We 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.
Enrique Granados drowned in 1916 while attempting to save his wife after their ship was torpedoed by the Germans. He was returning home from a performance for President Wilson.
This weekend, we heard a performance of his Danzas espanolas, written for piano but, in our case, amazingly arranged for harp and guitar. Wow. You don't get to hear that everyday - harp as the melodic instrument, with guitar as back-up. Especially after a very pleasant church picnic hanging out with the brethren. A fine day indeed in Yankeeland, then later a delicious no-carb Asian dinner out with dear friends and their Ivy League math genius daughter. Les tres riche heures du Bird Dog. Did I mention three hours of yard and farm work before church?
The classical guitarist we heard with the harpist has a sideline as a studio rock musician. Mrs. BD said classical guitar is like ballet. If you can do ballet, you can do any other sort of dance easily.
The rondalla is wonderful if you can find it, but this is the "Oriental" bit, arranged, in this case, for two guitars:
Democratic institutions have strong incentives to flatter the feelings of the ignorant and greedy among us, who are a large voting constituency. For this reason, Congress and the regulatory agencies treat the inevitable parting of fools and their money as a deficiency in the marketplace. When Granny puts all of her money into baht-denominated commodity swaptions and then loses it, the fault cannot possibly be hers: Surely there is something wrong with the market, surely those marginally employed and penniless borrowers were tricked into thinking they could afford half-million-dollar suburban spreads, surely companies with no profits or assets would have been outstanding investments if only we’d had the right regulations, etc., and we have to figure out a way to give people their money back. But when JPMorgan makes a boneheaded sort-of-a-hedge-sort-of-not investment and takes a $5 billion (and counting) lump, obviously JPMorgan is at fault, and it’s a national scandal.
Aren't investments all about risk? Who is too dumb to know that?
"I think the message is that, first of all, voters are seeing the fundamental unfairness of government becoming its own special interest group, sitting on both sides of the table."
... the hard-Left takeover of the Democratic Party has meant that there is no longer a credible balance in our system, as almost all the tenets of contemporary left-wing ideology are blowing up, imploding super nova style — unsustainable ideas that are contrary to human nature and demand coercion for their implementation, given that they are increasingly anti-democratic and have to be implemented from high by an elite technocracy whether in Brussels, Sacramento, or Washington.
Americans hate coercion - especially when "it's for your own good."
It's about scientific integrity and junk science. He insisted that scientists report everything that is wrong with their data and their conclusions - to be their own toughest critics and skeptics and, especially, to report and question their own biases and motivations.
This is an adaption of a 1974 Feynman lecture, via the article at Brain Pickings:
Which Mel Brooks movie was it when the character said their religion was Druid, and he says "That's funny. You don't look Druish"? Spaceballs, I think.
"Negative action," i.e., discrimination, occurs when a rejected Asian-American applicant would have been accepted "if he/she was white." But when that same rejected Asian-American applicant would have been accepted if he or she were black or Hispanic, that's "positive or affirmative action."
As the writer notes, there is nothing fair or rational about affirmative action. It's just a race-based political spoils system, and everybody knows it.
Borders R Us. We are educated amateurs, but we work hard on our borders and, when it comes together, it provides great pleasure and satisfaction to us.
Vegetables? I am getting tired of the effort/production ratio but fresh tomatoes are good if the chipmunks don't gnaw on them first. Trouble is, we don't get tomatoes from the garden until mid-late July.
There are about 40-thousand Catholic priests in the US and about 220,000 parishes serving about 70+ million Catholics, over 20% of the US population. -- If not religious, skip to about 1:25 minutes.
I obtained some inside information. A local, solo practitioner guy nets, for himself, $1.4 million per year. His gross is almost double that. He works hard, keeps three rooms going at a time, and around 40% of his practice is children's Medicaid which apparently pays well. The rest is self-pay plus some dental insurance.
He has two hygienists, a receptionist, and a billing person in the office. A small businessman.
I saw a Killdeer with three teensy, just-hatched miniature Killdeer chicks running around a large gravel parking lot during my morning walk today.
That was a sight which gladdened my heart and sweetened my soul.
The Killdeer is found, either breeding or wintering, in all states of the US. It's a plover of open ground, and not particularly associated with water like most plovers.
You will never find them in tall grass or woodlands, but you can occasionally see them doing their run-and-pause bug-hunting technique on pebbly shorelines.
Their "killdeer" call, sometimes heard at night, and the rusty flash of tail, are distinctive.
You can read about this not-uncommon bird here. Every good person loves the Killdeer.
When in the chronicle of wasted time I see descriptions of the fairest wights, And beauty making beautiful old rhyme In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best, Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow, I see their antique pen would have express'd Even such a beauty as you master now. So all their praises are but prophesies Of this our time, all you prefiguring; And, for they look'd but with divining eyes, They had not skill enough your worth to sing: For we, which now behold these present days, Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.
My good friend Larry Bailey retired from the Navy in 1990 after a 27-year career as a SEAL, rising to Captain. Captain Bailey's most significant military assignment was as Commanding Officer of the Naval Special Warfare Center, where all Navy SEALS undergo basic and advanced training.
Bailey and others from across the spectrum of US special forces have banded together to form Special Operations Speaks. I'll let them speak for themselves:
Honorably discharged veterans of the Special Operations communities of all the Armed Services have organized an effort to elect Mitt Romney President of the United States. This group, “Special Operations Speaks,” or “SOS,” will be structured along quasi-military lines, with an umbrella organization coordinating the efforts of several subordinate Service-unique specialties. The Army will be represented by “Rangers Speak Out” and “Green Berets Speak Out;” the Navy by “SEALs Speak Out;” the Air Force by “Air Commandos Speak Out;” and the Marine Corps by “MARSOC Speaks out.”
SOS is configured as a “Super Political Action Committee” (Super PAC) that will enable it to exert maximum influence as an advocate for the election of Mitt Romney as President of the United States. Subsequent to the 2012 campaign, SOS will continue to exert pressure on behalf of the Special Operations community.
Of particular interest to SOS is the urgency of maintaining the level of secrecy that has heretofore been a hallmark of Special Operations. The recent leaking of highly classified information from the offices of the Commander-in-Chief himself clearly indicates the need to protect sensitive information from the public (and enemy’s) eye. SOS will educate the public and its representatives in the US Congress about this issue.
Until November 6, 2012, SOS will organize and execute operations designed to help elect Mitt Romney and to defeat Barack Hussein Obama.
There's a petition at the site for an investigation by the House Homeland Security Committee into who leaked the secret information about the SEAL raid that got bin Laden. Please sign up.
Also, rest assured that just as they defended us during their active duty, our special operations forces are still doing the job.
P.S.: Here's a 2007 interview by me with Larry Bailey, when he organized 40,000 in D.C. for a No Cut, No Run rally.
As in so many other cases, international media usually seeks out and features negative news about Israel or exaggerates it or treats it in a biased manner. So, too, on this issue.There is a natural, and commendable, empathy for peoples in dire straits or whose experience, by large stretches of analogy, may be compared to other groups, like Hispanics or Blacks in the US, but that alone does not merit the one-sided coverage of this issue and the lack of facts and context.That lack of context and partial facts has been the case with most of the reporting about African illegal immigrants in Israel.
As in the US, it is difficult to count the number of illegal immigrants, so hard numbers of illegal African immigrants in Israel are estimates.According to Wikipedia, there were about 26-thousand in July 2010 and 55-thousand in January 2012. Estimates of new arrivals are about 1-thousand a month, which would bring the June 2012 number to over 60-thousand.Two-thirds are estimated to be in south Tel Aviv and another 20% in the resort city of Eilat. Some other estimates of illegal African immigrants in Israel are higher. This is a lower percentage of illegal immigrants than in the US, but Israel should not wait until it is as large a problem as here. There are also about 150,000 Black Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Black Ethiopian Jews were brought in by Israel.
As in the US, there is certainly racism against Blacks within Israel.There is also acceptance and substantial aid within Israel, as in the US for its illegal immigrants.
...you’ve been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You’ve been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You’ve been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. Yes, you have. And, certainly, we’ve been to your games, your plays, your recitals, your science fairs. Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet. Why, maybe you’ve even had your picture in the Townsman! And now you’ve conquered high school... and, indisputably, here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community, the first to emerge from that magnificent new building...
But do not get the idea you’re anything special. Because you’re not.
There is nothing easy about leading an "ordinary" life - whatever that is - and you will always be precious to your parents.
“Imagine a world in which hunger is vanquished by crops that don’t depend on the soil, water or fertilizer, or pesticides to thrive; they’re just around the corner.”
Ray Bradbury: Enemy of the State
I saw a Killdeer with three teensy, just-hatched miniature Killdeer chicks running around a large gravel parking lot during my morning walk today.
Via Insty, 
Some