick fil is near me. I'd be happy to try one, but I do not love waffle fries The climate ‘strike’ that wasn’t one A Leftist movement, mainly IKEA Learns That Peas Are Racist Leftist Statue Vandals Come for Robert Burns It's about time, right? Scottish supremacist. Did California Just Abolish Single-Family Zoning? The Golden State now allows homeowners to build up to two accessory dwelling units on their property by right. That might be good. Environmental apocalypse predictions have failed for half a century The End Of The World Is Coming According To Jerry Nadler Andrew Yang’s Climate Change Solution: Eliminate Cattle And Cars ‘Utopian authoritarianism’: Conservative British think tank director pulls the mask off the ‘hugely dangerous’ Global Climate Strike movement Rowdy student protest shuts down campus forum debunking climate alarmism Homelessness is reaching an emergency level in Los Angeles "Homeless" is mostly a euphemism. Mostly, not entirely. Building a functional life isn't easy. What the Jeffrey Epstein Case Says About Elite Men What is says about men in general. Not all men adhere to bourgeois values. Rich or poor, there are amoral hedonists. Illegal is another matter. Embracing Liberty in No Way Means Embracing Moral Relativism Trump admin. reaches asylum deal with El Salvador Great Joe Biden Bragged That, With Barack Obama's Permission, He Threatened To Withhold Billions in Aid to Ukraine Unless They Fired a Prosecutor Investigating His Son's Company. And Now, The Deep State Refashions This as a Trump Scandal An unshackled Trump finally gets the presidency he always wanted - No longer hemmed in by aides, Trump has bent the presidency into the mold of the Trump Organization. Katie Pavlich: The Democrats' desperate do-overs Why Starbucks is now on Hong Kong protesters’ business boycott list The Vietnamization of Afghanistan - Democrats would resist fighting, even if war comes to U.S. as it did on 9-11 That's an argument, but I do not care about Afghanistan. It isn't even a country, really. Just a place. Even barbaric Russians could not pacify the place. Saudi oil attack was approved by Iran's supreme leader, U.S. official says Friday, September 20. 2019Why the US has no high speed railFriday morning linksOur Skulls Are Out-Evolving Us - A motley crew of scientists argue that our ever-shrinking skulls are wreaking havoc on our well-being Announcement Of A Mamet Revival On Broadway Gives Wokesters The Sads An Obituary for the Boy Scouts of America The Kids Are Not All Right 98% of Cord Cutters Say They Will Never Go Back to Cable TV According to New Study From Roku How Adam Neumann’s Over-the-Top Style Built WeWork. ‘This Is Not the Way Everybody Behaves.’ New Harvard policy may require ‘moderators’ for ‘controversial’ speakers Chinese Woman Pleads Guilty To Running Multi-Million Dollar ‘Birth Tourism’ Scheme In US Contesting the Progressives’ Takeover of Vermont Is Tucker Carlson the Most Important Pundit in America? The American Left Is Completely Insane Millions of Americans Are Seething — a Trump Landslide Wouldn’t Surprise Me Wargaming the Electoral College: Trump's 2020 Game Plan Preview UK: The Push to End Free Speech A Tribute to the Late Václav Havel on the 30-Year Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution Saudi oil attack was approved by Iran's supreme leader, U.S. official says Amb.Crocker on Afghanistan Thursday, September 19. 2019Osearch
Osearch tracks tagged sea turtles, sharks, and dolphins worldwide.
Thursday morning linksWhat do you confess to the plants in your life? To Help Birds This Winter, Go Easy on Fall Yard Work - A manicured lawn might look nice, but messy is better for birds and bugs. Amish man and teen drinking in horse and buggy run after police pull them over - The buggy had a stereo system on its roof and police found "multiple open containers of alcohol." Newly passed California resolution blames ‘religious groups’ for LGBT suicides Writer Freaks Out Over People Eating Delicious Chick-fil-A: 'They’re Eating Fried Chicken SPITEFULLY!' Social Justice Culture is Now Infiltrating the Study of Medicine UK Mom blames healthcare system after her son went blind from diet comprised of french fries and Pringles Save the Robots - Bill de Blasio reveals his scrambled vision of innovation and labor. How We Know California's New Rent Control Law Will Make Its Housing Shortage Worse Compilation of Failed Ecopredictions Doomsdays that didn’t happen: Think tank compiles decades’ worth of dire climate predictions George Packer Gets Mugged by Reality When the Culture War Comes for the Kids - Caught between a brutal meritocracy and a radical new progressivism, a parent tries to do right by his children while navigating New York City’s schools. Is Everyone Who Opposes a New School Zoning Plan in Brooklyn Racist? Do You Know What the Democrats Said at Their Debate? Democrats’ Red Flag Laws Meant to Take Weapons from Rural Gun Owners – But Not Gang Members Who Commit 80% of Gun Homicides It's All About Disarming White America Sandy Hook Promise Ad Hypes the Danger of School Shootings, Fostering Irrational Fears and Bad Policies - Official responses to these extremely rare crimes are grossly disproportionate in light of the risk they actually pose. Daily Life in the New York Times Pigpen - This is where the New York Times has ended up, as a producer and consumer of swill and slop. The Architect of the Latest Kavanaugh Smear Just Gave a Self-Damning Radio Interview NYT Reporter Who Wrote Flawed Kavanaugh Story Now Blames Fox For Noting Her Mistakes To Understand The Kavanaugh Kraziness, Look At The Courts' Role In Approving Or Blocking Major Policy Initiatives DONALD TRUMP'S APPROVAL RATING SURPASSES OBAMA'S Why Is Iran Our Enemy? It’s a repressive theocracy, but Tehran is no threat to the United States and is a staunch opponent of jihadi groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda. Wednesday, September 18. 2019Wednesday morning linksBen Stein: America the Beautiful Training Actors for War Games Elizabeth Warren Says Men Have A Right To Taxpayer-Funded Abortions How Oregon Built A Transgender Medical-Industrial Complex On Junk Science John Hopkins Psychiatrist: ‘Gender Confusions Are Mostly Driven by Psychological and Psychosocial Problems’ ‘SOLD OUT’: Arizona Gun Store Offers ‘Beto Specials’ on AR15s and AK47s Aussie Greens: Nuclear Power is a “Dangerous Distraction” from Real Climate Action Fmr NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls out college campus 'intolerance' in blistering op-ed Feminist Author Taught NYU Students To Start A Revolution, They Rebelled Against Her Class Warren and Harris Demand Impeachment of Justice Kavanaugh Over Freshman Allegation Denied by "Victim" MSNBC, CNN rip House Dems over 'failure' Lewandowski hearing: 'They don't know what they're doing' Tuesday, September 17. 2019Perhaps best obit ever
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QQQTwo of a friend's favorite related quotes: "Dress me slowly, I am in a hurry." Napoleon Bonaparte, in preparation for a battle "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." A Navy Seal saying. Tuesday morning links3 mental blocks that keep you from doing what you say you want to do Do the data support the idea that porn can have negative influences? Ban on Eating Dogs and Cats Blocked in UK — It Might Offend Asian Migrants LA Times Says We Must Get Rid Of All Fossil Fuels, And Prepare For Sacrifice Duke student senate denies Christian org recognition over traditional beliefs MSNBC: ‘There Are People In Power Who Want … [Blacks] To Drink From Certain Water Fountains’ Would You Pay $4,200 to Listen to Michelle Obama Scold You? The Democrat debate was terrifying. Who are these people? MC: Evaluation Of Elizabeth Warren As Potential Democratic Candidate For President VDH: Trumped Out? After nearly four years of ceaseless attacks by Democrats and the press, the strange thing is not that Trump can be occasionally wearisome, but that he is even still breathing. The media has officially lost its damn mind ‘They are CORRUPT’: Brit Hume rakes NYT over the coals for attempting to revive their smear campaign against Kavanaugh Washington Post says it passed on New York Times’ now-revised Kavanaugh story The Real Reason for That Kavanaugh Smear Ex-MSNBC host Krystal Ball says former network has 'done real damage to the left' during Trump era by 'conspiracy theorizing' Democrats Call For Kavanaugh’s Impeachment. Lindsey Graham Wrecks Them. Journalistic malpractice? Brett Kavanaugh is getting the Title IX treatment Dem McCarthy promises accountability as Barr reviews IG’s FISA report: ‘The closest we’ve ever seen to a coup’ Europe’s Virtues Will Be Its Undoing Soldiers without a country: We're finally honoring South Vietnamese who fought with us
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