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.
How does that get him to "white Hispanic"? Are Peruvians Hispanic?Or Indians?Peruvians usually look like Indians.Why not describe Zimmerman as a "black Indian"?
They have good choices of blades and accessories too, some for brush and saplings. (h/t, reader)
I don't know whether I would have the time or energy to scythe the 8-acre brushy hillside meadow which sits above the bridge, but it would be good for some areas that we can't get the brushwacker into due to slope or boulders.
One of my grandpas, a capitalist industrialist who hated paperwork and hated business, loved nothing more than a weekend day scything at the farm until the sacred cocktail hour. Then Dewar's on the rocks, well-deserved. Usually two of them; one for the blood and one to stimulate the appetite along with Pall Mall cigarettes or a Habanos ceegar. He taught my Mom how to use a scythe, and she taught me. We still have his pedal-powered grinding wheel in the barn with the water pan.
Nonetheless, I enjoy a gas-powered brushwacker. It's a good workout just to muscle that heavy machine around, and it shreds everything to bits, even 2" saplings. Leaves no swaths of cuttings to suffocate the grasses.
Prochter attended Kenyon College, where he was a religious studies major, who co-managed the college's Hillel, and had just completed his sophomore year. Prior to his fateful sojourn in Egypt, Pochter interned for AMIDEAST, an American nonprofit that focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, and studied regional politics. His mother, Elizabeth Pochter, maintained that her son read poems to his girlfriend about the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict," and insisted that somehow the endless jihad against The Jewish State, "wasn't just about some detached war to him, but a struggle that he passionately wanted to resolve." Elizabeth Pochter added, according to a statement by Kenyon College, that her Jewish son,
...was a person who didn't see the world as separate nations, but a collection of vibrant cultures.
"Upon closer consideration, moving from petroleum-fueled vehicles to electric cars starts to appear tantamount to shifting from one brand of cigarettes to another," Zehner, a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, said.
Zehner, once an electric car enthusiast who has since changed his position and become an activist looking at a number of so-called green initiatives, is the author of the book "Green Illusions."
Like we say, electric cars run on evil, evil coal.
As you can see, our bridge was washed out during the winter storms. Not entirely washed out, but undermined on the far end. The I-beams no longer reach the far bank. There is a 3-foot gap which the Ford tractor can not jump.
I got a consult from a local contractor who said it was a straightforward repair. He thought we could just jack it back up, add two I-beams to reach the far bank, and put in some cement blocks at low water in August to support the necessary extension. Around a $7000 job that he could do in two days.
But...he felt uncomfortable repairing it without a wetlands permit and an engineering OK. I explained that this bridge had been there for 60 years, and another bridge there for over 100 years before that, and that we had fixed it in the past without permits. He said I needed to consult an engineering firm to do the permitting and to ok his plan.
That has to be wrong, but instead of finding somebody else to consider the job, I did consult with a reputable local engineering firm. They inspected, and came back with an estimate of $27,000 for permitting and design, not including the actual repair. They said the permitting could take as much as two years, starting with the Army Corps of Engineers and ending with the Massachusetts Wetland Authority and the State and local DEP. Many hearings to be attended, apparently, by certified engineers. No guarantee, he said, that we could get a bridge repair permit in the end because the State wants "wild rivers." Mind you, this stream is in no way "navigable" except on barefoot, and is only as "wild" as a stream can be which winds through cow pastures and corn fields.
We do not have that kind of spare money in the farm's budget.
Meanwhile, one mile down the road, the state is widening a 1936 one-lane WPA cement bridge, about 20' long, over the same small river - a trout stream, really. Bulldozers, cement mixers, portapotties, portable office, road grinders, asphalt rollers, trucks, etc. Stimulus money. Modern infrastructure for a town of 600 permanent residents and more dairy cows than people. They have been working on it for four months, and it seems nowhere near done.
One problem is that we are required by our agreement with the local land trust to maintain the upper meadow with an annual mowing. We want to do that anyway. We can't get there now. There is no other way to get across the stream with a tractor because at least one side of the riverbank is always fairly high.
No wonder people get pissed off at government. However, I never consulted any government on this.
It's just a simple, ordinary repair. Property maintenance. I am sorely tempted to ask some illegal Mexicans to just come in with two 6' I-beams, a jack, a welder, and some cinder blocks to fix it. Nobody would notice - or care. No, you can't see it from the road. I'll find someone who wants to help me fix it the old-fashioned Yankee way: patch it and make it last.
Is
the labor market return to higher education finally falling? - See more
at:
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/06/is-the-labor-market-return-to-education-finally-falling.html#sthash.hzwRNwcU.dpuf
Is
the labor market return to higher education finally falling? - See more
at:
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/06/is-the-labor-market-return-to-education-finally-falling.html#sthash.hzwRNwcU.dpuf
A pretty good cover of Bob's Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts by St. Paul's Martin Devaney and band. A bit too sing-songy for me, but I can't find Bob's edgier, darker version. (the remarkable lyrics here)
Russia has seen self-aggrandizing, luxury loving heads of state before. What really has turned Russian heads, according to my sources, is Obama’s eagerness to give things away. The Russians, you see, are hard-nosed. They drive hard bargains in their dealings with themselves and perhaps harder still with outsiders. They may even take what they can’t get through hard bargaining when you’re not looking.
We're #77 . Is that good? I was pleased to see that they now rate Centrist/Conservative/Libertarian together. Still, I'd term us "eclectic" and "centrist." We seem to be ranked higher than some superior, better-done sites. I'll blame that on our gardening information and our recipes.
Please make sure all of your friends read us here at Maggie's. No need to agree with our politics. We just try to keep it interesting and informative.
I had the pleasure of seeing a Least Weasel scurry past the front of the garage yesterday, going from one pachysandra patch to another. They are not uncommon in their multi-continental, northern-hemisphere range, but I rarely see them. It makes me happy when I do.
Most often, they are seen hurrying across a country road.
Least Weasels like to be in cover, not out in the open. They are both daytime and nocturnal hunters, and active all winter in the snow, when they have all-white fur.
They are said to be the world's smallest mammalian predators, around 8-9" long. Bloodthirsty little guys.
On further thought, that guy could have been an Ermine. Not sure I can tell the difference because they move so quickly.
Autopsy report: Douchebag terrorist dies from insufficient diet
provided by SNAP program, and from multiple gunshot wounds and his
douchebag terrorist brother's driving; but mostly from the gunshots and
his brother's driving.
This is an attempt by Democrats aided and abetted by anywhere from 10-15 Republicans, to damage the rule of law by rewarding law-breakers and making fools of law-abiders, and giving Janet Napolitano sweeping power to disregard the law in her discretion
Breaking:
NSA Internet Spying Foils NSA Plot To Attack NSA - See more at:
http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/in-the-news-nsa-internet-spying-foils-nsa-plot-to-attack-nsa-t11202.html#sthash.1aabgL9N.dpuf
Breaking:
NSA Internet Spying Foils NSA Plot To Attack NSA - See more at:
http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/in-the-news-nsa-internet-spying-foils-nsa-plot-to-attack-nsa-t11202.html#sthash.1aabgL9N.dpuf
Breaking:
NSA Internet Spying Foils NSA Plot To Attack NSA - See more at:
http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/in-the-news-nsa-internet-spying-foils-nsa-plot-to-attack-nsa-t11202.html#sthash.1aabgL9N.dpuf
3:23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.
3:24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.
3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,
3:26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
3:27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
3:28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Here's a short piece about what Protestants view as "justification". It means something like straightening out your crookedness through Grace. That's a good deal.
Yes, they do sell Brown Turkey Fig, which is readily grown in New England. They also have the Celeste Fig.
In a tough winter, they will have to come back from the roots, but they usually do. Old-time Italians grow them in big pots, and drag them into the garage for the winter.
In the colder zones, grow them in a sheltered spot. My old fig finally succumbed to an especially cold winter, but I have a spot for a new one where I won't forget to keep it well-covered and mulched for winter.
Our kids loved to pick and chow down on hot, ripe figs out in the garden. And a big fig leaf is always useful for...summer clothing.
Mick looked ready for more, Keith looked in need of a warm malt 
They make them to fit your height, weight, and arm length. Pretty snazzy to own a bespoke scythe. They even make them for southpaws.
As I Walked out one Morning
NYC's 
I had the pleasure of seeing a 
Photo from 
Our annual