Viking vineyards?

“New research suggests the Vikings indulged in a bit of viticulture.

“Studies of grape pips point to wine production in Denmark during the time of the Vikings.

“The Vikings liked alcohol, but while it is easy enough to grow crops and produce beer in the Danish climate, wine is a different challenge and was thought to have always been imported from southern parts of Europe to northern countries.”

https://www.thelocal.dk/20170426/danish-vikings-may-have-made-their-own-wine

Key words for historians always to consider: “… was thought to have always been …”

Link at http://gatesofvienna.net/2017/04/gates-of-vienna-news-feed-4272017/#more-42811

Study on murder leaves out one important word

“One of the most interesting findings in the report is that areas with the highest gun ownership rates have low murder rates.

“’While many factors explain these concentrated murders, it is also striking that the counties with zero murders are the counties with by far the highest gun ownership rates,’ Lott said.”

The word left out is "legal," as in "highest legal gun ownership rates."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/26/us-murders-concentrated-in-5-percent-counties.html

Link at http://gatesofvienna.net/2017/04/gates-of-vienna-news-feed-4272017/#more-42811

Michelle Malkin says what she thinks

Straight talk about women and the workplace…from the Little Brown Woman with a Big Mouth

by Michelle Malkin for CRTV.com

I am a woman who has worked in the media industry for 25 years – in newspapers, television, and on the Internet.

I’ve worked for big corporations and family-owned companies and independent start-ups and founded two of my own websites.

I am here to tell you that there is nothing stopping women from blowing the whistle if they don’t like how they are treated.

The most important career advice I give to young women is to learn to say NO. The world won’t end if you walk away from an awkward or ugly situation and head for the door if managers won’t support you.

I speak from experience. My conflicts with various media bigwigs and personalities – both men AND women – who crossed the line with me are well known. I don’t wait years to call people out. And I do it out in the open. Not behind closed doors.

If you’ve been sexually harassed and you CHOOSE to keep quiet about it because your career ambition is more important to you than your self-respect, blame yourself.

If you’ve been insulted or dissed by colleagues and you CHOOSE to suffer in silence because getting on air is more important to you than defending your integrity, that’s on you.

If you go along with the corporate ladder-climbing game and collect your paycheck and smile for the cameras while you sit across from the table from some creeper or pig or jerk, don’t expect sympathy 3 or 5 or 10 years later when you suddenly feel compelled to share a tale of hurt feelings to ingratiate yourself with your new bosses.

And if you LIE about sexual harassment or rape for fame, money, revenge, or political score-settling, you are the lowest form of female crapweasel on the planet.

Don’t blame The Patriarchy or Institutional Sexism for your own choices and failures and falsehoods.

Get off the Victim Bandwagon and hold yourself accountable.

That’s what TRUE feminist empowerment is all about.

http://michellemalkin.com/2017/04/25/malkin-manifesto-straight-talk-about-women-and-the-workplace/

My wife has said the same thing for years.

Funnies

My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday, so I went to our local pet shop and they were $75!!! Blow this, I thought, I can get one cheaper off the web.

I was at an ATM yesterday when a little old lady asked if I could check her balance, so I pushed her over.

Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarves are not Happy.

From http://www.theospark.net/

(Spell check red lined "dwarves," suggesting perhaps I meant "wharves." No, I know the difference. However:

("Dwarfs is the standard plural of the noun dwarf. Dwarves is a newer variant popularized (though not invented) by English author J.R.R. Tolkien in his fantasy fiction works, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The Tolkien spelling is appropriate when referring to little people in fantasy worlds." from grammarist.org.)

Cherokee County, Ga., SO escorts unclaimed remains of five Vietnam veterans

“The unclaimed cremated remains of 5 Vietnam Vets were buried today at the Georgia National Cemetery. The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement Unit was honored to participate in a portion of the escort for these fallen heroes.

The veterans buried were –

1LT Charles J. Hodapp Jr., USA
SGT Garry L. Criswell, USAF
SP4 Christopher A. Gunter, USA
SP4 Lewis H. Klaer Jr., USA
SP4 Michael S. Nicolo, USA”

https://www.facebook.com/cherokeesheriffsoffice/videos/vb.105248963008244/656599377873197/?type=2&theater

Link at http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=71717

Rudy nowhere near Notre Dame

Rudy, Ark., that is.

One of the funniest TV lines ever was delivered by Randy Hickey (Ethan Suplee) on My Name Is Earl: “This is just like when Rudy the Hobbit walked on campus the first time.”

Hobbitville is an additional “nowhere near” for Rudy, Ark.

Rudy, Ark., reached its population pinnacle in the 1960 census, with 113 residents. The 2000 official population count was 72, further demographed at 95.83% white and 4.17% native American. Twenty percent of families and 19.2% of the overall population lived below the official poverty line. Per capita for the town was $11,842.

The town was named after Eric Rudy, part-time town treasurer and historian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy,_Arkansas

The official 2010 population was 61, a 15.3% drop from 2000.

Somewhat ironically, Rudy has an Earl Street. There is a Hinkley Street, too, and that’s pretty close to “Hinkey.”

Frog Bayou runs along the southwest side of town.

The Zip Code 75952 incudes Cedar Creek, Jasper, Lancaster and Oliver Springs.

Somebody arrest his mother

For giving him a name that put him on an escalator to dumbassness and crime.

“Responding officers discovered 19-year-old Damelvian Evans critically injured behind the business. He was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he died.”

http://wkrn.com/2017/04/21/man-killed-during-shootout-at-bordeaux-shop/

Link at http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=71666

I want one of those 10-shot revolvers

“The San Bernardino elementary school gunman fired 10 shots before stopping to reload his six-shot revolver midway through, a report noted. This gave a teacher’s aide time to lead pupils out of harm’s way.

“Some experts think restrictions on high-capacity ammunition magazines, rather than assault weapons bans, may be the best way to limit mass shooting casualties.”

http://blog.joehuffman.org/2017/04/18/quote-of-the-day-the-trace/

Hmm. Fired 10 shots from a six-shot revolver, and if there had been a large-capacity magazine ban in effect, he would not have had access to a revolving magazine at all. Surely a news writer cannot be that dumb.

Link at: http://www.woodpilereport.com/

Desert One

“The only difference between this and the Alamo is that Davy Crockett didn’t have to fight his way in.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/05/the-desert-one-debacle/304803/

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

(The writer doesn’t care for Col. Beckwith.)

Parents give kids names guaranteeing jail time

“In 2015, Paris resident Christroyvius Mason, then 19, was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of Quenton Montrel Grundy, 20 of Paris.”

http://theparisnews.com/news/article_87ddd2e0-26a5-11e7-9961-333e31031ee0.html

Sometimes I think there should be a Bureau of Names, where parents would be counseled, and counselors given the authority to say, "Are you kidding me? Just take the child to jail right now."

913 gold coins found in old piano

“Last November, piano tuner Martin Backhouse was having a hard time with some sticky keys on a 1906 Broadwood & Sons upright piano he was overhauling for The Community College of Bishops Castle. Martin found the problem when he removed the keys: eight parcels full of gold coins.

“…Inside seven cloth-wrapped parcels and one suede drawstring pouch, they counted 913 gold sovereigns and half-sovereigns ranging in date from 1847 to 1915, issued in the reigns of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V. The weight of the coins total more than 6 kilos (13+ pounds) of gold bullion.”

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/46937

No reparations for me

Well, shoot. I miss out on all the good stuff offered or protested.

Well, not all. Four years in the Army and 12 years in the Texas Army National Guard did give me access to pretty much free medical care. And there was the GI Bill for college.

But on other stuff, not so much. I can’t claim Indian/Native American ancestry, so any share in federal monies going to the various Nations in Oklahoma is out of the question. No Osage oil money, no Choctaw food bank goodies, no Cherokee tears shed for whatever (allegedly) was done to long dead ancestors by equally long dead white persons. I guess I could move to Massachusetts and claim (pick a tribe) ancestry and run for the U.S. Senate. But I am a bit more honest than the (fake Indian) Democratic Party junior senator from the state that gave us John Adams and Paul Revere.

My wife of almost 45 years gave to me access to ancestry.com DNA testing. The overall result is: I am 100% European extraction. Further breakdown:

33% Ireland (includes Scotland)
30% West Europe (a big swath of land)
25% Great Britain (England and/or Wales)
6% Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and/or Denmark)
3% Iberian Peninsula (Spanish and/or Portuguese)
2% Italy/Greece
1% Eastern Europe (Polish, Slovakian, Czech, Austrian, Russian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Romanian, Serb, Ukrainian, Belarus, Moldavan, Lithuanian, Latvian, Bosnian, Herzegovinian, Croatian – Take your pick, but don’t tell any of the others, because they don’t get along. You do not want to tell a Croat he is Serb. Or vice versa; not vice any versa. Not mentioned: Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia or Estonia.)

The generic Western Europe part probably covers places where Vikings landed and took gold and stuff and left (shall we say) buns in the ovens. They were known for that.

Don’t try this at home

Unless you are Russian and know the neighborhood bears and have lots of cookies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV8nZ8bYKKA

I used to read Jewish World Review every day

But the web site now produces grammatically wrong headlines in attempts at gender neutrality.

To wit:

‘5 tips to help your child uncover their (sic) talents’

‘Every parent wants their (sic) child to grow as a successful person’

(I don’t even know what that second one means. A “successful person?” What is that?)

Portland, Ore., city council throws away $539 million

Can’t have any corporate investments from their city funds.

Or as a supporter of poverty said: “We can rest assured in Portland that our money won’t be funding prisons, pipelines, and the occupation of Palestine.”

http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/portland-bans-investment-in-corporations-risks-millions/

Link at http://ace.mu.nu/

'Paleolithic diet is a myth’

It makes sense that our long, long ago ancestors ate what didn’t eat them first. To claim, as pro-Paleolithic dieters do, that humans many thousands of years ago did not eat cereals or grains is not supportable.

“Food choice is as much about what’s available to be eaten as it is about what a species evolved to eat.”

Can I get an “Amen!”

You will eat what keeps you alive.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-true-human-diet/

Link at maggiesfarm.

Compared with real news (North Korea's plans to nuke LA, or the latest love swoon for Chelsea Clinton's plans for 2020), Stone Age diet is not news for some people. I, however, am more interested in way back when stuff than I am in the doings of Bill and Hillary's overpaid and under-worked daughter.

Oxymoronic?

CNN grab: “Sheen sets the record straight.”

Somehow, the words “Sheen” and “straight” do not co-exist in the same plane.

The video is a 2011 interview with Piers Morgan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXAvP49avF4

Hmm. Piers Morgan and Charlie Sheen and CNN. Who could doubt truth and accuracy?

Banning cars will stop terrorism and male dominance

That’s what a couple of Swedes see as a solution, anyway.

Swedish editorialist Eva Franchell says cars “have turned into deadly weapons” and should be banished from cities. Of course a ban on cars would stop Muslim terrorists and other criminals from running over people, just as gun control laws keep criminals from buying guns and killing people.

If stopping Muslim terrorist attacks is not your thing, there is the idea that driving a car is “a gender equality issue.” Swedish Interior Minister Karolina Skog made that connection.

“Cars are driven largely by men so by giving a lot of space to cars, we’re giving a lot of space to men – at the expense of women,” Krog said.

Last year, the incoming Swedish foreign minister announced the country’s foreign policy would now be “feminist.” No definition given.

Car ban link at http://moonbattery.com/

‘Swedish Journalist’s Response to Stockholm Attack: Ban Cars’

All you need is love, huh

Saw this today: When somebody asks, “What would Jesus do?” just remember, turning over tables and chasing people with a whip is not out of the question.

More doomed than I thought

Three decades of Thought Police and Gender Police attacks on American speech has not rendered me oblivious or ignorant of grammar. I know like-minded people who shudder at the sheer ignorance or don’t-care attitude of those who see no need for distinction between "their," "there" and "they’re;" "can’t" or "cant;" "your" and "you’re." The ones who know language defines a culture continue anger at the substitution of “their” for the generic singular pronouns “he” and “his.”

My initial finding that the Thought Police were victorious occurred more than 20 years ago when in Texarkana, Texas, I saw in front of a florist shop a sign stating:

“Surprise your
“boss give them
“flowers”

Today on the internet were two even more egregious examples of language idiocy:

A real estate ad, saying “The owner want’s…”

A picture of a model, and a lead-in: “America’s most smartest model.”

One of these days will come a clap of thunder

Windows shake in houses and offices. Doors rattle. The sound of the thunder will be the loudest sound ever heard. Animals will flee deeper into the forest, into the grassland, deeper into their burrows. Voices filled with fear will ask, "What was that?"

And a voice will come from a dark cloud. "Do I have your attention now?"

My wife just said, "Wow."

"What?" I said.

"These two people are both trans and they are getting married."

The program is Say Yes to the Dress.

My wife said, "They are both men who say they are women, and they are getting married."

That took a little bending of my mind, (2) the idea two men believe they are women; and (2) they are getting married as women.

Thunder, thunder, thunder.

Warnings

Yesterday (or whenever it was the doctor decided I have Type A flu), as my wife and I left the doctor’s office, Cylla announced: “Plague! Plague! Keep away!”

I had to get in on it, too, so I called out: “Bring out your dead!” as collectors of bodies reportedly did 600 years ago.

When awakening from my first nap yesterday, I thought, “We should put a sign on the door, saying “FLU!”

Our daughter called last to catch up on things. My wife told her of our battle with the flu. Kathleen asked: “Have you put a warning on the door?”

My wife said, “I was thinking maybe we should tape a notice. FLU! KEEP AWAY!”

Goes go prove – Great minds think likely.

Still sick. Getting that bed rest, though. The flu is at the stage of I can’t stay up, but I don’t want to lie down.

Send in the Democrats!

Loveland, Okla., had a population of 13, according to official 2010 census returns. Yes, 13. IN 2000, the population was 14; estimated 2015 population was 12. In 1920, the first year of a census in Loveland, 191 people lived there. The number has been going down since.

The 2000 census returns determined 100% of the households had married couples living together. That is a good figure, percentage wise. “For every 100 females there were 133.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveland,_Oklahoma

I guess that means there are more boy kids in Loveland than there are girl kids. When the boys get older, they will have to go somewhere else and find wives. Or maybe advertise.

With all of the population in families, the median income and median family income were the same in 2000 -- $25,000. Here is a really interesting statistics somebody of a Progressive/Democratic bent might want to interfere with: The median income for men was $17,500; for women, the median income was $0.

That’s right. The women of Loveland, Okla., are not paid. Could be, they don’t have jobs. Also interesting is: None of the population lives below the official federal poverty line.

Loveland is in Tillman County. At its peak, in 1930, the county had a population of 24,390. The 2010 population was 7,992. The Depression and dust hit hard.

Hack, hack. Cough, cough

This afternoon the doctor said I have the flu. "Type A," he said. "The worst."

Well, thanks a lot, Doc. Of course if I wanted to hear only good news, I wouldn't go to a doctor.

I am weak. I fell when getting out of bed this afternoon. (I take seriously the doctor's advice -- "Get lots of bed rest.") I managed to get back to my feet. I don't remember being this weak in all of my adult life.

The doc prescribed something I am to take one of two times a day. He said it won't kill the flu, but will convince it to go away sooner.

When writing the prescription, he said, "Wow! One hundred forty-three dollars."

My wife picked up the prescription. It was $7.

Thank you, Tricare for Life.

Are MOMA staff liberal?

Or only ignorant of American history?

Regarding a work entitled F-111:

“Rosenquist began the painting F-111 in 1964, in the middle of the Vietnam War (Emphasis added). He positioned his main subject, the F-111 military plane, which was in development at the time, flying through fragmented images of consumer products and references to war. Through its expansive network of colliding visual motifs, F-111 addresses the connections between the Vietnam War, income taxes, consumerism, and advertising.”

https://www.moma.org/explore/f111

“…in the middle of the Vietnam War.”

http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/vietnam/vwatl.htm has American military in Vietnam 15 years -- 1959-73. For 1964, the total of US forces was 23,300.

Well, why let some silly facts get in the way when one’s focus is on the self-decided connection between “the Vietnam War, income taxes, consumerism, and advertising.” The MOMA writer might well have agreed with Mick Jagger on “who killed Kennedy.”

A way to look at Democratic/Progressives: “I am not pleased to meet you, because I know your name.”

Town in decline

The population of the Desha, Ark., area has dropped by about 85 since 2005, from 642 to around 560 in 2014.

Wikipedia does not list a population for Desha itself, but does show Independence County with a 2015 population of 37,052. Independence County is in the eastern part of North Central Arkansas and was the ninth county formed in Arkansas Territory, in 1820. Independence is a dry county.

Desha is 97% white, a figure that closely corresponds to Independence County’s 95%. In the county, 10% of families and 13% of the entire population has income below the federal poverty line.

Desha is in Zip Code 72527. Fifty-two percent of the population are women. Forty-eight percent live in husband-wife households, meaning man and woman in Arkansas.

By https://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org/72527/ figures, 100% of the population lives in “occupied housing units.” The plurality of houses in the Zip Code were built in the 1980s. Sixty-two percent of employed people work full time; 27% work part time; and 11% report no earnings. Average household income in 2014 was $42,246. Eighty-five percent of the working people get their money through wages paid by an employer. One hundred percent of the workers get to the job by car, van or truck. No public transportation, no taxis, no motorcycles, no bicycles or walking. Two hundred-forty-eight workers get to work within 10 to 19 minutes. Ninety-two percent of the population 25 and over has a high school diploma.

Desha is on Arkansas Highway 14/25, a few miles south of the White River. Here is a satellite image: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.7439856,-91.765883,159m/data=!3m1!1e3

Just a little north of due east from Desha, you will see a dam on the river, at the end of Lock 2 Road. The south side of the dam has a lock for river traffic.

In the satellite image, a cluster of house trailers has taken root on Moody Street, while on Hulsey Street, quite a few cars, trucks and other metal items have gone to die.

Batesville Regional Airport is just east of Desha.

Remains of warrior, chariot, two horse skeletons found in East Yorkshire

Buried warrior lived 2,200-2,300 years ago.

“The Pocklington chariot burial, excavated over the past two months, was the final resting place of an upper-class Iron Age Briton – probably a warrior – who lived in the third or fourth century BC. It is possible that he was a member of an ancient British tribe called the Parisi (or their ancestors) – a culture related to other Iron Age peoples in Northern France.”

…

“Researchers will now study any DNA they are able to extract from the remains of the chariot burial and some of the other remains found in the burial ground. They hope to confirm the chariot driver’s gender, health and, thanks to stable isotope analysis, his place of origin.”

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/46616

Link at maggiesfarm.