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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Thursday, September 7. 2017Getting fit for Fall: Three kinds of "cardio" exercise"Cardio" is sort-of a misnomer because all exertion raises heart rate. However, it is a shorthand that people use for forms of exercise which do not use heavy weights. Let's keep it simple. To put an activity in the cardio category, you have to be continuously sweaty and short of breath (but not out of breath - that is anaerobic HIIT exercise) for about an hour. I ignore heart rate, but many people keep track of it. Thus walking, hiking, comfortable swimming, biking to the beach, are not exertion in any sense. They are just "living life" - the rewards of fitness. You know it's exertion (aka "exercise", as opposed to recreation) if you'd rather avoid it, if it sucks to be doing it, and if you want a nap after. 1. So-called "fat burning" cardio. Another misnomer because this doesn't burn fat worth a darn (nor does any form of one-hour exercise). This refers to around 60 minutes of aerobic exercise at a pace short of sprinting but with the maximum pace you can maintain for an hour. This is endurance exercise which does not stress the heart very much but puts it to good use. Running, elliptical, stairmaster, speedy biking, treadmill, speedy swimming are all typical "fat-burner" exercises. I mix them up without breaks to avoid boredom. 2. HIIT cardio. This is true cardiac fitness training. Often, it refers to exercise with 10-60-second wind sprints (or even more for some people) of maximum anaerobic effort relieved by slower but comparably-lengthed intervals. If you can do those intervals for 10 minutes without a full break before the next round, I am mighty impressed. I can't. I can only do about 3 reps of intervals without needing a minute break to lean on something while trying not to barf. HIIT cardio might help you survive your first heart attack because it increases heart vasculature. Regular bouts of HIIT will raise your level of performance on the "fat-burners" too. For HIIT, I use speed rope, combat bike, sometimes Stair machine or ski machine. Could just do running sprints outdoors. 3. Calisthenics. An hour of mixed calisthenics with no rest breaks is "general conditioning." It combines aerobic cardio, some bursts of anaerobic cardio, some explosive movements, and full-body muscle use (but not strength building). Typical cali routines include burpees, step-ups, pushups, running in place, planks, dips, ball slams, box jumps, mountain climbers, kettlebell swings, squats with light weights, lunges, roll-ups, heavy ropes, band walks, jumping jacks. Some activities like martial arts or playing sports contain calisthenic-like mixes. However, bear in mind that athletes use calisthenics to train to perform their best in the sports themselves. Sports are fun, not physical training. Continue reading "Getting fit for Fall: Three kinds of "cardio" exercise" Hurricane friendsRealized I had two hurricane-related pals. This morning I emailed our good pals who recently moved to Florida (Miami), knowing they were not there now. Got an email back saying that the weather in Egypt was perfect and pleasantly hot, and that they had got their help to put up the hurricane shutters at their place in Miami, so they had no worries. I rarely get an email from Aswan. Another buddy is on a two-week vacation in the Dominican Republic. Sampling cigars and drinking Pina Coladas in the sun seems to be the main activity. If you can call that activity. Says they are all excited about the big breeze and had no interest in leaving. Good attitude.
Thursday morning linksStudy: Our Antidepressants Get Into Brains of Great Lakes Fish Whenever I feel down, I have a few fish brains for breakfast HOW WILD HORSES BECAME THE WEST'S NEW PESTS Invasive species The railroad from China to the UK Cowen: Why you should read more about religion Cowen is the biggest and most eclectic reader I've seen The new wars are information wars Living an idle life, with good comments How legalization caused the price of marijuana to collapse Big surprise there. Marijuana is a weed Why landlords don't lower rents on empty buildings Californians Give North Korea Congratulations On Achieving Their Dream Of Hydrogen Bomb TRUMP KILLED THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Eventually Amazon Will Fail – and That’s a Good Thing Howie Carr: when does the SPLC's food drive begin? In Official Climate Science Normal is Abnormal, and Natural is Unnatural. Hurricane Harvey Another Classic Example. Deforestation long overlooked as contributor to climate change I blame Scotland New York mayor calls for end of private property Soory, de Blasio: Cut government rules, like building codes, and private sector will solve society’s problems Dianne Feinstein Attacks Judicial Nominee’s Catholic Faith U. Miami Offers Full Scholarships to DACA Students Trump, in DACA decision, restores constitutional sanity to immigration laws The USA sucks, but please don't deport me Via Moonbattery:
SESSIONS ON RESCINDING OBAMA AMNESTY: "WE CANNOT ADMIT EVERYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO COME HERE" With the retirement of Judge Richard Posner, the country continues to move in the right direction. Thought he was wiser than the Constitution. Navigating without a compass is reckless. Storm damage shows flood insurance subsidies are a 'moral problem' Hurricane Harvey's Nationalized Insurance Nightmare Price gouging is a type of hurricane aid Defensible practically and economically, but not morally. Still, I'd rather have expensive water than no water The inside story of what it took to keep a Texas grocery chain running in the chaos of Hurricane Harvey When Obama was right on illegal immigration Modernizing Saudi Arabia What Do ‘Moderate’ Muslims Think About Blowing Up Israeli School Buses? (video) Wednesday, September 6. 2017The Highlands
The grouse and Red Deer hunting can be good. Now, the Scots themselves are quite amusing, cranky people and worth meeting and talking to. This only occurs in pubs or while smoking in front of pubs. If America runs on Dunkin, Scotland runs on whisky and tobacco. The Highlands are rugged, but not too wild really because the Clearance Laws entailed cutting down all the trees (Scotch Pine, of which there are probably more in the US than in Scotland now). One good result of the clearances was the emigration of Scots to the US and to Oz. Bob Dylan recently bought a castle and estate in the Highlands. Interesting song, Highlands. Goes between real life in Boston and dreams of the Highlands. Lyrics here. In our family, we often say "You look like you want a hard-boiled egg."
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Wednesday morning linksA terrible beauty: satellite videos of Irma Study shows people who are 'fat but fit' still risk heart disease Don’t View Obesity as a 'Health Issue,' Professors Say I thought overweight was a public health crisis The Case for the Humble Garbage Disposal Musk's SpaceX Wants to Fuel Deep Space Exploration with Your Money Musk does everything with government money Black family lawsuit: School officials did not protect gifted daughter from black student abuse Bourgeois values Hayward: APSA AFTER-ACTION REPORT Edinburgh University Student Faces Investigation for Mocking ISIS on Facebook - ‘Mocking ISIS allegedly made Islamic and minority students feel ‘threatened’ and ‘unsafe,’ NYT sad that the rich get "all the money" I am happy that the rich get money. Bill Gates, Derek Jeter, Roger Federer, Yo-Yo Ma, Bob Dylan, have enriched my life. I happily gave them all some of my money. Hurricane Harvey: Blame Trump Fake news update: At CNN, Retracted Story Leaves an Elite Reporting Team Bruised Isis agent using message app told BBC reporter to attack London German Food Chain Faces Backlash After Airbrushing Crosses From Churches On Food Packaging Tuesday, September 5. 2017Tuesday morning linksPic: Dressed for Opening Day. Somebody will need to volunteer to check her for ticks Americans Work Harder Than Any Other Country’s Citizens What Did Houses For Ordinary People In Sumer Look Like? More pleasant than the average NYC apartment Intelligence and the DNA Revolution - Scientists identify 22 genes associated with intelligence “On one hand, universities have long traditions of robust debate and free speech, but ..." There is always that "but" Al Gore Outsold On Kindle By An E-Book Debunking ‘An Inconvenient Sequel’ Married Parents: One Way to Reduce Child Poverty Arpaio pardon brings out the hypocrites in force Trump Steals Food from Black Kid Good stuff NH Dem Chair: Rural, Disaffected Voters Are ‘White Supremacists’ Why President Trump’s Timing of Ending DACA Is Perfect Political Gamesmanship Tucker Carlson on DACA:
SWEDEN: 83% of Tested Refugee ‘Children’ Are Actually Adults China is best positioned among all the powers of Northeast Asia to wield both sticks, and more importantly carrots, to manage a peaceful resolution of the North Korea nuclear crisis.
Monday, September 4. 2017Smart dude: Scruton on culture and politicsPhysical fitness2 good links from Time magazine: The New Science of Exercise. Challenging exercise is medicine. A good Time supplement (you have to buy it) The Science of Exercise: Younger. Smarter. Stronger. Monday morning linksLabor Day and a little more confidence in the air For Labor Day: On the declining relevance of labor unions Low Fat Diets Are Bad for Your Health How to Handle Your Two-Year-Old's Tantrums Gelato is not just another name for ice cream: the real stuff is lower in fat and tastes and behaves rather differently Smoking Marijuana Makes Men’s Sperm “Swim Lazily In Circles” Makes people do the same A Whale’s Baleen Bristles Reveal the Story of Its Life Cool video The inside story of catching a cyberpirate Car Crashes Now Blamed On ‘Climate Change’ George Will: Yale’s lesson in dumbing down undergrads A Clash of Cultures: The Bourgeois vs. the Burning Man Where to Donate to Harvey Victims (and How to Avoid Scams) Washington Post Painfully Admits That FEMA Isn’t Failing – For Now Texas Abortion Outfit Raises Funds Off of Hurricane Harvey Tragedy Left-wing activists launch ‘No Red Cross’ campaign, ask for donor dollars Anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour cashes in on Hurricane relief funds Brutal Memes Mock Joel Osteen Over His Hurricane Harvey Response NYT: Lets Help Hurricane Harvey Survivors By Taxing Them No, Flooding in Houston Was Not Caused By a Lack of Zoning Laws - The "development kills" crowd has failed to take into account the very creation of Houston and its long and colorful history of being underwater. Should The Federal Government Just Write A Blank Check To Cover The Flooding In Houston? We seem beset by various “derangement syndromes.” Southern Poverty Law Center Won’t Designate Antifa a Hate Group — Only Singing Nuns Get That Designation NEW YORK TIMES RUNS OP-ED IN SUPPORT OF ANTIFA, VIOLENT PROTESTS "One of my wittier friends told me today “I’m starting a movement to ban Dixie cups.” If I’d have been less startled by his gallows humor I’d have replied – “Just wait a week. They’ll probably drop the ‘Dixie’ name themselves.”" Tucker Carlson Rips ‘DREAMER’: “Don’t Americans Have the Right to Determine Who Comes to Their Country?” Trump does not seem to know how to provide executive leadership. The Deep State: How it Came to Be and Why it Fights so Hard - The members of the Deep State are fighting not only for money and power, but their very sense of being. Vote fraud: What Are Democrats So Afraid Of? Australia defends hardline immigration policy as keeping out 'undesirables' Sunday, September 3. 2017Sharks in the harbor?
A reader was dismayed that I put our love for little Wellfleet, MA out to the entire world on these internets. Reader wants it kept secret. Well, this news might help keep some people away. Sharks in Wellfleet Harbor. I guess they want the oysters. I have reassured everybody in recent years that the Great Whites hang out in the ocean, not Cape Cod Bay, and certainly not a harbor. Wrong. I promise that if one of those SOBs bumps my kayak, I will smack it so hard with my paddle that its mother will feel the vibration. Whatever you do, stay away from our terrible, dull, dangerous Wellfleet. Especially from the beaches and restaurants and art galleries. You are neither wanted nor welcome. The people all love Hillary, our oysters taste bad, there is too much fresh seafood, not a single chain fast food for 40 miles - and the water is too cold for the timid. Thank you for your consideration. Gets out of bed, rubs his eyes, picks his nose, yawns, and does a sound check that some techie recordedHow to save the RhinosFrom today's Lectionary: "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."Matthew 16:21-28
Saturday, September 2. 2017Best thing about Labor Day weekendFor me, it's the US Open. A day session is pure delight. Better than a Broadway show. One of the thousand best things about NYC. Wander around, watch some doubles, some singles, some gal games, some guy games, eat some sausage sandwiches and pizza. The night sessions are too late for me, except on TV. Worth a trip from anywhere, if you ask me. Flushing (in Queens, NYC) is easy to get to. The Open is a multi-day festival. In the day sessions, it's great to sit on the bleachers, up close, in the side courts for a while. As much as I love playing tennis, I think it's the only sport I would rather watch than play. I love touch football, baseball, used to play hockey, squash, and lacrosse too. Sheesh, preppy sports I guess. Parents protective, didn't want me to play football even though I was a good sprinter. Right now, Meyer is giving Nadal a headache. Wonderful stuff. Nadal will win, though. RUSALKA (MOON SONG)
As sung by a Jersey girl. h/t Snobs Beware: I'm Cranking Carmen in My Ten-Year-Old Ford
The world of session musiciansBirdsWhat do composers hear in birdsong? Fun website for amateur naturalists from Cornell Lab of Ornithology: eBird Frat Retreat Ends Early after Students ‘Frightened’ by a Banana PeelNot from The Onion: Ole Miss students are still reeling from the devastating and traumatic experience. A cool garden plant: the Castor plantA friend has a patch of Castor plants, self-seeding in the garden. 5-6' tall, dramatic foliage. Shade plants, annuals in northern climates. They are the source of castor oil, also of the poison ricin. However, many garden plants are poisonous (eg daffodils). I have a shady spot for a patch of these. A re-built 1926 INTERNATIONAL 15-30It is for sale
Friday, September 1. 2017A vigorous approach to life: Friday free ad for BobFrom 1964. Yeah, that's also that nutty old Commie Pete Seeger
QQQ“Christ was crucified for preaching without a police permit” Robert A. Heinlein, via Virginia Freeman's Fabrication of Ethos A holiday weekend in the USA - unofficial end of summertimeExcept for Texas, the US will focus on wholesome outdoor fun, gardening, kayaking, mountain hiking, exercise, and grilling meat from today until Tuesday morning. So will we. Except for church... So no depressing or alarming morning links but there are plenty of wholesome posts in our pipeline. End of summer, one more time. Fall is a fresh start. Time matters. Where born in time? In the lonely night You're blowing down the shaky street, Friday morning linksImage via American Digest What's in Nutella? Lost Latin Commentary on the Gospels Rediscovered After 1,500 Years 21 Perfect Pose Pictures With Statues Should Chinatowns Stay Chinese? Spain's annual tomato war The Oldest Known Human Remains in the Americas Have Been Found in a Mexican Cave Underwater caves. Makes sense. All early coastal settlements are deep underwater now due to Holocene sea level rise FDA Deems MDMA, Banned Since 1985, a 'Breakthrough Therapy' Google Critic Ousted From Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant The Militarization of the Hamptons - Why is a heavily armed counterterrorism force patrolling the parties of the rich and famous? Evergreen State College Follows University of Missouri Into Ruin SHOCKING SEXISM AND RACISM BY LEFTIST PROFESSORS AT UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Florida Democrat Election Official Admits Noncitizens, Felons Voting Z-man's More Devil’s Dictionary THE TIME HAS COME TO STOP THE WAR ON FREE SPEECH - If local authorities won’t do it, the Federal government must. After a CNN interviewee erupts in anger, disaster reporting standards come into focus Toon below via Legal Insurrection
Helping the kneady! Pizza Hut staff use kayaks to brave chest-high waters to deliver free pies to devastated families in Hurricane Harvey VDH: Most Americans recoil from the statue-smashers and name-changers. Trump’s Coming Victory Over Identity Politics Shelby Steele Rips Michael Eric Dyson — ‘This Man Is a Plague on His People’ Sham: Transcripts Reveal Comey Decided He Was Going to Let Hillary Skate Long Before Investigation Was Over Poses as a boy scout but he's a slippery one Southern Poverty Law Center Transfers Millions in Cash to Offshore Entities - Left-wing nonprofit pays lucrative six-figure salaries to top management Should Young Illegals Be Punished For Their Parents’ Unlawful Entry Into The U.S.? Firebrand Trump Strategizes ‘All Options’ North Korea Approach Best option: China makes Kim disappear Thursday, August 31. 2017Thursday morning links
Painting is a free ad for Woodpile, who has excellent taste in art. That is Montague Dawson's Night at Sea Living a polyamorous life Most Americans Want To Have More Sex Coffee's Health Perks May Be Strongest for People Over 45 Truck- and Plane-Size Pterosaurs Once Flew Over Dinosaurs 5 Reasons It’s So Hard to Sell a Frank Lloyd Wright House MINI ICE AGE IS COMING - Global Unrest, Famine, Mass Migration, Increased Vulcanism, Flooding (video) Top Scholars Challenge Students to Resist Tyranny of ‘Campus Orthodoxies But the social pressures are a challenge It’s Not Trump Supporters Who Are Beating Journalists. "Nashville Statement": Can a Progressive’s ‘Inclusive Values’ Include Christianity? Nope HOW “BEING NICE” CREATES SERIOUS PROBLEMS FOR MEN JOSS WHEDON PRETENDED TO BE A MALE FEMINIST WHILE CHEATING ON HIS WIFE WITH YOUNG ACTRESSES Why Houston Flooding Isn’t a Sign of Climate Change Wrong. Everything is a sign of climate change Linda Sarsour Exploits Hurricane Harvey to Fund Community Organizing Big Labor Exploits Harvey - Proceeds from 'Hurricane Relief Fund' will go to labor organizing MSM climate change ghouls feasting on Harvey WHY I’M LEAVING THE POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION Progressives Had A Freak Out Over Melania Trump’s Shoes Charlottesville false narrative crushed by DHS warning They were told well in advance that people were looking for a battle Nancy Pelosi Does What Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and Marco Rubio Cannot: Denounce Antifa Berkeley Mayor: If The School Doesn’t Shut Down Right-Wing Speakers Next Month, Antifa Will Riot World to End Tomorrow: Markets to Close Early. Paul Krugman Discovers the Problem with Unbridled Presidential Power - New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is having second thoughts about presidential power. To Succeed In An Era Of Name-Calling And Extremism, Trump Must Become A Great Communicator Hundreds of Puerto Ricans protest, decry austerity measures Is it possible to force independence on a nation? Haiti: Mass arrival of Haitian migrants, Chile preoccupied EUROPE'S ASYLUM DISGRACE - Guess who gets the red-carpet treatment -- and who gets turned away?
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