We 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.
Seems like lots of people believe Swany makes the best gloves and mittens for any temperatures, for any outdoor activities. Little kids do best with mittens, not gloves.
Honeybees (the kind of bee that was supposedly dying off, but was not) are not native to the New World. They are indeed an invasive species imported by American colonists from Europe for the honey. Most honey bee colonies are either commercial or backyard hives, but they often go wild until some bee-keeper tracks them down. Clover is their favorite food source. Sow your meadow with peerennial clover seed, and you will get them. I did.
Bumblebees, on the other hand, are more cold-tolerant and are native to the New World - and in fact to most of the world. They do not make much honey, and live in holes in the ground.
The Unexpected Breadth of Donald Trump's Appeal - In New Hampshire, he won working class men without college diplomas—and most every other demographic group.
According to McGuire, it’s widely believed among those in the
intelligence community that a typical employee “would already be behind
bars if [he or she] had apparently compromised sensitive information, as
reported.”
I think this guy is exactly right about cardio and endurance. 30-second heart rate peaks are the efficient way to go. He is right that all of those people doing routine, monotonous aerobics for 40 minutes are wasting their time.
Dr. Mercola is also good on muscle-maintenance, but has a bit too much emphasis on machines instead of free weight work. Our theory is that the machines are only to help us build up to more complex, multi-muscle group functional strength exercises we have listed in past posts. It's the latter that are most life-useful.
Overall, though, a good message. No pain, no gain.
Out of slavery, really. My rules on tipping in the US: Always tip restaurant staff, hotel cleaners daily, bartenders, bell boy, Dunkin Donuts people, garbage man and postman at Christmas, Stanley Steemer guys, outdoor helpers for special projects, barber, etc. In Europe, always tip hotel cleaners daily. They will be much more attentive.
The traditionalist rebel is the snake in the liberal Eden because he does not have faith in the noble motives of the bureaucratic activists who claim to be the gods of this Eden. He knows enough of human nature to reject the fallacy that the right ideology makes men so righteous that they can be trusted with absolute power without absolute corruption following in their wake. He knows that socialists have not risen above the crimes of selfish self interest that they condemn mankind for.
Maggie's Farm is sort of a Traditionalist Rebel site
Of all the subjects of academic study, psychology is probably the most useless, or at least the most useless by comparison with its pretensions to use. In a century and a half, it has not told us anything of undisputed value. It is subject to absurd fashions, and its published experiments, even when they are interesting, are often either not reproducible or their relevance to life is unclear. The overall cultural effect of psychology is negative, insofar as it tends to alienate people from their own direct experience and causes them to speak of themselves as if they were mere objects. They then attribute their actions to forces or things other than their own decisions, one of the popular explanatory forces or things at the moment being neurotransmitters. This is a boon to drug companies but not necessarily to the population as a whole.
... the peccadilloes of these two individuals, while not entirely beside the point, matter less than what their ascendancy tells us about the seismic changes that are transforming the American political landscape. The political and corporate elites that have ruled, unchallenged, since the end of World War II, and whose perspective is globalist, imperialist, and mercantilist, is facing a serious insurrection: the peasants with pitchforks are gathering in the shadow of the high castle, their torches illuminating the twilight of the West. Whether they succeed in penetrating the fortress and violating the inner sanctum matters less than the destructive effects of the battle itself. Does our ruling class have the will to fight and win? We’ll have the answer shortly.
Instead of joining one of our church's Lenten small groups this year, I plan to simply study this book as a daily discipline: Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches
It's as much an RC theological treatise as it is an historical/architectural text.
We're convinced it is the single most comprehensive strength exercise that exists, stressing every muscle in the posterior chain from your heels to your neck - but including your core and forearms too. The large number of muscles engaged is why it is so difficult and fatiguing when pushing the weight.
It's especially valuable for those over age 45.
I've heard people say that you can injure yourself doing them. Not at all, if done right. In fact, not doing deadlifts is more of an invitation to back problems, overall weakness, and sloppy posture. I hate doing them so much I call them Dreadlifts. (Mrs. BD loves the challenge of Deads, but I dread it.) When you hate an exercise, it tells you that you need it because YOU'RE WEAK. Happily, after 9 months I am approaching my final, realistic weight goal for Deads after which I will stay with that, trying to increase my reps. I do not have a weight-lifting physique - a runner's build - but I give it my all. The alternative is to get weaker and, eventually, frail with fragile bones. Postpone that.
Deadlift is not about building conspicuous muscle for the beach or for sleeveless dresses - it's about building and maintaining functionality and agility. It's really just "Picking things up off the floor."
(Fitness in middle age and beyond = Strength, Balance, Cardio, and General Endurance. Most efficient and simple exercises for the Strength component are Deads, Barbell squats, Pull-ups, Bench press, Rows, Planks, Push-Ups, maybe military presses too. Doing sets of those once a week, pushing towards realistic goals, will postpone physical frailty until some disease gets you. Pull-ups are my weakest, just not there yet, dammit. I am disgusted by any of my weaknesses, physical or mental. Mens sana in corpore sano.)
I read the article a couple of times and decided that I am not persuaded by that whole construct of moral foundations because the dimensions themselves seem so socio-culturally specific. Furthermore, politics is not about morality. Obviously.
For me, the point of greatest significance about all this is that the Democrat party kingmakers have known for years -- possibly decades -- that the Clintons are felonious scum, with Hillary being the lower of the two, and still felt that Mrs. Clinton was their best shot at extending their grip upon the Oval Office. They embraced criminality, probably under the assumption that the fatal facts about Mrs. Clinton could be effaced until she'd been firmly installed as president.
Every political party contains lowlifes. Power attracts that sort of person. But when a party's top managers consciously embrace the kind and degree of criminality Hillary Clinton represents, it's time for the entire nation to take note and reject it, whether or not the individual criminals in its ranks can be brought to justice.
ernstein
Finds White House 'Terrified' Clinton 'Blowing Up Own Campaign,'
Invokes Nixon - See more at:
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2016/02/06/bernstein-finds-white-house-terrified-clinton-blowing-own-campaign#sthash.SMUMtUcb.dpuf
ernstein
Finds White House 'Terrified' Clinton 'Blowing Up Own Campaign,'
Invokes Nixon - See more at:
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/brad-wilmouth/2016/02/06/bernstein-finds-white-house-terrified-clinton-blowing-own-campaign#sthash.SMUMtUcb.dpuf
Gotta think fast and adapt when under the gun of a New Jersey prosecutor with Sicilian blood
You
Go, Girls! People Magazine Gushes Over Hillary, Chelsea, and Charlotte
On the Trail - See more at:
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2016/02/07/you-go-girls-people-gushes-over-hillary-chelsea-and-charlotte-trail#sthash.6G8kehZD.3vcTUOYO.dpuf
You
Go, Girls! People Magazine Gushes Over Hillary, Chelsea, and Charlotte
On the Trail - See more at:
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2016/02/07/you-go-girls-people-gushes-over-hillary-chelsea-and-charlotte-trail#sthash.6G8kehZD.3vcTUOYO.dpuf
You
Go, Girls! People Magazine Gushes Over Hillary, Chelsea, and Charlotte
On the Trail - See more at:
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2016/02/07/you-go-girls-people-gushes-over-hillary-chelsea-and-charlotte-trail#sthash.6G8kehZD.3vcTUOYO.dpuf
The Roman admirers of Classical Greece did not get that memo, and the Renaissance sculptors didn't either.
Probably because of that historical error, much or most stone and metal sculpture has been unpainted since the Renaissance. To modern eyes, the Pieta would look pretty nasty if painted in lifelike colors but the Greeks would have figured it was waiting for the paint.
Well, we're going to a Super Bowl party tonight but I will confess that I have only minimal interest in the game, and it will be past my bedtime. I like to see our friends though. The thought of guacamole sickens me - and not just because of the terrible cultural appropriation. We'll have spiral-cut ham and Mrs. BD will bake 50 biscuits for it. Any excuse for a party, I suppose. An early Mardi Gras.
The
New College Degrees: The Good News and the Bad News - See more at:
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/02/the-new-college-degrees.html#sthash.3NV29LtJ.dpuf
9:28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
9:29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
9:30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.
9:31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
9:32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
9:33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.
9:34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
9:35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
9:36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
9:37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
9:38 Just then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child.
9:39 Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him.
9:40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."
9:41 Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."
9:42 While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
9:43a And all were astounded at the greatness of God.
Mrs. BD and I attended a lecture on Romanesque stone architecture at the Cloisters today. I've seen plenty of it in Europe and have read plenty about the style. I asked the expert whether the stone sculptures on lintels and columns in churches and cloisters had been painted.
Definitely, she said. Columns were painted in primary colors. The church walls, so often plain limestone now, had been stuccoed and then plastered with frescoes. Over 1000 years it flaked off.
I've seen reconstructions of the once-painted Greek sculpture and architecture. I'd like to see the same of Romanesque-era churches and cloisters.
Photo is from Pórtico da Gloria, Santiago Cathedral. The colouring once common to much Romanesque sculpture has been preserved - via Wiki
A pal and I have been volunteered to run the bar for a formally-informal Valentine's Day party that our wives' club is putting on. They expect 40 women plus their husbands - all friendly Indians. It's what is termed "heavy cocktails", not dinner.
We decided to keep it simple with just red and white wine, a few interesting beers, bubbly water, and coke. Lemons and limes, and plenty of ice.
Figured a case of red, a case of white, 5 cases of beer.
Then we just learned that the venue for the party (an art museum) does not permit red wine on the premises. Apparently many places have that rule. So I am thinking maybe we should have whiskey, Bourbon, rum, and vodka too - but no mixed drinks other than rum and coke. We don't want to have to be real bartenders because we like to schmooze with all our friends.
In 1993, I saw Hillary being interviewed on the Today Show concerning her health care bill. When told that most of America was against the bill her response was: "Oh Brian, you know that sometimes Americans don't know whats best for them and when that happens those of us in government must just make it happen". That was the day I knew Hillary was beneath contempt.
The Pirates of the Caribbean: Puerto Rico Attempts to Plunder
Washington - See more at:
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/02/pirates-of-the-caribbean#sthash.OAzaJFue.dpuf
I could never have dreamt that there were such goings-on in the world between the covers of books, such sandstorms and ice blasts of words, such staggering peace, such enormous laughter, such and so many blinding bright lights, splashing all over the pages in a million bits and pieces all of which were words, words, words, and each of which were alive forever in its own delight and glory and oddity and light.
Regular (ie 3+ times/wk) strength-building exercise requires some extra dietary protein for muscle repair and building. I would include plyometric exercises in that category along with heavy, difficult resistance work, but not low-weight high-rep work.
On the other hand, people focusing on general fitness/endurance/conditioning exercises like cardio (ie running, swimming, elliptical, rowing, jump rope, etc), calisthenics, and isometrics do not require any dietary adjustment assuming a normal varied diet. Obviously, if you lose too much weight, try to eat a little more of everything.
People working on improving their overall fitness usually work on resistance work (weights) and general fitness on alternate days, usually about 1 hr/day. Thus they need some extra protein and fats in their diets to avoid muscle deterioration.
Some pursuers of fitness also desire weight loss/flab loss. Despite what can be read on various sites ("Ten Great Fat-Burning Exercises"), exercise has only a little to do with that. It's 90% dietary, 10% exertion. I see some pudgeballs working out with weights and doing cardio almost daily, and over months they are just as pudgy. Stronger, no doubt.
In my case (3 days pushing the resistance, plus usually 3 days of general fitness) I was losing too much weight and plateauing on my bench, squats, and deads, so had to up my protein and carbs. I had been probably too low on both. Not on purpose, just because I am not an avid eater. Since doing that, I've gained 5 or 6 lbs but my trousers are just as loose as before so it's mostly welcome muscle.
Sounds like it's worth a trip to Holland The Netherlands, where the Dutch people live and speak Dutch, which is close to English. Also where the Frisians live, who do speak a sort of English. (See The Difference between Holland & the Netherlands)
What gloves do you wear when skiing below zero? 
Boy Does Something Special
Image via 
Michelangelo's
Continuing with the theme of painted architecture and sculpture, a reminder that Greek temples and 
Mrs. BD and I attended a lecture on Romanesque stone architecture at 
Regular (ie 3+ times/wk) strength-building exercise requires some extra dietary protein for muscle repair and building. I would include