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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Sunday, September 9. 2018Sam the BuglerRoger Angell, still writingAngell is the guy who helped me see the beauty of baseball. From The New Yorker, 2014: "I’m ninety-three, and I’m feeling great. Well, pretty great, unless I’ve forgotten to take a couple of Tylenols in the past four or five hours, in which case I’ve begun to feel some jagged little pains shooting down my left forearm and into the base of the thumb. Shingles, in 1996, with resultant nerve damage..." The thing about the (past) New Yorker writers is that they were so engaging stylistically that you would read any long form article even if you had no interest in the topic - like golf course design. That's the sign of a real writer. "Has-been"A highly-successful older pal and fellow parishioner who retired this summer (in his 80s) told me he asked our retiring pastor this week whether he could give him any advice on how to cope with being a "has-been." Pastor replied "I was going to ask you that." From today's Lectionary: Faith and WorksJames 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17 2:1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2:2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 2:3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 2:4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court 2:7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? 2:8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 2:9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 2:11 For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 2:13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. 2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 2:15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 2:16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 2:17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. Saturday, September 8. 2018DeclutteringIn addition to house-wide de-cluttering, I am facing a de-cluttering of my daily work space. It is on the order of The Management. Some urgency to it too, cuz the place is being re painted. In one cabinet I went through, far more ammo than I knew I had. I had no idea how much I had accumulated in there, including all game loads, plus steel loads, Bismuth loads, and Tungsten loads. 12 ga, 20 ga. Just no 16 ga, which I have come to like the best since inheriting my grandpa's 16 ga. I only like 20 ga for grouse and woodcock, and you do not need much ammo for that game because they are so difficult to find. I have too many firearms too. I love to play with firearms and to shoot birds, ducks, and geese, but I found that I have more than I can ever use. Only so many Saturdays left and, as I say, retirement is not in my playbook. I would do the night shift in a minimart rather than be useless. Saturday morning linksPhysician Solves Mystery of Mona Lisa's Smile While Waiting in Louvre Line Good review of the week at Betsy The Hijacking of College Writing Classes Linda Sarsour: Humanizing Israelis is a Problem Stefanowski: Connecticut's income tax is killing its economy — that's why I want to get rid of it Cynthia Nixon on How to Finance Single-Payer Healthcare 6.3%: African-American Unemployment Rate Second-Lowest Ever Trump Economy Surpasses Predictions For Job Creation In August Krugman: Kavanaugh will kill the Constitution Internal Trump Resistance: ‘We See Ourselves As Rebels’ The Anti-Democratic Implications Of An Inner Circle Run Amok Theater of the Absurd Has Taken Over the Senate That Was Embarrassing! Kamala Harris Grills Judge Kavanaugh for 7 Minutes About Mueller Only to Find Out He Worked with Mueller A marred confirmation hearing that has embarrassed us all The "Trump is insane" strategy It's Africa's Choice: AFRICOM Or 'The New Silk Roads Marxism Is Consuming My Beloved Africa WASHINGTON POST'S HYSTERIA OVER THE END TO AMERICA'S UNRWA FUNDING Friday, September 7. 2018HvarHvar, Croatia. Our friends only stayed in Air B&Bs in Slovenia and Croatia. Said they were treated like royalty. Their hosts even picked them up at train, ferry, and airports. No extra charge. They were eager for good reports on Air B&B.
Gilder on life after GoogleWe rarely link postcasts, but this one is worth it. (h/t. reader)
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Friday morning links
Doctor burnout said to be due to Obamacare paperwork requirements Voluntary Human Extinction Movement Gathers Steam How Colleges Are Ripping Off a Generation of Ill-Prepared Students It's No Joke: Students Can Minor in Marijuana At Stockton University Over Half Of America Suffering Drought As Lake Powell, Lake Mead Drop To "Dangerous" Low Levels Too many people living in deserts. Desalinization is only solution. Pipelines! Layoffs Just Reached a Half-Century Low - With too-few candidates, businesses hold tight to workers Democrats' visions of hand signals from white supremacists Is a Tea Party of the Left brewing inside the Democratic Party?
Thursday, September 6. 2018On Deleting Your Social Media AccountsThursday morning linksThe Five Most Overrated Beers My Eight-Year-Old Daughter Walked Her Dog Alone. Then Police Came Knocking On My Door What are the appropriate ages for things? " My nephew tried to school me on cultural appropriation. It didn’t end well” Fisking Chuck Todd’s “It’s All Roger Ailes! He Made The Public Distrust The Media” Article “A fossil-free future”… Real words from a real social justice warrior and author of The Parents’ Guide to Climate Revolution Cleaning out cabinets for painters and found my old fossil collection. I will not have a fossil-free future. I love looking at fossils and hope to become an old fossil myself someday A Facebook Engineer’s Plea for Political Diversity Why Technology Favors Tyranny - Artificial intelligence could erase many practical advantages of democracy, and erode the ideals of liberty and equality. It will further concentrate power among a small elite if we don’t take steps to stop it. The Prophet of Google's Doom TEXAS DOCTORS at Kavanaugh Hearing Say They Saw Liberal Protesters Paid “With a Literal Bag of Cash” (VIDEO and PHOTO) Fine writing by Althouse re Kavanugh's talk with Diane Feinstein:
THE DEMOCRATS ARE CRAZY The case that Trump is crazy EU Enters "Final Stage" Of Crafting Bill Forcing Big Tech Censorship Wednesday, September 5. 2018Wednesday morning linksDear Therapist: I Want a Second Kid. My Husband Doesn't. How should we decide how many children is right for our family? Is Catholic Church leadership deflecting instead of genuflecting? SF Court: Cities can't prosecute people for sleeping on streets Is There Any Real Slum In New York Any More? Nike Boycott: Just Do It Democratic socialists launch 'College for All' campaign Former Democrat Aide Chuck Todd: Media Bias Does Not Exist, And It's Time to Take the War to These Lying Racist Conservative Sonsabitches Democrats, Eyeing A Majority, Prepare An Investigative Onslaught Bob Woodward's book says Trump unfit for office, with many examples Rush: What Dark Secret Lurks Behind the Deep State Cabal Against Trump? World thinks it is entitled to America's money SloveniaFriend just back from trip to Slovenia and Croatia (and a bit of Istanbul). This is Lake Bled. I'll post some more of their pics later.
Tuesday, September 4. 2018Re Labor Day weekend, a life of working with Dunkin DonutsI had a Dunkin with our roofer boss at 7 this morning when I got back from my calisthenics class. 64 year old Irish-Italian guy from Springfield, MA who needs no exercise classes because his entire day is physical. Physical, with lots of subtle skills too. Bending copper to fix a roof cricket is not easy geometry. I asked him how he knew how to do so many things after he told me he had put new brakes in his ageing F-150 over the weekend. I have a special admiration for practical skills because I am a bit of a klutz with most machinery other than Farmall tractors and chain saws. An American story. High school then 4 years in the US Army. They put him in a mechanical company, repairing broken things. After that, 6 years in a Massachusetts sawmill spending a lot of time, again, fixing broken things and maintaining machinery. Got in too many fights with the boss, so got a job in a junkyard, retrieving good parts from junked trucks and cars. After 4 years of that, was offered an auto mechanic job by somebody he knew who knew him to be a hard worker. Became a master mechanic. Always did tree work on the side, and still does. Then his brother-in-law offered him a partnership in his roofing business. He had already done his own roofs, so he jumped at a chance to be a business owner. When that guy quit the biz because it was "too hard," the business was his. He has good crews to supervise but he does all of the tricky stuff and the copper work. He is a perfectionist. This morning on a second story roof ladder he decided to add some aluminum edging under his new copper flashing to completely protect the crown molding on our dormers. Waterproof, paintable glue to hold it in. "That crown will be good for 200 years." His life advice: Learn how to do as many things as you can. That way, you can always be useful. His results: Bought his first house at 25. Has 5 kids who he likes. Bought two houses on his street, both as wedding gifts for his married kids. They are very happy to be near family. Married once. Also has a shack on Cape Cod that he is renovating, and a house in Florida. Grows tomatoes and fruit trees. Claims he will never retire but admits the day might come when he'll have to just be a boss instead of doing 3-story ladder work. Not yet, for sure. Says God blessed him. Yes, he has a Trump 2020 bumper sticker. He is deplorable.
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Tuesday morning linksHeight, size, and tennis Dozens of elephants killed near Botswana wildlife sanctuary HERE’S WHY NYT’S LATEST ATTEMPT TO SCARE READERS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING IS A ‘WASTE OF TIME’ It's gonna be hot today. Climate change. Gov't Spends $18 Billion On Jobs Programs, But Can't Tell If They Work Job training comes from getting a job. In this economy, jobs are going begging Pretending Fragility To Conceal Aggression One of the oldest mind games in the world Uptick in Racism in Public Schools Is All Trump's Fault, Educators Say What racism? All I ever see is reverse racism. New York City Public Schools Discriminate Against White Kids Corporate Suicide Watch, Nike Edition PAPADOPOULOS COURT FILING REMINDS US WHY SESSIONS NEEDED TO RECUSE HIMSELF OK. So Sessions was a bad choice for the job Media Obituaries Didn’t Give Us ‘The Full McCain’ Why did he get the royal treatment? The US has lots of war heroes Who’s afraid of Steve Bannon? Cancelling the former White House strategist might win back the respect of New Yorker readers — but it won’t help in their quest to explore ‘Ideas’ The primaries show that Trump Republicanism is still on the rise U.S. DEFUNDS UNRWA About time PIGS IN PALESTINE: ANTI-ISRAEL LEFT SPREADS ANTI-SEMITIC BOAR LIBELS - Who let the pigs out? According to the Left, the Jews. Czech PM: We don’t want to live in Africa or the Middle East here. We must fight for our values. Monday, September 3. 2018Monday morning links
Is Safetyism Destroying a Generation? Weight-loss pills can help. So why don't more people use them? (h/t Instapundit) Why New York City Stopped Building Subways - Nearly 80 years ago, a construction standstill derailed the subway’s progress, leading to its present crisis. This is the story, decade by decade. Netflix has spent years crushing movie theaters – turns out, it kind of needs them now New York Alt-Weekly Publishing Legend The Village Voice Is No More What the nonreligious get wrong about religious people Pope Declares ‘Emergency’ Not Related To Pedophile Scandal Williamson: The Psalmist And The Sex Doll Prof touts 'ecosexuality' as 'environmental activist strategy' Claim: Weather Catastrophes are “Pearl Harbour” Opportunities to Implement a Carbon Tax University of Kansas Hosts 'Feminist Parenting Group' to Explore 'Strategies for Raising Intersectional Feminist Children' DSA SOCIALIST CANDIDATE JULIA SALAZAR LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING Editing out the American flag National security goals in McCain's wake ‘OUTRAGED’ Americans Disgusted With Hyper-Politicized McCain Funeral Is bashing Trump the fraternity's new secret handshake? Roaring economy isn't lifting Donald Trump approval rating. He has only himself to blame. President Trump Keeps Winning – Everything Else Is Just Noise… Dazzle ShipsSunday, September 2. 2018From today's LectionaryJames 1:17-27 1:17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 1:18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 1:19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 1:20 for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. 1:21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 1:23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 1:24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 1:25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will be blessed in their doing. 1:26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Saturday, September 1. 2018Reading Ralph Waldo EmersonAs I toil towards my goal of unloading 2000 books from the Maggie's HQ, it's tough not to flip through each one in case you might change your mind. My books are part of me, it seems. That is stupid. Take Emerson. I open a random page. No, dammit. I can not understand the guy and I never could figger out what he was getting at. Not blaming him because as far as I can tell he is a deep thinker and his essays remain widely appreciated. "It's me, not you." My Dad loved him, but I have lower IQ than my Dad. I blame my mother's side: rich practical business people. Three cities which used to be sea harborsJust three of them jump to mind, but there must be many more examples where changing geography left cities built on sea-going commerce sitting on silted rivers, and further from the ocean. I am thinking of Florence, Seville, and Pisa. Oh - Pompeii was a seaport too, which is partly why it was so full of whorehouses. Whorehouses and temples and fast food joints - that was Pompeii. Here's The lost harbour of Pisa revealed Classic visit to Pisa (which is actually a charming antique town like San Gimignano or Siena): Grab a slice of pizza, take a selfie in front of the bell tower, then get back on the air-conditioned bus. Other examples of cities which were once important seaports? Saturday morning links
The Bizarre Story of Britain’s Last Great Auk How a plan to save Kenya's rhino left 11 dead in historic blunder New Zealand council plans to ban all pet cats in bid to protect native bird species Let's hope the world follows that example How America Killed Mass Transit - Streetcar, bus, and metro systems have been ignoring one lesson for 100 years: Service drives demand. NYT: Overtourism’ Worries Europe. How Much Did Technology Help Get Us There? Story of bombshell charges against Pope more surreal by the minute David Warren: What to do about the Church Postmodern leftism even lays waste to the Catholic Church. When was the Church entirely pure and holy? Dem Socialist Candidate’s Brother and Mother Say She’s Lied About Her Upbringing She's a cute little liar Good quote this week from Marco Rubio:
Weiner Laptop Scandal, the Mueller Witchhunt, the Clinton Foundation and China Hacking Hillary’s Emails All Have One Thing in Common The Case for Sessions' Resignation Grows “THE BIG MONEY IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS NOW ON THE LEFT” Is South Africa quietly planning a genocide? Friday, August 31. 2018Friday morning linksPETA Hopes To Build Memorial Where Lobsters Died In Maine Crash More lobsters are killed in a day by Striped Bass than died there Bear News: Black bear spotted in Davidson County for 1st time in more than 100 years More: First Yellowstone-area grizzly hunt in 40 years blocked by federal judge The growth of the world’s middle class may be the greatest story of our age Brown U. censors ´gender dysphoria´ study, worried that findings might ´invalidate the perspectives´ of transgender community Facts do have a funny way of invalidating perspectives Archbishop’s shocking letter reveals scandal and priority schism in Catholic Church I Sold My Soul on Twitter. Now I’m Trying to Win It Back At campus orientation, speaker bashes Fox News, rugged individualism, says America not that great Failure: The $1.7 Billion Federal Job Corps Program Doesn’t ‘Demonstrate Beneficial Job Training Outcomes' Duh California update: State Which Uses Lots Of Fossil Fuels Vows To Move State Off Fossil Fueled Electric Grid ‘Cause ‘Climate Change’ More on Suspicion and the Corruption of the Liberal Mind. Elites still disconnected from voters Kanye West Goes All In To Win Black Community Over For Trump Democrat Threatens ICE Agents Conducting Deportations: 'You Will Not Be Safe' Chuck Schumer: Illegal Immigration Is Wrong, Plain and Simple VDH: Mueller Is Looking At The Wrong Collusion Scandal Is It Worth Cutting Global Warming By Tenths Of A Degree If It Means Millions Starve? J-Post: An open letter to Jeremy Corbyn Steyn: Danes, Davos and Denial London Deplorables Strike Back: Bikini-Clad Blimp of Mayor Sadiq Khan Ready to Fly Over City Thursday, August 30. 2018Cape CodNice Wellfleet house, short stroll to town on a sand/gravel road. Some core of this house is mid-1800s, but much done since then. Magnificent tree. I usually know these things, but not sure what species. I did not wish to intrude.
Deception in warA pal of mine (and MF reader) who knows everything and is interested in everything - I am lucky to have a few pals like that - sends a 1988 research piece from The US Air War College about camouflage and deception in warfare. Cool article, going back to Gideon's horns.
Thursday morning linksThe highly privileged lady who invented White Privilege The transgender fad Reading Teens Become "Dying Breed": A Third Of Teenagers Haven't Read A Single Book In The Past Year The School Shootings That Weren't The Trump administration brings much needed improvement to the Endangered Species Act. U.S. court rejects atheists' appeal over 'In God We Trust' on money Why is it on money? Task force suggests 'compulsory social justice training' College deems students’ 9/11 ‘Never Forget’ posters bias incident for highlighting Islamic terrorism We should all be worried about Google’s power Who was the Jacksonville shooter? You Won't Find the Words "Fired" or "Terminated" In This Article VOX: Just Uncaging Fake Animals On A Cracker Box Isn't Enough. You Must Dismantle Capitalism. Contrary to Media Coverage, Most Americans Aren’t That Into Politics - It’s the politically obsessed who may not know what's really going on. U.S. Workers Report Highest Job Satisfaction Since 2005 The MSM's Revisionist Love Affair With McCain Is a Bit Much to Stomach Why California's Gavin Newsom campaigns for free health care for illegals SARA CARTER: Congress Seeks to Question Nellie Ohr After Explosive Testimony by Bruce Ohr How the war on climate change slams the world’s poor
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