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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Friday, October 20. 2023Books that keep you laughingWhat books or authors can keep you laughing out loud, even if you feel grumpy? My personal top two are Carl Hiassen and the Jeeves books. Also, Peter deVries. What about you?
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Sunday, October 15. 2023More Jump ropeSingles are excellent, serious cardio. Often, people who get their singles under good control aspire to do double-unders. It's natural ambition. Where there is some air conditioning in summer, I like jumping for cardio. I enjoy working on my variations, but I still can't get consistent doubleunders.
Billy Joe ShaverFrom today's LectionaryExodus 32:1-14 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 32:2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 32:3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 32:4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD." 32:6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. 32:7 The LORD said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 32:8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" 32:9 The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 32:10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation." 32:11 But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 32:12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, 'I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" 32:14 And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. Saturday, October 14. 2023Is our reality real?Our perceptions are real to us, and good enough for daily life. Can humans know real reality? I doubt it.
Are protein supplements worthwhile?
In other words, a long walk, a jog, a mile swim, and banging manageable weights around for a while do not require a dose of 20-30 gms of protein afterwards (whether in ordinary food or as a supplement). People in serious training programs probably do need 20 or so gms of protein within an hour or two after, and the easist way to get that is in some sort of protein shake. Very few people want solid food after a tough workout. This makes sense to me: ARE PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS GOOD FOR HEALTH? HERE'S WHAT EXPERTS SAY Saturday Verse: William ShakespeareHamlet, of course. Only the most joyful people have never had such thoughts. When WS made enough money to retire comfortably, he did. No, this is not an appeal to suicide. To be, or not to be: that is the question: Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; Friday, October 13. 20239 Things That Happen When You Abandon Your Workout RoutineWe have posted on this topic in the past: 9 Unexpected Things That Happen When You Abandon Your Workout Routine Use it or lose it.
When did you last hear this song?
Still a useful bookF*ck Feelings: One Shrink's Practical Advice for Managing All lifes Problems No, not all of life's problems, but plenty of them.
Thursday, October 12. 2023How good is this?Hiking speeds, reposted
What's the difference between hiking and walking? I guess people define it for themselves. For me, hiking point-to-point in Scotland means getting to your final destination of the day where you can find a dram or two of whiskey. In other words, it is longer and more intentional. The main thing is not to stop for lunch. A stupid granola bar or candy bar is fine, but for a 10+ miler a lunch will take all of the wind out of your sails - blood flow all goes to your GI tract for digestion. Our readers who have done our 10-12 -miles NYC urban hikes know what pizza and beer do to you at the halfway point. Why not drive? You might well ask. I guess I do it to save the planet...of course. Don't you care? Average hiking speeds are around 2-3 miles/hour, but what good is an average? We've hiked in Scotland with a 75 year-old lady who hikes about 4 mph, and she is over the hills and far away by the time you tighten your shoe laces and put on your rain gear. For 6+ mile hikes, Mrs. BD and I tend to average 2.3 mph including brief stops. Hills or no hills, she tends to keep a constant pace while I lag a bit on the hills.
Morning links on sabbatical for several daysIt's time for a getaway. Arrivederci from the Veneto. But you can read this from Bari: Campus Cowardice and Where the Buck Stops - Microaggressions are met with moral condemnation. But actual violence is tolerated—even glorified. On the rot inside our universities and what to do about it.
Wednesday, October 11. 2023The Scrovegni ChapelIn Padua. Of course I want to see it, and I believe our place has managed, Italian-style, to gain us entry. Concierges can work magic.
Re Adam SmithThe Wealth of Nations might not be his best book, but it's important: From Great Books 30-min podcast, The Wealth of Nations.
Wednesday morning linksYour tax dollars at work: Scholars to study why $365M DEI investment into STEM failed to diversify engineering Global Boiling To Make Beer Taste Bad Or Something Climate ‘experts’ assure us they weren’t wrong, it was just a ‘miracle’ year The Offshore-Wind Boondoggle - Green advocates remain undaunted by the energy source’s surging costs and questionable efficiency. Fake Indian Elizabeth Warren Gets Roasted on Twitter for Posting Message About ‘Indigenous People’s Day’ USC outdoors club for black students to combat ‘stigma,’ ‘racism’ in nature NYU Law School Bar Association's non-binary president Ryna Workman sends email saying Hamas' slaughter in Israel was 'NECESSARY' while refusing to condemn mass-murder of Jewish families Is Everything Suddenly Going to Hell? Or are people just starting to notice? Stuart's Wednesday Potpourri What is the Gaza Strip? Weiss: When People Tell You Who They Are, Believe Them. This is what ‘decolonization’ really looks like. Look carefully at who is cheering it on. The real problem is Elon letting people see what Hamas videotaped themselves doing The Ideology of Mass Murder - Hamas and the origins of the October 7th attacks. Babies beheaded, 40 children shot dead in a single settlement, and families burnt alive by Hamas... SAM GREENHILL meets survivors of the death squads and hears their stories of unimaginable horror Khamenei Distances Iran From Hamas Operation, Fearing Israeli Attack, As Rocket Salvo Fired From Lebanon "At first we were ecstatic": Gaza's FAFO moment and Iran's strategic miscalculation IDF: Gaza border sealed; 360,000 reservists mobilized for you-know-what Tuesday, October 10. 2023Tuesday morning linksWhat Do You Know About 1491? 1491 is a very cool book Summers: I've never been as disillusioned with Harvard as now NYC Mayor: Maybe we should look at reparations too McCarthy: The US could be next, thanks to Biden's border crisis Victor Davis Hanson: Israel, Our White-House Absurdities, & The Left's Empire Of Lies Leftists Come Out in Support of Hamas Massacres, Send Money to Palestinians Israel Imposes Complete Siege on Gaza, Cuts Off Electricity, Fuel, Food, and Water Ahead of Ground Operation UAE Sides with Israel, Condemns Hamas for ‘Nihilistic Destruction’ The Ayatollah's Plan for Israel and Palestine Delusion in the White House. Bloodshed in Israel. This administration thought it could tame the world’s rogue actors. It was wrong. From 2007: I was a fanatic...I know their thinking, says former radical Islamist Monday, October 9. 2023Please explain to meWho are Palestinians, and how are they oppressed? Or is this just about Iran causing more chaos, with Palestine and Gaza as an excuse?
Monday morning linksOn Oct. 14, Experience the Eclipse LA 5 yrs olds get to celebrate "Coming Out Day" UNLV law school apologizes for using word ‘picnic,’ changes it to ‘Lunch by the Lake’ Moms Shine Spotlight On Harms Caused By Youth Transgender Movement It’s official – you can’t be fat AND fit. Maybe now teens will see the ‘Body Positivity’ movement for what it really is Don’t believe the ‘rise’ in student test scores — they moved the goalposts ‘The battleground is education’: classical SAT, ACT alternative gains ground Glenn Greenwald: How The NY Times Serves As A Mouthpiece For The Government CNN analyst: The "real problem" is Israel's response, you know Why There Is Never Peace Between Israel and the Palestinians Iran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gave the final go-ahead last Monday in Beirut Hamas and Hezbollah are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Iranian mullahs, who call the shots. Code Pink Endorses Hamas Attacks on Israel; “Anti-War” Groups Announce Pro-Hamas Rallies in US Israel Goes to War ‘Everyone Feels at Risk’ — Legacy Media Catches on to Sweden’s Failed Multicultural Project Ukraine "Corrupt At All Levels" - Says Former EU Commission Chief Juncker Sunday, October 8. 2023Israel: Only the beginningAttila the Hun and the RomansIt's a long listen, but quite a colorful history:
Bird-hunter du Jour: Peregrine Falcon
Happened to see one overhead today, chasing a flock of pigeons. Flocks of pigeons around here are usually domesticated, but the owners fly them are least once daily. Easy prey, and delicious. I usually see them (and rarely) during migration - like now. A good number of them nest on office towers in NYC, but I've never seen them there. They like cliffs and beaches. Skyscrapers are cliffs. From All About Birds, Peregrine Falcon
From today's LectionaryPsalm 19 19:1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 19:2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 19:3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 19:4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 19:5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 19:6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; 19:8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; 19:9 the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb 19:11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 19:12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 19:13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Saturday, October 7. 2023Henry Flagler and The Making of Modern FloridaLife in America: Moths ate holes in my one wedding/funeral suitI'd guess my Dad took me to Brooks Brothers since I was 13 years old. It was on NYC trips, to the old flagship store on Madison Ave. What an emporium that place was, with elevator operators and ancient but well-dressed salesmen. Naturally, the visiting also included Abercrombie and Fitch right down the street, my favorite store in NY, to look at the fancy fishing and hunting stuff. Both of those wonderful places are now gone. I do happily own an old A&F 20 ga s/s. Brooks Brothers (since 1818) has been through some ownerships over recent decades, but I think they have it right with this new guy. Mrs. BD claimed that my one grey suit had been outdated anyway. So on a rainy Saturday she dragged me to a big Brooks Brothers store way down in White Plains, NY to do some shopping with/for me. First time in a long marriage that I ever let that happen. I played passive and grouchy while they suited me up - 2 suits, cashmere blue sports coat, shirts I didn't need, and a bunch of khakis. No more clothes shopping for the remainder of my life... It's a shame that they no longer use Alden for shoes, so I got no dress shoes which I didn't need. I have narrow feet, and need "Narrow." Good dress shoes last 30-40 years anyway. Excellent service, excellent tailor - all good. Now I guess I will be ready for a wedding or funeral - whichever comes first.
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