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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Friday, May 19. 2017Friday morning linksA book by John Hawkins: 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know Large volcanic eruption may have caused the first mass extinction Are men with beards more desirable? Crossing the Congo Is Truly a Journey Across Hell on Earth Single women are out-earning men Moms Need to Take Water Gun Control Seriously Lone Star Lilliput - Complacent Texas taxpayers have become captives of their rent-seeking civil servants. Student 'teach-in' claims food industry is 'built on racism' Is it time for us all to admit what a steaming pile of hypocrisy our entire conversation on race has become? Even Math Is Made to Serve Moonbattery Social-Justice Math Class: ‘Math Has Been Used as a Dehumanizing Tool’ - ‘Teaching Social Justice Through Secondary Mathematics’ was developed by Teach for America. Protesters shut down classroom presentation by ICE after administrators invite them in Yale Dean’s Nasty Yelp Reviews Expose Underbelly of Ivy League Elitism - The racial overtones of June Chu’s posts have garnered the most attention. Less attention has been paid to the sneering elitism. She was just having snotty fun. I don't see what the big deal is. Campus is becoming a field of landmines and profs are right to be scared. National Student Group Seeks To Bolster Campus Free Speech Free speech is oppression Daryl Bem Proved ESP Is Real - Which means science is broken. OK, but worse probably in the social sciences. Generally, it is very easy to cheat in science. Biggest problem might be that negative results are almost never published. Warmists Using Fossil Fuels Is Totally Not Hypocrisy Or Something From von Mises: Why Businessmen Fail at Government Dallas County Whistleblower Tapes Democrat Campaign Worker Describing Voter Fraud Schemes Normal urban politics
David Plouffe: “Trump Must Be Destroyed”… Commenter at Althouse:
Podhoretz: Trump’s presidency facing monumental failure unless he wises up pronto Intel Officials Scoff At Hype Over Trump’s Reported Sharing Of Information With Russians All This Impeachment Talk Is Pure Trump Derangement Syndrome - That man in the White House is vulgar, disrespectful, self-involved, maybe even dangerous. So? All US 50 governors sign anti-BDS statement Venezuelan dictator: ‘We are the new Jews of the 21st century’ Intel Trump gave Russians came from Jordan, not Israel Who cares? Trump was right to share the threat info The President Goes to Israel Thursday, May 18. 2017Thursday morning linksThere are now more stock market indexes in the U.S. than there are stocks. Stop Fiddling With Your Goddamn Phone Legalized marijuana turns Colorado resort town into homeless magnet Behold the voluntarily homeless, aka drifters The UK: Police seek man dressed as 'giant penis' who witnessed serious assault GLOBAL GREENING: Scientists Find ‘Lost’ Forests The Size Of Seven Texases A Tiny Increase In Global Temperatures Is Making People Crazy! Lots of good reading at Woodpile The Outsiders Who Were Behind the Booing of Betsy DeVos at Bethune-Cookman Jerry Brown Calls California Taxpayers ‘Freeloaders’ John Lewis pines for the 1960s VDH: Far too many government officials never pay the price for their crimes and misdeeds: Clinton, Rice, Napolitano, Lerner … Comey is the exception. Trump Officials on Comey Memo: ‘Don’t See How Trump Isn’t Completely F*cked’ Sanders: 'Trump doesn't fully understand what being president is about' GOP fears Trump will take the Republican Party down with him Examiner: Trump's dangerous blundering Greenfield: THE ANONYMOUS SOURCES OF WASHINGTON POST AND CNN FAKE NEWS - How fake news gets made. FBI Director James Comey Testified Under Oath May 3rd That The Trump Administration Doesn’t Obstruct Investigations Scott Adams: The Slow-Motion Assassination of President Trump Wednesday, May 17. 2017The Maggie's Doctrine: Balance in physical fitness for ordinary people of all shapes and agesWe are convinced that a balanced fitness program is the best route for ordinary people who just want to stay Fit For Life, with all-round functional fitness being the goal. Some readers disagree with our view, but that's ok. We're happy to hear your opinions because fitness remains a field with more questions than answers, every body is different, and everybody is an expert. Readers know that our idea of "balanced" entails a mix of cardio, calisthenics, and strength-building/strength-maintenance while getting into fighting shape with enough protein and neither too much nor too little fat on your bones. Some athletes, and many exercisers, tend to focus on just one of the three categories. That is unbalanced. Pure cardio exercisers (treadmill jockeys, runners, bikers, swimmers) tend to be weak in muscle and bone. Many guys who just lift can't run or hike up hills 15 miles or negotiate a ladder drill. And so forth. One sensible way to structure a balanced 5 day/wk program is to put a 30- min HIIT (anaerobic) cardio day after a weights day, and a 45-60 min endurance (aerobic, aka "fat-burning") cardio day for the day after the second weight day. Then fit in a calisthenics/plyometric day somewhere else. That schedule allows 48+hr recovery from the strength days because the cardio doesn't interfere with muscle recovery, while heavy calis can. That's our under-5 hr/wk fitness program. Every high school and college should offer, or require, something like that. My high school did require weights, sprints, and calisthenic drills for everybody for an hour after lunch, followed by your daily sport afterwards. They rightly figured that adolescent boys needed it, and the coaches were like drill sergeants. Mens sana in corpore sano. I think only elite private high schools require things like that now. It's a shame because all kids should have the chance to learn about fitness routines. Answers to FAQs about the Maggie's recommendations are below the fold - Continue reading "The Maggie's Doctrine: Balance in physical fitness for ordinary people of all shapes and ages" Wednesday morning linksNon-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity Still Probably Doesn't Exist You can work full time but not have the money to fix your teeth Just ask me about it. Sheesh. Women: 5 Ways to tell if you’re dressing your age BEND OVER TO SATISFY A FEW DOZEN LOUDMOUTH STUDENTS, AND WRECK YOUR UNIVERSITY AS THOUSANDS OF OTHERS REFUSE TO COME Microsoft Blames NSA for ‘WannaCry’ Cyber Extortion Union Bosses Make More Money Than Private Sector CEOs Minimum-Wage Hikes: A Feel-Good Lie That Destroys Jobs And Minority Kids' Futures UN Bonn Climate Conference Demands $300 Billion per Year to Alleviate the Tedium Scott Adams: How to Convince Skeptics that Climate Change is a Problem At Stanford, a proposal for "brave spaces" Minority students feel ‘marginalized’ by historic building’s ‘imposing, masculine’ paneling The President Is Not the Commander in Chief of the United States, Nor Its CEO The Media-Democratic Party Suicide Pact Fox News: Murdered DNC Staffer Sent 44,053 Internal Emails to WikiLeaks That is paranoia bait There is no form of legal authority that the left accepts as a permanent institution. One thing you can say for Trump: he sure knows how to keep things at a full boil. James Comey? Who? That story is so last week. . . McConnell: 'A Little Less Drama' from White House, Please
The Dangers of President Trump's Incompetence - His recklessness doesn't necessarily weaken the executive branch. In fact the opposite may be true. IMPEACHMENT FEVER - The firing of FBI Director Comey opens door to mass leftist hysteria. Applause in the newsroom as the Russia-leak scoop breaks the Hollywood Access record for most readers per minute Puerto Rico: Parade for a Terrorist - The Puerto Rican Day Parade has named killer Oscar Lopez Rivera a "freedom hero." China: The breathtaking sweep of the New Silk Road initiatives Why Benjamin Netanyahu is so tough: He’s from Philadelphia Tuesday, May 16. 2017Tuesday morning linksA Millennial's Guide to Office Etiquette Bike Lanes and Fruitcake Prank pineapple left at Scottish gallery included in modern art show A pineapple is a true work of art Manhattan strip club claimed dancers are like sex therapists to dodge $3.1M in state taxes China Is Building a Disney World for Wine I call that cultural appropriation New Variant Of 'Ransomware' Begins To Spread: "We've Never Seen Anything Like This" Here's the new retirement goal: Love your job and keep it As Women Take Over a Male-Dominated Field, the Pay Drops Harvard Class Of ‘17 Is Separated Black And White ‘In The Name Of Progress’ Commencement is coming; 'tis the season to be outraged The Crisis at Berkeley - The rot goes deep
Wesleyan University president Michael S. Roth is a liberal who means well. What the Trans Lobby Doesn't Want You to Know About Single-Sex Classrooms Of course kids learn better in single-sex classrooms Go ahead. Move to Norway The split in the Democratic Left in the US Trump-Russia Conspiracy Theorist Maxine Waters’ Retirement Money Tied to Russian Investments Russia is not an enemy SWEDEN: 70 YO WOMAN PROSECUTED FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT MIGRANTS DEFECATING IN THE STREETS 'The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy' Monday, May 15. 2017Take a Vet Fishing
A friend in Connecticut sent this to us -
Our Sportsmen’s club held our Take A Vet Fishing event Saturday. This marks our seventh year in a row of hosting the group. In spite of the threat of rain, around 45 vets showed up for a morning of fishing in our stocked pond (over 100 trout caught), as well as lunch. Take A Vet fishing was formed about ten years ago as a program of a local Congregational Church. The first year we hosted these folks, we were afraid no one would show up – about 20 did. It’s grown since then and this year’s event attendance was held down only by the weather. Couple of things come to mind as I volunteered – Continue reading "Take a Vet Fishing"
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Monday morning linksIn Rural Alaska, A Young Doctor Walks To His Patient's Bedside House calls are still done in the lower states too. My doc does them. A doc can learn a lot from a house call. The New York Times Magazine takes an open-minded view of open marriage. Why Pop Culture (and ‘Say Yes to the Dress’) are Going Wild for Polyamory Monogamy is so bourgeois and Christian. The rich and the poor often ignore such conventions. There Is No Such Thing As "Healthy Food" How to ruin Mother’s Day with trigger warnings Pro-life Fresno students sue professor over literal erasure of free speech Michelle Obama to Moms: Don’t Allow Schools to Serve ‘Crap’ to Kids Meanwhile, Back in Reality, Vast Majority of Colleges Report Zero Rapes Dilbert on climate The Expertocracy - What if they don't know as much as they think they do? They obviously don't, often Even Prominent Conservatives Have Socialism Hiding Inside Their Heads - It turns out the problem isn't the socialism in our economics. It's the unexamined collectivist assumptions inside our heads. Elizabeth Warren Stabs at Trump, Ends up Pounding Hillary Instead ICE Detains Illegal Aliens With Prior Deportation Orders Working Construction at AIR FORCE BASE California Democrats Want More Money Spent to Defend Illegal Aliens Whatever You Call This Health Care Mess, It's Not Insurance Why working class Americans voted with their middle finger TRUMP PLAYS THE OUTSIDER CARD; INSIDERS GO BANANAS Scholar (VDH) Unravels ‘The Big Lie’ Surrounding The Tump Campaign And Russian Collusion Excellent interview with VDH. I listened to it twice. The New York Times Accidentally Exposed 'The Hillary Clinton-Russia Nexus'! Trump had good reasons to fire Comey Goodwin: I support Trump — but he’s annoying us all
Sunday, May 14. 2017If Gyms Were HonestA few pics from the 3rd Annual Maggie's Urban Hike, with great pizza, beer, and cupcakesOur leader Bulldog planned a West Side route this year, from the fountain at Lincoln Center (where they filmed some scenes in West Side Story when it was rubble) to the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire just east of Washington Square in Greenwich Village - with more interesting detours and zig-zags to sites than I can report or remember. He reported briefly here. From Lincoln Center to transport home, I clocked 13.8 miles, with sore quads. My sis, who just had a hip replacement after a running accident, handled it all and is eager for the next hike. It's just far more interesting than her usual country hiking, with so much to look at and to talk about. Golly, as a country boy I do love this crazy city and any out-of-towners who hike with us come to feel the same way. Before I post a few random street pics, two free ads: first, Artichoke Pizza. After going into Moore's ancient Chelsea church, we strolled through Chelsea Market (good fun, lots of food and stuff) and headed up a block to their location on 10th Ave. in Chelsea. Best New York pizza I have found - ever. Thin pizza, oily and slightly burnt the way I like it. Many cool beers on tap. Fast, rough NYC-style service: you had better know exactly what you want when you're up. Perfect for a cool drizzly day. The cupcake ad is for Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker St. Perfect cupcakes. Stupid to resist cuz life is short and you do not get there every day. Marianne would have liked this post. From Lincoln Center, we headed downtown on Broadway thru Columbus Circle, noting the huge new "pencil" high-rises going up on Central park South - Pics of my favorite city below the fold -
Continue reading "A few pics from the 3rd Annual Maggie's Urban Hike, with great pizza, beer, and cupcakes"
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For Mother's Day, Release a Mom! She's a breeder!
As with lobsters, for conservation purposes it is better to eat the small ones and release the big ones. Laws are often irrational. Small sea critters have poor survival rates anyway, but the big breeders matter for the future. Rational and effective conservation law would be to keep the small ones and throw back the big ones.
A Hallmark dayLet's just go along with the culture even if some of these days are commercial inventions to sell stuff. After all, moms do deserve special attention. So thanks to my Mom (photo) for producing me, thanks to my mother-in-law for producing my wife, and thanks to my daughter-in-law for producing two rambunctious little baby boys.
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From today's LectionaryJohn 14:1-14
14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 14:2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 14:4 And you know the way to the place where I am going." 14:5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 14:7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." 14:8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 14:12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 14:13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Saturday, May 13. 2017Prof. Peterson: My Message to Millenials - How to Change the World -- Properly
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More Georgia - re-posting Cumberland Island
Photo travelogue of our 2015 visit to Cumberland Island, Georgia - with Tern Porn and Turtle Tracks
A NYC Bob tour
Bob Dylan Greenwich Village Walking Tour He bought the house at 94 MacDougal St in the West Village but celeb-sniffers got the best of him. He was young, didn't realize that he was as famous as he was, a "prophet for a generation." He loved NYC the most but fled to privacy in Malibu and promptly set about proving that he wasn't any prophet. Then his wife dumped him and he crashed. We know he still skulks around the Village alone and anonymously in a hoodie, when he's on tour in the area. Few people recognize the strange old little guy ducking into music joints and pubs. I would. Manhattan Contrarian informs me that the interior of Dylan's old block contains a large private garden. Must be nice in there. Saturday morning linksAfter 500 years, Leonardo da Vinci’s music machine is brought to life Bear sits next to a guy You actually would die without your coffee, research says It can feel that way More Than Half of E-Cig Users in the UK Have Fully (Finally) Kicked the Cigarette Habit "When teens were drinking and having sex more, they weren’t such PC weenies." THE COLLEGE BLUEPRINT FOR A TOTALITARIAN AMERICA The Opening of the Liberal Mind: Op-Ed by Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth A tribute to an economic giant — Friedrich Hayek — who would have celebrated his 118th birthday today Great News For College Grads: Starting Salaries Are Finally Back To Where They Were 10 Years Ago! Democrat Refers to Middle America as ‘Podunk, USA’ Craven Journalists are Just Begging For Their Own Personal Watergate MEDIA CREATES NEW SCANDAL: Trump Served Two Scoops of Ice Cream at Dinner While Time Reporters Get One Scoop What happened to Paul Krugman’s concern about town hall civility? Shorebird du Jour: the SanderlingThe Sanderling is familiar to anybody who has been to a saltwater beach. Their range is worldwide, and about half of their population lives in the New World. Their migration routes are astonishing for such little guys. You can identify them by their beach behavior as much as by their appearance because few flocking shorebirds follow the receding surf as quickly, like mechanical toys. Birders learn to ID birds as much by behavior as by appearance. Read about the Sanderling here. Friday, May 12. 2017The Wedding ScamLike Hallmark holidays, and Bar and Bat Mitvahs, people feel forced/obligated by convention to waste perfectly good and hard-earned money for a couple of hours, or too many hours, of forced merriment with overly-loud obnoxious music. The party predators are out there, like sharks. On the other hand, throwing a $60,000 wedding is one way to pay back, in one event, all of those past invitations from people which you have accumulated. So there's that. But would the kids just prefer the cash? Hey, celebrate good times, c'mon! Friday morning linksWhy I Mourn the Death of the American Mall How Machiavelli Trolled Europe’s Princes - Machiavelli’s advice for rulers was ruthless and pragmatic—and he may have intended for it to secretly destroy them. Why Tesla's Solar Roof Is Just Another Giant Taxpayer Gift To Elon Musk How Vegas rolled Tony Hsieh Johnny Depp: A Star in Crisis and the Insane Story of His "Missing" Millions U of Arizona Is Hiring Students to Tattle on Others for ‘Bias Incidents’ What kind of person wants to get a job policing ‘microaggressions’? Pro-Sanctuary Crowd Shocked to Learn Legal Immigrants Might Disagree What Democrats Won't Admit About Voters and Health Care Nobody wants to pay for it Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe Connected to Hillary Campaign Trump Trolls Hate-Filled Democrats — And I Can’t Stop Laughing Trump: We finally agree on something, Rosie Hungary, Slovakia take EU to court over forced migrant resettlement scheme Re Israel, More Lies from the UN Spain: "Pacifist" Imam Arrested on Terror Charges - The New York Times once praised his moderation Thursday, May 11. 2017Thursday morning linksTaking ibuprofen to treat pain ‘for just ONE DAY increases your risk of heart attack by half’ How P.T. Barnum Helped the Early Days of Animal Rights Cosmopolitan Columnist Argues Abortion Is Good Because It Leads to Better Sex The Feminization of Everything Fails Our Boys Global Quackery: Earth Has Not Warmed For Past 19 Years, New Study Finds Elementary school ditches Mother’s Day celebrations due to ‘non-traditional families’ The "Trend" In Airline Incidents is Probably Just Publication Bias PROFESSOR LAURA KIPNIS–SHE FACED TITLE IX CHARGES FOR WRITING AN ESSAY Duke Professor is Reprimanded and Resigns After Criticizing ‘Racial Equity Training’ Oh, look, another campus hate hoax, this time in Minnesota Students Deal With Exam Stress by Regressing Into Early Childhood Instead of Studying The Vexing Question of ‘Preexisting Conditions’ Aetna completely exits Obamacare exchanges, cites massive losses Washington Is Never Going to Get Healthcare 'Right' - Obamacare was bad, and its replacements look like a dog's breakfast. No confidence: Pelosi, Chuck Schumer hint that Comey must go The news coverage of Comey’s firing has become excellent entertainment. As we have always said, Trump is a Honey Badger - pure balls Trump DESTROYS Liberal Critic and Fake Hero Sen. Blumenthal: He “Cried Like a Baby” When Caught Lying Orwell, from COMEY, COLBERT AND ORWELL
Benefits Backlash - The soaring cost of perks comes back to haunt government workers. Emmanuel Macron’s election was something of a pyrrhic victory The Candy Bar that Blew Barghouti's Cover - Palestinian Incitement against the Media Turkey doesn't quit Hamas cold turkey Assad’s Hollow Crown South Africa contemplates the abyss Wednesday, May 10. 2017QQQHow often should we push and pull heavy weights?It's "settled science" that we can do cardio, calisthenics, and isolated muscle high-rep weights (eg curls, body-weight exercises, calf-lifts, pull-downs, heavy hands, sports) daily with no recovery problem, especially under age 65 or 70. For power lifts with serious weight, it's a matter of some dispute. Every gal and guy wants to build strength as a component of his/her fitness aspirations, and everybody has an opinion about it of course, but there is no dispute that only weights build bone, ligament, and muscle strength. Everybody likes strength training - it is terribly challenging to mind, soul, and body but IT IS BRIEF. Having read all I can, and discussing the topic with my docs (who are committed exercisers) and my genius trainer, I think doing powerlifts twice weekly (half one day, the other half of them the other) is just barely enough for the over-45 year-old group. Three days/wk of weight training might be optimal for strength, but then where would you find morning time for your cardio and calis? We need a balanced routine to build or maintain General Fitness for Life. We are talking strength here, not Body-Building which I feel is a dumb but harmless sport. Younger people can handle more lifting than older, but younger people often work longer hours than the middle-aged so have a harder time finding time. They have kids to feed and to take to school in the morning. Can You Build Muscle by Working Out Once a Week? No. But it is strength we all need, not muscle mass. Muscle mass is cool, though, if you have the body type to get buff. Girls like it. Wednesday morning linksWill tiny drones become a must-have for soldiers? A New Addition to the Human Family Tree Is Surprisingly Young - Homo naledi was alive between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago, which complicates the story of human evolution ‘Settled science’ on salt may be completely wrong, says New York Times What the F*ck Is Up With Different Types of Salt? Here's a Breakdown The rise of obesity in the U.S. tracks closely with the expansion of America's primary food assistance program. Apparently, ‘Activist Appropriation’ Is a Thing Now Gallery Cancels Art Show after Accusations of ‘Cultural Genocide’ Choosing to Live in a Tiny House Deemed ‘Poverty Appropriation’ Too cold: ‘Climate Change’ Clobbers French Wine Crop The Icecaps are [still] melting Fake Statistics Created 'Rape Anxiety' Among Female Students There Is No Easy Way to Clean Up Obama's Title IX Mess When The Democrats Do It, That Means That It's Not Illegal
Fake News War Comes to Kentucky Obamacare Premiums Rise as Insurers Fret Over Law’s Shaky Future A grossly disproportionate number of the people making decisions about Europe’s future have no children Tuesday, May 9. 20175 Worst Pieces of Fitness Advice
I tend to disagree with his "moderate exercise" theme, but it all depends on your goals and level of motivation. You can't build strength, or speed, with moderate exercise but maybe most people don't aim to do either but just stay normal-fit. I'd kinda like to be extra-fit for my age, or at least "well-preserved," and I am getting there. Rockin' Robin (the original)
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