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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Tuesday, October 23. 2018The American cold civil war
Tuesday morning linksMille grazie to Roger de Hauteville, the Norman King of Sicily (recent photo on the right) for his change-of-pace morning links while I was away. Much more clever and fun to read than mine are. World's oldest intact shipwreck discovered in Black Sea - Archaeologists say the 23-metre vessel has lain undisturbed for more than 2,400 years Why It’s Time to End Factory Farming On Long Island, Failure to Absorb Sandy’s Lessons Lost to Sandy, Reclaimed By Nature - Here’s why one community chose not to rebuild MacDonald: From the Kavanaugh hearings to a lawsuit alleging that Harvard discriminates against Asian-Americans, the Left sees “white supremacy” at the heart of everything. Rust Belt Boom: Since Trump’s Election, Jobs Have Increased In Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, And Wisconsin. Ohio setting a 21-year record Paid Protest Firm "Crowds On Demand" Sued In $23 Million Extortion Plot "You Just Don't Know What's Best For You," And Other Pearls From The Elites More than half of Republicans in a new American Barometer poll say they support "Medicare for all," also known as a single-payer health-care system. How The New York Times And Washington Post Do "Poverty" Migrant Caravan Goes Home As Trump Buys Honduras (h/t Am. Digest)
Illegal Aliens Chant “Si Se Puede!” as Caravan of Invaders Swells to 14,000 The Caravan Means the Wall Will Be Built RGV Texas Border Patrol Chief Begs For Help Before Caravan Hits as Over 12,000 Illegals Caught in Last Three Weeks in Rio Grande Valley; 700 Caught Saturday Invasion: Honduran Caravan Includes Military-Aged Male Migrants From Bangladesh, Haiti and Congo Trump's Merkel Moment -- and Ours We doubt CNN reporter meant his photos of migrant caravan to be ‘a walking GOP ad’ Monday, October 22. 2018Isabel LeonardMezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and guitarist Sharon Isbin collaborate on Manuel de Falla’s Polo from Seven Popular Songs.
Monday morning linksLots of Dylan tix in NYC for the next month Advice from Our Food Critic: If I Have One Day in New York, Where Should I Eat? I pulled a 1,500-year-old sword out of a lake Paul Simon: Fathers, Sons, Troubled Water PETA: Cow's milk a symbol of white supremacy How much do you remember about the miracle of photosynthesis? Striking photos of human scars on earth Americans Strongly Dislike PC Culture - Youth isn’t a good proxy for support of political correctness, and race isn’t either. The more equal women and men are, the less they want the same things, study finds What Do You Do When You Are Anonymously Accused of Rape? The writer Stephen Elliott is suing Moira Donegan, the creator of the Media Men list. How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town - New York’s empty storefronts are a dark omen for the future of cities. The Japanese Man Who Saved 6,000 Jews With His Handwriting - What the astonishing Chiune Sugihara teaches us about moral heroism. South Carolina convicts 'blackmail soldiers in sexting scheme' Old Interview With Heavy-Drinking ‘Thug’ Obama Puts Wild-Man Brett Kavanaugh To Shame Everyone Is Smart Except Trump Kanye West’s White House Rant Steals Trump’s Spotlight How Russian hybrid warfare changed the Pentagon’s perspective KKL: Incendiary balloons caused environmental disaster Pentagon faces 'mounting challenges' protecting its weapons programs from cyberattacks, audit reveals Travesty of Palestinian education Sunday, October 21. 2018SNAAFUThat means Situation Abnormal All F-ed Up. Things generally go OK for us. When I got home, learned my office phone had been out for 12 days. Not good. And more. If any readers care, when I get reorganized here I will post some photos from my reconstituted HQ and after a semi-catastrophic (4 days in Italian government hospital for Mrs. BD, but then 6 days buzzing all around the environs of southern Tuscany with our great VW were pretty fun using an elegant villa in the countryside outside Montepulciano as our base). Good food, still lost 5 lbs which I did not need to lose. It's a long story, but, in brief, due to the accidental stay in the hospital in Ostia, we made a wonderful new friend of a lovely young Slovenian gal who speaks 8 languages fluently, I got to spend 5 hours wandering around Ostia Antiqua, spent a day on the Lido in Ostia, and hopped the train to spend a day urban-hiking Rome which reminded me of how much I dislike that city. I can say that 5 days in an ordinary Italian suburb, no tourists, was a cultural education than few if any Americans could get. I was an alien. Also learned that I need to update my Civil War-era iphone. Buona notte. From today's LectionaryJames 3:1-12 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 3:2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3:3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 3:4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 3:5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! :6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 3:7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 3:8 but no one can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 3:9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 3:10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 3:11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 3:12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. Saturday, October 20. 2018Saturday Verse: Robert GravesGrotesque Dr. Newman with his crooked pince-nez Thursday, October 18. 2018Why you should never say "Bagel Street" or "Susquehanna Hat Company"
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Wednesday, October 17. 2018A good daughter
Mrs. BD is planning a trip to Normandy with her Dad. She has already signed up a well-respected Brit guide who will drive them all around. Flight to Paris, train to Normandy, guide pick-up at train and ride to their (first floor) rooms at a chateau. The old guy is not great with stairs anymore but what he lacks in agility he makes up with Rugged Determination. 7-day trip, with no doubt great food. My father-in-law has been a history buff all his life. Always had regrets that he was far too young to get into the Army in WW2. His much elder brother was in the third wave at Omaha Beach, while another brother was stationed at the Bermuda air station for the entire war. Sheesh. Of course, I he had to take crap about that. The old guy always wanted to tour Normandy, but his Mrs. would never OK it although they did travel everywhere on the planet - entire USA and Canada, Japan, Australia, China, Thailand, Scandinavia, Sicily, all of Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hawaii, Mexico, Bolivia, India - you name it. Always up for adventure into their 80s. Besides it having been a final item on his bucket list, Mrs. BD felt it would inspire him to get into better shape after his quadruple bypass, multiple heart attacks, botched back surgeries, protsate cancer, and other medical misadventures not to mention arthiritis, etc. The anticipation has gotten him out walking distances again, and thus far has managed to lose 30 lbs. by eating rationally on my advice. After his PT he gets to his gym every day. An American story: Second-generation Irish. Shanty Irish. Reluctant HS graduate, worked since age 8 (at first, in bowling alleys as a pin boy), later as A/C repair and the like until got onto the NYPD. Yes, he can be a pretty tough SOB when needed. I have his retired billy club but never used it on my kids. When he got that pension, became an entrepreneur with his Mrs and they built a very successful business together (she had been working on it for years already). They sold it in their 70s with a nice profit. I do love this youthful old fellow. Love his stories about taking his baby sister to the outhouse in snowstorms in Jersey City, and their summers working on a farm in Spring Lake (NJ). No father (died young), 5 kids, wonderful but poor childhood (His baby sis slept in a dresser drawer), and wonderful successful and adventurous life. And, being Irish, a brilliant and entertaining story-teller so he has always been socially popular. Very much so - he is a fun guy and a great companion. When he was younger, we would go for 10-mile runs and he would try to tell me jokes the whole way while I would try to point out the birds. I am so pleased with Mrs. BD's plan with him. I am not going. I want them to have this trip together. I think it will be his last international trip. His passport is up to date. God bless him, he still loves chances to get into NYC to see his old haunts and to stop into Irish pubs for a beer or two even if he needs a cane. Some people are just blessed with joie de vivre. Can't keep a good man down. The meaning of things is the most real thing to peopleThere is some brilliance in this presentation at Oxford. If you only have a few minutes, try minutes 29-50. However, the whole thing is intellectually exciting.
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Monday, October 15. 2018New Balance Cross TrainersCross Training shoes are designed for minimal cushioning, good floor-feel, light weight and as close to barefoot as possible. That's what you want for calisthenics, weights, and cardio. You can Google New Balance Minimus Trainers and see all of their models. Here's one example. Sunday, October 14. 2018Sunday free ad for Bob: Santa Fe
There is no youtube for it, but this guy covered the tune.
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Hiking gear
I am not talking about either hiking/walking on well-built trails where sneakers are fine or, the other extreme, technical climbing. The great in-between is what we enjoy taking on. Rugged hikes with steeps and some scrambling requiring fitness and hands and knees at times. Some people claim Tuckerman's to the top of Mt. Washington is a great example of that sort of thing. Most outdoor people in New England have taken it on at least once. Hiking is an all-weather sport. Our favorite hiking gear: Pants: Prana and Montane
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Hiking vs. Scrambling/bouldering
Pic is part of the Giant's Playground/Arching Rocks bouldering route at Mohonk In Yankeeland we are in prime hiking season. No bugs, no heat. I am finding rock scrambling to be more interesting than regular hiking or even hill hiking. Demands agility, judgement, full-body conditioning, and a bit of stress-tolerance. I have no interest in technical climbing, though, although it is fun to watch people do it in places like The Gunks. One item that might help me a bit with scrambling is some knee pads. I have bony knees which do not enjoy too much time on rocks. Scrambling means a fair bit of hands and knees, high step-ups, and steeply-angled boulders. In other words, fun with just a whiff of danger. A few cool scrambling trails in the Northeast that we are familiar with: Breakneck Ridge (Hudson Highlands) Giant Stairs Trail (Palisades Park, NY and NJ) Labyrinth and Giant's Playground at Mohonk Mountain, NY Flume Slide Trail (Franconia, NH) Alander Mountain (Ancram, NY) Tuckerman's Ravine (Mt. Washington, NH) Also, New Hampshire's White Mountains have some of the best mountain day hikes in the US. My sis has done 'em all. What do people do to be in shape for this type of "hiking"? Stair-climbers, 2 steps at a time - and sideways stair-climbers. Rule of thumb for rock hikers: almost never go down the way you came up. Down is rarely safe. Got any favorites? Let us know.
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Bird du Jour: Northern ShrikeYou may never have observed one of these predatory songbirds, but it's the time of year when they come down from their tundra breeding grounds for the winter. They look a bit like Mockingbirds, but their behavior, and a good look at their plumage and beak, makes the ID clear. They are typically seen hunting from a perch or wire over open areas. GardenAre Italian Gardens English Gardens, or vice-versa? The Brits had a multi-century love affair with Italy. We're in Italy, doing hikes on sections of the Via Francigena, but with my Costco International Mercedes wagon we never pass up famous gardens. Like this one:
From today's LectionaryJob 23:1-9, 16-17
23:1 Then Job answered: 23:2 "Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. :3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! 23:4 I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. :5 I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. :6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. 23:7 There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. 23:8 "If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; 23:9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. 23:16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; :17 If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face! Saturday, October 13. 2018Saturday Verse: Edna St. Vincent MillayAfternoon on a Hill I will be the gladdest thing I will look at cliffs and clouds And when lights begin to show Friday, October 12. 2018Sociopathy is just so interesting
Joe Pistone of the FBI infiltrated the New York mob. Calmest guy I have ever seen, takes everything in stride.
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Northern Flicker migration
A splendid North American bird in the woodpecker clan. Very fond of eating ants, too. Noticed an influx of them in the past two weeks and learned that they are in the semi-migratory category. Their northernmost breeders move south a bit. We must have lots of anthills in our grass. Thursday, October 11. 2018Daniel Webster on politicians"There are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters." Bird du Jour: Blue Jay migrationThere are other jays in North America, but the bold and noisy Blue Jay of eastern North America is the most familiar. Like some other bird species, the Blue Jay is not so much common as it is conspicuous. A mystery about Blue Jays is their migration. When I lived on Riverside Drive in NYC a century or two ago I watched thousands of Jays flying south in early October, all day long, through Riverside Park. I was confused by that, because Blue Jays are wintertime residents in the Northeast. I suspect that Blue Jays, along with other species, move a bit south but within their breeding ranges (like Robins, Red-Tailed Hawks, and others). There is some evidence that yearling birds are more likely to travel. Thus, in wintertime, New England Jays might be Quebec or Ontario breeders, or might be local breeders. Can't tell the difference.
Thursday morning linksPop History: ‘Pile it High, Sell it Low’: The Saga of the Supermarket by Flashbak Woman removed from flight bound for Cleveland due to ’emotional support’ squirrel In Cleveland, everyone needs a support squirrel With campus tour, pro-choice group hopes to make abortion ‘positive’ CNN’s Bakari Sellers: Kanye West Is What Happens When Negroes Don’t Read — Candace Owens Offers $100,000 for Debate US paying more for illegal immigrant births than Trump’s wall That is brilliant, Australia: Export your coal UN Warns Climate Change Will Destroy Earth By 2005 After Scandalous Exposure, California Considers Freeze On DMV Voter Registrations. BERNIE SANDERS CALLS FOR SOCIALIST NEW WORLD ORDER - "It is time for us to stand up and say there is a better way to use our wealth" Socialism Destroys - Increased government control wrecks economies and ruins lives. Althouse: How can the NYT think this photograph is an illustration of "The Paranoid Style in G.O.P. Politics"? Powerline: CONFIRM ’EM ALL I Was A Never Trumper Until Democrats Went Gonzo On Kavanaugh. Now, Hand Me That Red Hat Cristian Marianciuc
Origami by Cristian Marianciuc. That is a Crane.
Wednesday, October 10. 2018Timing your exercise regimen
Our approach (with expert consultation) is to do your calisthenics classes or calisthenic routines on the day after a weights and powerlifting day. That sort-of counts as an "active recovery" day. If you do a tough calisthenic athletic cross-training hour the day before lifting, most people over 35 will not be at 100% for their weights day. So that's 4 days right there, assuming you do weight sequences twice weekly. On days before weights, there is no problem with cardio like HIIT or even "long, slow" as a recovery day. (I do "long slow" - elliptical, stairmaster, treadmill - on Sunday mornings before church if there is no big hike planned. Day of rest.) Important to move with intention every day to remain functional. Every three months it's not a bad idea to take a complete week off from a tough exercise regimen. A week off means away from the gym, and just doing recreational things like hiking, jogging, and swimming. That's a "recovery week." Just bear in mind that, after ten days without hard exercise, fitness measurably declines after age 40.
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