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.
Just as the media and the White House knew and covered up the fact that ObamaCare would devastate the individual market, they know and are now covering up the fact that the Obama administration itself has predicted that once ObamaCare's employer mandate hits in about 14 months, tens of millions could lose the insurance President Obama relentlessly reassured them they could keep...
The "problems" with Obamacare - not including the tech failures - are not bugs, they are features. The strategic brilliance of it all is unfolding. 85% were satisfied with their medical care before, but watch that number drop fast with outcries for a government fix of the supposed government fix.
Athletes, especially football, basketball, boxers, wrestlers, etc. beat the heck out of eachother every day for fun and/or profit, so why are people upset about words?
If they didn't bully eachother, I'd wonder what was wrong with them. They are gladiators, not hypersensitive metrosexuals. We must all learn to be tolerant of differences, and that includes differences we might not like. Tolerance, not necessarily approval although I am all in favor of locker-room-style insults and degradation. It's normal and fun verbal sparring and generally a form of male bonding. "Your mother wears Army boots."
If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
A recent look back at his tenure as president of Miami University (OH), the school my son happens to attend, did not provide any new insights. However, it does support my view of what is wrong with the education process. After many visits to Miami and other universities, it's clear there is too much emphasis on coddling the students. There is a war going on to provide the best dorms, the best cafe-style foods, the best recreation center, the best student union. Building on the Miami campus, which really does resemble a private school in look and feel, is rampant. You can't turn a corner without seeing construction.
I have complained that the cost of my son's education is primarily to support spending on new 'stuff' rather than better education. I'm glad to see the former president more or less agrees. It is a problem which is not isolated to Miami, I've seen similar activity taking place on every campus I visited.
It doesn't help that Federal loans and grants are helping to fuel this work, either. Ultimately, whether you have a child at university or not, this is costing you money.
What war on teachers? If a war is needed, it's a war on a sick culture, because a few more large-screen TVs won't do much for kids' education. There is nothing about relative poverty that interferes with self-improvement. In fact, it encourages and motivates it.
Remember the Democrat Convention last year, when we were assured that government is the only thing to which we all belong? This shows that liberals haven't made a dent in the most destructive kinds of poverty, i.e., mental and spiritual. Indeed, for the liberal, these impoverished states are mandatory -- sort of an inverted interpretation of Jesus's praise of the poor in spirit. "Blessed are the weakminded, for they shall inherit the state."
I have no doubt that Obama wishes Obamacare to do good. But that is no excuse! Indeed, we could call it culpable goodness, because there is probably nothing in the world that has caused as much death and destruction as misguided good.
If you missed this, it's an enjoyable interview: In Conversation: Antonin Scalia - On the eve of a new Supreme Court session, the firebrand justice discusses gay rights and media echo chambers, Seinfeld and the Devil, and how much he cares about his intellectual legacy (“I don’t”).
I cannot confirm whether this is accurate, but a commenter at Ann Althouse noted this:
..."the "health care provider" (must) interrogate the "patient" at each appointment and record the results in the government database. (And the provider who doesn't get the data gets financially punished.) The mandated interrogation is about smoking, whether or not the patient is being beaten at home, with whom and how often the patient is having sex, and how many guns are in the patient's home "
That's a quote from Obamacare describing your "annual health exam."
Lying doesn't cover half of it.
My doctor is now a spy for the State? Give me a break. No patient go along with that, nor will any good doctor. Do we have to get paranoid about our doctors now?
We're #120 on the list this time, even though I will insist that we are a Centrist/Libertarian, traditionalist, common-sensical, average-IQ/middlebrow and New England-flavored website, and not a politically Conservative website.
Quibbles aside, we'd like to rise above #120. Our readers can do that for us, by letting their friends, neighbors, relatives, enemies, colleagues, and websites know that we exist. I think we're an interesting and sometimes provocative site that almost anybody can enjoy and, sometimes, learn from. We do enjoy producing it for our readers, and for our own fun as a hobby.
With that said, onward to this morning's diverting link dump:
It could be a Maggie's theme song. I thought the lines that followed were "I love the girls and the girls love me." My Mom used to sing it as "I like the boys and the boys like me."
Don't hold your breath. Their jobs are far too important to let truth get in the way of what they want to do for us. A sordid business, closely related to and affiliated with prostitution of every sort. A sorry bunch of losers in life, even when they win elections and get rich in the process.
Everybody knows that politicians lie and manipulate routinely, which is why most people view them as a necessary evil despite their endless claims of being our moral and intellectual superiors. It must be interesting to be in a sales job in which the product is insulated from either performance results or meaningful competition.
Today’s Democrats argue that, some deceptive language aside, President Obama had every right to implement his view of medical care for America, as well as other things, because he was elected twice having promised something of the sort. But, in 1974, Republicans could have argued that Nixon had been elected twice, the second time by the largest margin in US history, specifically to undo the 1960s. In fact, Nixon’s lies about what he knew of his subordinates’ misdeeds were entirely irrelevant to the purpose for which he had been elected. Why should the Republican constituencies who had worked so hard have given up on the Nixon Administration? Why did Barry Goldwater, Mr. conservative himself, go to the White House to tell Nixon he had to resign?
A thank-you to all American vets, living and dead, from the potato-peelers to the Generals, for their service.
Photo of one vet (discovered while cleaning out my parents' house this fall) is my recently-deceased Dad (died in July), with me as a young lad. 2nd Lieut. He was a US Army Vet of WW2 and of Korea, drafted out of Harvard College after 1 1/2 years and never went back but, after the wars, had a distinguished career as a Prof at Yale. Dad learned to hate war and military aggression with a passion after seeing so many fine youth ripped apart for no good reason (in his view). As far as I could tell, he built exactly the life he wanted.
Yes, you are right! Let's elect Hillary, because it's time! Time we elected someone who has -- a vagina! Can you think of a better reason to elect someone? Other than skin pigment, I mean.
The government thinks you’re stupid, or at least ignorant.
This isn’t just an indictment of the current government or an indictment of government itself. It’s simply a statement of fact. At its core, the government exists to do certain things that people aren’t equipped to do on their own. The list of those things has gotten longer and longer over the years. In 1776, the federal government’s portfolio could have easily fit in a file folder: maintain an army and navy, a few federal courts, the post office, the patent office, and maybe a dozen or two other pretty obvious things.
Now, the file folder of things the federal government does is much bigger.
Read the entire brief post. It is in the government's interest to keep us all ignorant, poor, weak, and unresourceful serfs on the government plantation. That is not American, it's European or worse. Even "colonial." If your taxes approach 40%, you are a serf of the State. Feudalism endures and the bank accounts of the mandarins grow fat.
Typically, serfs in England owed 30-50% of their production to the Lord, who in turn owed some fraction of that, plus soldiers when needed, to the King.
My chef friend recommends trying Sweet Chili. I've only made hot chili in the past, and I like to make it with chunks of chuck, and no beans.
With a relative here recovering from orthopedic surgery, I'm trying Sweet Chili tonight. Something like this, with its interesting combination of ingredients: The Best Chili You Will Ever Taste. Chef also advises using Pink Beans - Rosadas - not kidney beans for Chili. Also says canned beans are at least as good as soaking dried beans. Says no good chef would bother soaking beans.
I'll serve it with some rice if wanted, but I think chips are the right thing. Or maybe I'll make some cornbread. Yeah, that's what I will do.
The fun thing about Chili for me is a choice of toppings: Scallions, chopped red onion, grated cheese, chopped pepper or chopped Halapenos, sour cream, etc.
I use a Slow-Cooker, aka crock pot, for these sorts of things so as not to be chained to the kitchen. Slow Cooker never burns things, and you can go do things for 6 hours. Mine has a timer, too.
The good Balsamic Vinegar comes from Modena (home of Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini), where they have been making it for a thousand years. I have some days when I hunger for some Balsamic.
It's called "balsamic" because it was thought to be a good balsam, or balm, for pain and disease. Our North American Balsam Fir was thought to be good for diseases too, hence its name. The Romans viewed vinegar as a balm and a medicine - hence the Roman soldier kindly offering Jesus vinegar on the cross.
They make it from boiled-down Trebbiano grape juice. Balsamic Vinegar is not a wine vinegar.
The aging process seems to be key. As the volume shrinks over time and the vinegar becomes more syrupy, it is moved into smaller and smaller wood casks made of different woods until ready. Juniper is the final cask. 15 and 25 year-old Italian Balsamic Vinegars are readily available, and there are 100 year-old ones. The 15 year-old one in the photo is $70/bottle. Unlike a bottle of wine of that price, however, you only have to use a few drops at a time.
Northern Italians would never touch our supermarket stuff, nor would any really good American restaurant. However, the available quality is getting better and better. Costco has pretty good balsamic for salad use.
The old story Marcella Hazan relates is about the old Northern Italian guy who ran down to the cellar when the Americans began bombing. Then he remembered, and ran up to the room where his precious small casks of very old Balsamic were stored and rushed them down to the cellar. Then he realized that he had forgotten one more thing: His wife.
Ever tried a good Balsamic on strawberries? It's a classic Italian dessert. It's equally good on fresh fig halves with a touch of honey or sugar. Just make sure you use the good stuff.
Via 
Michael Duffy
Image of Obamacare ad via
We're 
A thank-you to all American vets, living and dead, from the potato-peelers to the Generals, for their service.
The good Balsamic Vinegar comes from