Maggie's Farm

I doubt many of our readers are interested in identifying sparrows, or interested in their lifestyles. I am interested in all birds. 

Song Sparrow is common for a reason:  The Secret to Song Sparrows’ Extraordinary Success Lies in Their Genome

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

1:1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

1:11 What
to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had
enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not
delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.

1:12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more!

1:13 Bringing
offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and
Sabbath and calling of convocation-- I cannot endure solemn assemblies
with iniquity.

1:14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

1:15 When
you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though
you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

1:16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove your evil deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil;

1:17 learn to do good; seek justice; rescue the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.

1:18 Come
now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: If your sins are like scarlet,
will they become like snow? If they are red like crimson, will they
become like wool?

1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land,

1:20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

1:2 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

1:12I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

1:13I  applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done
under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to humans to
be busy with.

1:14 I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun, and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

2:18 I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to my successor,

2:19 and
who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will be master of
all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is
vanity.

2:20 So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun,

2:21 because
sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must
leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is
vanity and a great evil.

2:22 What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun

2:23 For
all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at
night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Nothing wrong, just visiting family in Europe.

How Air Conditioning Changed Everything"

Canadian Churches Fined, Protested for Hosting Conservative Christian Singer

Democrats Announce 2028 Campaign Slogan: 'We Hate Capitalism, Hot Chicks, And The Jews'

Is Sydney Sweeney a Nazi?

Scott Jennings Lists the 80/20 Hills Dems Are Dying On and How That Erodes Trust on Other Issues

If it's Trump news, the good news can't be good news.

The Latest On the Russia Collusion Hoax

Durham Annex Bombshell Exposes New Twist in Russian Collusion Hoax

Destroying Brennan And Clapper's Desperate Op-Ed

The Long Overdue Russiagate Reckoning

Perpetual Russian Wars

Trump Tames Europe

Some Thoughts on Tom Lehrer - He died the other day at 97 (!)

Dunkin Donuts is racist? 

Reclaiming 'Environmentalism' From The Climate Extremists

The Trump Economy Is Booming, and the Left Is Having a Meltdown

 EPA Finally Proposes To Rescind The Endangerment Finding

Report: Patel Found ‘Burn Bags’ Full of Trump-Russia Probe Documents

NY Times: Women Are Tired of 'Mankeeping'

It’s Time to End the Public School Monopoly on Education

Bill Maher Admits He Was Wrong About Trump’s Tariffs: ‘I Gotta Own It’

How Trump Just Turned Europe Into A Vassal Market

Trump Drops a Truth Bomb About the Epstein Files

Democrats' Rating Collapses To Generational Low As Midterm Cycle Nears; New Poll Finds

Trump has the resolve to defend the West. We are invited to deplore his strong actions on the border. But the overwhelming response is “This is what I voted for”

How good was this? Click on youtube:

This small mountain of sliced foie gras, drizzled with a port wine reduction, was an appetizer but all I needed for a meal. They suggested a white port (white port is good) with it, so I did. Amazing supper in Porto while listening to buskers on the main drag.

Mrs. BD had something else, can't recall what that was. 

Physical Touch Is the “Mother of All Senses” — Get an Expert’s Insight on How It Can Benefit Your Life

NYC used to be the fashion capital of the world — now you can hardly find a decent clothing store

Retailers Accused Of "Racism" As They Flee Black Neighborhoods In Milwaukee

Stanford-led study finds COVID vaccines saved far fewer lives than previously reported

There's More Damning Details on the Steele Dossier...and It Involves a Former Top Trump Official

Trump Reaches Historic Trade Deal with EU: Europe to Buy $750 Billion in U.S. Energy

Trump drains Foggy Bottom. The insulated elites at State Department don’t represent America

Farm Living Is the Life for Dept of Agriculture Employees or It Will Be

Is Gaza Starving? Searching for Truth in an Information War.

Farage: Britain Is Facing Complete "Societal Collapse"

E.U. Cuts Aid to Ukraine Over Corruption Concerns

Lots of haze up here now. Guess it's from Canadian wildfires.

Ever been boating in fog?  It's a bitch, even with radar.

Luke 11:1-13  - Jesus teaches prayer

11:1 He was praying in a
certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to
him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

11:2 so he said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, may your name be revered as holy. May your kingdom come.

11:3 Give us each day our daily bread.

11:4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial."

11:5 And
he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at
midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

11:6 for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.'

11:7 And
he answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been
locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you
anything.'

11:8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

11:9 "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

11:10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

11:11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish?

11:12 Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion?

11:13 If
you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask him!"

The Sixties Never Happened

Hear me out: The sixties never happened.

No, really. The idea
that generational shifts happen in neat, tectonic fashion, bang-on the
first day of each decade, is useless for encapsulating eras. So I’m
gonna fix it. Well, at least the years between 1952 and 1982. Those
thirty years were split into two parts, not three: The Fixties, and The
Endless Bummer. The thing everyone calls The Sixties never happened.

Wry as usual, mostly about movies. Yeah, the post-war era was very pleasant. Well there was a war in Korea until 1953 (my Dad was a doctor in that one). I was a kid in the 60s, college in the early 70s. Studied hard (no choice) but too much LSD, pot, etc. Tried them all but mostly a strange waste of time. Marched in DC (Ho ho ho, LBJ has gotta go). Kid stuff. College pal died of a heroin OD, another brilliant pal died of an opium OD. 

Like most other bugs, their "adult" reproductive phases are usually brief - a week or two. However, their time as eggs, larvae (in this case, caterpillars), and pupae varies depending on species and climate.

Some even migrate (eg Monarchs) and some, like Mourning Cloaks, (photo) hibernate, which is why you sometimes see them fully-fledged on the first warm days of Spring. Tough buggers, live on tree sap.

How long do butterflies and moths live?

How Long Do Butterflies Live?

Gummies

US Fertility Rate Now Approaching Europe’s - The U.S. fertility rate dropped to an all-time low to 1.6 children per woman in 2024

Law Professor Reveals Who's the '30-Point Buck Out in the Open' on Possible Russiagate Charges

The Damage Caused by Russia Hoax Lies

Ghislaine Maxwell Gave DOJ Details About 100 People Linked to Epstein

He knew all the important people 

Trump secures a deal with Mexico to stop sending its raw sewage to California's beaches

Team Trump is right to sue NYC over its ‘sanctuary’ laws — but Mayor Adams isn’t the one to blame

A Beatnik Tourist in Ayahuasca Country - William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg's trip reports form one of the most entertaining books in the Beat canon.

Follow Up on that City-Supported Grocery Store in Kansas City

Why the Revolution Never Ends - Marxism
didn’t die. It just changed costumes. A historian of communism breaks
down how today’s radicals rebranded ideology for a new generation.

Trump EPA Looking To Kill Off Climate Cult “Endangerment Finding”

" I’d go so far as to suggest that it is likely that the first half of
2025 has seen the fewest deaths related to extreme weather of any half
year in recorded human history."

You and I Don't Live in the Same World as NYT Readers

 ScMatt Taibbi: The Smoking Gun That Indicts Obama Is the December 10, 2016 Story In The NY Times And Washington Post

Scott Adams Says Obama's Russia Hoax and the 'Fine People' Lie Ruined His Life and Split America

Just When You Thought You Couldn't Hate Media More Than You Do, This Is CNN

Epstein Vs. Russiagate

Stanford professor keeps fighting to defend rigor in math curricula

Climate alarmism in Minnesota

Re the economics of assisted suicide 

Reynolds:  The Elvis Problem - Defining religion under the First Amendment

VDH:  The cure may be painful, but it’s the cancer—unchecked borders, foreign
appeasement, DEI overreach, and green delusions—that’s killing the
patient.

Skydance Outlines Post-Merger Moves at CBS: 'Comprehensive' Editorial
Bias Review, Ombudsman To Ensure ‘Accountability,’ and Elimination of
All DEI

Niall Ferguson: Milei’s Man-made Miracle

Man who died in freak MRI accident was jammed in machine for almost an hour, never told to remove 20-pound chain

Peer-Reviewed Research: Men Find Looking At Nearly Naked Women Distracting

Climate Change: It’s the Law!

Over and over, this administration is doing things that past Republicans could and should have done, yet inexplicably never did.

Trump sharpens the ax for the Education Department.

Trump Announces Trade Deals with Indonesia and the Philippines – Both
Countries Agree to Open Market with ZERO Tariffs on the U.S. but will
Pay 19% Tariffs on Exports to U.S.

Trump announces sweeping Japan trade deal with $550B investment by Tokyo

Tulsi Is About To Drop More Evidence Against Barack Obama

Russiagate's Architects Suppressed Doubts to Peddle False Claims

'Report' of ICE Deporting an 82-Year-Old Legal Immigrant Gets a Bombshell Update, Press Left in Shambles

Ancient Wisdom: When Darkness Comes, Don’t Flinch. “I still see a
spark in her eyes when the grandchildren lean into her lap, and she
strokes their hair or kisses their cheeks,” writes Michael Tobin, My wife no longer knows my name, but
when she looks at me, I want to believe her gaze says, ‘I see you,’ as
if something inside her still remembers.

The Fermi Paradox and Drake Equation

Hello New York, The UK Shows That If You Tax The Rich, They Will Flee

The $130 billion train that couldn’t

What does the Fed do? 

The CEO of NPR Made the Best Case for Defunding It

James Carville Says Democrat Party Has Become ‘A Cracked-Out Clown Car’

How is Argentina doing? 

We had some tech glitches...

Which Are The "Stranded Assets" Now?

Mamdani Plummets in New Poll as Republican Long Shot Surges

How Obama and cronies created Trump-Russia hoax, and what happens next

France Wages All-Out War On Free Speech

There’ll Always Be an England—But Will It Be Free?

Europe still has the power of… what, exactly?