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, December 16. 2022Friday morning linksIt's Time to Rehabilitate 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' Not just light: Everything is a wave, including you After a 15-year decline, more colleges have become hostile to free speech WILL ANYONE PAY A PRICE FOR SUPPRESSING FREEDOM OF SPEECH? We should be so lucky as to have robber barons again. At Canada’s National Gallery, Ideological Enforcers Are Pushing Out Veteran Curators The Detroit school board voted to remove Dr. Ben Carson's name from the Benjamin Carson High School of Science & Medicine. My take: fusion "breakthrough" a total dud Germany Experiences Coldest Winter in a Decade as Energy Crisis Worsens Thursday, December 15. 2022Thursday morning linksScholars work at ‘Decolonizing Light’ to combat ‘colonialism in contemporary physics’ Puberty Blockers Were Never Reversible Or Temporary Dictionary redefining ‘man’ and ‘woman’ is what happens when you reject reality for one group’s fantasy Finally, The Gibson’s Bakery Family Has Been Paid By Oberlin College Salt Lake City Faces Toxic Dust Storms Amid Declining Water Levels Third graders struggling the most to recover in reading after the pandemic Twitter Broke Its Own Rules To Ban Trump While Keeping World Leaders Who "Incited Violence" Voters, 2-1, say ‘amnesty’ makes illegal immigration ‘worse’ Biden Completely Falls Apart in Battle With Teleprompter in Front of African Leaders Putin’s Troops And Tanks Are Dying In Ukraine U.S. cable warns of major barriers to tracking Ukraine aid. The State Department cable surfaces amid growing calls for strict oversight of the money and weapons flowing to Ukraine. Wednesday, December 14. 2022Levon Helm - the documentaryWednesday morning linksThe Lost History of Cat Domestication Can Finally Be Told Scientists Super Enthused Over Nuclear Fusion, Drag Climate Cult Beliefs Into Concern Scientists have made a breakthrough in fusion — but don’t get carried away Real Life Does Not Fit The Narrative. This past summer, I threw my phone in a drawer and headed for the mountains of Montana. That's true. It's also a metaphor.
NYC recommends wearing masks outside Pete Bootiejudge Wants You to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, But Personally Takes Taxpayer-Provided Private Jets For His Many, Many Pointless Travel Opportunities Parents of Bankman-Fried, Professors, Face Scrutiny Tuesday, December 13. 2022Thorlos cold weather hiking socks
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Tuesday morning linksIs she marriage material? SEC Files Separate Charges Against FTX CEO SBF For "Massive Years Long Fraud" This is what it takes for Los Angeles to clear a homeless encampment We have the Lockerbie bombmaker in U.S. custody "Homeless" is a misnomer Sam Brinton's thefts Netherlands to close up to 3,000 farms to comply with EU rules Washington Post Retracts Op-Ed Lamenting the Lack of Black Players on Argentina’s National Soccer Team After Being Lambasted by Argentines Monday, December 12. 2022Monday morning linksFusion breakthrough? Greenland Study Shows Country Was Warmer and More Lush Two Million Years Ago Times Change, Principles Endure. Bill Bennett’s Book of Virtues at 30 Can This Man Stop Lying? LA Brings Mask Mandates Back As Cult Begins Locking Down Again Candadian media Bari Weiss: The State of the Black-Jewish Relationship in America ‘False’: Elon Musk slaps Adam Schiff’s hate speech claims with an inconvenient fact ‘Great Barrington Declaration’ Co-Author Dr. Jay Bhattacharya Invited to Twitter Headquarters to Review Twitter’s Internal Slack Messages Regarding Content Modulation Democrats demanding censorship Cooking the Books: Why Republicans Always Come up Short Russians Mock Biden For Leaving Behind a “Hero, a Decorated Marine” For “a Black Lesbian Hooked On Drugs”… Sunday, December 11. 2022Sunday music: RodalindaProbably Handel's most compelling opera (1725). Yeah, he was the guy who brought Italian opera to England - and they loved it. I dislike the sets and dress in this performance, but I appreciate the subtitles. I am going through an intense Baroque phase.
Christmas Cards
Photo is an old pic of the BD homestead. We feel that these cards are important links with people in our lives today, and with people who have been important in our past. The photos are fun to look at. Many send email cards. I do not like that very much. We lapsed in this tradtion the last year or two, for various reasons. Shame on us. I have the task of updating. Deaths and births, and new pals that matter to me or the Mrs. The deaths and lost people are the worst parts of it. Going through the old cards, I found the last card from Mrs' uncle, the Archbishop, who died since. Great guy. Some have retired. Why? Another challenge is keeping track of all the people who have moved - often to Florida but some to Maine or California or Cape Cod. I prefer to stay put, where my life has been built. I wish I could put all of these beloved people in one great room, for a day or more.
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From today's Lectionary:Isaiah 35:1-10 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus 35:2 it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. 35:3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 35:4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you." 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 35:6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 35:7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 35:8 A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. 35:9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Saturday, December 10. 2022Saturday morning links
Common Sense Is Now The Free Press Bob Dylan’s ‘Time Out of Mind’ Focus of Latest Bootleg Series. Fragments, due out Jan. 27, features a freshly remixed version of the 1997 Album of the Year Grammy-winning classic as well as unreleased recordings, outtakes, live recordings and more from the era CPS: Mom Can’t Let Her 3 Kids—Ages 6, 8, and 9—Play Outside by Themselves. Shoplifting Drives Up Prices at Walmart Law professor sues to stop New York’s regulation of ‘hateful conduct’ speech Looking For The Official Party Line On Energy Storage Biden handing $36 BILLION to Teamsters pension fund Biden Puts American Lives at Risk For Pothead WNBA Player. Biden swaps terrorist arms dealer for America hating WNBA player. Latest Media Attack on Ron DeSantis: He’s ‘Not a Fun and Convivial Dude’. “To sum up: DeSantis is not a fun and convivial dude. He prefers to keep his earbuds in. His ‘Step away from the vehicle’ vibes are strong.” – former NY Times “reporter” Mark Leibovich, writing in The Atlantic. Friday, December 9. 2022The Only 8 Exercises Men Need to Get LeanThat is false advertising. As we often assert, the only way to be lean is through appropriate nutrition. Improving strength, agility, endurance, etc. require putting in serious exertion which, it seems, most people do not have the heart for. It is not fun. Yes, many Americans eat too much. "Healthy" or not, just too much of it. I think that I have confessed in the past that the real reasons I appear so disciplined with daily early AM workouts are 1: to get my head in a good place for the day, 2: to fend off age and loss of function, and 3: to not look like I am over the hill. I am fortunate in a way that food is not a big mptivator for me. I like fine food but it doesn't do much for my soul. Still, these are excellent strength workouts for men, women, and all of the other "genders". I prefer pull-ups to pull-downs, even if assisted, but that's just my preference.
Friday morning linksNYT: Tim Keller on forgiveness A puppy escaped from his collar in New York City. He swam across the Hudson River and ended up in New Jersey. Cleveland State cancels Justice John Marshall from law school name Rachel Levine Enlists Doctors as Evangelists to Preach the Gospel of Transgenderism Yes, it is grooming Sick in Canada? Just Kill Yourself - How a country's totalitarian odyssey evolved into a dystopian hellscape. The Lying Media Told Me Not To Watch Netflix’s ‘Ancient Apocalypse,’ So I Did It's science fiction. Why not? Elon Musk's second installment of 'Twitter Files' reveals 'secret blacklists,' Bari Weiss reports Right Wacks Off, Goes Blind Haha Thursday, December 8. 2022Thursday morning linksAaron Judge Signs 9 Year $360M Contract with Yankees Teacher refuses to teach grammar, claiming it is part of white supremacy The Brains of Teenagers Look Disturbingly Different After Lockdown EU Threatens to Shut Down Twitter as Musk Eases Censorship Rules Are We Living in a ‘Post-Truth’ Society? ACLU Threatens To Sue Hospital If It Doesn’t Perform Transgender Surgeries… The Hijacking of Pediatric Medicine. The American Academy of Pediatrics claims to support the health of all children. Many doctors are appalled by its prescriptions. Our Lying Idiot Media Really Is That Dumb East Wall and the Plantations: Ireland and Its New Migrants. Recent protests in Dublin reveal a government indifferent to Irish history and people. Trump's losing Senate record Wednesday, December 7. 2022Not Christmas booksI've read all of Cormac McCarthy's books. Yes, they can be kinda dark but fascinating.
Christmas treesThe Science of Christmas Trees:
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Wednesday morning linksHonor those killed at Pearl Harbor, pleads USS Arizona survivor Streetlights in a bunch of major cities are turning purple. Is it just a fluke? Did COVID lockdowns accomplish anything? I ignored them San Francisco's Tenderloin Center closes - did it do any good? Over the last eleven years, electric vehicles in the US have saved Two. Days. Worth. Of. Gasoline. FTX Crypto Fraudsters Targeted Poor Black Neighborhoods In PR-Lobbying Effort. Father of FTX CEO, Stanford Professor Joseph Bankman, oversaw intertwined philanthropic and regulatory efforts The Moral Vanity of Sam Bankman-Fried. The FTX founder has given effective altruism a bad name. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Med school ‘stigmatized white people’ during all-day DEI ‘retreat’: report New York Democrats Push for Reparations Congress’s Media Cartels Tuesday, December 6. 2022Tuesday morning linksTHOUGHT FOR THE DAY: SCRUTON ON FOUCAULT Kinless seniors ‘Human Composting’ Promoted in New York Times Too toxic, isn't it? ACLU against freedom At Last, Mainstream Journalists Are Starting to Report the Truth About Youth Gender Clinics New York’s new online ‘hate speech’ law is dumb and dangerous Anti-racism means not being good at things? EVERY NPR STORY YOU’VE EVER HEARD TRUMP IS FINISHED France Bans Short-Haul Domestic Flights... Because 'Climate Change' Monday, December 5. 2022Monday morning linksReviewer not impressed by Dylan's new book Eternal Youth and Living Death - Pop-culture has never seen anything like this! WSJ: The Power of Mattering at Work. For employees, knowing that they are valued can be key to job satisfaction and mental health Global Warming? Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover At 56-Year High Former executive at Twitter deems witty satire ‘dangerous’ MSM Journos Have Meltdown Over Taibbi-Twitter Biden Bombshell Twitter Was Permanently Censoring Users At The Request Of The DNC And Biden Campaign… California all set to pony up reparations and...HOW much was that again? Hillary Clinton Says Saving Unborn Babies from Abortion Is Like…Terrorists Killing, Raping Women Finnish PM Says Ukraine Shows That Europe Isn't Strong Enough Without the U.S. Sunday, December 4. 2022From today's Lectionary:Matthew 3:1-12 3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." 3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" 3:4 Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 3:5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 3:6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 3:8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 3:9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 3:10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Saturday, December 3. 2022Visit to AvignonAt the end of October, we spent two nights in Avignon before heading up to the Luberon for our hiking. It's about an hour or more north of Marseilles. The old town is comfortable, easily walkable. We went to the two necessary sights - the medieval Pont D'Avignon (half of it remains) and the Papal Palace - sheesh, what crazy papal conflicts went on in the 14th C. Not much to see, just an old town to hang out in and tramp around in and to get lost in. Tracked 21,000 easy steps in the day when we checked. Have a beer in a cafe and watch the people. I've seen enuf cool castles, cathedrals, and palaces in my life. Nice boutiques according to Mrs. BD, but no big name brands. Yes, she bought a couple of unique things. I have been trained to stay outside a shop, blending into the woodwork and maybe sneaking a cigarettelike a real European. Yeah, I had to buy a linen polo shirt for myself because the weather prediction said cooler than it all turned out to be. Like so many famous medieval old towns in France and Italy, outside the walls are modern suburbs with big box stores, mass housing, auto repair shops and car dealerships, Burger King, and all of the things non-tourists want and need. The Old Towns are mostly for tourists and students. Avignon has been a destination for Brits for centuries and has some very Brit shops and cafes. View from the Pont D'Avignon over the Rhone. They have a nice clean bathroom at the entrance to the bridge. Without the ancient song, who would have known or cared about that bridge? A few more pics below the fold -
Continue reading "Visit to Avignon" Saturday morning linksThirteen Lives: Ron Howard On Directing The Thai Cave Drama (video) A vision of a colonial-era country mansion inside an East Side apartment lobby The Elites’ War On Food Dark Patterns Past, Present, and Future - The evolution of tricky user interfaces The Confession of Sam Bankman-Fried. The fallen crypto titan admits it all, but is he conning himself? WSJ: Psychos in the C-Suite - While they don’t seem to feel shame, they are preoccupied with being thought of as highly moral. Teachers Continue to Groom Small Children The Ministry of Truth was far more sinister than we were told The Freak-Out Begins After Elon Musk Drops Explosive Hunter Biden Files Lavrov Announces Russia, China Are Stepping Up Military Cooperation Friday, December 2. 2022Friday morning links
Did Monet invent Impressionsm with one picture? Man Slips Into Deep Depression After Finishing Last Of Thanksgiving Leftovers Fuck David Mamet - America’s most daring and insightful playwright tried to warn us that we were going haywire. By making him a hate object, American theater has made us all poorer. Transgender medical care is unethical pseudoscience Students have no right not to be offended TGIF: Protest Edition - A week of opposition to the CCP, eating bugs, the University of California, railroad workers, Shopify, and euphoria. Plus: does Elon Musk already have the brain chip? Big law firm is ‘Big Brother,’ firing a partner for supporting the Dobbs decision Martha MacCallum Leaves John Kirby Stuttering Over Differing Treatment of Twitter and Apple High School Student Violently Attacks English Teacher Reportedly After Poor Classroom Evaluation A highly civilized society is extremely difficult to create, but it is very easy to lose. Democrats: Get your freaking cities under control Spectator: The Europeans are complaining, again. They’re annoyed that American companies are making money defending them Haiti is (still) falling apart United Nations Adopts Resolution Calling Israel's Founding a 'Catastrophe' Swiss look to ban use of electric cars over the winter to save energy Germany: Adventures in Central Planning: Electric Vehicles and Energy Costs Thursday, December 1. 2022A winter warning: 25,000 chimney fires/year (re-posted)And those are just the ones that were reported. I am reposting this because I had a chimney fire yesterday morning, shortly after our men's Bible study group left my study. This has been my second chimney fire here. Fortunately, I am not too far from the firehouse. I had this flue cleaned last winter, and my sweep was scheduled to come again next week. (I use my fireplace daily.) I climbed a ladder and sprayed the top of the chimney with a lawn hose. Seemed to work. If you use a fireplace regularly, you need a chimney sweep. In the past 20 years, we have had two chimney fires here, and one at the Farm. It's not a joke. Spring and summer are the cheapest times to get it done. Addendum: What burned down Parliament?
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Thursday morning linksEU Threatens Musk With Twitter Ban Over Content Moderation Into the Paddy Wagon: Ireland Imposing Up to 5-Year Prison Term for 'Hate Speech' Elon Musk Was Right About “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” BLM Narrative – “The Whole Thing Was A Fiction” Taibbi: Be it Resolved: Don't Trust Mainstream Media Bachelor’s degrees have become optional for more jobs across industries Liberal media say we should stop covering crime, because it’s hurting Dems EUROPE’S DOWNWARD ENERGY SPIRAL
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