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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Sunday, May 30. 2021Bob Dylan's 2016 Nobel LectureFor Decoration Day weekendFrom today's Lectionary: The Nicodemus storyJohn 3:1-17 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." 3:3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 3:4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 3:5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 3:9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 3:10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 3:11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 3:12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 3:17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Saturday, May 29. 2021Bob Week: Bob Dylan Best Songs Playlist for Bob Birthday weekBest, or just somebody's favorites? Regardless, all good.
Saturday morning linksPhoto: Fractal Broccoli - ever grown any? COVID-19 'has NO credible natural ancestor' and WAS created by Chinese scientists who then tried to cover their tracks with 'retro-engineering' to make it seem like it naturally arose from bats, explosive new study claims USA Today Removes ‘Male’ From Op-Ed on Trans Athletes Claiming It’s ‘Hurtful Language’… By Two-to-One Margin, Americans Say Transgender Athletes Should Compete Against Members of Same Biological Sex The Gathering Resistance to the Stigmatisation of Masculinity AVI disappointed in Jonathan Haidt Rutgers: We apologize for condemning anti-Semitism Civic Education, Rightly Understood - To become responsible citizens, young Americans need a full, accurate, and responsible account of their own country. A book: Red, White, and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers – May 18, 2021 by Robert L. Woodson Sr. (Editor) White people are inherently racist, argues diversity expert hired by elementary school district America's shortage of white supremacists Barnard College instructor discusses blowing up and gassing whites in coming race war
Saturday Verse: The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall JarrellFriday, May 28. 2021A fun bull session with Ted DalrymplePeterson talks a bit too much, but he can't help it. It's about peoples' lives
Friday morning links
A Mormon walks into a megachurch Science: The 'Replication Crisis' Could Be Worse Than We Thought, New Analysis Reveals Citing their ‘feelings,’ university theater students rail against play selection Locked and Woke: America's Largest Defense Contractor Subjects Executives to Racist Reeducation ‘White Fragility’ Is a Racist Concept The Triad of Radical Ideas Behind the Anti-Racism Crusade Question for college students: Will you chip in to help Hamas destroy Israel? SFUSD teachers’ union endorses Israel boycott movement The week in whoppers: The NYT’s anti-science ‘science’ reporter, a despicable cartoon and more The Covid lab leak theory is looking increasingly plausible How Lockdowns Helped Hide The Plain Evidence That COVID-19 Isn’t A Good Excuse For Panic Israel vs. Hamas: A Just War Analysis Gaza Reconstruction? Welcome to La-La Land. Everyone is promising to help rebuild Gaza, but if the last war is any guide, little of it will arrive and even less will be spent wisely Thursday, May 27. 2021Ry Cooder: The farmer is the man...He is the man with slide guitar. Rumor is that he was invited to join the Rolling Stones, but declined. A sentimental song, because farming is an industry now.
The Northeast US needs our wolves backWolves were exterminated in the Northeast US centuries ago. In the 1800s, the sheep farmers hated them, put bounties on them, and killed every last one. What happened to Shepherd dogs? The wolves also kept the White-Tailed Deer and Moose populations in check and healthy. An unorthodox strategy to stop cars from hitting deer As a bonus, they would kill all of those invasive Coyotes. Also: Save the wolves? Nice doggie... Thursday morning linksPredictably, Wild Horses Are Still Suffering Due to Federal Slaughter Ban Why the tailored suit — not ruffles and lace — became synonymous with power Bezos to Hand Over Amazon CEO Reins on July 5 What’s Next for Midtown? Manhattan’s central business district has been empty for a year—can it bring people back? Fred Barnes retires Beliefs Aren't Facts. Academics who hold that it is sacrilege to question their ideas are putting free inquiry in danger, argue the president of Northwestern and one of his colleagues. How influencers have legitimised anti-Semitism. Instagram activists have turned false narratives into deadly fantasies WHAT HOMELESSNESS AND CLIMATE CHANGE HAVE IN COMMON American Psychiatry Association Condemns the 'Structural Racism' Murder of George Floyd George Floyd’s Legacy Is Secure "Defund The Police": Maybe The Most Counter-Productive Progressive Policy Yet Biden Shut Down Wuhan Lab Investigation Probing COVID-19 Origins: Report Drew Holden Demands to Know When CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post Will Correct Their Prior Claims that the Lab Leak Theory Was a "Debunked Conspiracy Theory" Looks like Walensky exaggerated the results of a study used to justify the CDC's super strict summer camp rules for kids New York and Michigan Will Force 2-Year-Olds To Wear Masks at Camp. As the pandemic improves, kids are being asked to make even more sacrifices. Half of U.S. adults are now fully vaccinated, CDC says Wow. Thanks, Pres. Trump President Trump Responds to Manhattan DA Leaking Grand Jury Information to Media Biden Calls Sanctions On Russian Pipeline Nord Stream 2 ‘Counterproductive’…Keystone XL unavailable for comment. Chinese Communist Party Shelled Out Millions for Propaganda in American Newspapers Wednesday, May 26. 2021My idea of a boatThat's an olde New England Catboat, fully-refurbished with a small diesel engine, a hand-pump head, and three reefs in her sail. Not that I would sail when I needed 3 levels of reef. Watermen did in the old days, for sure, and anybody can be caught in a squall. Like most boats, Catboats were designed as work boats. Recreational boating and yachting are recent developments. I kinda love this craft despite the fact that, right now in life, I'd rather drive the tractor.
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Lower body strength: Deadlifts and SquatsBest summary I have seen on the topic. Deadlift vs Squat – Comparing Strength and Muscles Worked It is clear that it is worth doing both, but not on the same day. For what it's worth, I do back squats once weekly, deads once weekly, and leg press once weekly for lower body resistance exercises. It is difficult and slow to build lower body power with my particular physical architecture (runner's build), but I work at it. Just increasing the wts by 5 lbs/month is great.
Wednesday morning linksThank the power couple who gave NYC its newest gem of a park Solar storms are back, threatening life as we know it on Earth I blame SUVs Bob Dylan’s Eight Decades of Proving Andrew Breitbart Was Right Bicycling is white supremacy New Yorker: The Dark Side of Congo’s Cobalt Rush ‘Fast and Furious’ star John Cena apologizes (profusely) to China for calling Taiwan a country Sen. John Kennedy Has A Message For Non-Gun Owners…(video) Why don't Blacks seem to think Black Lives Matter? Re-linked, by Heather: The Revolution Comes to Juilliard. Racial hysteria is consuming the school; unchecked, it will consume the arts. The Radicalization of the University of California Press Pentagon official leading military extremism crackdown said Trump supporters are extremists Extreme? How can half of the country be extreme?? To honor George Floyd on the first anniversary of his holy martyrdom some of his acolytes decided to shoot each other Indoctrination As Intervention. The Biden administration encourages school districts to conduct “antiracist therapy.” More L.A. Parents Protest Teachers Union Shifting Re-Open Standards OLC memo to Barr: We wouldn't have charged Trump with obstruction even as a private citizen Tuesday, May 25. 2021Bob Week
Give it a try, you readers who do not usually respond to Bob.
Tuesday morning linksThe cicadas are coming — and foodies are getting ready to feast Transgender Regret Is So Prevalent That Even the Mainstream Media Is Recognizing It Now Bookworm Beat 5/23/21 — the crazy times illustrated edition Queers for Palestine? Democratic policies have created a blue-state exodus US EMBASSIES TO HONOR GEORGE FLOYD Minneapolis: A CITY’S INEXORABLE DECLINE WSJ: A Year After George Floyd’s Murder, It’s ‘Open Season’ in Minneapolis. Homicides have more than doubled in a year. Three children have been shot in the past month. Biden Admin Won’t Admit There’s a Crime Problem, ‘There Is a Gun Problem’… The Revolution Comes to Juilliard. Racial hysteria is consuming the school; unchecked, it will consume the arts. ROCKIN’ PNEUMONIA OR THE WUHAN FLU? Canada: Ticketed for Shaking Hands Liz Wheeler Debunks Gender Pay Gap (video)
Learn From Gaza, Prepare For Hezbollah. If you thought the recently concluded Gaza conflict was bad, a war with Lebanese Hezbollah would be much worse, involving 100,000 more rockets, many with longer ranges. Eyeless in Gaza - Do I support a Palestinian state run by a fundamentalist terror cult that targets civilians? No, I don’t. 10 takeaways from the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas. If sending Israelis in and out of bomb shelters for nearly two weeks is a victory for Palestinian factions, so be it. Israelis came out virtually unscathed. Yet many serious challenges lie ahead. The End of the Illusion That Anti-Zionism Is Not Connected To Jew-Hatred Monday, May 24. 2021A birthday boyHappy Birthday, Bob, with many happy returns. Bob Dylan turns 80 today. Listen to the nice song there, with The Band, written for one or all of his kids. Also, a good appreciation of Bob. Monday morning linksRemember when leftists were obsessed with self-esteem? Woke Karens: We Won't Take Our Masks Off, Ever. CDC Changes Test Thresholds To Virtually Eliminate New COVID Cases Among Vaxx'd CDC Director Finally Admits That COVID Cases Were Over-Counted In Hospitals Just Like President Trump Said Last Summer Fauci Admits COVID May Have Been Man-Made — ADMITS TO FUNDING CHINESE LABS! Mortality From Drug Overdoses, Homicides, Unintentional Injuries, Motor Vehicle Crashes, and Suicides During the Pandemic, March-August 2020 San Francisco Teachers’ Unions Are the Ultimate Grifters It’s official: New York’s prospective teachers will no longer have to pass controversial literacy exam NY prep school students sent to "porn literacy" training Can America Be America When Jews Are Beaten in the Streets? As Pogromists Activate, Chuck Schumer Cowers The Democrats’ Scientific Racism NYC principal under fire for email imploring staff to support Palestinians Hamas’s forever war against Israel has a glitch, and it isn’t Iron Dome. Why Hamas promises another war soon, and another and another. And why it won’t work Sunday, May 23. 2021Full of mostly-migratory Warblers, for Bird Nerds only
This stream valley is a first-growth woodlands, plenty of underbrush (Shadbush, wild azalea, Mountain Laurel, etc.) and some small swamps full of swamp critters. A few pasture giant trees still standing. Probably was pasture 70 years ago, with woodlots on the slopes. Instead of cattle tramping through the stream, it's back to nature with otters, beaver, and a new forest. Warbler migration time in May is big fun for birders. One reason is because they are in breeding plumage. Another is because they pass through in great waves, unlike fall migration back to South and Central America. A third reason, I guess, is because all of our other passerine migrants arrive at the same time as the warblers. My goal would be to ID warblers by their song instead of trying to catch them by binoculars. They flit through the new leaves so frenetically, and some are so high, that it's just annoying. They have moved by the time you get the binocs up. If I could memorize most of their tunes (and all other passerines), I'd consider that a huge life accomplishment. I could walk through a place like a blind person, still "seeing" everything. As I have said, the most warbler species I have ever seen in one day (24) was in NYC's Central Park in a May some years ago. Here's a sample of what birders do in May, on the US Central Flyway in Ohio -
Fireflies and human mate selection
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Pentecost: From today's LectionaryActs 2:1-21 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2:2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 2:3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 2:5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 2:6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 2:7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 2:11 Cretans and Arabs--in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." 2:12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" 2:13 But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine." 2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 2:15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. 2:16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 2:17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 2:18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 2:19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. 2:21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Beavers have been busyTrout stream, yesterday
Saturday, May 22. 2021Soft-shelled CrabsOne of the tastiest salt-water critters of the eastern half of the US coast is the Blue Crab. When they moult (to grow) they are soft-shelled. Much as I love real Maryland crab cakes (all crab, no bread crumbs etc), my favorite is a sauteed soft-shell. You eat the entire juicy thing, feathers and all. The are alive and kicking at the fish market, but Mrs. BD has them kill them by cutting off their faces before she takes them home. A New England (and Maryland) classic is a soft-shelled crab sandwich. Way better than any Lobster Roll. Gone fishin'None of our carefully curated, artisanal, all-organic and gluten-free links this morning. Of course readers may enter interesting links in the comments.
Friday, May 21. 2021A few Friday bonus linksPhoto: Tabletop Mountain, Colorado, this week Do airport scanners detect drugs? Thank God for Big Pharma The University of California Berkeley has a budget allocation of $25 million for its Division of Equity and Inclusion. What education do they do? "That was very offensive to me. I’m not putting in myself, my hard work, his hard work, for you to tell me that he’s at second-grade reading." Climate Cult Now Considers Suburbs Unsustainable Epoch Times is balanced They are good The UK: It’s alright for some. The poorest will pay the highest price for Net Zero fantasies Chicago’s last Republican mayor left office in 1931. In April, Border Patrol reported more than 170,000 border crossers. Over 13,000 of those were unaccompanied minors. There is no end in sight and despite what the Biden administration says, the border is not closed or secure. How Europe Became Pro-Israel The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel seems to have taken effect overnight, but Iran’s war on Israel and the United States continues on many fronts.
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