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, May 1. 2015Sexual Anarchy, Part 2
It's nothing new in human cultures. It's been around forever. It's not culture that becomes sexualized, it's human nature. I think my point was that when you place mixed sexes in close proximity, really regardless of age, chemical things happen for a hundred different reasons. Often with unfortunate consequences. Work, home, school, wherever. More so today with coed campi and many women in the workforce. Truth is, it can be overstimulating for both men and women. Overstimulating, and too easy for the weak of character and conscience. My advice from such experience: Guys, if you desire your family's au pair, get rid of her. If you can't take your mind off your receptionist's body, get rid of her and hire an old lady. This is why everybody needs his or her own code of behavior, and his or her own boundaries. No need to invent one's own because many smart people have thought about it already. God, too, as a gift to us. The campus crusade to ‘safely’ squelch speech
Posted by The Barrister
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14:33
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Thursday, April 30. 2015Sexual anarchyCampus life with no rules and no barriers. A quote:
It's not just campus life, though. Similar no-boundaries lives exist in the military too these days, and to a degree in society in general. Where, exactly, is the benefit for young women? Young men, once trained to be gentlemen, now often tend to view college as a free candy shop. Bonobo life, monkey life. Do young women view it the same way, or not? How Sex Ed Screwed Millennial Women Of course, most women do not wish to be viewed as a victim class. We must ask to what extent women have colluded with the abandonment of sexual rules and boundaries. Confirmed: Women’s sex drive is as high as men’s. Perhaps that is at least partly true. Most women I know love sex but do not feel the physical pressure for it that guys do.
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
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13:07
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Wednesday, April 29. 2015Hey Bird Dog, how's your insane workout program going?Well, thus far my posture is better, I stand taller, I am visibly stronger when observed nude-nekked, I feel lighter on my feet, I lost 6 lbs. mostly around my gut that I did not really need to lose, and my need for sleep has gone from around 5 hrs to 6 hrs. I do miss some carbs, still, but I resist. Lots of slices of steak, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, steamed summer squash, and spinach with oil and garlic. He said one half a fruit per day but I don't really like fruit unless I pick it from the tree. Anyway, fruit is nothing but sugar. It's not "healthy" - it is dessert. Trainer believes my natural healthy condition is semi-wiry - neither buff nor soft. It helps that Mrs. BD is on the same routine. She asks me whether I have pain from the workouts. She does. I do not - just total physical fatigue. That's a feeling I actually enjoy. Trainer ramps up the demands every time, 3x/wk. Dead lifts? I told the guy why I thought they call them that. They f-ing kill you. Sheesh. My language does lapse into the colorful sometimes in that torture chamber. Trainer says I am still not ready to do his in-between day program on my own time - need day off for muscle recovery. I do. But I will not go gentle into a dark night of sloth even if it kills me. What is it? Intensive total body workout for strength and conditioning combining aerobic and resistance, with 15-30 second breaks between challenges. That's why they call it "boot camp."You have to get an echo stress test before beginning to minimize the odds of croaking on the floor. It's a physical and mental adventure. Do I need all of this? Yes, trust me. I had gotten a little soft and lazy but not fat. Do I like it? Yes and no. More no than yes. An Eat Your Spinach thing. Trainer/torturer is a good, funny fellow (country boy from Ohio who moved east and discovered the glories and fun and seashores of the northeast and of NYC) so that helps. Most enjoyable part is crawling out of the place at 6:15am to get to work. Will give an update in another few weeks, but I will be moving furniture with my lad this weekend and I can do that, no problem, as long as I don't fall down the stairs.
Posted by Bird Dog
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14:51
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Tuesday, April 28. 2015Best volunteer job in the world
Posted by Bird Dog
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16:25
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Life advice for menEspecially younger men - and why not females too? The Winston Churchill School of Adulthood Is Now in Session A Prerequisite Class on Becoming the Author of Your Own Life
Lesson #2: Establish a Daily Routine Lesson #4: Cultivate a Nostalgic Love for History Lesson #5: Don’t Give Up Your Sense of Adventure Lesson #6: Don’t Be Afraid to Start a Family Lesson #7: Work Like a Slave; Command Like a King; Create Like a God Tips on Hustling, Leadership, and Hobbies from Winston Churchill
Posted by The Barrister
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13:24
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Monday, April 27. 2015For autodidacts
Their "very short" paperbacks on all sorts of topics are elegantly-written and will leave you as well-informed as a kid taking a college course. I perused two of them, one on The Cell and one on Christianity. Excellent. Most can be gotten on Amazon. I'll begin with this one: The History of Medicine: A Very Short Introduction
Posted by The Barrister
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18:23
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Sunday, April 26. 2015America's socioeconomic classes, explainedThe Economic Classes and their Respective Plights (h/t American Digest) He's especially good on the role of education and training.
Posted by The Barrister
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14:23
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How an unwise passion can destroy livesA Deadly Dance - Two prominent doctors. One beautiful woman looking for romance. And a likable misfit who spun tall tales. Their lives intersected after an intense relationship turned sour, but no one guessed that the path to love would lead to murder. It is a story as old as mankind. The people are all idiots, too.
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
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12:36
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Why Science Needs PhilosophyAn Einstein quote in Mauldin's Why Physics Needs Philosophy:
Posted by Bird Dog
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07:18
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Wednesday, April 22. 2015Life in America: Lunch with LuisOur (too-occasional) contributor Gwynnie sends me an email. Something like "We will be out of town, change of plans. Will you all be willing to fill in for us to host a small, semi-formal luncheon for Luis Palau after church?" Well, I will do anything for Gwynnie and his family, and they for us, but that is an honor and a treat. You betcha. G noted that the hispanic workers will be delighted. Well, sure - but not just them. Luis Palau. We'll just sit back, shut up, and listen to the conversations.
Posted by Bird Dog
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17:09
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Face
Posted by The News Junkie
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14:56
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Monday, April 20. 2015The Regular
I have seen money. Felt it in my hand. I have wasted it one day and built temples to my fellow man the next with money, with no good reason to do either. I have watched it slumber in a bank book with my name on it waiting for nothing more than a notion and a signature. All gone. Gone for good, I think but must not say. She hears everything I say. I utter the sounds but I don’t listen to what I’m saying
Posted by Bird Dog
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17:09
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Scythe vs Brushcutters
Posted by Bird Dog
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15:30
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Kano
I've always had some kind of Asian influence, either art or literature, in my life. I suppose it's the result of my parents' years in the Philippines and then my father's subsequent time in Micronesia after their divorce. We children always received some kind of books or other material from his travels. Recently, my sister commented that she'd taken my mother and half-sister to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Kano Exhibit. I was jealous, until she told me it was a four-part exhibit due to the nature of the material. Yesterday, we drove down and joined them for part 2 - Ink and Gold.
Continue reading "Kano"
Posted by Bulldog
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14:05
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Sunday, April 19. 2015We wouldn't need the word "prose" if it weren't for poetry.Inside the Mind of Poetry. A quote:
"Mind of poetry." I like that. A floaty state of mind to get into.
Posted by Bird Dog
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13:47
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Is "professional money management" a rip-off?Over the years, I am convinced that it is. I am not saying they are crooks. I'm just asking whether, if you are a reasonably-informed person, they are worth the cost? John Bogle did not convince me. Reality did. I am a Vanguard guy and I never speak with them. I trust their people with their bond funds more than I would trust myself. However, help with financial planning is always good. What's your opinion?
Posted by The Barrister
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12:21
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Friday, April 17. 2015Physical Phitness diary, Part 2: No pain, no gain I posted about it earlier. Well, it's a "boot camp" deal, 15-30 seconds rest between strenuous exercises - some whole-body, some targeted - for an hour or more, 3 days/week. The aerobics is just built into the non-stop exertion. He made me clarify my goals, and he tracks everything. I said I wanted to avoid muscle atrophy, to increase endurance, overall fitness, agility, and physical vigor. Going from 36" to 35 belt would be fine too. So he made a plan to destroy me. A trainer will whip you along like you would never do yourself unless you are far more self-disciplined than I am. It is quite intense because there is no recovery time - and that's the point. When he senses that I need a two- or 3-minute break, he puts me on the elliptical or the bike instead of real rest to keep the heart rate up. Battle ropes and medicine balls? Sheesh. Guy says that if I don't hurt all over then he has not done his job. Says that if you are not sore after exercise, you've done no good and wasted your time. Even walking with intention for 30 minutes, he says, should leave you exhausted and sweaty. Says his goal is to get me barely stumbling out to my car, covered with sweat and gasping for air, in the dark around 6:15 am. For the final 5 minutes, he stretches me out and it hurts like hell and he laughs. So far, that has been working. He caught me checking my watch 40 minutes in this morning, and laughed. Cruel SOB. He says that, for now, to rapidly convert fat to muscle, he wants me mainly on protein, 4 small doses of food per day. Like one hard-boiled egg for breakfast, a small bowl of plain yoghurt or a little cheese around noon, a slice of meat mid-afternoon, a few slices of meat or fish for supper. No bread or mashed taters, no beans, no pasta, no bread, no fruit except perhaps half an apple with peanut butter on the slices in the afternoon. Non-carb vegetables if I want anytime, but, like me, he thinks they are nutritionally irrelevant for anything other than pleasure or filling a stomach. Says I can take a multivit for the placebo effect. Mind you, I have no weight issue but since I pay him, I might as well follow his dietary advice for a while. Stupid not to. I am determined to be a good and gratifying customer and the notion of converting soft weight to hard weight is appealing. I'll believe it when I see it. Next week he'll tell me what routine he will require me to do on days between and after sessions. Oh boy - can't wait. Says he just wants to keep waking up my body for a few weeks first. Sheesh. For now, he just wants me pushing the elliptical on off days to stay loose and to keep the muscles awake. The guy is a sadist. Don't most of us prefer comfortable "exercise" most of the time? He says ordinary walking is worthless unless it's just for fun - unless you are over 75.` Man, I knew my endurance was slacking but I did not realize how badly until there was a guy with a whip (altho a gal with a whip might be more interesting). Ladies, if your hubbie is going a little soft (I mean in general, not you know) and you don't really like it, give him the present of a couple of months of boot camp so I don't feel so alone... These guys will negotiate fees for a package deal especially during their slow hours. I go at 5 am instead of milking the cows. Some American ladies I've seen in Walmart could use this too but, around here in Yankeeland, many or most ladies do hard things to stay trim, youthful, and desirable. Admittedly, it is social class-related to some extent. However, as Murray says, social class (not $) is correlated with self-discipline and goal-orientation. "Letting yourself go" gets just so easy, like letting a garden fill with weeds. I do not want that for myself.
Posted by Bird Dog
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13:21
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Thursday, April 16. 2015India is not one place800 million people, over 200 languages, and God knows how many cultures. Via Documenting India's Villages Before They Vanish:
Posted by The Barrister
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15:04
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Wednesday, April 15. 2015IQ updateI have posted about IQ in the past. It's said to be a measure of "g", which is not much different than saying IQ is a measure of IQ. IQ and total SAT scores are well-correlated so, at the least, it says something about one's power to handle relatively, but not extremely, complex cognitive tasks like higher math, challenging reading, high-level abstractions, etc. etc. It's about cognitive potential more than anything else. In today's world, cognitive powers matter more than they used to and more than they should, I suppose. Many psychiatrists and psychologists have learned over the years to estimate peoples' IQs quite accurately, just in conversation. Subtlety of mind, rigor of logic, and curiosity as manifested by breadth and depth of knowledge are some of the markers. Of course, there is the birds of a feather issue too: people tend to find others within a similar range most engaging. Very high IQ is a life handicap, sad to say. There are few of those, though. Lower IQs which are fully-functional and effective in life are far more common. Medium-range IQ is the most life-adaptive (ie 110-115) for 95% of things in life from plumbing to software sales to money management. It's often been reported that the ideal IQ for CEOs of large, intricate organizations is near or around 130. Of course, character, personality style, sense of humor, and ability to connect with others in a positive way play perhaps larger overall roles in life although they will not help you perform, or even understand, a regression analysis. Furthermore, even moderately alert managers can easily hire brighter people to carry their water and make them look good. We call that "savvy" or "street smarts," not intelligence. Here's a good essay on IQ and professional performance.
Lots of awkward nerds there. Report says schools still shortchanging gifted kids - UI research finds many high-ability children bored and unchallenged, despite increased access to programming Most public school teachers can rarely keep up with the truly gifted IQ and wealth are the two of the main things social justice warriors hate. They sort-of tolerate every other sort of inequality like musical talent or running speed.
Monday, April 13. 2015Life in America and First World Problems: Physical Fitness for the white collar sedentary worker
Photo: I look in pretty good shape for a country boy, don't I? Mrs. BD decided that my lazy middle-aged, sedentary-working ass needed a trainer. Well, I happily do outdoor work all I can on weekends, but there is church, theater, museum, music performances, etc... In long-past years, I would routinely swim a mile a day racing friends, or run 5-20 miles. As I say, middle-aged lazy ass now. It's crazy, isn't it? In America, many people pay for physical exertion while, mostly, the whole world prays for work with no lifting. I love sort-of mindless physical work like ditch-digging or log splitting or chain-sawing. Mental work fatigues me. How in this world can physical labor be a luxury good? Anybody, no matter how impaired; every person can do at least useful simple physical work and I am not talking about Steven Hawking who works 10 hrs/day. I haven't even been playing tennis regularly since the organizer of our group died (dropped dead on the tennis court, which I said he would have always wanted, but not right then. I feel the same way, but one would feel bad to interrupt a good doubles game that way). Anyway, Mrs. BD gave me 20 beginning sessions for Christmas with this young trainer she uses, quite inexpensive, in a hole-in-the-wall gym (not Equinox). (For presents, our family goes more for the experiential than the material.) 5 am sessions, fine with me. Get it done before work. An Ohio farm lad. He is good, cheerful, not a body-beautiful type and with just the right amount of sadism to laugh when you feel pain. He asked me what my tolerance for aching muscles was. I honestly told him that I love the feeling of physical fatigue and ache - bring it on - and only hate mental ache and worry. Naturally, he asked me my goals. I said maintaining and improving strength, fitness, and endurance in middle age. I have no weight problem or physical problems (thus far). I can ski all day and hike up hills all day, do manual labor all day, but I do tire. My many sibs are all exercise nuts, wiry, a bit too skinny, hard-bodied, and far more fit than I am. For no good reason I can see, Mrs. BD wants me alive so she made me get a physical and an echo stress test before starting. I avoid "physicals" like the plague, and figure every 5-7 years is just barely tolerable. Anyway, I went. Passed. I quickly found out why she wanted that. This guy said I won't need too much aerobics for a while because his fitness training plan for me will be highly aerobically stressful in itself. He does not allow rest periods and claims any endurance improvement will come from that. It's called "boot camp." Whew! Trainer said my weight is fine, but I am soft, with some signs of age and muscle loss. Gee, thanks - but I knew that. He wants to build muscle weight and eliminate soft weight so it comes out about even. He said quit carbs and eat a hard-boiled egg, or a small plain yoghurt, or one slice of meat or 2 of cheese after hard work-outs as breakfast, to inject a little protein in the bloodstream. Nothing more. Said that was plenty for a guy doing a hard morning workout since I have mostly sitting or just walking afterwards. I guess I can handle that, altho I never have eaten any breakfast except coffee since I was a teen and do not like to eat in the morning. 2 coffees and a smoke is a perfect breakfast. I am not a big eater at all but I am known to nibble. I can appreciate fine food but I don't need it - a small sandwich or a small bowl of soup for supper is plenty for me. I am not a carb addict other than mashed taters (in a lifetime of Dunkin Donuts, I have almost never bought one of their pastries - maybe one a year at most). I'll confess it's a good, luxurious feeling to put part of your well-being in the hands of an expert.
Posted by Bird Dog
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12:28
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Sunday, April 12. 2015Old words are swell
OLD WORDS AND PHRASES REMIND US OF THE WAY WE WORD by Richard Lederer
About a month ago, I illuminated old expressions that have become obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology. These phrases included don’t touch that dial, carbon copy, you sound like a broken record and hung out to dry. A bevy of readers have asked me to shine light on more faded words and expressions, and I am happy to oblige:
Posted by Gwynnie
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13:57
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Saturday, April 11. 2015Another NYC secret: MoMathWe have posted in the past about NY's cool Tenement Museum. They didn't have it so bad, considering what they were coming from. Here's another one: MoMath - The Museum of Mathematics. Wonderful for all curious ages. E. 23rd st. Friday, April 10. 2015Are We Overly Reliant on Data?
I had several questions about the project. For one, was there a revenue impact which was expected to offset the cost, and if so how was it calculated? What was the timeline for introduction at departmental and company-wide levels? What were the expectations of the use of the data? Was it better to implement in a piecemeal fashion, department by department - continuing the current path we are on - or was their top-down approach more efficient and likely to yield better results? Each question received an answer, sometimes dismissive, which led to more questions. I was viewed negatively for my inquisitiveness. I explained I wasn't opposed to the project, but that I'd seen projects like this many times. None have worked as expected and most never paid off. These were not reasons to avoid doing it, but it is good to ask questions and be sure. I was told to 'trust' the data scientists, none of whom I know, and don't stand in the way. I acquiesced, and ceased my questions. Groupthink is a powerful thing. Data was here to save our business, I was assured. On the train ride home, I ran into a colleague from another department who is much closer to this project and he told me even more details about the project. For one, it was the third attempt by this team to implement the 'vision' (so much for trust!). For another, they were abandoning all the work done in the previous 2 operations and starting from scratch, meaning work which had been done on all the old systems had to be reassessed and either tossed or transferred to newer platforms. Finally, they'd spent exorbitant sums of money already, to the point that break-even was probably 10 years off, assuming they met their 4 year timeline. He listened to my questions and nodded, saying they were all the right questions and there was good reason to question the nature and scope of this project. Google, Facebook and all the other firms with huge data systems have the benefit of being young and starting from scratch while new technologies were being introduced. This is how business works, it's part of the process of creative destruction. The newer companies benefit from untried, but potentially beneficial products, living or dying by their ability to manage and incorporate these ideas and technology. Older companies have to try and keep up, and many are incapable of doing so. However, these older firms need to be careful about the implementation. Data is as much about art as it is about what the data tells us, sometimes less is more. Sometimes your gut tells you as much as $10mm worth of information does. I have seen people collect information on months-long projects only to confirm suggestions which were made at the outset. The delays cost money. There are rare, very rare, occasions when the data tells us something different. Sometimes the reason it tells us something different is due to the time delay in collecting the data. Perhaps this is a form of Heisenberg's Cat played out in the realm of business. I am a huge believer in collecting and managing data. My job relies on it. But as I tell my boss, data and technology are like Stradivarius violins. You can give me a Stradivarius and I will make awful noise with it. Give it to a concert violinist, and beautiful music is made. The same is true of data. Many data scientists today, I've found, make very basic mistakes in their assumptions about what data tells them. The most common is the confusion over causation and correlation. I have had arguments with PhDs over this very issue when they present correlative data without proving the linkage to causation. Baseball is a great example of this point. Sabermetrics have revived and increased my interest in the game. Yet Sabermetrics have limits. A cute, sappy movie Trouble With The Curve illustrates where data intersects with knowledge and experience. Data can provide support, but it takes experience to know what that data is telling you. Dr. Joy Bliss recently posted about this issue, as the problem has infected even the realm of medicine and health. Data can do many things. But the last thing it should be used for is policy-making, because data is typically utilized under the 'pretense of knowledge' and applied in a fashion that has unintended consequences. They may also have politics, which don't benefit you, built in. Michael Crichton famously warned us of the problem of politicized science and data. Sadly, many intelligent people remain ignorant of misplaced trust in data, demonizing critics without explaining fully why the critics' logic is flawed. A company, like the one which employs me, is just as likely to politicize positions. We call it groupthink. In my briefing, I was not part of the groupthink. I enjoy being on the outside. I may be wrong at times, but when I am, I'm happy to know that I have played the role of Captain Obvious, asking difficult questions in a fashion to open up the thought process further - if it can be opened up further. Sadly, as I watch what happens in the office, I begin to understand why Progressives remain so prevalent in our society. They are incapable of moving past groupthink. If everyone else is doing it, it must be good - right? Thursday, April 9. 2015Bipolar disorder
I am not diagnosing the genius Robin Williams, but is this amusing, disturbing, or some of both?
Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss
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16:05
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