Maggie's Farm

Do not press that switch 

Brutal Numbers: Schools Spent $30 Billion on Laptops… and They Seem to Have Made Kids Dumber

Is college making people stupider?

Virginia bill would mandate teaching of Jan. 6, 2021 as an ‘insurrection’

"Prohibited Access:" Kash Patel Now Examining the FBI's Dark Files, the Hidden History of the Deep State

How Noem Turned a Popular Issue into a PR Nightmare

Unconditional Surrender: When Wars Are Fought to Win

Two Days Over Iran - Chinese missiles failed, Russian air defenses collapsed, and American air power reminded the world why deterrence still works.

Iranian Drone Strikes Bahrain Desalination Plant As Worst-Case Scenario Unfolds

After Starmer Panders to Muslim Leaders, Britain Braces for ‘Islamophobia Tsar’

UK Government Brands Union Flag A ‘Tool Of Hate’ In Leaked ‘Social Cohesion’ Strategy

BBC Caught Mistranslating Hegseth Speech, After Previously Doctoring Trump Address

The Hidden Cost of Hard-to-Fire Labor Laws: Why European Firms Don’t Take Risks

It is famous for a reason. People come to this one-week event from all over the country. It's not your ordinary flower show - it's a spectacle. One convention floor of displays, another floor of garden-related stuff.

We took the Amtrac from the new Moynihan Station, inside the old NYC Central Post Office building. It has Amtrac and Acela.Very pleasant, clean, lots of helpful people, and without hoboes. The New Jersey train station adjacent has not improved much...

The new Penn Station has a large, and good, food court too:

 A few photos below the fold -

This is an annual reposting:

Just a couple of weeks left to get your new Wood Duck houses up, and, if you want to place your boxes in water, it's easier to do if you can walk on the ice and punch a hole to hammer a post into the shallows. That is, if you have any sturdy ice on your pond or marsh.

The males arrive to their breeding grounds in March, and hunt for nesting boxes and holes and crevices in trees before the gals arrive later in April. 

If you have a stream or fresh water pond or marsh nearby, they will welcome your effort. Remember, there is no limit to the number of boxes you can place in or near a marsh - these birds are not territorial. I try to add one each year.

I place them on dead trees in the shallows of the beaver marsh, and nail a 3' aluminum flashing on the tree to deter coons and Blacksnakes. Some I put on a post in about 3-6' of water with a strong cement base. I always add a few inches of wood shavings on the bottom.

You can also put them in trees near ponds and marshes,

Our piece on Wood Duck here. I won't shoot a Wood Duck unless by mistake. They are highly edible, but too small. My joy is just to see them around, and my worry is just how many Snapping Turtles and egrets eat the young ones.

The best wood duck houses: http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/duck_houses.asp (fixed). I had planned to build a few more this winter, but I never got to it.

Here's the Ducks Unlimited site on building and situating Wood Duck houses.

Psalm 95

95:1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

95:2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

95:3 For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods.

95:4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

95:5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

95:7
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep
of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!

95:8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

95:9 when your ancestors tested me and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

95:10
For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people
whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways."

95:11 Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."

Our Horned owls and our local Bald Eagle are nested.

In our land, we have Nuthatches, Chickadees, Blue Jays, Mourning Doves of course, Cardinals, Downy and Red Breasted Woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens, an occasional House Finch, Cardinals.

Unusual not to see Grackles and other blackbirds yet, but we still have lots of snow cover. 

Free the Appliances! Turn out the lights on federal efficiency standards

My recently-new environmental dishwater takes 4 hours 

International Law? What’s That?

The obvious signs the Iran war is part of larger contest with Russia and China

The Fall of the NGO-Administrative Complex

Ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urges Trump admin to ‘take care’ of Iran for good: ‘Render them incapable’

The Diplomatic Reset in Venezuela Is Official

Another Sign the Cuban Regime's Days Are Numbered

Gaza off the news 

Germany Is Now Officially A Planned Economy

The best way to come off weight-loss drugs without regaining fat

Strength Training May Be the Biggest Factor in Healthy Aging

Why Universities Keep Losing the Argument - They have responded to public skepticism with appeals to their own authority. It’s not working.

Resurfaced Clip of Trump Telling Host His Plan for Iran in 1980 Goes Viral

Laser weapons deployed in Operation Epic Fury, as Space Force stops Iran’s missiles in their tracks

 Why This War With Iran Was Always Necessary - This war has long been an
existential necessity for America’s—and the West’s—survival, but Trump
is the first president who has the courage to act.

Iranian attacks aren’t worrying Washington

Kurdish Forces in Iraq Have Launched a Ground Invasion Against Iran

Mosque Holding #Sadz 'Khamenei Iz Dead' Service Has Loud, Angry Iranians Outside

Elisabeth Hasselbeck HUMILIATES The View’s Open-Borders Leftists with
Cold Hard Facts — Reminds Them Their Own Audience Needed Security
Clearance to Enter

European Commission Wants Your Free Speech. X Is In The Way

Trump to Attend White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner for the First Time as President

Why the left’s serial insanities keep becoming the law of the land

About those schoolgirls in Iran

Iranians’ joy vs. Democrats’ shame

George Will Bows to the Inevitable: Trump Was Right

Are Democrats Making a Huge Mistake Blasting Trump on Iran? UPDATE: Opposing Epic Fury Now a Litmus Test

The Democrats’ Epic Fury Over Iran Strikes - They invoke the Constitution against Trump — even as history and their own record tell a different story.

How the Israelis Did It

Three Cheers for the Secretary of War

There’s a novel solution to controversy over admission to New York City’s specialized high schools 

Iran and Venezuela: Guess Who the Left Is Cheering For

Why did Trump pull the trigger?

Canada and Australia Back U.S. Strikes Against Iran

UK, France, Germany Slam Iran For 'Reckless' Retaliation - Are Ready To Assist Israel And US

The death of Ayatollah Khamenei instantly makes the world a better place by Michael Goodwin

“You son of a b*tch. You shameful disgrace. Burn in hell.”

Iranian FM: Our Command And Control Functions Are Gone

Regime change in Iran is underway — and it won’t be easy

Psalm 121

121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come?

121:2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

121:3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

121:4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

121:5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.

121:6 The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.

121:7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

121:8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

Why Government Can't Solve All Human Problems: A Health Care Example

The U.S. Strike on Iran Is Legal

Top Democrats Condemn Operation Epic Fury as Massie and Khanna Plan to Bring War Powers Resolution

Saudi Arabia SLAMS “Brutal Iranian Aggression” Against Bahrain, Qatar,
UAE, Jordan, and Kuwait — Gulf States Vow FULL RIGHT to Retaliate After
Tehran’s Attack

In Ireland Now, Catholics Will Be Insulted for Showing Their Faith

92% Of Illegal Arrivals At Spain's Canary Islands Are Men, And Half Of 'Unaccompanied Minors' Are Adults

‘Gentle parenting’ is a delusion — and now there’s proof

Women now surpass men in law, medical school enrollment

Gutfeld: The Angrier And More Sullen The Democrats Are, The More Effective And Successful Trump's Policies Are

Wiles' Attorney: No, I Did Not Give FBI Consent to Wiretap Our Call

“Green” Suicide in the UK

All Signs Indicate “War Is Coming to Iran”

Trust the experts on transgenderism, they said

NPR caught in a new liberal fever dream about missing Epstein files linking to Trump

Susan Rice Goes Full Fascist

TGIF: The Situation Has Snowballed - Hockey gold turns into a loyalty test,
Dems won’t clap for Iryna’s grieving mom, Kamala ‘might,’ ‘John Barron’
calls C-SPAN, robot vacuums listen in, Bernie tries to unplug the
future, and much more.

McDonald’s in Germany banning daytime food pics for Ramadan. Funny how this only works one way ...

I learned a lot: The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World by historian William Dalrymple.

Yeah, our "Arabic numerals" came from India, including the number zero. It took a long time for usable numbers to enter Europe, via the Moors in Spain. You really can't develop math with Roman numerals.

Fibonacci was quite the guy. 

Yes, Europe was a backwater.

Why All the Jew-Hatred?

When Democrats Make Donald Trump The Normie In The Room, They're Losing

Fetterman: No, Seriously – How Do You Not Stand?

Here's the Tweet That Best Summarized Trump's Epic State of the Union Address

VDH:  The Graveyard of Destructive Ideas - Elite fashions harden into dogma,
dissent becomes taboo, institutions fall in line—and only when reality
intrudes does yesterday’s madness begin its overdue collapse.

Cuba Becomes The First Country To Reach Net Zero. Shouldn't We Be Celebrating?

The Massive Northeastern Snowstorm? Your Fault

“Anathema in the University Mission”: Bari Weiss Canceled at UCLA

Lamborghini EV Lanzador Bites The Dust As Electrified Supercar Demand Hits "Close To Zero"

New York’s First Free Grocery Store Shows Yet Again That Socialism Doesn’t Work

If waving the American flag or chanting “USA!” turns you off right now, you're not alone.

 Democrats Oppose SAVE Act to ‘Cheat’ in Elections

Gavin Newsom: Not Ready for Prime Time 

U.S. Gave Mexico Intelligence for Operation That Killed Drug Cartel Leader

Why commercial strawberries are less sweet

" I helped perform gender surgery for minors — it was wrong and must end"

 'Jim Snow 2.0': Mamdani Requires Multiple Forms of ID If You Want to Help Clear NYC Streets

End Of The Endangerment Finding: Will "Net Zero" Ever Get Back On Track In The U.S.?

The Democratic Socialists of America come closer to power

The Left Is Big Mad at Kash Patel for Celebrating the Gold Medal Win With USA Hockey

CJNG Cartel Unleashes Chaos at Guadalajara Airport and in Puerto
Vallarta After Leader ‘El Mencho’ Killed in Military Raid – Reports of
American Tourists Taken Hostage

Cartel kingpin dead and all hell breaks loose in Mexico -- amid shouts of 'Viva Trump'

Mamdani Wants to Socialize Housing by Driving Building Owners Like Me to Bankruptcy

Mayor Mamdani Declares That New York Has A "Budget Crisis"

'Out of Nowhere,' Canada Became Poorer Than Alabama

Europe Retreats from Climate Change During International Energy Agency Global Meeting

New England is enjoying a gentle and lovely Nor'easter this weekend. Breezy and gusty to 40 mph, snowy but not too violent but does qualify as a blizzard. It's weather, sorta "bad weather for boating." Looks like around 12" thus far. Barometer 29.46.

Why, one might ask, are cyclones travelling to the northeast named after winds coming from the northeast? Well, it's because the winds in the cyclone blowing up from the southeest are usually offshore as the storm, as these typically do, travels up the coast. Image below from this site.

 What is a "bomb cyclone"?

Offshore, therefore, the winds are more likely to be from the southwest - wet winds. However, a Sou'wester is any southwest wind. The big cyclonic storm are still called Nor'easters, as in Perfect Storm. Here's a real Sou'wester (the hat):