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, September 20. 2017Wednesday morning linksTo our readers in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico: Be safe and hang in there. In Yankeeland, Apple Pie is for breakfast “The IKEA Humans: The Social Base of Contemporary Liberalism “ These handicapped New Yorkers are behind hundreds of lawsuits It's a career The challenges of driving a yellow cab in the age of Uber ‘Vietnam’ Episode 2: There’s an iceberg ahead, but the ship speeds up Be skeptical of Ken Burns’ documentary: The Vietnam War by Terry Garlock Memo to civic leaders: Don't sell out your cities for Amazon's new headquarters Amazon is trolling governments for freebies Wisconsin’s Shame: ‘I Thought It Was a Home Invasion’ Climanutters Link California Earthquake With ‘Climate Change’ Even Hobby Lobby Cotton Is Racist These Days CRITICS SLAM DEVOS FOR BEING FAIR VDH: Diversity Can Spell Trouble Powerline: THE WAGES OF BORKING Soros-Funded Activists Demand Democrats Oppose Border Security At Any Cost… We Didn't Normalize Trump. We Normalized the Left's Violence. "We"? James Woods Nails CNN With Three Story Headlines About Wiretapping Trump Team How is this different from Watergate? WaPo: The FBI wiretap on Paul Manafort is a big deal. Here’s why. ‘Freakin’ unbelievable’! Politico writer DEFENDS Kim Jong-un after Trump’s #UNGA speech Nationalism without isolationism: Trump’s UN triumph Is China’s Export Success Built on Slavery? Don't look now, but Donald Trump's strategy is beating ISIS in Syria Tuesday, September 19. 2017Confederate Chic
I did think about Johnny Reb as some poor farmer's son valiantly taking up arms to fight a northern invasion of his homeland. Not romanticizing it entirely, just a bit, but I hate, hate, hate that avoidable war. This is good. I miss Levon:
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Tuesday morning links
Image above: Testing dog training. Command is Sit, or Sit, Stay. My dogs were tested on squirrels. Confirmed: exercising during pregnancy is good for mother and baby Organic Marketing Is Losing A Key Government Advocate My plan for 2018 is to avoid anything labeled organic Climate change not as threatening to planet as previously thought, new research suggests No kidding! RIP Irony 2017 Unconditional love The W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Radical Leftward Drift - Have some liberal politics with your cereal! Shocking idea: Getting Back To "Bourgeois Basics"? Why NYC is Spending Millions to Fill Garbage Cans with Nutritious Meals Governments turn tables by suing public records requesters Ian Buruma: A Jihad Apologist at the Helm of the New York Review of Books Nobody reads it anyway. SCENES FROM ACADEMIA: A Campus Conservative’s Year Facing Anger, Doxing and Intimidation. EU Report Characterizes Opposition to Abortion as a Crime Against Humanity Underreported: What Happened When Government Tried to Fix a Coal Town New England's Illinois: Connecticut's Budget Mess Shows That States Can't Tax Themselves to Prosperity DALLAS "INVESTIGATING" BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S "CONNECTION TO THE CONFEDERACY" Why Is Google Hiring 1,000 Journalists To Flood Newsrooms Around America? Z-man: " The sole reason for Schumer to exist in Washington is to guide troublesome Republicans through the process of committing political suicide." Tucker Carlson UNLEASHES on Illegal Alien: ‘You Don’t Have a Right to Demand Anything!’ Obama FBI Wiretapped TRUMP Campaign Manager During 2016 Election Obama update: Retiree On Pension Still Has Not Made Enough Money, Occupies Wall Street … Sort Of $400,000 per Wall St. speech. I am envious. That's a good pay day. NYT Reporter: Hillary Thought “It Was Our Job” To Get Her Elected She was right Why U.S. Can't Have Open-Ended Amnesty For Kids Who Arrive Here Illegally NYT: Is Trump a white supremacist? Is he beating his wife? Trump's Gentle-Seeming U.N. Reforms Are Really An Ultimatum: Reform Or Die Around the world in 80 days (day 16) Okinawa: Remembering who we once were London Update: West to Blame for Islamic Terrorism The London bomber was a teenage refugee Hungary Builds A Wall, Cuts Illegal Immigration By Over 99 Per Cent Palestinians Imprison Journalists for Exposing Corruption 48% of east Jerusalem parents want Israeli school curriculum Israeli Innovation Behind iPhone X – Will They Boycott Apple? Monday, September 18. 2017Europe's suicideh/t American Digest All of this saddens me deeply because I have visions of where it all ends up. Condell is your Jeremiah, people.
Otis Redding: An Unfinished LifeMonday morning links
Photo is a member of the Cajun Navy in Houston How to Use Body Language to Create a Dynamite First Impression How dealing with difficult people can make you a better person THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING STRUGGLE IN OUR DAILY LIVES Beijing Start-Up Now Offers Sex Dolls For Rent Think Gentrification Is Bad? The Opposite Is Worse An Experiment Gives Cash Aid To The Poor. Is That Ethical? " As I got to know my new Midwest home, I realize how living in a bubble and subscribing to the Middle America stereotypes is truly damaging to this country." Warren Buffett wins $1M bet made a decade ago that the S&P 500 stock index would outperform hedge funds Surber: Patrick Henry may be right about the Constitution Climate Change Advocate Urges Everyone To Flee The Coasts Claim: Chocolate CAUSES Climate Change EPA evaluating ‘red teams’ to challenge climate science Fun Equifax: A musician as head of security Profs: Boys are better at physics because they play ‘pee games’ MOVING THE GOAL POST ON RACISM - How has a nation that twice elected a black president suddenly become "racist"? Secretary DeVos Begins to Rectify the Title IX Mistake Evergreen State Settles Lawsuit With Bret Weinstein and Wife for $500K Wow Related, THE REVOLUTION TURNS ON ITS BASE
Why the statue-smashers will never stop Coyote: Today, I Am Pissed At Black Lives Matter. They Aren't Doing The Hard Detailed Work Change Requires NY Times Reporter Sends Out Most Idiotic Tweet Ever Reminder: Susan Rice Lied About Her Role In The Obama Admin Unmasking Scandal Trump vs. Psychiatrists: Who's Crazier? Klavan: The Surreal Blessings of Donald Trump Trump Is Ready to Sell Out His Base. Quelle surprise. (As a liberal elite might say.) To make their tax plan work, Republicans eye a favorite blue-state break The lefty attorneys general’s obsessive war on Trump Latest Google scandal exposes hypocrisy of liberal Attorneys General Europe – Time to Say Goodbye England: "How to do your makeup after an acid attack" You're kidding, right? What about..."How to pretend you have a leg when it's blown off"? Stunning poll reveals widespread backlash against refugee immigration in developed countries Is China using NK as a pawn? Sunday, September 17. 2017Basic calisthenics: Push-ups and Pull-upsThese two upper-body calisthenics are classics for good reason - they are simple, and efficient by stressing many muscle groups. These are mainly guy exercises, because males have greater, or greater potential, upper body strength and power than most women (so women commonly do assisted pull-ups and knee push-ups. But women have boobs, so there's that...). I've been focusing on Push-ups lately because our Saturday morning class expects 200 of them in the course of an exercise session (for the guys and the gals). That's a lot, for me anyway, with or without my shoulder's damn traumatic arthritis. "Push-ups are basic strength-building total body exercises that strengthen the upper body and improve the core strength. Several muscle groups in the chest, arms, shoulder, triceps, back, and neck work simultaneously during a push-up." Yes, you tense your core (belly and back) like a board, but you have to breathe too. Little puffs. Here's a simple challenge program to get you to 60 pushups in one go - or at least in one day. A healthy male under age 75 or 80 can quickly get to 50 pushups in a row, and work up from there if they want. Lots of guys aim to do 100 in a row. Why not 99? Next, inclined pull-ups, aka inverted rows. These are mainly back, but secondarily shoulder and arm stressors (as are dumbell rows). Like regular pull-ups, you can do these overhand or underhand. I do them with TRX straps and alternate overhand and underhand. Regular Pull-ups are primarily back muscle exercises (you do not pull with your arms - you thrust your elbows down with your back muscles). Chin-ups (palms facing you) engage more arm strength. Unassisted pullups are difficult for most middle-aged men, and for most women. Some tips for working up to your first pull-up. If a guy can do 10 pull-ups, he's got darn good upper body fitness. I can't - but I could when I was 16. I will try but I doubt I will get to ten again. I saw a middle-aged gal do three sets of ten (unassisted) last week. She was a fit lady, no bulging muscles at all and only slight kipping. The thing about exercises with multiple muscle groups is that the weak link fails first. Thus, to make your back work hard with pull-ups, you need to be able to keep a hold on to the darn bar with your forearms. Many humans are like T-Rex: puny arms, strong thighs. From today's Lectionary: ForgivenessMatthew 18:21-35
Saturday, September 16. 2017Saturday free ad for Bob: Absolutely Sweet MarieProbably a soundboard recording from around 1994 but the original, of course, from Blonde on Blonde
Another free ad for Sierra Trading Post
Why do I buy crossfit-style sneakers from Nike? Because for weights, and most other exercise things, you don't want a heel and you want a thin sole. As close to barefoot as possible. For road running, which I believe is a bad idea, running sneakers. I use running sneakers as summer outdoor easy work shoes. I wear them out fast. In summertime, I only use serious work boots when chain-sawing or similar things.
Saturday morning linksWho Can Afford to Write Like John McPhee? Why Doctors (And Everybody Else) Should Read Books by Nassim Taleb If You Think Everyone Else Has More Friends, You’re Not Alone Elite skier shows off his absurdly difficult workout course. Video Cassini: Probe incinerates on entry to Saturn I will gladly sow gender confusion in kids. It’s my duty to. Becoming a man is a tough job Lloyd Marcus on real racism A state demands grade inflation Berkeley, home of the No Free Speech Movement Half of Americans Don’t Know Free Speech is a Guaranteed Right Half of Americans have below-average intelligence too. Government needs to fix that. Unsurprisingly, “Free” Healthcare from Government Is Very Expensive SANDERS ADMITS HIS HEALTH PLAN WILL BANKRUPT THE US Dream Act Inexplicably Excludes Legal Immigrant Dreamers, Requires Applicants Violate the Law Crazy and unfair Trump Administration Takes First Baby Steps Pushing Back Against The Dependency State Australia’s discoverer James Cook: another racist to be erased. North Korea Experiencing One Of The Worst Famines In Country’s History… Friday, September 15. 2017Friday morning linksWhy are viruses considered to be non-living? The seven oldest cities in the world What Is the World's Oldest Photograph? Pope (Again) Shills For Islam On 9/11 Anniversary… Bummer: Monster Storms (Which Have Always Happened) Aren’t Changing Minds On ‘Climate Change’ How Obama's EPA Nearly Bankrupted John Duarte's Farm (New at Reason) A controversial rule on water pollution allowed the agency to micromanage private land use. Connecticut: How to drive jobs out of your state CT is writing the manual on that Folsom School Warns ‘USA’ Chant Could Send ‘Unintended Message’ Berkeley Receives Grant To “Honor The Legacy” Of Marxist Terrorist Group UC-Berkeley profs urge campus boycott, shutdown during upcoming ‘Free Speech Week’ How is that for juxtaposition? Et Tu, Boise State? Professor Explains the Culture Wars, Campus Erupts The illiberal arts Does The California State Bar Have A Race Problem? Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy Federal Judge Deals Major Blow to Gore and #ExxonKnew Crusaders 50% of Millennials would give up their right to vote to get student loans erased They would give up their vote for free education, that is. Interesting.
HILLARY’S ANTI-PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN - Her malicious book reveals why she should never have been president. Clintonian corruption: Laureate CEO Who Paid Bill Clinton $17M For Part-Time Work Steps Down 'Pay-to-play' at Clinton State Department exposed in new emails, watchdog says Scott Adams: I Explain the Persuasion Techniques President Trump is using on The Wall and DACA Who wants to deport “dreamers”? Not many people, it turns out. So more illegal immigrant should have broken the law for their kids. Honest foreign parents applied for immigration status and never got here. Nationalism: Tribalism Marches On! Sweden's New Instability Rewarding Terrorists in the Baltic Countries North Korea’s Destabilizing Role in the Middle East Trump can improve the Iran deal Fix or nix the Iran nuclear deal, Netanyahu demands ahead of Trump meeting Thursday, September 14. 2017Thursday morning linksSee Inside David Rockefeller's Westchester Country House - Known as Hudson Pines, the 75-acre estate is on the market for $22 million. It is relatively modest. Rockefellers aren't showy. Proof that red wine IS good for you - Expert says it can improve memory, decrease your chance of stroke and reduce risk of heart disease Watch This Burger Flipping Robot Do Everything But Demand A Minimum Wage Hike Laura Ingraham set for 10 pm slot as Fox News Channel moves to secure ratings dominance Mrs. BD thinks I am in love with Laura
California’s poverty rate remains nation’s highest SPLC Labels Former Professor 'Apologist' for White Supremacists Protesters Cover Statue Of Jefferson At UVA, Label Him ‘A Racist And A Rapist’ UC Berkeley Professor Cancels Class After Students Complain About 'Militarized Campus' For Shapiro Speech MILO To Bring Navy SEAL Squad To Berkeley “Free Speech Week” As Security Fears Mount HAVE COLLEGES COMPLETELY LOST THEIR MINDS? Not enough Americans know what their government is for to make sensible demands of it. Has The NYT Gone Collectively Mad? Liberals sick of the alt-left are taking 'the red pill' Amazon deletes one-star reviews of Hillary Clinton's new book Hillary Clinton's Alternative Take On What "1984" Was All About Unbelievable, really Some Choice Quotes from Hillary Clinton's Book About Collapsing In the Street (And Also, Losing a Presidential Election) Clinton State Department silenced them on Benghazi security lapses, contractors say Democrats too politically correct to see their problem Politico: Teflon Don confounds Democrats - Democrats have attacked the president every which way, but polling and focus groups show none of it's working. ‘A new strategy’ for Trump? Democrats cautious but encouraged by fresh outreach. Is Trump getting rolled? New book by Chesler: Islamic Gender Apartheid: Exposing a Veiled War Against Women It’s time to update America’s important anti-boycott law for Israel Wednesday, September 13. 2017Hey, Smokey the Bear
A so-called "climax forest" is just a forest waiting for the next disruption. In Ecology, it's termed "succession." In economics, it's called creative destruction. Wednesday morning linksElk Noises & a Party Crasher Having a beer might help get your creative juices flowing. Famous Viking Warrior Was a Woman, DNA Reveals Or a trannie? Silent heart attacks They are common U.S. middle-class incomes reached highest-ever level in 2016 Good news The Left’s Tidal Wave of Hate Keeps Flowing The secret of Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy College Dean: Turn In Students of Concern to the Behavior Assessment Team Menton: How To Deal With Equifax Pope Francis: Climate Change Deniers 'Stupid' After Hurricanes He's been studying paleoclimatology, statistics, and mathematical modeling in his spare time Also, Tropical cyclones at 45-year low I blame climate change Another VICTIM OF THE SPLC Hurricane Hillary: Was Irma Over-Hyped? Hillary Clinton: Deplorable book, deplorable person Related: The failed candidate’s awkward book misfires on all fronts, obsesses over sexism, and even drags David Foster Wallace into the whole mess. Merkel: Hungary Can’t Disobey EU On Immigration Policy Trump to consider more aggressive policy towards Iran Tuesday, September 12. 2017Life in America: I am not Fit yet. How about you?Lots of Americans try to stay fit to extend the energetic, functional, productive and profitable part of their life span for as long as they can. It takes work but, as I say, only 5 1/2-6 hours of unpleasant work/week before or after work, and rational nutritional habits so you aren't over- or under- weight. Mrs. BD and I tried a new fitness class early Sat. morning. We might be naturally lazy, but will not put up with that deplorable character flaw. Like my sister preaches about life, "Ignore how you feel. Always Go Do It." More below the fold, with two calisthenics I can barely do -
Continue reading "Life in America: I am not Fit yet. How about you?" Tuesday morning linksWhy Chesterton Matters More Than Ever Ancient Egyptian treasures uncovered in tomb near Valley of the Kings Watching Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Katia From 22,000 Miles Above Earth Equifax's instructions are confusing. What to do now Why George Bernard Shaw had a crush on Stalin Globe and Mail Tells Government to Back Off and Let Parents Free-Range! Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio Dives Deeper Into the ‘Principles’ of Tough Love On 9/11, ‘the United States became the State of Israel,’ says US ambassador Hey England - Try that with the mosques first Students Shut Down ‘Cops And Robbers’ Party For Making ‘A Joke’ Of A System That Kills Minorities A member of Lafayette College's student government recently resigned because it included "conservative students" in a report on "inclusive dialogue." If so, you are a) Unemployed b) A drunk c) A pitiful person with no life John Kelly fires back at Democrat who called him 'disgrace to the uniform' The Inconvenient Truth About Obamacare's Premium Spiral AMERICA: WE’RE NOT WHO OBAMA THINKS WE ARE Supreme Court allows broad enforcement of travel ban — at least for a day Mr. President, They’re Never Going To Like You Iron Dome poised for first US-based intercept test in SHORAD demo Helping North Koreans Escape Could Be Win-Win Strategy Against Communist Regime Israeli Singer Protects Family from Violent Arab Mob New North Korea Sanctions Get the UN Go Ahead, NY Times Spins as Trump Failure Iranian Spy Service Threatening, Blackmailing Global Media Outlets - Iran regime threatening reporters, families to ensure positive coverage Monday, September 11. 2017Monday morning linksEVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT ISLAM I LEARNED ON 9/11 Vanderleun: What I Saw: Notes Made on September 11, 2001 from Brooklyn Heights Your Twitter Account May Cost You Your Next Job Remembering the Oberlin racial hoax of 2013 16,000 Utility Technicians From 30 States and Canada Already Stationed in Florida to Help Bring Power Back After Irma What Americans do. That's not government. It's not entirely selfless: it feels good to be useful, and when you are known to help others, others help you. American Citizenship 101. Bill Nye Blames Powerful Hurricanes On Climate Change, Real Scientist Shuts Him own ‘So Far There Is No Particular Evidence That Says Harvey or Katrina or Sandy Were Exacerbated by Climate Change’ The Nation: Climate Denialism Is Literally Killing Us - The victims of Hurricane Harvey have a murderer—and it’s not the storm. Let no weather system go to waste The Far Left Won´t Stop — Will They Try To Burn The Constitution Next? Berkeley to offer counseling to snowflakes triggered by Shapiro visit Altho he has not yet visited. Scary guy, probably a Nazi. Schools: EMBRACING ANCESTRY, GENETIC CODE AND MELANIN Feds Spend $138,000 Asking Four-Year-Olds About Their ‘Internal Sense of Gender Identity’ Cumberland schools cancel event with Lafayette mascot over slavery The Marquis de Lafayette? Who next? Alexis de Toqueville? Lafayette saved our ass. de Toqueville showed us who we were by holding up a mirror. Sunday, September 10. 2017Robert Cray BandFrom today's Lectionary: Where two or three are gathered...Matthew 18:15-20
Saturday, September 9. 2017Saturday morning linksPhoto is from my pal on vacation in the Dominican Republic. I guess they mostly missed damage from the big breeze, because it looks intact this morning. Bow Hunter Mauled by Grizzly in Montana This Is What Miami Could Look Like On Sunday Morning 12-Year-Old Transgender Boy Began Transition to Female, Changed Mind Two Years Later An open letter to students: This year, resolve to not be offended by everything USA Today: Make flood insurance reflect actual risk - After hurricanes, taxpayers can’t absorb ever increasing tabs: Our view The Mexico Earthquake Is ‘Climate Change’ Or Something TWITTER MOVES TO SILENCE ALL CRITICISM OF ISLAM, As Sharia continues to descend over the Internet. Coining a term: Kafkatrapping Harvard students call Charles Murray a 'white nationalist' Democrats not thrilled about Hillary’s book tour, call it “the final torture” Unions: Another pillar of the Democrats goes wobbly Dianne Feinstein and the Left revive religious tests No, Eric Holder, DREAMers Aren’t Americans. That’s The Point. Hillary 2014: “Just Because Your Child Gets Across The Border, That Doesn’t Mean The Child Gets To Stay” 9th Circuit Opinion on Trump Travel Order: Bring Your Whole Family - Not just your grandparents Trump’s TV addiction is leading to big mistakes Friday, September 8. 2017Wind currents, currently
Graphic here
Pentatonic Scale
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Friday morning linksNewsflash: Less Yelling Means More Sex Pig-to-human organ transplants closer, thanks to gene editing Alternative Medicine Kills Cancer Patients, Study Finds Hurricane Irma Is NOT the Most Powerful Atlantic Hurricane Ever Recorded. "Greatest Evacuation In History" - 650,000 Ordered To Leave Florida Trump’s Scheme to Sic Weather on Minorities Revealed At Reed College, The Left Clashes With Itself Over Free Speech Expel these morons. There are kids there paying big bucks to learn somethng You’re Stupid, So We Are Going to Take Away Your Freedom Betsy DeVos: The Era of Weaponized Title IX in Campus Rape Cases Is Over Rape should be a police matter How ‘Fake but Accurate’ Stories Sunk Liberal Journalism AP Refers To Illegal Immigrants As ‘Undocumented Citizens’ MSNBC Has Some Unwelcome News for Its Zombie Viewers: Case Against Senator Bob Menendez (Republican from Texas or Somewhere "Jesusy") Is "Overwhelming" Houston's Lack of Zoning Laws Will Help It Rebuild - Zoning acts as a barrier to the provision of low-cost housing. “Houston is open for business” The Inconvenient Truth About Obamacare's Premium Spiral DACA Fraud Rate at ’40 to 50 Percent’, Says Former Immigration Official Former Hillary Surrogate: “Shut The $%&# Up And Go Away” More Than 5,000 Out-of-State Hillary Voters May have Tipped New Hampshire Against Trump TRUMP HITS ANOTHER HOME RUN ON JUDGES Turn Off The TV, Mr. President Hijacking the Holocaust for Obama - A legacy in need of polish. The CIA’s Counterinsurgency in Vietnam Was Brutal … And Effective. The Phoenix program eliminated Viet Cong infrastructure Bad moon
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