It's about the new paganisms: The Rights of Aphrodite - W. E. Knickerbocker on C. S. Lewis & the New State Paganism.

For Some, Caffeine Addiction Is Dangerous

Good grief

Is breast truly best?

Probably doesn't matter much at all. Most Moms and babies like it, though

Whole Foods Quackery

G.K. Chesterton in 1000 Words

Short sex is pretty normal, it turns out

Half of human copulation takes 2 minutes or less. Quickies are efficient, but not so much fun for the gals.

Why teens are rebelling against Facebook

"Shoes especially"

Andrew Sullivan on Friendship

Dalrymple: I will never complain again

Smith College tangled in knots re gender identity

Female Performance Artist Shocks the Art World By Staging Event That Doesn't Involve Her Vagina At All

New Poll Shows America Is More Racist Than Ever

Climate Models Behaving Badly

When does reality ever comply with models?

Average Retirement Age In America Hits Record High

That's a good thing. Work keeps people young and engaged.

Never too late to learn: McGovernite Rides Mobius Loop

Who’d a-thunk it? The USPS used its coercive monopoly power to squash the digital mail startup Outbox?

A Walmart Fortune, Spreading Charter Schools

The NY Times seems to feel that is a bad thing, but they use private schools for their kids and thus have choice

Bummer: Your Pets Are Mucho Evil For Climate Change

KEYSTONE PROTESTER: Our People Are Willing to Die to Stop Pipeline

Good grief. Why not just protest to close the pipeline that heats your house?

U. Wisconsin-Madison’s Advanced Pleasure Workshop: Sex Out Loud

No, Facts Don’t Matter in Duke Lacrosse Case

College ‘Trigger Warnings’ Get Noticed by the MSM

Trigger Warnings trigger me

Professors decry Disney’s ‘Jungle Book’ as racist, demand a less ‘offensive’ remake

Reaping the consequences of “Smart Diplomacy”

Related:  The leader of the world’s only superpower just “wants to be alone.”

To eat his waffle? Many Americans may be uninterested in geopolitics, but the world doesn't feel the same. It's the big game.

Why Dennis Prager is Dangerous to Young Conservatives

Obama Is Right on Clemency for Non-Violent Drug Offenders - Conservatives have no good reason to caterwaul this time

Clemency is one thing, but if the laws are dumb, change the laws

Sharyl Attkisson: Obama White House Directed Incorrect Benghazi Narrative

Dem congressman: Let’s face it, pretty much all criticism of Obama is racist

Mead: 

Here’s a shocking idea: liberals should be liberal, especially on college campuses. To be truly liberal, you must endorse the free exchange of ideas. The university doesn’t exist to swaddle students in a protective cocoon, safe from any possible offense, insult, or challenge to their beliefs. It exists, in part, to prepare students for the rough-and-tumble of real life. It cannot do so by coddling students and warding off any possible “triggers” that could upset them. By practicing illiberal liberalism, colleges are failing in yet another way to prepare students adequately for real life.

The Persistent Survival of Anti-Semitism

The Iraqi Military’s Downward
Spiral

Photos from the 1880s. (h/t Never Yet Melted)

The story begins thus:

 It was a warmer than usual summer day in Clark, South Dakota when a rather large and ungainly young man, a recent high school graduate, set about finding his way in the world. The salivating Navy recruiter asked the youngster what it would take to have him sign up: “why, I’d like to go to Australia .” It was as good as done. After all, in 1966, if you were lucky enough to ship out on the USS Canberra, more likely than not, during the course of your hitch, there will be a port call to the ship’s namesake— Canberra , Australia...

Could we live longer by eating less?

Probably, but how long do you want to live?

Why gluey mashed taters?

What the Heck Do I Do with Dandelion Greens? These weedy pests should be on your next dinner plate

NYC: Above-ground remnants of the Croton Aqueduct

5 of the Biggest Myths About Pain

UK centre to shoot for nuclear fusion record

Let’s Kill the Media’s Stereotype of ‘Incompetent Dads’

Behold: the two absolutely worst arguments against homeschooling

Crazy in Colorado, or are male philosophy profs really sexist pigs?

Making cost-benefit college choices - Students should use
online tools to compare payoff to costs

‘Man Up,’ ‘Don’t Be A Pussy’ Labeled Offensive Language at Duke University

The gospel according to Hillary Clinton

"I guess I'm a racist"  So What?

‘Check your donor lists’: Paul Begala advises conservatives not to defend Donald Sterling; Instapundit leads schooling

The Good News about Racism in America

The Guardian tries to claim global warming sank the Titanic – research says the exact opposite

Best comment there: "It would be nice to know if there was something global warming and CO2 weren’t the root cause of."

Why does Minneapolis hate America?

A Doctor's Declaration of Independence - It's time to defy health-care mandates issued by bureaucrats not in the healing profession:

In my 23 years as a practicing physician, I've learned that the only thing that matters is the doctor-patient relationship. How we interact and treat our patients is the practice of medicine. I acknowledge that there is a problem with the rising cost of health care, but there is also a problem when the individual physician in the trenches does not have a voice in the debate and is being told what to do and how to do it.

As a group, the nearly 880,000 licensed physicians in the U.S. are, for the most part, well-intentioned. We strive to do our best even while we sometimes contend with unrealistic expectations. The demands are great, and many of our families pay a huge price for our not being around. We do the things we do because it is right and our patients expect us to.

So when do we say damn the mandates and requirements from bureaucrats who are not in the healing profession? When do we stand up and say we are not going to take it any more?

Clinton Library's Doc Dump Reveals CRA Fueled Subprime Bubble

George Will: 'Global Warming is Socialism by the Back Door'

David Horowitz:  Who Are Our Adversaries? Conservatives must wake up to the true nature of the people many still call “liberals.”

Memo To Dr. Yellen: Don’t Look Now But The Wealth Effect Is Over

A friend sent this snap of the Sheep Meadow, last weekend.

Wayne LaPierre: "‘Gun Rights Have Become a Metaphor for Something Larger"

Car of the future:  Introducing the Envia Discord 2015

Will 'self-cleaning' paint eliminate car washing?

NY teen entrepreneur taps maple syrup profits

Connecticut Dems Sponsor Bill to Ban Whole And 2% Milk in Day Care Centers

Idiots. Kids need whole milk. Brain development needs those fats.

Texas family plagued with ailments gets $3M in 1st-of-its-kind fracking judgment

Scammer plaintiffs? Idiot jury? Nosebleeds?

FDA Rule Seeks Broad Regulation Over E-Cigarettes Because They Might Make People Want Real Cigarettes

The war on e-cigarettes…

Cape Wind's unlucky 13 years

Windmills, etc.: Microwaves of the Desert; Cuisinarts of the Sky

Partners in Ethanol Crime - The corn-fuel mandate has been an invitation to mass fraud.

It’s Official: At Dartmouth, The Word ‘Fiesta’ Is Racist And White People Can’t Use It

What about siesta? Taco?

University of Hawaii (Hilo): Our students are easily intimidated, need to be protected from people handing out literature

UNC fake-classes whistleblower resigns after meeting with Carol Folt

EMT Instructor Deemed Insufficiently ‘Sensitive to Diversity’ Vindicated

Good grief

Oligarchy in the Twenty-First Century - Column: Think rich conservatives rule the world? Think again.

The vast majority of the mega-rich in the US are Dem supporters

Obamacare deals blow to one-doctor medicine

The NR reviews the Michael Mann lawsuit

Top climate expert's sensational claim of government meddling in crucial UN report

How Michael Lewis is hurting, not helping, the stock market

Hot steak trends across the USA.

I'd try any of them, but there's still nothing better than a fat 2" Costco ribeye coated generously with salt and pepper and thrown on a hot iron skillet with some butter. No need to crank up the charcoal. Crusty on the outside, blood-red in the center.

Mashed taters and some garlic spinach on the side (lightly brown garlic in plenty of olive oil, then pile on a mountain of spinach and cover, let it wilt in its own steam, and stir a bit with salt)

In reading the piece, I had to look up sous-vide cooking. I do not like the sound of it.

After the Eastern Box Turtle, the Wood Turtle, clemmys insculpta, is my favorite. Nowadays, it is a treat to see one, since they are threatened or endangered over most of their range, which is the Northeast, south to Virginia and west to Iowa and Michigan.

Illegal collection of these handsome turtles has been a big problem, and dogs can easily kill them by crunching their shell.

I have usually seen them in moderately-sloped small streams with deep pools, but occasionally the pup has located them in the Spring, rambling in wet fields or moist woods, not too far from a stream. He is trained to leave turtles alone: the shock collar did that. He thinks turtles are electric.

When I was a kid, I picked one up and he ate my nectarine out of my hand. Sniffed it first, then went for a big bite. Cute. Then I put him back down after he pretty much ate the whole thing.

Photo is from this Wisconsin Wood Turtle site.