Maggie's FarmWe are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for. |
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Tuesday, March 10. 2020Thunderstruck, with a cello duelTuesday morning linksDeath comes for Max von Sydow. The Stock Market Is Tanking. Do Nothing. Timing the market is a game for professionals, not amateurs. And most professionals are terrible at it too. "There Is No Liquidity" - Market Paralyzed As FRA/OIS Explodes Algos now rule the markets The archaeology of Armageddon - After a century of digging, archaeologists are still tantalized by the secrets of the 7,000-year-old city of Megiddo. The Virus and the Economy - Widespread quarantines and shutdowns of industries have human costs, too. Not everybody can "work from home" Syracuse U. protesters promise ‘escalation’ if officials don’t acknowledge ‘white supremacy’ As Top Historians Ring Alarm Bells About NYT’s 1619 Project, Defiant Public Schools Refuse To Answer Questions Health Care Is a Right Only if Doctors Surrender Theirs VDH: California Is a Cruel Medieval State. The Golden State has become a cruel and unusual place because callousness and narcissism were redefined as caring and compassion. Major Crimes in New York City Spike 22 Percent in February and Cops Blame New Bail Law Here’s How Eric Holder Helped the Obama Administration Transform the Democratic Party into a Party of Thugs MC: The Real New York Times, Or A Parody? Why Do the 2020 Democrats Lie About Everything? Nancy Pelosi: ‘Civilization as We Know It Is At Stake’ In The 2020 Presidential Election Bernie Sanders is Funded by the Wealthiest Zip Codes in America Elizabeth Warren's Former Staffers Insult the Media For Not "Actively Supporting" Warren's Campaign But they did What Is Bloomberg Thinking? The Spread Of COVID-19 In Iran May Be Far Worse Than Reported Virus report from Italy Greek Troops Open Fire on Refugees While Vigilantes Attack Aid Workers and the Media Ireland Cancels All St. Patrick's Day Parades Amid Virus Fears Monday, March 9. 2020Today's Brahmsh/t, reader
Monday morning linksRats Are People Too! Fauci: Coronavirus Spread In America 'Not Encouraging'; Says Americans Should Avoid Large Gatherings, Especially If Vulnerable How the NYC subway is preparing for coronavirus Dr. Drew On Coronavirus: Media ‘Hurting People,’ ‘Need To Be Held Accountable’ For Causing Panic Coronavirus going to hit its peak and start falling sooner than you think Dalrymple: The first casualty of war is truth. It is also the first casualty of epidemics Democrats Block Measure To Prevent Terrorists From Working At TSA Democrat ‘Gig’ Law Punishes California’s Disability Community for Pursuing American Dream Biden's continuing errors Is Biden the Dems's useful idiot? Clinton: ‘I’d Love To Have A Woman On The Ticket, Finally — Again’ Meaning her? Sunday, March 8. 2020Mr. Bean, the barberBolognese vs. MarinaraReaders know that I am not a pasta fan, but a little Bolognese as a primi - if it's really good - is ok. Just not too much. Bolognese is a northern Italian meat sauce. Marinara is southern Italian tomato sauce. Spaghetti and meatballs is an American thing, marinara with meatballs. Bolognese is not a meat sauce really - it's a meat-flavored sauce. Mrs. BD made a double recipe yesterday for friends tonite. Always better the next day. The only recipe we endorse is Marcella Hazan's. The bit of nutmeg, and the milk, make it perfect. Remember the rule: Toss the almost fully-cooked pasta in the hot saucepan with the sauce. Don't dump sauce on top of pasta. Some parmesan shavings on top is nice, and maybe a little parsley. Almost any sort of pasta works.
From today's LectionaryMatthew 17:1-9 17:1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 17:2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 17:3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 17:4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 17:5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 17:6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 17:7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 17:8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 17:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." Saturday, March 7. 2020Saturday morning links
Note to readers: The CDC has certified that Maggie's Farm has installed effective protections against sending COVID-19 through the internet. It's a very high-tech filter made of baling wire, duct tape, and organic, non-GMO fresh, damp cow manure which is stuffed into our internet access portal (we use a PVC pipe). We do it to keep you safe here. 'Rosie the Riveter' dies at 95: New York woman who first inspired the iconic character while working on a fighter plane assembly line during WWII passes away Girl Scouts are tough salespeople She inherited millions, and nobody knows Smart girl Quillette: A Closer Look at ‘White Fragility’ Theory Historian: I Warned The 1619 Project’s Author She Was Wrong About The Revolutionary War LI: Look for the Union Label Week in Higher Education California's Government Has Turned Homelessness Into Big Business Blockbuster Jobs Report: Feb Payrolls Soar By 273,000, Smashing Expectations, As Unemployment Rate Drops... But Does Anyone Care? Anyone Notice That Trump’s Economy Keeps Beating Expectations? MSM will not mention Schumer’s SCOTUS threat was truly unprecedented, then he made it worse Maddow Tells Warren Her Exit From Race Was ‘Death Knell’ For ‘Woman President In Our Lifetimes’ I doubt it, but is that really so important? Dem women preferred Biden. Are you suffering from Elizabeth Warren Denial Syndrome? Symptoms include seeing sexism everywhere and forgetting Tulsi is still in the race Biden Keeps Forgetting Obama’s Name While Campaigning MSM will not discuss 'It's pandemonium': virus panic-buying hits Los Angeles All of Italy’s Regions Infected with Coronavirus Insty's Corona update Friday, March 6. 2020Flu viruses, hurricanes, blizzards, oh my. Stock up on canned goods!
But humans are wired for excitement, threat responses, etc. Survival instincts. Most of us crave some degree of excitment, and will even pay money for it because life is so relatively easy. Some more than others, of course. Roller coasters, climbing Mt. Everest, etc. There's probably a Bell curve spectrum of various responses to real, perceived, or imagined threat. Some cower and hide, some rise up and resist, even irrationally, and everything in between. I like to think I am in the calm, rational, middle but I will kill you if you threaten me or my home. No regrets if that were to occur. I love blizzards. Tornadoes? No.
Friday morning linksViking skeleton’s DNA test proves she was a woman warrior Felony Arrest of 10-Year-Old for Playing With Toy Gun University of Texas orders faculty to undergo training on law that criminalizes sex jokes California’s ethnic studies proposal is incomplete and offensive Less than 2 percent of Harvard faculty are conservative, survey finds The Nigerian prince scam is still fooling people. Here’s why. A classic grift has evolved over time. Williams College suspended male student for not dating girl after kissing her: lawsuit I Went to a Socialism Conference Last Year. Consider Me Scared. 328 Chinese Nationals Caught Trying To Illegally Enter U.S. At Southern Border We’re Accumulating More Critical Information About The Coronavirus Every Day Schumer to Gorsuch and Kavanaugh: Nice Little Court Ya Got There, Hate to See Anything Happen to It … Warren Blames ‘Sexism’ For Her Failed Campaign… MSNBC’s Brian Williams reads a tweet: "Bloomberg spent $500 million on ads. U.S. Population, 327 million. He could have given each American $1 million" MSNBC’s Brian Williams, NY Times editor marvel at tweet that got Bloomberg math really wrong With Biden ascendant, it's useful to remember just how awful he is North Korea’s Ballistic Bluster May Mask Major Epidemic Thursday, March 5. 2020Thursday morning linksWhen Should You Let Your Kids Start Lifting? 10,000 steps: Not quite magical when it comes to weight Of course not. Still, better to move around a lot than to sit Female Guardian Writer: My Lack of Attraction to My Dress-Wearing Boyfriend Made Me Doubt My Liberation from the Patriarchy's Mind Control Court Considers Whether Men-Only Draft Is Constitutional The University of California-Santa Cruz has fired 54 graduate workers after they refused to turn in fall semester grades in an ongoing dispute over pay. Time to grow up, kids NY Times Knows What The Best Treatment For Coronavirus Is Sen. Mike Lee: It's time for Congress to bring accountability to intelligence community's surveillance poweR I thought they did that decades ago Former Obama-Era Cuban Prisoner Says Sanders Told Him, 'I Don't Know What's So Wrong' With Cuba NYM on politicians:
Schumer Threatens Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, “You Will Pay the Price! You Won’t Know What Hit You!” Biden: “If I Win,” Beto O’Rourke, Who Wants Mandatory Gun Confiscation, Will “Change The Face” Of Gun Control Trump's Super Tuesday results: Broad appeal beyond a united GOP Israel picks its 2020 Eurovision entry, sung in four languages (with the music vid) UN agency: Iran nearly triples stockpile of enriched uranium. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says Iran has nearly tripled its stockpile of enriched uranium since November in violation of its deal with world powers Duh. They are permitted to lie to kaffirs Wednesday, March 4. 2020Building a sturdy body: The mighty, mighty Deadlift, repostedBarbell squats and Deads are the ultimate full- body strength builders and strength-maintainers. Middle-aged+ people, male or female, ought to do some of each weekly for bone and muscle health. You can do deads with kettlelbells or trap bars, but there's nothing like the barbell. (There are lots of other good and useful lower body exercises, calisthenics etc., but just talking about sturdiness today.) My view is that it's not a good idea to do more than 25-30 total working reps of deadlifts in a day's routine. That would be maybe 5-6 working sets of 3-8 reps (not counting a warm-up set). I only do deads once weekly (and barbell squats once weekly). If you do not use a trainer, here are some thoughts about how to organize your deadlift routine: How Many Reps of Deadlifts Should I Do When I Workout And, just for fun because it's not about general fitness, you can check out where your one-rep max falls - enter male or female, age, and weight. I try one-rep maxes around 4X/year, for fun. Taking age into account, I am between intermediate and advanced, which seems good for me. I can not dead 300 lbs. I blame Isaac Newton for that because he is the guy who glued the weights to the floor.
Wednesday morning linksRemembering Freeman Dyson Do We Expect Too Much From Our Romantic Partners? A new book explores how marriage has changed in recent years, and why that’s made staying married harder. A big NH Lake Trout Yellowstone Begins Bison Captures as it Seeks to Cull Herd Art Renewal Center - Leading the Revival of Realism What about combat shotguns? Everybody Panic: Half The World’s Beaches May Possibly Perchance Disappear Video of San Francisco's no-arrest policy After He Found California's Indefinite Detention of Sex Offenders Wasn't Working, the State Shut Him Down and Destroyed His Research How Do You Measure The "Success" Of Affordable Housing? The 1619 Project’s outrageous, lying slander of Abe Lincoln China’s cases of Covid-19 are finally declining. A WHO expert explains why. As Trump wins praise for effective coronavirus response, blue cities do opposite, threatening its spread it through homelessness Kamala Harris To Endorse Biden In California Today Waiting to be Biden's VP choice Tuesday, March 3. 2020An 80 year-old BonsaiMrs. BD emailed me this cool pic from the Phila. Flower Show today:
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Tuesday morning linksWhy is there any matter in the universe at all? New Sussex study sheds light The end of the Chevy Impala Dogfight over endangered species looms over efforts to delist gray wolf Will canceling unused credit cards hurt my credit score? What the NYT’s 1619 Project aims to teach your kids The Power of Liberal Peer Condemnation on Conservatives Will Sen. Chris Murphy infect the entire US Senate with COVID-19? Iraqi TV: Coronavirus Is An American, Jewish Plot To Reduce World Population The Coronavirus Is Dramatic Enough As Is, Thank You How News Coverage Changed For The Worse Gregg Jarrett: Hillary Clinton will feign amnesia if forced to testify about her secret email server What An Ally! Turkey’s Erdogan Sets Refugee Flood On NATO Monday, March 2. 2020Medical advice to readers over age 40
Preventive medicine is expensive and, they say, not cost-effective but my life is not a statistic to me. I schedule it every 2 or 3 years. It's annoying and inconvenient, and leads to all sorts of annoying and inconvenient tests to make sure nothing (detectable) bad is going on anywhere. Do it in memory of my dear brother-in-law Uncle Bob, a very fit, skinny, strong athlete who dropped dead last year at age 59 on a treadmill. Avoided doctors for 30 years like an old-time Yankee. He would be alive today, still climbing the White Mountains, if anybody had known his cardiovascular situation. Never had any symptoms, and could run and climb like a monster. I remember our last run together on Cape Cod a couple of years ago. No way I could keep up. My own doc admitted to me that he himself had not had a thorough physical for 6 years. Whatever. He's a serious athlete and presumably knows his body. He found a lump on me (harmless lipoma) and asked me if I had noticed it. "Nope," I replied. "I am not in the habit of caressing my body." The only complaint I could come up with for him is my waking up between 1 and 2 in the morning with trouble getting back to sleep. Not to pee, just waking up with a head full of vivid memories and some sad or dark thoughts. Plus a little heartburn sometimes, especially with late suppers. He gave me some sleep meds which I have not used. Also, my darn traumatic right shoulder arthritis from sport accidents, which I do not plan to do anything about anytime soon (shoulder replacement? Not today, thank you, even though it makes handling a shotgun painful and awkward). I do whatever he tells me to do because he will fire any patient who will not. He has a waiting list for new patients, like an exclusive club. Besides the routine exam, he made me endure three separate sets of blood drawings, 2 full-body CAT scans (one with and one without contrast), Echo stress test, breathing test, Colonoscopy and Endoscopy, a Urologist consultation, and an Oncology consultation (cuz I had a sarcoma sliced out 15 years ago). That is called a thorough check-up but I put up with it all, somehow. I am healthy and strong enough (passed his strength test - deadlifts by age and weight), with below-average body fat by caliper measure. Below-average body fat feels good because "average" is pudgy. Other than well-controlled blood pressure and triglycerides, I am good for now. Readers know I have a serious daily exercise regimen for what it's worth. Could get killed by a falling crane tomorrow. What about y'all? Monday morning linksUS Flu Cases Climb to 15 Million With 54 Pediatric Deaths Recorded in 2019-20 Season Hidden news about the epidemic sweeping across America! Some students say colleges not doing enough to combat coronavirus-fueled racism. "In classes, people won't want to sit next to them. If they're coughing, everyone stares at them," a student said of his peers of Asian descent. Coronavirus Context: You’ll Be Fine, Probably One of my NYC daughters reports people walking around with masks. Sheesh. If you think Democrats and the media are politicizing coronavirus, you’re right I ain't askeered Deer dies of cancer with odd stomach contents, prompting warning from Colorado Parks & Wildlife NYC: Would anybody be putting billion dollar plus buildings in these locations if they thought there was anything to this sea level rise hype? UCLA BANS all single-use plastics Rush's medical update Republican Mega-donor Buys Stake In Twitter, Seeks To Oust Jack Dorsey – Report Is Bernie Sanders the American Version of Jeremy Corbyn? Tucker: Are we sure America won't elect a socialist? (youtube) Political Correctness In Britain? This Orwellian Madness Has Reached New Levels Of Absurdity U.S. Signs Peace Deal With Taliban After Nearly 2 Decades Of War In Afghanistan Quagmire Sunday, March 1. 2020From today's Lectionary: First Sunday in LentMatthew 4:1-11 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 4:2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 4:3 The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 4:6 saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" 4:7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 4:9 and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 4:10 Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" 4:11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Saturday, February 29. 2020Saturday morning linksAmericans Are Avoiding Corona Beer Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Survey Finds New England Journal of Medicine: Coronavirus Could Be No Worse than Flu Five Reasons You Don't Need to Panic About the COVID-19 Coronavirus How 5G promises to revolutionize farming Next After Nixing Heathrow Expansion: Forbidding New Roads Net Neutrality: LA Times Wants To Regulate Internet Like Any Other Utility National Education Association Pushes Transgendered Education in Elementary Schools HONG KONG: Two Months After Initial Reports of Coronavirus Only 93 Cases and 2 Deaths in Population of 8 Million in Hong Kong ‘NEW LEVEL OF SICKNESS’: Donald Trump Jr. Blasts Democrats For Hoping Coronavirus Crisis Hurts President The Democratic Party's Patriotism Deficit 1 in 10 Voters are Immigrants The Time-Warp Socialist - Bernie Sanders’s vision has been refuted by reality—and history. The Times was well aware when it published these statements that they were not true. Feds Back Off Jailing Michael Flynn After Stunning New Evidence That Gov't 'Lied' and 'Framed' Him Could We Really Be Facing Russia 2.0? TRUMP AGGRESSIVELY COURTING BLACK VOTES Deroy Murdock: Trump is helping black Americans make history in 2020 Massive Fire Breaks Out After Immigrant Protest Near Central Paris Train Station Saturday Verse - Robert Frost. "The life of muscles rocking soft..."Two Tramps in Mud Time Out of the mud two strangers came Good blocks of oak it was I split, The sun was warm but the wind was chill. A bluebird comes tenderly up to alight The water for which we may have to look The time when most I loved my task Out of the wood two hulking tramps Nothing on either side was said. But yield who will to their separation, Friday, February 28. 2020Salmon recipe du JourFriday morning linksReal Headline from The Crazy Years: "Doctors suspended for removing transgender man's vagina without consent" New Jersey Public Schools To Teach LGBT Ideology In Every Subject Criminalizing Dissent at UMass Amherst. 21-year-old Louis Shenker just wanted his MAGA hat back Evil College accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ after ‘mostly white’ choir sings black spirituals Idaho students demand Starbucks offer 'free' vegan milk that 'doesn't support animal abuse' It's not milk, dummies. It's just white gunk. Related, Across the country, rural communities want to secede from their states. Here's why. Americans outside of urban centers feel as though they have no voice. They want to reclaim their agency. Cuomo And The Urbanites Are Squeezing Rural New York To Death. We've reached an era where upstate counties are too emaciated to retain any meaningful representation in Albany. Shipping and virus fears The virus that challenged the world
Despite a hostile press, Trump's coronavirus press conference hit the right notes Biden, Bloomberg 'both wrong' about Trump cutting CDC, NIH funding, AP fact check says Pols lie. That is news? Thursday, February 27. 2020Thursday morning linksNGOs urge EU to tackle meat consumption 'problem' The irony behind decline of an elite liberal private school The Real Reason for Racial Achievement Gaps TRUMP DOJ WEIGHS IN AGAINST HARVARD’S DISCRIMINATION Washington Post Columnist Demands Journalists Abandon Neutrality In Trump Coverage O’Keefe Strikes Again! ‘Socialist’ ABC Reporter Admits Bosses Spike News Important to Voters, ‘Don’t Give Trump Credit’ Bloomberg Plans Massive Media Onslaught to Destroy Bernie Sanders Bloomberg catches himself from saying he "bought" House races in 2018 Bernie Sanders Hates America Brooklyn College Athletes Draw Ire For Kneeling During Israel’s National Anthem Wednesday, February 26. 2020Nikon P950Our pal in Colorado sends these: "The landscape shot shows my view from where I am standing. Look closely at a tree in the middle of the scene. Now look at the image with my lens zoomed way out into the tele range. Not bad, eh?"
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