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, June 15. 2017Thursday morning linksTransgendered Track Star Proves We're All Insane We Tested 13 Grocery Store Coffees and Here’s the Best One Key criterion: drinkable if reheated in microwave. I can relate Why you might want to disinherit your kids Optometrists Feel Threatened By Technology, So Guess What Do They Do Walter Williams: Rewriting American History You’re Hired: Trump Plans to Build U.S. Workforce With Apprenticeships - The president, who hosted NBC’s reality television show ‘The Apprentice,’ will announce an expansion of apprenticeship programs Excellent, but what does government have to do with that? Woodpile on occupied territories Here Are Five Fake Stories CNN Pushed Russia Hacked our Election! (So what?) Charlie Daniels: What Would Happen If Liberals Got the World They Wanted Here on Earth? HuffPo Pulls Article Calling For Trump execution When losing an election makes you lose your mind As we always say, it's evidence that government is too important in our lives Coulter: THE ‘RESISTANCE' GOES LIVE-FIRE Virginia Shooting Suspect Was Distraught Over Trump’s Election, Brother Says Baseball Shooter a Big Wake-Up Call for the Left No doubt Ruddy: Mueller Appears 'Out to Get the President' Tom Cotton destroys case for collusion during questioning of Sessions He's good Democrats Trot Out Plan C In Their Never-Ending Trump Impeachment Crusade Having Solved All The World’s Problems, United Nations Takes On Cultural Appropriation Let's see them take spaghetti away from the Neapolitans Meanwhile In Venezuela, Protesters Set Fire To The Supreme Court Building Wednesday, June 14. 2017Human-related bird mortality in the US: Cats and windowsWhile you have to count man's habitat changes and destruction as the primary driver of decreasing songbird populations, let's just look at direct kills. The top two are windows and outdoor cats. Neither are "natural" in North America. Ornithologists say the best thing you can do for wildlife is to keep your cat, if you must have one, indoors. Cats are native to Egypt and nowhere else. They have an instinct to kill for fun, so letting your cat roam is a more destructive act than taking your gun and shooting songbirds (which is illegal). Here's Why Birds Hit Windows—And How You Can Help Prevent It Chart below is from Sibley (Feral includes all outdoor cats):
Another calisthenic classMy Wednesday morning calisthenics teacher varies the program each week for our group of 30-40 guys and gals of all ages - 30-70. Keeps it interesting. Today, this was the one hour program (you can google the names if you don't know what some of those things are): 1. Man-maker The game was to start from the top and to do the number of reps corresponding to the number on the list. But not that simple, because after each time you got down to a new exercise on the list, you had to go back to #1 and work down to the next new one. Thus, by the end, you did about 13 Man Makers. Is that clear? Then, after the 12 Burpee Box Jumps, you had to simply go backwards up the list to end with one final Man Maker if you had time. Everybody at his own pace. Good workout, fun in a sick sort of way. She had to correct my Wall Walk form. Nver did it before - it's a bitch. Also, no way can I touch my toes in V-ups, but I did my best. I had to lower the box one notch for my box jumps - my legs were just too fatigued at that point to get up very high. In short, I did the best I could, with hopes to improve over time. Sweat? Are you kidding? I used only 5 lb dumbells this time, but heavy kettlebell. Next time, lighter kettlebell too. Tomorrow, back to powerlifting where you at least get a chance to breathe. Wednesday morning linksGood news for redheads: a tanning drug for the pale-skinned Brown skin looks healthier for everybody. Let's face it: Caucasian skin is not beautiful - but gingers do look cool with their special skin color Artificial Cartilage Under Tension as Strong as Natural As Insty would say, Faster, please. But stronger than natural might be better Moonbats Bark That We Should Give Up AC Wind power fails in Canada – a 23 year life span not likely to be replaced Visualizing Baltimore's Opiate Experience Against American imperialism Who´s afraid of George Soros? Governments across the globe turn on Hillary Clinton supporter accused of pushing his neoliberalagenda worldwide Obama’s Meddling in Foreign Elections: Six Examples White House Makes It Official: It Wants to Keep Snooping on Americans - Trump and group of GOP senators don’t want us to have greater privacy protections from unwarranted domestic surveillance. Bad news “Steely Silence”: Comey Reportedly Confronted Loretta Lynch With Document Claiming She Was Protecting Hillary On Emailgate FAKE NEWS=> MSNBC Caught Trying to Pass Off Top Obama Campaign Director as Random Passerby Via NY Post:
Dem demolition strategy shifts from Collusion To Obstruction The Ugly Question: What If The Russia Russia Russia Story Was Nothing? Chavista celebrities refuse to say they were wrong about socialism Radical chic Hamas tried to stop humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza Britain’s Election Disaster - Theresa May’s political incompetence carries a high price.:
Cool mapsTuesday, June 13. 2017A Ducks Unlimited updateAn update from our occasional contributor Black Dog: Your intrepid scribe returned this past Sunday from San Antonio, TX, where I attended the Ducks Unlimited Convention, which celebrated our 80th year. I’ve been a volunteer since 1984, so I remember the 50th Anniversary celebrations well. My notes from the Convention indicate since DU’s inception in 1937, DU has conserved almost 14 million acres of wetlands across North America. We are in the middle of a five-year capital campaign, Rescue Our Wetlands. The goal is $2 billion and I can tell you we are somewhere around $1.8 billion with 18 months to go, so I’m pretty sure we’ll meet our goal early and hopefully exceed it. We’ve had to increase our emphasis on public policy efforts in Washington, DC, where we opened a new office on Capitol Hill last year. As you know, we partner with the Federal and State governments here in the US, as well as the Provincial governments in Canada on our wetlands and water conservation missions. I attended the DU Mexico BOD meeting and was amazed to learn how far our donor’s dollars go in Mexico. A number of the DU Mexico staff were in San Antonio and gave presentations on their efforts in the Yucatan, as well as Mexico’s Central Highlands. Continue reading "A Ducks Unlimited update" Tuesday morning linksImage stolen from Ace Why Is the Speed of Light So Slow? Why Derek Jeter doesn’t feel prepared for fatherhood Euthanasia for existential anguish? GuideStar Marks Family Research Council as a 'Hate Group' 'Horrendous storm' to hit stocks, Wall Street not rational: David Stockman NYT: Stop pretending you're not rich Militant Homosexuality: Leftist Politics by Other Means Rolling Stone settles rape hoax case Puerto Rico votes in favor of statehood But the US doesn't want them. Why would we? Give it back to Spain. WaPo Writes Islamic Terrorism Out Of The Pulse Nightclub Shooting Robert Mueller should step aside: Friends shouldn’t be investigating friends Best pals, gunning for the rebel Trump. The empire strikes back. Steyn: Comey is a 6'8" gummy worm Best comment I've seen: Comey said that, as he was leaving the room with Trump, Trump grabbed his pussy Comey Suspected of Other Leaks to the New York Times Dating Back to at Least March Trump Is Beating the Media at Its Own Game Kimball: Trumping the narrative
Senator Graham: Trump may 'go down' because of inappropriate statements Chauncey CreekA tidal creek off the Pitasqua River, from last week's hike
Monday, June 12. 2017Spring Birdsong
You will hear the territorial calls of most of the birds in your neighborhood. These will mostly quiet down as the sun comes up and the birds get busy finding breakfast for themselves and/or their chicks. If you are like me, you will not be able to identify all of those calls. As time goes on, I have become more determined to ID birds by song. It's tough for me because I have a tin ear. I still confuse the Oriole with the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. For beginners. Best to start with the easy ones. It is handy to tell a Wood Thrush from a Hermit Thrush. Also handy to know the "broken typewriter" Marsh Wren because, like thrushes (except Robins and Bluebirds) you hardly ever see them. Here's Cornell Guide to Bird Sounds: Essential Set for North America A cool trick I recently learned is to put a Screech Owl recording on your phone. If you play that a bit in a brushy area or in a place where you can't quite get your binoculars on a bird, it's likely that some birds will approach the sound of the little owl and you can get a closer look. Monday morning linksCalifornia´s huge snowfall will keep some ski resorts open until August I blame global warming Sex Scandal: When colleges treat men and women the same — women get hurt, author says The Latest: L.A. pride parade renamed 'ResistMarch' What are they pissed about? Opioid dealers embrace the internet Delta, Bank of America End Sponsorship of New York's Public Theater Over Trump-Like 'Julius Caesar' Wow, so edgy! Don't they see how juvenile they are?
An Open Letter to President Donald J. Trump… Basically, stop falling into traps The Fourth Turning: A Summer Of Rage And The Total Eclipse Of The Deep State WaPo: It would be wrong to be balanced about Trump Loretta Lynch, Swamp Thing At Least 9 of 38 Deep State ‘Leaks’ to Media Outlets Are Linked or Related to James Comey A DELUSIONAL LOSER NAMED REALITY WINNER Mueller adds muscle for Russia investigation Witch hunts always find witches Former AG Mukasey: Lynch Made DOJ ‘An Arm Of The Clinton Campaign’ Pathetic endings to prosecutorial careers of James Comey and Loretta Lynch - Their reputations were taken down not by Donald Trump, but by their attempts to take down Trump. Bill and Hillary received $2.85M selling U.S. uranium to the Russians Trump’s Election Is Turning The Left Into A Breeding Ground For Conspiracy Theorists Scott Johnson gets tangled in the web That seems incredible I think they just want to cripple him, same as with Bush-Hitler New Leftist Fantasy: Decision On Paris Climate Agreement Is Impeachable Offense Van Jones laughs at Hillary Germany Wrestles With Migrant ‘Fake Father’ Scam - Immigrants paying German men to claim paternity. "It's Madness" - Massive Anti-Government Protests In Venezuela Worsen, Patterns Emerge Per usual, socialism has done a good job of spreading the poverty and hopelessness Facts about Qatar Sunday, June 11. 2017Baptisia (False Indigo)Baptisia is an excellent 3+-ft. high border perennial. It's a late-spring/early-summer bloomer, likes full sun to half-day sun but can get leggy without enough sun. It's a tough and vigorous perennial - once it is established. It grows deep roots, so it can unfortunately take a couple of years to reach its full effect. The three new ones I planted in the fall are pathetic now, but next Spring they should be ready to show some vigor and bloom. Many good things need patience. For instant color, go with annuals.
Inexpensive Heart Conditioning: Walking, Brisk Walking, Jogging, Climbing, Running, Sprinting - and Hiking
"Cardio" is obviously mainly about general vigor - heart conditioning plus muscle maintenance (rather than muscle-strengthening) and general endurance. Ordinary walking, as opposed to Strolling, hardly meets the minimal standard for "exercise" because it is non-exertional except for the elderly or the overweight. (Housework, strolling, gardening are too low-intensity to call exercise at all.) For most people, "walking" means a speed under 3.4 mph. "Brisk walking" or "Fast Walking" is any speed between around 3.5 mph and the point at which you have to break into a jog or a run (somewhere over 4 mph for most people). More maybe-interesting info below the fold - Continue reading "Inexpensive Heart Conditioning: Walking, Brisk Walking, Jogging, Climbing, Running, Sprinting - and Hiking" From today's LectionaryGenesis 1:1-2:4a
Saturday, June 10. 2017Saturday morning linksPhoto: finally got the pic of my friend's backyard Barred Owl THE ROCKING DEAD - The Grateful Dead’s Cornell 1977 concert release Berserkers In Mesopotamia, Europe And India: Old Tradition Of Mad Fighting Dates Back At Least 3000 BC Oldest Homo sapiens fossils discovered in Morocco Lonely in suburbia Evergreen State Officials Ask Student Vigilantes To Stop Patrolling Campus With Baseball Bats Professor At Evergreen College Backs Bret Weinstein, Expects To Be Called A Racist Lunatics running asylum Harvard History Prof doesn't know her history MUGGING MR. MURRAY: MURRAY SPEAKS The 4 Gods of the Public Education System Great Legislative Ideas To Fight Hotcoldwetdry We Can All Agree On Dumping Dodd-Frank: How we get our economy back Why Not Try 'Medicare for All'? Glad You Asked Biology Professor: Trauma Of Trump Presidency Will Mutate Human Genome For All Eternity Krauthammer: You can’t govern by id Schlicter: From Russia With Stupidity BBC Reporter’s False Trump Tweet Reveals a Sad Truth - James Landale of the BBC posted two tweets about Donald Trump. One was true, one was false. Guess which one went viral? sultan on DC today:
Comey’s Weak Case 7 Unexpected Takeaways From James Comey’s Testimony Theresa May’s Call for Internet Censorship Isn't Limited to Fighting Terrorism - Using fear of terrorists to try to control what you can see online The Astonishing Israeli Concession of 1967 - In a triumphant moment, Israel’s flag was hoisted over the newly conquered Temple Mount—then quickly taken down. COMMUNISM VICTIMS REMEMBER - Powerful testimony of personal experiences with communism’s horrors. QATAR, TRUMP AND DOUBLE GAMES - Qatar’s role in undermining the stability of the Islamic world has been second only to Iran’s. How Israel spots lone-wolf attackers - Algorithms monitor social-media posts of Palestinians Saturday Verse: Felicia Hemans (1793-1835)Casabianca The boy stood on the burning deck, Friday, June 9. 2017Friday morning linksLines of code in a car Selling Stuff Is No Longer the Point of Retail Stores Number of Job Openings Hits Record-High at 6 Million Is College Worth It? Increasing Numbers Say No Captain Capitalism: Life's too short for politics Questioning Government Is What Makes You An American How Conservatives Were Tricked Into Opposing The Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Act " The truly sad part is that they THINK they’re smart and intellectual. " #FakeNews CNN Tries to Railroad Weather Channel Founder, Gets Schooled on Climate Change Instead Report On Russian Contacts With Trump Campaign Was Mostly Wrong (Update: Times Responds) Sen. McCain Blames Late-Night Baseball Game For Strange Questioning Dershowitz: Trump did not obstruct justice These Photos of Sad Brooklyn Hipsters in a Bar Watching the Comey Hearing Are Hilarious Don't they have jobs? CNN’s King Admits Media Will Bury Comey’s ‘Damning Account’ of Lynch’s Behavior on Hillary Chris Matthews: Trump-Russia collusion theory 'came apart' with Comey testimony Trump’s in trouble after that Jim Comey hearing Trump doesn't understand that there is no such thing as casual chat when president NATO: Canada takes a step in the right direction Will Theresa May resign? PM scrambles to stay in power by doing deal with DUP after disastrous gamble ended in hung Parliament French-German TV network shelves documentary that revealed European funding for antisemitic groups More Maine coastlineLots of Common Eiders out there with newly-hatched fluffball chicks.
Thursday, June 8. 2017Hiking and Hunting Footwear #2Photo is the Meindl Burma Our commenters to our Hiking Footwear post were well-informed, experienced, and helpful. Appreciate all of those offerings. Lots of hikers, hunters, and some field geologists among our readers. Two basics about boot sizing: Your dress shoe or sneaker size might be small for boots. Try the boot at the end of the day when your foot is most expanded. With the heaviest socks you might wear with them, but unlaced, check to make sure you can fit your index finger down the heel. Tips: - What you need to know to buy Hiking Boots - Lots of good info about hiking boots, insoles, etc. - Good website: Cool Hiking Gear This is useful too:
Thursday morning links
Invisible dots from printers The Man Who Fought Back Against All Three Of The London Terrorists ‘Diversity of Opinion’ Is ‘White Supremacist Bullsh*t’ Rust Belt Connecticut Mandatory spending deprives your vote of power Fast and Furious hearing rips Holder, DOJ for deception in gun-running scandal The sad spectacle of Hillary Clinton’s slow-motion breakdown CNN Forced to Issue Correction After Comey's Written Testimony Refutes Report In quest for a Trump crime, Dems refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer Puerto Rico's bankruptcy leaves US island facing hard times Portsmouth HarborFrom Fort Foster Park on the Maine side. Those large box-like structures in the water are WW2 anti-sub net platforms. Portsmouth is a hopping little city, prosperous, very pleasant. It's easy to see why this general area is popular with retirees.
Wednesday, June 7. 2017Bob Dylan talks about his life with music, words, and stories"I wanted to write songs like nobody had heard before." Wednesday morning linksImage via Moonbattery Dr. Paul Ekman PhD: The Truth Behind Lie to Me Now Everyone’s Getting Tattooed Why Are So Many Young Men Taking A Pass On College? What if Charles Murray Is Right? Fear of deportation drives people off food stamps in US What the AP’s Collaboration With the Nazis Should Teach Us About Reporting the News Powerline: FROM FAKE NEWS TO FAKE POLLS Brookings Institution -- The Progressive Jukebox Funded By U.S. Taxpayers While dissing Trump for pulling out of the #ParisAgreement, the EU’s CO2 Emissions Are On The Rise Hillary Clinton: The Solution To Terrorism Is To “Understand” Muslim Food CBO vs. HHS: Guesswork vs. proven history on the harm ObamaCare has done VDH: Hypocrisy is destroying the Democrats McArdle: In favor of partisan battles Scarborough: Trump a “Schmuck” Germany: Surge in Stabbings and Knife Crimes British Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn: ISIS Members Should Not Be Prosecuted For “Expressing A Political Point Of View”… Iran Revolutionary Guards ‘protecting Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim inside his palace’ PALESTINIAN SUFFERING AND ISRAEL - The Palestinians the international media don't talk about -- and the reason why. A Maine marsh, with a bird list
Continue reading "A Maine marsh, with a bird list" Tuesday, June 6. 2017A piano piece that gets harder and harder every 30 seconds.La Campanella by Franz Liszt is considered one of the most difficult piano pieces. This piece is like an acid trip.
Hiking FootwearHere's my chance to elicit opinions from readers about hiking gear. I'll limit the discussion to footwear for relatively rugged lengthy day hikes on uneven, sometimes wet, sometimes rocky, steep, or unstable ground with no more weight on your back than a full daypack (in other words, not real backpacking but not ordinary walking either. Something that would be good for our 9-mile urban hikes too). And I will stipulate that merino wool or wicking synthetic socks, with or without liner socks, are important for this sort of thing to prevent blisters. One blister or hot spot can ruin an outing - or a week. I'm thinking of footwear that would be good for scrambling up Tuckerman's Ravine, for woodsy hikes through hill and dale, and for boggy spots. So I think we're in the realm of what they call "Light Hiking" or "medium duty" waterproof boots with good arch and ankle support, without the weight of those monster boots designed for mountain hikes with a 40 lb pack on your back - or 60 lbs of fresh elk meat. I've done a lot of hiking in running shoes and it's not ideal but it is blister-free. I have also done a lot of backwoods all-day hunting in things like wellies, LL Bean Maine boots, and heavy snow boots. Those things are not great for distances - at least for me, they become fatiguing to wear after a couple of hours. I guess I am more experienced with the Hunting Boot category (though I don't know why they are different from the hiking boot category except that hunting boots are higher and often insulated - here's a good hunting boot) and with the steel-toed Work Boot category than I am with the Hiking Boot category. I have worn out many pairs of Work Boots at the farm. In my research I have seen the yuuuge variety of offerings in the general category of Hiking Boots. Capitalism with competition certainly offers us endless choices in things and they all seem to be very good. These range from heavy-duty sneakers with heavy treads to slightly lightened, or ordinary, heavy-duty mountaineering backpacking boots. Some are higher, some lower, some softer, some harder. Some leather, some suede, some synthetics. Some insulated, most not. Hard leather boots need 20-40 miles of breaking in, others not so much. Waterproof usually has some Gore-Tex in it. Gore-Tex was one heck of an invention. Well, maybe it makes sense to have a couple of different boots for different hiking purposes but I like the idea of a versatile boot which is well-broken-in, and I have no plans to do any mountaineering with a 40-lb. pack. I have not "done" the Presidential Range, but I would like to have done the Presidential Range just so I could say I did it. What is your experience and what are your preferences? Photo above is a Merrell Capra boot. A few random examples of pretty good boots below the fold -
Continue reading "Hiking Footwear"
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