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, October 6. 2019From today's LectionaryPsalm 37:1-9 37:1 Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, Saturday, October 5. 2019From 2004From “Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us” in London’s Observer, Feb. 21, 2004: Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters. A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. ‘Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,’ concludes the Pentagon analysis. ‘Once again, warfare would define human life.’ The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority. . . . As early as next year widespread flooding by a rise in sea levels will create major upheaval for millions. Saturday morning linksNYC Is Now Going After Food Delivery Services Muslim Activists Demand McDonald’s Serve Food That Complies With Sharia Law… The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Intelligent Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing! A Harvard Dean Applauds a Yale Dean’s Assessment of ‘Diversity’ DeVos Fires Warning Shot at University Mideast Centers Devil In the Red Hat: What the Bridgeport Diocese Abuse Report Can’t Say Western medicine is colonialism Why are California Utility Bills so High? Trump moves to suspend visas for uninsured immigrants September Unemployment Rate Falls To 3.5%, A 50-Year Low, As Payrolls Rise By 136,000 Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee from Outer Space Amazing Coincidence That Nancy Pelosi’s Son Also Has Business Connections With Ukraine Even when invented, they create a sense of unease Report: Ex-CIA Impeachment Whistleblower Dug Up Dirt on Trump in Ukraine IT’S A COUP: Former CIA Analyst Fred Fleitz Says SCHIFF AND NANCY PELOSI Colluded on CIA Whistleblower Complaint to Gin Up Impeachment Sorry, Dems: It’s OK to ask for foreign help in a criminal justice investigation In fact, here's the treaty Washington Post awards Adam Schiff ‘Four Pinocchios’ for false comments Bonus quote (heard on radio today from a Brit journalist): "You know your president is from construction because his spine is made of rebar." Saturday Verse: W.S. MerwinOctober (1961) I remember how I would say, “I will gather These pieces together, Any minute now I will make A knife out of a cloud.” Even then the days Went leaving their wounds behind them, But, “Monument,” I kept saying to the grave, “I am still your legend.” There was another time I have seen the spider’s triumph The promises have gone, Friday, October 4. 2019Migration
More details on Monarch migration, which is winding down now: Monarch Migration: 2019
A bit of a hassle, but worth doingOn the advice of Maggie's Farm, I managed to find some spare hours to get my REAL ID driver's license (which all legally in the US will need in 2020), my Pre-check TSA number (no lines, no undressing, etc), and, lo and behold, my Social Security Card. The TSA fingerprints you. In the process, remarkably, I found my original birth certificate. How and why I had that little antique document is beyond me. Stuffed mouldering in the back of some old drawer. Part of the hassle was getting a SS card. I haven't had one for decades, old one probably disintegrated. But you need one as part of the REAL ID process, which entails a fun visit to the SS office with all sorts of supporting stuff. I think I now have all the legal documents I need, including my Concealed Carry permit. All of these documents vet you out fairly well, it seems. The latter vets you through the police and the FBI. Should a REAL ID be required to vote? Friday morning linksHOMEMADE HOT SAUCE The Smoothie Consistency Act of 2020 Guardian Grudgingly Admits Meat Found to Be Healthy The Bible and the big bang Panera Cares and consequences of compassionate virtue-signaling Job applicant outraged after company shares her bikini photo on Instagram as 'PSA': 'This is not doing you any favors' Facebook suffers legal blow in EU court over hate speech Virginia Doctor Gets 40 Years for Prescribing Half a Million Opioid Pills Elites Against Western Civilization - Teaching youth that there is nothing good about our democratic cultural inheritance, the intellectual class is working to discredit our past and demolish our future. Despite Rahm Emanuel’s tax hikes, city pension debt grew by $7 billion since 2015. Here’s why. What Comes After Transgender? Make room for the “transabled” and hospitals and doctors forced to perform operations that conflict with their ethical and religious principles. Bible Belief Is ‘Incompatible With Human Dignity’ British Court In Transgender Case: Experts Warn We Have Only 12 Years Left Until They Change The Timeline On Global Warming Again Diversity is a warfighting necessity Biden Inc. Over his decades in office, ‘Middle-Class Joe’s’ family fortunes have closely tracked his political career. The media failed the public on collusion, and they're failing again on Ukraine Ukrainian Officials Didn’t Believe Trump Used Funding As Bargaining Chip Adam Schiff-Ukraine connection comes under scrutiny Chris Matthews: Shouldn’t Democrats Be Looking At Impeaching Mike Pence Too? Media Horrified That President Who Always Punches Back Keeps Punching Back Schiff's lies about no advance knowledge of whistleblower complaint make the impeachment efforts look like a conspiracy Russia’s Novaya Gazeta Drops Documents That Show Ukrainians Transferred $3.4 Million in Criminally Obtained Money to Hunter Biden’s Business Accounts New Marine Corps Video Aims to Set the Public Straight About What Jarheads Do Thursday, October 3. 2019A young physician's story
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Thursday morning linksWhy Little Women Still Matters, More Than 150 Years Later Who was Saint Telemachus? CRISPR Might Be the Banana's Only Hope What ‘The Times’ Got Wrong About Slavery in America Math, in case you didn’t already know, is racist. Dartmouth prof calls for mandatory white privilege courses. She said that the “greatest tragedy” is that racial minorities do not question core American principles of personal responsibility and equal opportunity. New York City Bans Calling Illegal Aliens, "Illegal Aliens" California’s Labor of Love - Sacramento tries to save the declining union movement with taxpayer money. The Corn Lobby vs. Orange Man UK Rugby Referees Quitting Over Transgender Players Breaking Women's Bones "There Is No Climate Emergency": Scientists Call For Reasoned Debate The Media Has Been Pushing For Trump’s Impeachment Since Before He Took Office Dems Have Been Impeaching President Trump Since Day One Impeachment Is About Putting Down the Peasants’ Revolt A Deep Cleansing of the Deep State Is Coming All thanks to the Democrats in their crazed state. Germany to Boost Border Checks Amid Surge in Illegal Immigration Wednesday, October 2. 2019GospelRecording via a cool story: A Newspaper Editorial Resulted in Saving the Recorded Legacy of Black Gospel Singing
Wednesday morning linksA New Theory Explains How Consciousness Evolved - A neuroscientist on how we came to be aware of ourselves. Men with breast cancer more likely to be undertreated and not survive Eat Less Red Meat, Scientists Said. Now Some Believe That Was Bad Advice. - The evidence is too weak to justify telling individuals to eat less beef and pork, according to new research. The findings “erode public trust,” critics said. The Church: CDL. BURKE: REVOLUTION IS THE GOAL The Myth Of Imminent Environmental Collapse Scientists tell UN climate summit there is no emergency As we approach the 150th anniversary of Lenin’s birth, understanding him grows ever more important. How Rent Control Laws Hurt Tenants - California is about to get a real world lesson in how rent control laws can't solve a housing crisis. A US Victory at the Universal Postal Union Intel Community Admission Of Whistleblower Changes Raises Explosive New Questions - In a press release issued late Monday, the intelligence community inspector general admitted it changed its policy and its whistleblower form after an anti-Trump complainant alleged that Trump broke the law during a phone call with the Ukrainian president. Biden sidesteps questions about his son's foreign business dealings but promises ethics pledge More than 130,000 Sephardic Jews apply for Spanish citizenship by deadline Tuesday, October 1. 2019Sal Khan is a visionaryFree education - An inspiring Khan Academy update
Tuesday morning linksReview of Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark, by Cecelia Watson How Doorbell Cameras Are Changing Suburban Life Not A Cult: Church Of Sweden Calls Greta Thunberg “Successor Of Christ” The Cynical Plot Behind Global Warming Hysteria Millions of Americans have had suicidal thoughts because of politics, Nebraska researchers say Because of media, more likely Daniel McAdams: "The US Has Ceased Being A Republic And Has Become A National Security State" Another day, another racial hatred hoax The Race Theory That Keeps Imperiled Black Kids Right Where They Are Gregg Jarrett: Ukraine is just the latest ploy in 'witch hunt' to drive Trump from White House Stephen Miller Says Trump is 'the Real Whistleblower' and Complains About 'Hyperpartisan Hit Job' Monday, September 30. 2019Monday morning links‘Humorists Have Been Scared Out of the Business’ On Shooting a Wild Hog: An Uneasy Hunter Brings Home the Bacon College Republicans in Connecticut Raise Alarm on Campus Harassment Over Political Views Leading senator asks colleges to explain why they ‘kowtow’ to easily offended students VIDEO: College students think world will end in 12 years America’s New Sex Bureaucracy - Meme Wars: How campus Title IX courts’ guilty-until-proven-innocent subversion of due process is a harbinger of a dangerous wider shift in liberalism Understanding the climate movement: the impotence of science. Elizabeth Warren: Amnesty for All Illegal Aliens Is ‘Good’ for American Workers ‘Well, Son of a Bitch’ : Ukraine Scandal Is About Biden The war on Trump began before he was elected Andrew Cuomo Says ‘Leftist’ Dems Pressured Pelosi On Impeachment, Warns It Will Go ‘Nowhere’ Carl Bernstein Warns Deep State Allies: Bill Barr is on to us… Goodwin: Donald Trump now has to battle CIA spies in Dems’ war against him Brennan Calls on Unlimited Number of Deep State Spies to Use New, Secretly Altered Whistleblower Complaint Form to ‘Report Trump’ Why I Think Trump Did Nothing Wrong in His Phone Call with Zelensky Powerline: THE DEMOCRATS AREN’T WRONG ABOUT IMPEACHMENT Dem Drive To Impeach Trump Over Ukraine Call Is Hysterical, Hyperbolic, And Hypocritical Migrants Start Fire On Greek Island Of Lesbos, Killing At Least One Italy: Salvini Out, Migrants In Sunday, September 29. 2019From today's Lectionary, A story about HadesLuke 16:19-31 16:19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 16:20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 16:22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 16:23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 16:24 He called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' 16:25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 16:26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' 16:27 He said, 'Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- 16:28 for I have five brothers--that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' 16:29 Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' 16:30 He said, 'No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 16:31 He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" Saturday, September 28. 2019Saturday morning linksGetting Real About Gender Dysphoria - Sifting through the truth and lies of “transgenderism.” Anti-Defamation League Says ‘OK’ Hand Signal Is A Racist Symbol That's not from The Onion, but should be California Shocked To Find Bill Decriminalizing Retail Theft Resulted In… More Retail Theft Who wants to leave California? Young voters can’t afford housing, and conservatives feel alienated MacDonald: A Platform of Urban Decline - Democratic presidential candidates believe America is racist, yet they ignore the evidence on crime and ensure that racial disparities persist. No Amount Of Journalistic Malpractice Embarrasses The New York Times Is She Running Again? Hillary Clinton Has a Full Slate of Media Appearances Next Week Wherever Joe Biden went, son Hunter cashed in Today’s Deep Question From Politico: Is Impeachment “Just Another Day In F***Nutsville,” Or What? Deep state blues. Who wrote that "whistleblower" paper? WAS THE “WHISTLEBLOWER” PART OF A PLAN? Brooks: Yes, Trump Is Guilty, But Impeachment Is A Mistake Guilty of what? Quid Pro Quo and Cover-Up Allegations Against Trump are Falling Apart The Trump-Ukraine whistleblower complaint looks just like ‘Steele Dossier 2.0’ Intel Community Secretly Gutted Requirement Of First-Hand Whistleblower Knowledge - Federal records show that the intelligence community secretly revised the formal whistleblower complaint form in August 2019 to eliminate the requirement of direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing Sneaky SOBs, spying on their own government. Drain the swamp Dems' impeachment frenzy is the prelude to the coming time bombs about to explode in their faces 46% of Immigrant Muslims in France Want Sharia Law It's about multicultural tolerance How Palestinian Israelis Humiliated The BDS Movement Friday, September 27. 2019Migration: Common NighthawkThey are passing through, because I never see them here during summertime. I don't know why not. This morning I saw (and mostly heard) them around my gym's illuminated parking lot. That's a typical place for them. Over the years, I have seen them around illuminated stadiums and in small towns. You read all about them here. Seen any lately? Friday morning linksMass transit and govt subsidies: How New Starts Harms Transit Riders Pittsburgh's Comeback NTSB: FAA Should Make Boeing Reassess 737 MAX Pilot Actions When Being Gay Is ‘Not a Big Deal’ - Richie Jackson and Andrew Sullivan disagree about how central being gay should be to one’s identity. " My fear of climate change is eating away at my sanity." I suspect that the letter was a spoof Australian PM Blasts Those Who Exploit Children’s Anxiety On Climate Change Man Sure Is Glad He Switched From E-Cigs To Regular, Healthier Cigarettes Why Is the CDC Still Fostering Potentially Deadly Confusion About Vaping and Lung Disease? A Clean Kill of the Carbon Dioxide-Driven Climate Change Hypothesis? Immigrant Population Growth In The U.S. Slows To A Trickle THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ADAM SCHIFF’S “PARODY” Hillary Clinton: Trump Is An “Illegitimate President” A DEMOCRATIC HOUSE WAS ALWAYS DESTINED TO IMPEACH PRESIDENT TRUMP Liberal Media Lies and OMITS 500+ WORDS from Transcript to Claim Trump Asked Zelensky to Investigate Biden — COMPLETELY FALSE! NYTimes 'Outs' Ukraine-Call "Whistleblower" As CIA Officer The Transcript Is Damning — To Biden, Not Trump These once-secret memos cast doubt on Joe Biden's Ukraine story Pentagon Review, Not Trump, Delayed Ukraine Aid CBS: It ‘Is True’ Trump Didn’t Pressure Ukraine To Investigate The Biden Family… Facts don't matter At Hot Air:
VDH: Why the Impeachment Frenzy May Only Strengthen Trump Communism Success Story: China Invents Camera That Can Pinpoint Person In Crowd Of Thousands… Why India Is The United States’ Best Bet For Balancing China Thursday, September 26. 2019Gender, Age, etc.If I can pick my gender, why can't I pick my age? After all, what surgeons can do these days to alter appearance is remarkable, if you have the dough. They can give you a new coronary artery, or even build a vagina for a guy, for heaven's sake. This age issue occurred to me because a reader asked my age. Half-seriously, I think. So I considered whether the answer should be literal or not. Intellectual/wisdom age, physical-condition age, spiritual age, social/maturity age, tooth age, sexual functioning age, whatever. A couple of costly bridges have restored my tooth age to 20. According to my cardiologist (who I only need for my annual stress test that my trainer requires), my cardio fitness/function is age 30 (after 4 years of daily workouts). I have more physical energy than I did at 45. My weight is about 10 lbs more than when I was 30, but it's mostly from weight-lifting in the past 4 years. My physique is youthful enough, but my face not so much... I joke that Mrs. BD should put a bag over my head but $5,000 could fix that too. My social maturity age ranges widely but I get along with most good people pretty well, and my intellectual/wisdom age can be judged by others. Definitely should be better. And, consider this: I drive a zippy, growling Italian sports car that few 30 year-olds could afford. Lots of my pals decide it's time for toy cars as a reward. I think I'll pick my age as 45, averaging out all of the components. Having written that, watch me stroke out tomorrow. How about you readers? What ages are you, really? The average age of your various components?
Thursday morning links
Re the coffee: There are only two kinds of climate here: Hot Coffee and Iced Coffee. The climate experts just don't get it. It's all good. Universal ethical truths are at the core of Jewish High Holy Days The Desperate Plight Behind “Darkness at Noon” - Arthur Koestler’s novel of the Moscow Trials laid bare the gulf between Communist ideals and the reality they produced. New science shows gluten-free trend is expensive BS It's a fad. Nutritional fads come and go. That's a result of affluence and choices. Some bracing advice to parents of teens Ban pointy knives Adams: A Message for Children About Climate Change MINI AOC IS BACK! Greta and Climate Change Local Man Uses Viral Fame To Raise $1 Million for Charity, Journalist Digs Up Offensive Tweets He Made at Age 16 - Carson King is the latest victim of a cancel culture that's out of control 9 Revelations In The Atlantic’s Essay About NYC’s Kafkaesque Schools - George Packer’s extremely long Atlantic essay contains gems of leftist cognitive dissonance, some funny, some enraging, and some heartbreaking. Here’s a list... If the world’s ending in 12 years, why even go to college? Has Harvard Lost Its Taste for Western Civilization? Stanford University Drops Mandatory Diversity Program After Complaints of Personal Intrusion Campus Hook-Up Culture and Title IX Sex Police Meet Due Process Bernie Sanders Proposes “National Wealth Registry” In Latest Tax The Rich Proposal… Planning a federal tax on assets Biden Campaign Calls Trump Ad Racist and Sexist for Showing Democrats Obsessed With Impeachment Trump turns tables on Biden amid impeachment push, claims Dems threatened Ukraine House Republicans blast Dems' impeachment inquiry in fiery press conference South Korea: The Country That Has Oversold Higher Education Even More Than the U.S. By The Way, Trump Administration Just Scored Another Safe-Third-Country Agreement In Central America Today Wednesday, September 25. 2019Robert Hunter, RIPDead at 78. As I said recently, never a Deadhead but spent a lot of time with them on the Sirius Dead channel in my new car due to not reading the instructions. Maybe Garcia was "Captain Trips" but the music did not seem like that. Hunter was an American folklorist, as is Dylan and as was The Band. Here are two versions of Ripple, one by the Dead and one by Hunter alone.
SquatsSquats are one of the basic powerlifts (+ deadlifts, bench press, dumbell or barbell or cable rows, overhead press, and pullups/pull downs). All are designed and used to build or maintain physical sturdiness and energy. They are the core of the strength component of a fitness program for men and women of all ages. What Muscles Do Squats Target? For me, squats are the most unpleasant strength exercise. Years ago, as a beginner, I started out with body-weight squats, advanced to goblet squats and then to barbell back squatting. I hate it because it gets so damn hard to go heavy, but also because it feels scarey to get low with all that weight on your back. You just can't feel confident that you can get back up. Improvement is slow. If you have short legs, it feels less treacherous but I do not have those.
Three tips: Wider stance, keep knees out, deep breath before you go down and hold it until you thrust up. Here's some good advice: THE MYSTERY OF SQUAT FORM: HOW LOW SHOULD YOU GO, REALLY? In the Youtube clip below, some Boston guy advocates "ass to grass." I do that with goblet squats (a regular component of my calisthenics classes), but never with good weight on a barbell. I just aim to get my butt below my knees. Not so young anymore but, dammit, I do want to get low with the weight because a squat ought to be more than getting up from a chair.
Wednesday morning linksHow Washington’s Food Subsidies Have Helped Make Americans Fat and Sick You Could Never Have Built That Those Killer Robots Can Do Gymnastics Now The Sixth Circuit Pounds Another Nail in the Coffin of the University Speech Code " Do the leftists behind the anti-American indoctrination program of the past decades, of which the 1619 Project is a lagging indicator, think America is worth defending? I doubt it." If You Can’t Sell Your Hysteria to Adults, Try Kids Highlights From President Trump’s U.N. Address HAMMER: Stop Calling Everything An Impeachable Offense Impeach Trump for his haircut Hillary Clinton Says Donald Trump Should Be Impeached Amid Biden/Ukraine Controversy: 'We Are in a Crisis' Why the Democrats Have Gone Insane "There has been no President in the history of our Country who has been treated so badly as I have. The Democrats are frozen with hatred and fear." "They get nothing done. This should never be allowed to happen to another President. Witch Hunt!" Goodwin: Pelosi’s impeachment flip-flop changes everything Biden: In Prison, Your Gender Should Be What You Say It Is, Not What The Prison Says It Is Tuesday, September 24. 2019Breakfast pizza in tomato season
Here's my favorite way to use our own tomatoes for breakfast: Put one (large) or a couple of thick slices of tomato on some thin white bread. Then slices of cheddar to cover the tomatoes. Put under a hot broiler til the cheese melts a bit and the exposed bread browns. Not necessary, but a small sprinkle of oregano on top if you must. Perfect breakfast - simple pizza. A shame that the Romans never knew tomatoes. "Something wonderful," indeed: The Weight (on its 50th)
Not The Band's best tune. Too many of their bests to list. They were not rock, just American music. Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Robbie, in my opinion, has perfect taste with lead guitar. No showboating, just the right touches. If you're younger than me, give the "record" a listen. Then thank me. About The Weight
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