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.
If you cook at home at all, a good Chef's Knife is the first thing you need. The proper use of this tool for all of its various purposes - chopping, dicing, slicing, etc. - are things to be learned. YouTube is a fine resource for learning knife skills.
Homeland
Security Secretary: Illegals Have ‘Earned Right to be Citizens’ - See
more at:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/homeland-security-secretary-illegals-have-earned-right-be-citizens#sthash.yxvC3JIs.dpuf
Most of the studies he discusses avoid defining happiness, and just let people report. At issue, of course, is that as long as one is not in dire straits, happiness and contentment in life depend on non-economic factors: temperament and personality, relationships, family, hobbies and interests, etc.
There is no one "happiness." Some are most happy when taking risks, others more comfortable when they feel more secure. Material gain is not a universal goal.
When sitting in a duck blind or deer stand, standing on a ski slope watching your grandkids, and winter hiking, it's much more pleasant to have warm toes and fingers. I have had times in duck blinds when my fingers were too cold and numb to pull a trigger, but I have a touch of Raynaud's Syndrome.
Assuming that you wear things to keep toes and hands dry, hand and foot warmers can add plenty of comfort.
This site has aluminum-coated insoles and insoles ("footbeds") with inserts for 6-hour warmers.
How does BD make 6-12 quarts of chicken stock, for soup, Chicken 'n Dumplings, Chicken Noodle Soup, etc? Well, I learned from a master chef trained at Cordon Bleu.
Use a 10-12-quart pot if you have one, but for the bigger stock pots, you will need more than a single carcass. That's one reason to freeze bird carcasses.
First roast a fat chicken or buy a roasted one. Then remove the breast meat and the thigh meat, but keep all of the bones, wings, scraps, juices, giblets (not the liver) etc. You can roast the carcass and bones a little, if you want, and then toss it all into a big pot of water.
If we have any left-over turkey wings or carcass from Thanksgiving or Christmas in the freezer, or any pheasant or chukar carcasses or freezer-burned birds or bird parts, I put them in too. Sometimes I will roast or sautee a pack of chicken wings and throw them in. The richer, the better. Crack the bones if you have a cleaver to fully extract the goodness.
Roughly chop (skins on) a couple of onions, a head of garlic (skins on), a couple of carrots (skin on), a couple of celeries, the top parts of a leek, and toss them in a hot skillet to sautee until slightly browned in olive oil. Don't worry about the skins. Then throw it all in the pot. You can throw in some frozen peas, beans, potato peels, whatever, too, to deepen the vegetable flavor. Have fun with it, but no tomato or mushrooms in this: it's meant to be mild.
Throw in a small handful of black peppercorns, a tablespoon or two of Kosher salt, a little sugar, a few sprigs of Thyme, some bay leaves, and some parsley sprigs. Pour in a bottle or two of dry white wine, and let the whole mess simmer happily for a few (3-6 hrs, adding wine or water as needed). A crock pot would do it too, bit it's really a winter weekend project.
When you're tired of doing it, let it cool a little and run it all through a strainer and toss the remnant solid stuff in the trash. Voila! Bird Dog's Poultry Stock, good for whatever ails ya and a good foundation for any poultry construction.
If you want to freeze it, cool, skim the fat off, and freeze. It's fine for 6 months. If skilled, a poultry consomme is a fine dish.
What I understand now is that I was one of those people who did not appreciate the weapons of the spirit. I have always been someone attracted to the quantifiable and the physical. I hate to admit it. But I don’t think I would have been able to do what the Huguenots did in Le Chambon. I would have counted up the number of soldiers and guns on each side and concluded it was too dangerous. I have always believed in God. I have grasped the logic of Christian faith. What I have had a hard time seeing is God’s power.
4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
4:13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
4:14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
4:15 "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
4:16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
4:17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
4:18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.
4:19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."
4:20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
4:21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.
4:22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
I am a fan of online dating, especially for those who are out of school. There is just no other way to interview so many available candidates efficiently, with the advantage of screening them in advance.
When people get divorced, I usually recommend that a person have a coffee with at least 25-30 candidates, at minimum, before deciding to get involved with anyone. That's because the recently-divorced are usually lonely, unhappy, sex-starved; often hurt or angry or worried about the future, and generally prone to poor judgement and poor choices. However, those things may apply to many single people.
Jaywalking is as much a part of New York as salty pretzels and the carriage horses of Central Park. While Bill de Blasio claimed to be inspired by Mayor La Guardia, the latter had an entirely different view of the relationship between the people and the city government.
“I prefer the happiness of our unorganized imperfection to the organized perfection of other countries,” La Guardia said after vetoing a jaywalking bill, and added, referencing the growing fascism in Germany that was then admired by many progressives, “Broadway is not Unter den Linden.”
He stared at ruin. Ruin stared straight back. He thought they was old friends. He felt on the stair where her papa found them bare they became familiar. When the papers were lost rich with pals' secrets, he thought he had the knack of ruin. Their paths crossed
and once they crossed in jail; they crossed in bed; and over an unsigned letter their eyes met, and in an Asian city directionless & lurchy at two & three, or trembling to a telephone's fresh threat, and when some wired his head
to reach a wrong opinion, 'Epileptic'. But he noted now that: they were not old friends. He did not know this one. This one was a stranger, come to make amends for all the imposters, and to make it stick. Henry nodded, un-.
Heading up to Killington this morning with some buddies. I am expecting plenty of powder and plenty of Long Trail.
I think I had best bring my heavy-duty winter undies. Maybe get some runs in this afternoon with my new skis, bought (brand new Volkls, in wrapper) on eBay (last year's model, for 1/3 the price).
Remarkably, more than a quarter of retirees will un-retire at some point, not due to financial necessity, but because they find work more rewarding and enjoyable than retirement.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio emphatically backed New Governor Andrew Cuomo’s controversial remarks that “extreme” conservatives – which he defined as being pro-life, second amendment advocates, or supporters of traditional marriage – “have no place in the state of New York.” “I stand by that 100 percent,” de Blasio told reporters at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
Seven Questions for Bob Dylan - He has given countless interviews, cowritten a movie about himself and authored an autobiography, released 35 albums, and toured for half a century. So why do we know nothing about this man?
In his December ruling against the Wunderlich family, (German) judge Marcus Malkmus called homeschooling a “concrete endangerment to the well-being of the child,” comparing it to a “straitjacket” that he said binds children to “years of isolation.”
“The request of the parents to reinstate their right to determine the location of the children, the right to make educational decisions for the children, as well as the right to file legal applications for their children is being refused,” the judge stated.
The "right" to make educational decisions for your children?
From: Phil Jones <p.jones@xxxxxxxxx.xxx> To: “Michael E. Mann” <mann@xxxxxxxxx.xxx> Subject: HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL Date: Thu Jul 8 16:30:16 2004
I can’t see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow – even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is !
A different 
If you cook at home at all, a 
The Strange and Mysterious 
When sitting in a duck blind or deer stand, standing on a ski slope watching your grandkids, and winter hiking, it's much more pleasant to have warm toes and fingers. I have had times in duck blinds when my fingers were too cold and numb to pull a trigger, but I have a touch of 
How does BD make 6-12 quarts of chicken stock, for soup, Chicken 'n Dumplings, Chicken Noodle Soup, etc? Well, I learned from a master chef trained at Cordon Bleu. 
Heading up to 
