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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, May 29. 2018Tuesday morning links Image above stolen from American Digest, who also has a sensitivity-training video How to Fail Today's Starbucks Racial Sensitivity Training Photos: The Fading Battlefields of World War I Colorado: Maggie's Farm "medical" marijuana Doom and gloom in the USA: "It is impossible for any doomed population to grasp how fragile the decayed financial, social and political system is on the eve of implosion." The Clinton Foundation Is Back! Win Chardonnay With Hillary Or A Caribbean Trip With Bill! Media, Former Obama Officials Use Pictures From 2014, 2016 to Attack Trump on Immigration REVEALED: Joseph Mifsud – The Man Who Set Up Papadopoulos – Is Member of Soros-Funded European Council on Foreign Relations The crisis of Assault Knives in the UK Tommy Robinson will be the UK’s tipping point Britons Rage Over Robinson Arrest As Mass Protests Break Out Worldwide Monday, May 28. 2018The Chicxulub asteroid and the evolution of birdsArboreal Birds Died Alongside Dinosaurs And Trees In Chicxulub Asteroid Strike’s Aftermath:
Monday morning links
191 thoughts on “Illegal Immigration? Coyotes Move North, East, and South” Gardening: How to start a commercial (pot) grow operation in Connecticut Can a Pill Help Autistic Kids Conquer Social Anxiety? A podcast interview with Gianandrea Noseda A Plague on Cities, and the Poor - Brutalism’s enduring influence There’s A Growing Movement To Ban Plastic Straws Defending the Freedom to Be Awful Is True Tolerance President Trump Brings The Hammer Down On Federal Employee Unions Trump Makes It Easier to Fire Federal Workers for Misconduct Shoppers Step Over Bodies at Hogg-Led Publix Protests Imitating Jesse Jackson, David Hogg Mau-Maus Publix Supermarket Chain No, I Won’t Check My Privilege - The left's latest pejorative is racist, sexist, and stifling of honest debate. "In Portland, Ore., organizers of the 'Reparations Happy Hour' invited black, brown and indigenous people to a bar and handed them $10 bills as they arrived..." New Jersey Democrats Abandon Tax Hike California may offer free medical care to illegals Chelsea Clinton is exactly right about Trump Daily News also dislikes Trump: Trump’s land of delusion: Disregard the sycophants; the wheels are coming off, if they were ever on Guardian also: Trump's assault on the department of justice is an attack on the rule of law Why a President Clinton Would Have Made Things Much Worse Reynolds: Trump is the most conservative, and most libertarian, president of my lifetime. Campaign contributor helped Obamas score Netflix deal MR. MUELLER GOES TO JERUSALEM - Unhinged Russia collusion investigation spreads to Israel. WHY DOES THE ISLAMIC WORLD LAG BEHIND? Sunday, May 27. 2018Sunday Gravy
On the other hand, I do get a kick out of the New Yorker below (via American Digest's Summer’s Here. Let’s Eat! Fortunately Everything In This Dish Is On My Diet
Driving directions: The big picture One time, in Sicily, we were directed through miles of dirt roads in lemon groves because the Euroland thing was set for "most direct route". Yeah, it was an "as the crow flies" route to some obscure place we wanted to hike with the Christian tombs carved into the cliffs. I like maps for the big picture, and the driving tech for the details. Just last weekend, driving home from a fishing trip, I kept wondering "What town are we in?" I felt like "Where the heck are we, on a map? Where are we, on the planet?" We didn't have a clue, but WAZE got us home. I think a combination of a map and a GPS voice are a handy combination - one for the practical and one for curiosity.
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Bob's birthday
My lad claims Clothes Line Rag was a parody of Ode to Billy Joe. That is astute. Lay Down Your Weary Tune is a lovely hymn. Listen to that cover. How many masterpieces has Dylan produced? Bonus below: Lou Reed covering Foot of Pride. It's about pride and Jesus. Pride is the greatest sin, is it not? The foot of pride will getcha sooner or later and, once it comes down, your life is screwed without proper repentence and rebirth.
From today's Lectionary: How can anyone be born after having grown old?John 3:1-17 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." 3:3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 3:4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 3:5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 3:9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 3:10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 3:11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 3:12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. Saturday, May 26. 2018Bouldering Friends and family. No ropes required but a positive, can-do attitude is required. I am planning the routes and want to make it as fatiguing and stressful as possible. To keep the wives happy, we'll throw in a brunch at Mohonk. One hour, only, is what we guys will permit because we want to move, not sit and eat oysters, filet, halibut, Kobe beef, Nantucket scallops, fine wines, and a hundred other decadent delights. Why get in shape if you don't use it to the max? Rock scrambling is great fun, and sometimes scary and that is what builds character. Or so my Dad said. "Face all of your fears. That's how you become a man." Like his beloved Shakespeare, he viewed fearfulness as a kind of death. He was in two wars but he never spoke of it. Never once. US Army. Saturday morning links
Mussels test positive for opioids in Seattle's Puget Sound Happy mussels? Inside JFK’s door-to-door search for a French call girl — and why she had to look like Jackie All the ways marijuana can hurt your health Five Ways to Know if You Can Talk to Someone about Climate Academia: ‘Indigenous Ways of Knowing’: Magical Thinking and Spirituality by Any One Name Academia: "It has come to my attention..." That guy is the author of The Welfare Trait: How State Benefits Affect Personality Jordan Peterson Plays in the Left’s Cultural Sandbox They demonize him because is is radical - radically-normal College course explores ‘feminist critique of masculinity’ Any wife is an expert on that Political Correctness at Stanford Law Can you say anything that is not racist? 'End Capitalism, Don’t Enable It,' And Other Crazy CA Candidate Statements Clinton Bashes ‘Troubling’ Electoral College as ‘Odd System’ Three FBI Agents Set to Testify: Including Lead Investigator in Clinton Email Probe If Trump’s Team Was Colluding With Russia, Why Did It Keep Asking Wikileaks For Things? Sharyl Atkisson on Spygate: Sure looks like FBI's operation against Trump was political France: Macron Buries Plan to Rehabilitate 'No-Go Zones' They have already tried everything UK Police State: Activist Tommy Robinson to Serve 13 Months in Prison for Livestreaming Report on Child Grooming Gang The Israel-Palestine Standoff This would be a nice place to be todayFriday, May 25. 2018Friday morning links Photo came in over the transom The insane crackdown on pain medication " Doctors have become high paid data entry workers rather than caregivers. They are tethered to their screens..." Firearms: Long Read of the Week: The Mathematics of Countering Tyranny Obama Officials Discussed How to Politicize Sandy Hook for Gun Control Before Victims Were Buried Pope Francis’s Cunning Long Game NFL players reportedly already discussing new forms of protest after national anthem rule Don't they understand that nobody cares about their politics? People who politicize everything are just annoying. Jordan Peterson And The Failure Of The Left Legal Insurrection: Amazon demonetizes conservative website (us) Woman Claimed Texas Trooper Raped Her, Body Cam Footage Shows She Lied Drug Fiends Smoke Crack Openly After Bill de Blasio Okays Smoking Pot in Public Soros spends big in California´s DA races in bid to reshape criminal justice system Dodd-Frank: President Trump Rolls Back Obama’s Biggest Regulation Steyn: Tinker, Tailor, Clapper, Carter, Downer, Halper, Spy The Media’s Defense Of Obama Administration Spying Defies Logic - You don't have to be a Donald Trump fan to be concerned about the abuses of intelligence agencies. Media, Democrats, and NeverTrumpers (But I Repeat Myself Thrice) Are All Shrieking That Someone With Spy Connections Asked by the FBI or CIA to Spy on You Isn't Really a "Spy" French Government to Evict Illegal Paris Migrant Camps VDH: The Great German Meltdown Thursday, May 24. 2018Thursday morning links USGS's daily Hawaii lava reports outdo the reports from the press Underwater Robot Discovers ‘Holy Grail’ Shipwreck Containing $17 Billion in Treasure The Boy Scouts Are Being Told To “Be Prepared” With… Condoms? The long-awaited Outdoor Sex Skills merit badge. Very useful in life, especially in youth. It's great! He grew up in a Progressive Utopia “GREEN” ENERGY, AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER Rich College Endowments May Get Tax Break If They Spend Enough Many Big Nonprofits Rapidly Stockpiling Endowment Cash, Chronicle Data Shows Dirty Jobs, Good Pay - Reality TV star Mike Rowe and others seek to revive the American work ethic. Mueller Rejects Speedy Trial Law To Delay Russian Collusion Trial So why did he indict those jerks? For theater? Sweden's Far-Right Party Is Poised For Major Gains In Country's Elections - Voters want deeper controls on immigration, crime. Wednesday, May 23. 2018What is "Physical Conditioning" and why is it so slow?"Conditioning" is the process of forcing your body (including brain and central nervous system) to adapt to new or greater physical demands. The other term, "training", typically refers to working towards a more specific goal (eg sprinting, tennis, or body-building). Everybody knows what "good condition" looks like: looking good, moving well, trim physique, decent muscle-development, high energy and vitality, good athleticism and agility, good posture, cheerful eagerness to take on any sort of physical challenges, etc. But what is it made of? When we posted about Fitness for Newbies, we tried to emphasize the gradual nature of advancing a fitness program. The body responds positively to good, graduated stresses at any age, but adaptation is slow so if you get over your skis it will be counterproductive in all sorts of ways. Worse, adaptation is slower at 40 than at 20. The reason it is slow is because it is so complex on the cellular, anatomical, and biochemical level (not to mention the psychological level which is often the most formidable hurdle). The sort of program we endorse demands adaptation - change - at multiple levels: neuromuscular connections, cellular energy production and other aspects of metabolism, endocrine, muscle and tendon construction, bone strengthening, cardio-pulmonary from capillary construction to increasing cardiac output, perhaps fat loss, and so on. To learn about it is an education in basic physiology. Very interesting to me. There's a section in the textbook. Another reason it's complicated is because each form of exercise (resistance, calisthenics, plyometrics, anaerobic cardio, and aerobic cardio) has a different and sometimes conflicting effect on the conditioning processes in the paragraph above. For one example, conditioning for endurance (aerobic) cardio conflicts with strength-building processes. This is why training for specific athletic activities/sports varies so much from sport to sport (at the higher levels, anyway). Our Maggie's program is for Fitness for Life and recreational activities in general - and might be wrong for specialized athletes (until they retire). Thus we aim to override any conflicts and just include every component of fitness and athleticism. Four other points about Conditioning: - Consistency is essential in a conditioning program. That's why we say 6 days/wk of workouts is ideal. Physical condition decays much more rapidly than it accumulates. You can't put it in the bank. - Gradually stepping up the variety and intensity of challenges is essential. When upping the challenges stops, conditioning processes stop. Conditioning processes do no more than is demanded of them. For example, jogging 3 miles every day will do nothing more for you than to maintain your ability to jog 3 miles/day. That is one-dimensional fitness just as only lifting is one-dimensional. - The right nutrition matters. Has to be right for your goals. We have discussed this ad nauseum. - Decent rest is essential for physical recovery from high exertion. That means sleep - and one day/wk without high-intensity exertion (hiking and recreational sports are fine). The exertion stimulates the conditioning processes but the rest times are when those good growth and repair processes occur. Every several months, a week off from exertion seems to be fine or even good but in my case a week away from hard exertion feels terrible mentally and physically so I hate it. However, a day off, say, with just a hike or light cardio, seems to leave me full of beans the next day and ready to kill my deadlifts. Basic tests for physical conditioning for ordinary people below the fold - Continue reading "What is "Physical Conditioning" and why is it so slow?" Wednesday morning links
Bernard Lewis (RIP) - a book: Notes on a Century: Reflections of a Middle East Historian Philip Roth RIP More Scenes From The Decline Of Evergreen State College Black former student at Eastern Michigan University is ordered to pay $2,000 for scrawling racist KKK graffiti on campus The Coalition for Cultural Freeddom: Kanye West, Jordan Peterson, and the revolt against political correctness Jazz Legend Wynton Marsalis Says Rap And Hip Hop Are 'More Damaging' To Culture Than A Confederate Statue Guilty Meritocrats GOP Surges to 2018 Generic Ballot Lead in New Reuters Poll I blame the Russians Courageous Sen. Elizabeth Warren Pledges To Never Take Money From The NRA. They Aren't Offering Any. House overwhelmingly passes bipartisan prison reform bill Whites have fled the Democratic Party. Here’s how the nation got there. Goldberg: ‘Collusion’ and the insane media divide Deep State James Clapper: Embedding Spy Inside Trump Campaign Is “Standard Investigative Practices – Goes On All the Time” MARK LEVIN: We Need to Know What Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Rice, Power and the Rest of Them Did So Germany Has Come Up With The Perfect Job For All Those Migrants Has the Assad Regime 'Won' Syria's Civil War? Tuesday, May 22. 2018Short storyA modern classic: Tobias Wolf's Bullet in the Brain (just 4 pages). It begins Anders couldn’t get to the bank until just before it closed, so of course the line was endless and he got stuck behind two women whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper. He was never in the best of tempers anyway, Anders – a book critic known for the weary, elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed. ..
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The Ross SistersYour daily calisthenics and stretching class
Tuesday morning links
Dog 'adopts' nine orphaned ducklings at Essex castle College administrative staff ranked among top 7 ‘biggest BS jobs in America’ There Is No Substitute for Work - Anti-poverty programs should foster autonomy, not perpetual dependence. MUSLIM WOMAN SUED FOR DECLINING TO WAX MAN’S GENITALS After Texas school shooting, how can we inoculate ourselves against the next one? Affirmative action policies punish minorities, too. I’m one of them. People of Indian or east Asian heritage are not considered people of color Hot Take: The Founding Fathers Wouldn’t Want Us To Follow The Document They Wrote, Because Guns Leftists Slowly Turning Off the Faucet of Free Speech Trump resists 88% of Pomona Students Think the Campus Climate Silences Them - "'Very liberal' students are nearly four times more likely than moderate and conservative students to favor prohibiting some types of speech." So "liberal" means "fascist"?
"Socialism and the looting of capitalism are not the same thing." Commenter at Althouse Donald Trump’s Socratic method FBI Informant Stefan Halper Paid Over $1 Million By Obama Admin; Spied On Trump Aide After Election Former Clinton Pollster Calls for End to the Mueller 'Partisan Inquisition' Alan Dershowitz Asks The Key Question: What If This Had Happened To Hillary? SPIES LIKE OBAMA? The treachery of “Crossfire Hurricane” comes into the light. Now the government admits spying on Trump Clapper Defends Spying On Trump Campaign As ‘A Legitimate Activity’ Bartiromo: DOJ, FBI, IRS, CIA All Involved In Trying To Take Down Trump So how did they fail? Trump Meeting With Rosenstein, Wray On Spying Concludes: Congress To See All "Highly Classified" Information How do civil wars happen? A Russian's Devastating Verdict on Norway China Considers Ending Birth Limits As Soon As This Year The Next Victim of Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ Strategy: Iran’s Violent Regime UK looks to tame the 'wild west' internet Governments hate freedom How China acquires ‘the crown jewels’ of U.S. technology Another trout stream photo, with poolMonday, May 21. 2018The Yellow-Breasted Chat It was a Chat, and I did get a fleeting glimpse of the yellow too. They are not uncommon but usually only found by their voice during breeding season. Found breeding all over the US especially in brushy thickets in the sun. They are thought to be an odd form of warbler. Song and other details at All About Birds. Have you seen one? Monday morning links Cougar kills 1 mountain biker, injures 2nd in Washington state Uber Drivers Just Killed All the Parts of the Job They Supposedly Liked the Most Dumb dumb dumb The character imperfections of journalists YOU CAN ONLY BE AVANT-GARDE FOR SO LONG BEFORE YOU BECOME GARDE Michigan Governor's Race: 'I Love Muslims,' Says Republican; 'Muslims Hate You,' Says Dem NYT: Liberals, You’re Not as Smart as You Think The Hill: Stopping Robert Mueller to protect us all Ted Olsen: Mueller v. Trump Strzok Text on FBI Investigation of Trump/Russia: “The White House Is Running This” PRESIDENT TRUMP TAKES CHARGE [UPDATED] - An hour or two ago, President Trump announced that he is ordering the Department of Justice to investigate the FBI/CIA cabal against him: PANIC time? John Brennan demands GOP leadership STOP TRUMP before his admin looks into this So ex-CIA threatens Congress? Nice move Europe May Be Realizing America Isn’t Their Sugar Daddy Or Punching Bag Nothing against Europe, but it's time for them to stand on their own feet. WW2 is history. Part of our beatA section of our beat on ye olde trout stream yesterday. Roll casting. You just have to imagine the Maytime bird song. Idyllic.
Sunday, May 20. 2018Porcupines Not only are they slow and short-sighted, they also often fall out of trees. They are mostly nocturnal, and I rarely see them. One nailed one of our dogs (lightly) years ago in the Berkshires. We pulled the quills out of his face. As with skunks, a dog only has to be taught once. Porkies are rodents. About the North American Porcupine. There are also Old World and African Porcupines. Seen one lately? (Not my photo) A plank session
Contrary to common belief, core exercises do not give you 6-pack abs. 6-pack abs are mainly a product of low body fat. The key to effective planks is to make them isometrically-active. That means pulling your tummy in and tightening your glutes during the time of the plank. That's a rigid plank, not a relaxed plank.
From today's Lectionary: Pentecost
2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." 2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." 2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. 2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Saturday, May 19. 2018Saturday morning links
Trans fats: At Pravda, Touching Faith In The Perfection Of Government Bureaucrats There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about Abraham Maslow and self-actualisation – a new paper puts the record straight Surprise! NY Times Publishes A Jordan Peterson Hit Piece The gal was determined not to understand Peterson. Of course there are dragons and witches in the world. Fairy princesses too, as in England today. This professor is beloved for making his students intellectually uncomfortable. Duke just dumped him. Senator Murphy Demonstrates Why Gun-Control Advocates Are Mistrusted Liberals Blame AR-15 For Santa Fe School Shooting, But Shooter Had Shotgun And Revolver US Senate confirms Gina Haspel to be first woman CIA director California Lurches Left As Jerry Brown Heads Into the Sunset How Labor Unions Finance Their Political Agenda: 2010-2017 Massachusetts Judge Has Novel Excuse for Letting Off Dominican Heroin Dealer Am I Tuning in at the Wrong Times, or Does CNN Really Have Trump Derangement Syndrome? The hate is palpable "Obama’s Legacy Has Already Been Destroyed." Trump Is Going Full Alinsky – and His Opponents Are Flummoxed Listening skills: How a simple reporter beat the experts in 2016 THE TRUMP TOWER MEETING CUT DOWN TO SIZE Grassley Sends Letter to DOJ Demanding Unredacted Rosenstein Memo Detailing Mueller’s Scope EU wants to criminalize fake news China ‘Dream’ Is Global Hegemony - U.S. urged to counter Beijing's military, economic expansion Minister: ‘UN aid agency is part of the problem in the Middle East’
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