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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Monday, May 3. 2021Monday morning linksSeahorse Spotted In The Hudson River, Marking Yet Another Hopeful Sign Of Spring Stomach-churning pedestrian bridge opens in Portugal EU Pushes Plan To Revive Tourism By Opening Borders To Vaccinated Travelers 15 Things That Were Made For Poor People That Rich People Ruined Quillette: When Men Behave Badly—A Review WSJ: The Man They Couldn’t Cancel - Mobs have targeted Jordan Peterson, but he hasn’t lost his university job and his publishers have stuck by him. What’s his secret? California to grant early release to violent, repeat felons Guilty Until Proven Innocent: The Devastating Impact of the Pre-2020 Title IX Regulations on College Students Accused of Title IX Violations The Left Continues to Destroy Itself and Others With Evidence-Free Destruction of Reputations. Equating accusations with proven fact is reckless and repressive. It is also standard behavior in liberal politics, whereby they ruin lives without a second thought. DeBlasio Begins Calling NYC Workers Back To Offices, Lots Of Them Aren’t Happy About It… Beijing tops NYC in number of billionaires on latest Forbes list The Never-ending Hunt for a Trump Crime Sunday, May 2. 2021Good hike, good lunch, great companionship
Minimal bouldering, just up and down hills. I prefer bouldering and so does Bulldog, but not everybody does. I love uphill bouldering, but downhill is a bitch. Funny thing about group hiking and bouldering is that the group speads out, whether by fitness level or by conversation or nature-looking. Every once is a while, you need to reassemble for mapping, water, and a granola bar. Afterwards, a late (3 pm) group brunch at Mohonk. You deserve a couple of beers. It's a 4th generation Bird Dog family getaway place, and Bob always loved it there. Typical boulder field up there. Scramble up! It's good fun. Next time, one of our famous urban death march hikes in NYC
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Clear-Cutting and Forests in the US (reposted)
Some links might be obsolete. Before I dig a little into this topic, a perspective and a few definitions. Every Eastern gardener knows well how much nature wants to turn your garden into a grassy weed-patch, then into a woodland. Humans force nature to obey with great difficulty. Everyone who sanctimoniously bemoans deforestation in South America and Africa should first look out their window to see one's local deforestation.
Our Great Plains, it is believed, were at least partly the result of Indian burning practices and wildfire. And the Scottish moors? Much is the result of deforestation too, but they are beginning to re-plant. Permanent deforestation is definitely a bad thing from a conservation standpoint, but often not from a human economic standpoint. Manhattan Island is now pretty nice without the forest.
Clear-cutting, as opposed to selective logging, involves cutting almost every tree down in an area, with the intention that things will grow back. It is an efficient form of silviculture because, when the woods grow back whether re-planted or just re-seeded by Nature - most of the new trees will be ready for harvest at the same time. Unlike deforestation and selective harvesting, clear-cutting restarts the clock of natural forest succession, just as does forest fire or severe wind damage. Fire is a key to woodland health and diversity: we see the unhappy consequences of fire suppression in the West, with apocalyptic fires due to fallen dead trees rather than routine smaller fires which efficiently recycle forest litter. In an era of unnatural and probably foolish fire suppression by government (essentially a subsidization of the lumber industry and the vacation-home real estate business), only clear-cutting can imitate the normal cycle of forest succession and renewal, habitat diversity, and thus the species diversity, that conservationists seek.
(An aside on the subject of forest succession. This much-studied topic is difficult to discuss in any general way, because every habitat, region, latitude, altitude and soil has its own pattern of forest succession following disturbance. There are even areas where the normal climax forest is never achieved, as in some areas of the South where fire maintains fire-resistant pine forest in areas where deciduous trees would otherwise be the climax forest. Each stage of forest succession has specialized species which are adapted to it - and to it only. One example, from Ohio. I will need to do a piece just on the subject of forest succession, sometime.) Which brings me to the subject of environmental concerns. I think of environmentalists as being of either the sentimental-esthetic sorts, the politically-motivated sorts, and the hard-nosed scientific sorts. This might be an unfair depiction, but I think it holds up much of the time. Mature forests are wonderfully attractive to the human eye, but, in most US ecosystems they have little biodiversity and support fewer species of plants and animals than transitional woodlands or woodland edges. Also attractive are lovely rolling green meadows, but they are about as natural as lawns, and it requires plenty of gasoline and machinery to maintain that unnaturally scenic, clean-cut condition. The controversy, it seems to me, derives from the emotional, not the factual. It's my conclusion that clear-cutting, judiciously applied, preserving contiguous areas of mature forest and without destroying streams with erosion, best duplicates the natural condition of the life cycle of woodlands, which, in nature, are always a work in progress and never complete. Nature is a dynamic, changing thing, but the human infestation of the planet begs for thoughtful stewardship, and sometimes that means compensating for our actions: it's our big garden, now.
Photo on top: An example of deforestation in the form of a Vermont hayfield Photo below: Smokey the Bear, Capitalist Tool in the service of the lumber industry! From today's Lectionary1 John 4:7-21 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 4:9 God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 4:11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 4:12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 4:13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 4:15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 4:16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 4:17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 4:20 Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 4:21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. Saturday, May 1. 2021Rick Stein eats his way through Sardinia and Sicily
Sicilian food traditions (a crazy mix of Arab, Greek, French, Spanish, etc) have lots of lemons, blood oranges, raisins, capers, pistachios, mint, eggplant, couscous, fennel, bottarga, and of course fresh seafood. Also, piglet. Also, especially, grilled octopus. Re the cingihale stew - no, Romans never made that. They did not have potatoes until after Columbus. And the chef who puts porcini with vongole? What? No. Procini are one of my favorite flavors, but with seafood? Re the Mafia in Sicily - forget about it. They are a shadow government and they prevent crime in their own ways. It is a non-issue unless you have a business there.
Saturday BobPeco's Blues, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Outtakes from 1974. An old friend who worked on the set of that movie asked somebody who that wierd-looking scruffy guy under that tree with a guitar. Answer, Oh, that's just Bob.
Saturday morning linksA Handy Guide To Translating Your Wife's Facial Expressions Rock Rebels Who Aged Well A Record 34% Of All Household Income In The US Now Comes From The Government Has Climate Change Become a Tool of Social Control? The Monster Is in the Classroom. Schools indoctrinate children as young as eight in race and gender essentialism. HOW TO THWART THE BIDEN CRT/ACTION CIVICS POWER PLAY “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” "A senior judge has ruled it is lawful for carers in specific circumstances to help clients find and pay for sex." More Drug Overdose Deaths Than COVID-19 Casualties Reported In San Francisco Last Year America, It’s Time to Unmask Biden: It's a "patriotic responsibility" for vaccinated people to keep wearing masks What? 100 Days from America First to America Last: GM Joins Ford and Moves Automotive Plant to Mexico to Escape Biden Taxes Hating white people It is in fashion SMITH: ‘the left is thirsting for a drop—an ounce —of racist hate crimes’ Needle in a haystack Leftists proclaim kids and pets are bad for the environment Biden Labor Secretary Backs Uber/Lyft Ban Joe Loses His Face Mask, Nurse Jill Comes on Stage, Helps in Frantic Search, Then Finds It in HIS POCKET! Happened to me, too India and COVID Seen the videos of villagers chasing away the vaccine teams? Many people there are afraid of vaccines. Saturday Verse: Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1899)God's Grandeur (1877) The world is charged with the grandeur of God. And for all this, nature is never spent; Friday, April 30. 2021How to pick a kayak
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Why the early morning Robins' song suddenly stopped this weekAround here, anyway. It means they have laid their eggs, and do not wish to advertise their presence. It's not just Robins, it's all of the songbirds. All the same, for the next several weeks the crows will be swooping everywhere to steal the songbirds' eggs and nestlings. They know how to find them. In other breaking news, our wrens are back this morning. Welcome home, little friends. Have not seen a warbler yet but our trees have not leafed out yet -still just tree flowers. Not ornamental, just yellowish tree blossoms spewing pollen. Friday morning linksOne Billion 'Franken-Squitoes' Set To Be Released In Florida Keys Cool experiment. It's not to get rid of mosquitoes, just to reduce numbers of one species Christian Pastor Arrested In UK For Saying Marriage Is Between A Man And A Woman Let the barbarians cancel whoever they like. Poor young Americans are now expected to uphold woke standards on their way to becoming total simpletons Reading and arithmetic are too white VDH: American Universities Have Lost Their Prestige More VDH: How Much Ruin Do We Have Left? A Minority Group Triumphs. Liberals Are Upset. Rose McGowan calls the Democrats a ‘cult,’ says people should evaluate their beliefs True, but I don't take advice from celebs In the US, COVID hospitalizations are crashing Vaccinations are plateauing. Don’t blame it on ‘resistance’ Joy Behar Says She Doesn’t Think A Black Man Understands What Racism Really Is Like In America… Thursday, April 29. 2021Fresh pastaI learned from one of those Italian cuisine Youtubes that "fresh" pasta, ie still not fully dried and packaged, is a waste of money. The comment was that "You're paying extra prices just for the water weight." Not a big fan of pasta, really, because it feels like filling, empty calories to me. Sure, rare exceptions like when in Italy. Come to think of it, though, I do eat Thai noodles about monthly in noodle soup or Pad Thai, so there's that. The point remains, though, that pastas were invented for food storage, carb storage like dried beans. They are made to be dried. Sheesh, years ago Mrs. BD and I made fresh homemade lasagna with a pasta machine. Worth doing it once to see what it's like, but after that a waste of time.
Thursday morning linksWhy haven't we seen a dramatic drop in COVID-19 cases yet? Fauci still not ready to say it's okay for kids to be outside without masks Elites and New York’s Future - Influential citizens rallied to the city’s rescue in the 1970s, but it’s not clear that we will see a repeat What Is Systemic Racism? John McWhorter, Lara Bazelon, Glenn Loury, Kmele Foster, Chloé Valdary and Kenny Xu weigh in. Joe Biden Proposes Crippling Taxes, Strangling Regulations, and Completely Unsecure Elections in Prime-Time Speech 5 Things to Know About Joe Biden's Address to Congress Bezos-Owned Washington Post To Stop Keeping Track of Biden’s Lies CNN Laughs, Accuses Sen. Tim Scott of Tokenism, an Uncle Tom for GOP Here is Sen. Scott's rebuttal How much immigration do Americans want? Spy chiefs look to declassify intel after rare plea from 4-star commanders. Top military leaders said the U.S. is falling behind China and Russia in the information war. On Point: Reviving Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal Means War, Not Peace Wednesday, April 28. 2021Wednesday morning links12 Ways To Help Your Wife Around The House Without Putting In Too Much Effort The Mystery Of Why Human Feet Keep Washing Ashore In The US And Canada Has Been Solved Masking for the vaccinated as a symbol of ‘solidarity’ is downright dumb So congrats to everyone on now having CDC approval for behaving the same way you’ve been behaving for a year outdoors. More on Climate Change Hysteria Epicurious Will No Longer Publish Recipes With Beef To Stop The Climate Emergency 77% support requiring photo ID for voting Who uses the term "Latinx"? IRS Data Shows Democrats Are Now The Party Of The Rich MacDonald: How “Black Lives Matter” Kills Black Americans Biden Set To Unveil $1.8 Trillion Expansion Of American "Social Safety Net" Twenty retired French generals call for military rule in the country if President Macron cannot halt society's 'disintegration' caused by Islamists— sparking political uproar ahead of elections Tuesday, April 27. 2021Cucina PoveraTwo greedy guys reviist the poverty food of the Campagna region of southern Italy. Their enjoyment of food and life is delightful. Eating fresh lemons from the tree? It's great. I do that, but not from the tree. Slice up a lemon and eat the slices, peel and all.
The World’s Oldest-Known Wild BirdTuesday morning linksSurvey: We Keep Raising the Age That Children Are Allowed To Play Outside. No freedom for kids until they're 11. We used to have an 11 year-old babysitter Myron Magnet: Defounding America - On the erosion of American freedoms. Deserves a separate post Civic Education Should Unite Americans, Not Divide Us Law professor may be fired after personal blog post criticized Chinese government What? Everybody criticizes the CCP. Is School Policy for Transgender Student Bathroom Use Discriminatory Under Title IX? Sheesh. Is this real? Supreme Court considers whether students can be punished for comments outside class No - just punish them for anything and everything they say on campus. Again, is this for real? Gravity is Cancelled: Professors at Sheffield University Want Disclaimers on Isaac Newton’s Theories for ‘Eurocentric’ and ‘White Savior’ Science Newton's secret scheme finally exposed Syracuse course questions whether academia should stop teaching Shakespeare. Syracuse University is offering a course in the English Department this Fall, entitled “Why Shakespeare? Race in the Academy.” Shakespeare's secret scheme finally exposed Whites Aren't Hated for Slavery but for Making America and the West White people are not hated. It's just in-fashion posturing. A Mom’s Research (Part 4): Why Are Many Elites Leftists? A good question. Maybe because they are superior to rubes like me. How Equity Pulls People Down Rather Than Lifting Anyone Up. With real Equity, I'd be teaching Astrophysics at Oxford Biden's Stimulus Checks "Wreck Labor Pool" As People Get Paid To Stay Home Shamelessly? Portland Mayor finally notices people have been burning down his city Progressive Policy Means Crime without Punishment and Chaos with Anarchy. Used to be let them eat cake, now it’s let them stab each other When police shoot white people, it's not news Police shoot lots of white people JOE BIDEN’S ANTI-AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY Why Iran Negotiations Will Go Nowhere Biden's Betrayal of Afghanistan Afghanistan is not a nation. It's just a place Monday, April 26. 2021Bird migrationMonday morning linksEarth Day 2021: celebrate abundant sea ice habitat for polar bear feeding and mating Deeper And Deeper Into "Climate" Fantasy WHY WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE Germany and France still having COVID issues. But why? Boston employers also unable to compete with enhanced unemployment checks De Blasio may finally understand NYC’s crime crisis — but still won’t get serious about it Democrat Portland Mayor ‘Done’ With ‘Anarchist Mob,’ Begs Public To Help ‘Unmask’ Rioters Los Angeles mayor: On second thought, we need more money for police Grade Inflation Is Ruining Education Virginia Dept Of Education To Drop All AP Math Classes Because Minorities Are Underrepresented… Rutgers students provided with 'trigger' warnings in Classics and history courses. A Rutgers professor is using trigger warnings for his courses involving uncomfortable realities of Greek and Roman history. Commentary: The Crusade to ‘Mitigate the Projected Whitening’ of Schools Tucker Carlson is saving journalism Bill Maher’s Audience Cheers As He Trashes Young People With Far-Left Views: ‘Your Ideas Are Stupid’ NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson Blasts Democrats For Opposing Election Integrity Measures. “The notion that people must be protected from a free ID to secure their votes is not just insane—it is insulting” "Biden Is An Idiot" - Fmr Police Officer Blasts Democrats For "Riding The Wave Of Dead Black People" Smarter-Than-You NYT Award-Winning Columnist Says Antifa and BLM Riots Were a Right-Wing Fever Dream Henry Kissinger on the political consequences of the pandemic, China's rise, and the future of the European Union Sunday, April 25. 2021From today's LectionaryPsalm 23 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 23:3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. Saturday, April 24. 2021Reptile du Jour: Ribbon SnakeRibbon Snakes are long (up to 30 inches), skinny members of the Garter Snake family, found across the Eastern half of the US. We saw one slithering along a pond edge in New England two weeks ago. They like to hunt near water and marshes for bugs, tadpoles, etc., but I've seen them sunning on woodpiles a ways from ponds. Seen one? Saturday morning links"Agricultural Disaster" - Frost Blast Decimates French Vineyards, May Slash Total Wine Output By Third US President Joe Biden to 'propose hiking tax on rich' A tax on hiking? John Kerry Implies Net-Zero Emissions Goal Not Good Enough, Says We Need To ‘Get Carbon Dioxide Out Of The Atmosphere’ New York City, Which Survives On Fossil Fuels, Sues Fossil Fuels Companies Progressives Have Gotten a Lot of What They Want in 2021—So Why Are They Still So Miserable? Wokeness Reaches The Final Frontier: NASA Shifts Focus To Space 'Diversity' The Toxicity of the Permanent Outrage Mentality Corporate Media And Other Race-Baiters Have Incited More Violence Than Trump Ever Did Why do white people hate Mother Earth? AOC, Sierra Club expose real causes of climate change Saturday Verse: Vladimir NabokovRevolution (2005) I found a lengthy word with a non-Russian ending, That word contained the writhing of mysterious passions: the sinuous streets, the evil-auguring constructions, And, once upon a time, how sweet I used to find it But now the fateful word above my childhood tales, now crepitate like gray newspaper sheets. —Translated by Dmitri Nabokov
Friday, April 23. 2021Russell Brand with Jordan PetersonPeterson is back, it seems, but this is sort-of strange.
Friday morning linksCDC chief: A third of "breakthrough" infections are asymptomatic and "many" infected don't transmit the virus to others Celebrities will not have to wear masks at the Oscars while the cameras are on — but they will need to wear them during commercials Virginia moving to eliminate all accelerated math courses before 11th grade as part of equity-focused plan Workplace wokeness: The moment I couldn't take it anymore Mass. Locals Organized to Force Businesses to Embrace BLM The Courage of Our Convictions - How to fight critical race theory I still do not know what it is McCarthy: Derek Chauvin Convicted — but What Comes Next? Getting Rich in the Diversity Marketplace - Ethnic studies consultants ride a wave of profits across America’s schools and corporate workplaces Taking Off the Mask - The Department of Education just made it clear that it will promote critical race theory. Media trust is at an all-time low Caught Red-Handed: NBC News Busted for Editing Out a Crucial Detail in the 911 Call of the Ohio Shooting "It was just a schoolyard fight." Ma’Khia Bryant Police Shooting: Media and Activists Try To Stoke Racial Tension With False Narrative Dershowitz: The Jury Was 'Under Extraordinary Pressure' To Convict Chauvin ‘I Didn’t Want to Go Through the Rioting’: Juror in Chauvin Trial Makes Stunning Admission over ‘Guilty’ Verdict China's Fishing Fleet Is Vacuuming the Oceans Israel intensifying air war in Syria against Iranian encroachment
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