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.
Is it a college's job to teach people to write a coherent, legible, well-structured adult essay? It's not rocket science. In my job, I have to do two or three daily.
Colleges are admitting unprepared students. It's about the money. Follow the money.
Taking the day off for Christmas errands. Time to begin thinking about Christmas. I'm buying a large can of Beluga caviar for Dad at Petrossian, and a fancy scarf for Mom at Bloomingdale's. I like to flirt with the sales-babes, and they seem to like to flirt with me. Call Me Maybe.
I'm not the only one who is confused. Are they flushing this mess? How are insurers supposed to revert to their old policies, canceled and erased due to Obamacare? Your tax dollars at work by our moral and intellectual superiors.
Maybe government is not Santa after all. Darn. I love freebies.
Of course it is, Camille. Christianity and Judaism are not PC. Thought Crime requires Thought Police.
But hey, remember this: MSNBC Host "Rev." Sharpton Hurls Homophobic Slur – “You’re a Punk Fagg*t!”. The rules about who can say what are getting confusing these days. Our approach is to say whatever you think, but to show decent manners not out of fear, but out of civility.
Three years ago I predicted that ObamaCare would turn insurers into the lapdog equivalent of utility companies. I undershot. They are being treated as wholly owned subsidiaries.
In a way, you have to laugh at the grievance-mongers and the bed-wetters, but it does matter. It doesn't matter to the Duck guys, but it matters to the ordinary person with an ordinary job.
The DSM is ultimately an instrument for weakening human resilience, self-reliance, fortitude, and resolve. It turns human beings into mechanisms, deprives their conduct of meaning, and makes them prey to entrepreneurs of human misery. The authors, one could say, suffer from PNOD—psychiatric nosology overvaluation disorder—the criteria for which are as follows:
A: The grandiose belief that all human weakness can and should be divided into valid diagnostic categories.
B: At least two of the following: a firm and unshakable belief that all human distress arises from malfunctioning serotonin metabolism; a firm and unshakable belief that functional MRI scans will soon teach humans how to live; a firm and unshakable belief that the seven deadly sins have been scientifically superseded by psychiatric diagnoses.
Legal prostitution and related arrangements are also on the way. These are all consensual arrangements between adults, and all have ancient histories. America's Puritan roots die hard.
We always joke that polygamy might be fun, but not if each wife had her own American Express Gold Card.
Progressives imagine all the wonderful things they could do with other people’s money, and no doubt some of them are well-intentioned. But envy poisons whatever good intentions they have, which is how men such as Professor Reich come to write resentful indictments of people who are, remember, giving away billions of dollars of their own money. He’d prefer their money be given away by him, or by bureaucracies under the tutelage of men such as himself. As the moral philosopher Hannibal Lecter put it: “He covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet? Do we seek out things to covet? No. We begin by coveting what we see every day.”
Long ago, Paul Shaffer and The World's Most Dangerous Band performed a brief songlet which caught my ear.
I was just out of college, and my sense of humor, as well as the tune, was off-kilter enough to generate a chuckle, as well as stick in my head for...oh, about 23 years.
Bermuda!
It's a cuckoo kind of place,
A nutty, nutty kind of space.
Bermuda!
Yes, that's about it. So when I was trying to think of places to take a four-day respite with the (much) better half, I thought why not someplace nutty? Bermuda was booked, my parents agreed to watch the dog and the house-bound son, and we went winging our way southeasterly. It's only a 2 hour flight from NYC, and just like that the cold weather was a temporary memory.
Best with mashed taters, Yorkshire Pudding, and plenty of horseradish. Maybe some vegetables for the health nuts, but I would never waste my appetite on them with something this tasty to enjoy.
Rule of thumb is 1 lb of meat per person, so it's difficult to make for over 8-9 people, really, without a commercial oven. That's why people make filet instead of prime rib for parties and have their prime rib in restaurants - but I think most people prefer a prime rib (technically "choice," not "prime" and technically, as reader notes, "standing rib roast"). It's the perfect food for human beings, along with mashed potatoes.
Whereas the immigrant senses the fact that millions of people seek northward passage, while almost no American citizen seeks to immigrate southward — wealthy retirees excluded — the ethnic industry apparently does not. The advocates of illegal immigration almost never explain why there is illegal immigration in the first place. Instead, their politics assumes resentments and claims against the majority culture and politics of the United States. Given that incoherence, it is no wonder that the majority of Americans oppose illegal immigration and the assorted amnesties that are offered as its remedies.
The incoherent message of far too many open-borders advocates distills down to little more than this: “Millions have fled Mexico to America — historically an insensitive, racist and unfair place. Yet it nonetheless must extend amnesty to millions of Mexican nationals who prefer the morally suspect United States over their native Latino culture in Mexico.”
What the immigration debate is not about is ensuring that illegal immigration ends and that legal immigration becomes liberal, meritocratic, and ethnically blind.
Remember that, and all the absurd rhetoric of the upcoming 2014 debate will make sense.
(Receptionist) Hello, Welcome to ObamaFlowers. My name is Trina. How can I help you?
(Customer) Hello, I received an email from Professional Flowers stating that my flower order has been canceled and I should go to your exchange to reorder it. I tried your website, but it seems like it is not working. So I am calling the 800 number.
(Receptionist) Yes, I am sorry about the website. It should be fixed by the end of November. But I can help you.
(Customer) Thanks, I ordered a "Spring Bouquet" for our anniversary, and wanted it delivered to my wife's work.
(Receptionist Interrupting) Sir, "Spring Bouquets" do not meet our minimum standards, I will be happy to provide you with Red Roses.
Our moral and intellectual superiors do not want us proles to have much choice in anything except abortion, right down to the food we eat. The Democrats' war on choice.
Taking the day off for Christmas errands. Time to begin thinking about Christmas. I'm buying a large can of Beluga caviar for Dad at Petrossian, and a fancy scarf for Mom at Bloomingdale's. I like to flirt with the sales-babes, and they seem to like to flirt with me. 
The Craig's List ad is 
Another friend has a new book out: 
Long ago, Paul Shaffer and The World's Most Dangerous Band performed a brief songlet which caught my ear. 
Best with mashed taters, Yorkshire Pudding, and plenty of horseradish. Maybe some vegetables for the health nuts, but I would never waste my appetite on them with something this tasty to enjoy.
An NSA Coworker Remembers The Real Edward Snowden:
Multivitamin researchers say "case is closed"