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.
I just received the following email, and the link to the video.
For myself, I'd add, that could be my son disarmed and allowed to be murdered by a jihadist right here at home in the USA, and that girl murdered in downtown San Francisco could be my innocent daughter murdered by an illegal immigrant criminal allowed to roam free by "sanctuary" liberals, but President Obama acts like he could care less, while instead rousing hatred and street violence by he immediately mourning street thugs who happen to be Black.
Re the Chatanooga shootings:
I was at the airport as they offloaded Lcpl. Skip Wells's body and proceeded with appropriate respect to the funeral home. The Patriot Guard (with whom I used to ride until my knees became so untrustworthy that I was afraid to ride a Harley), the Legion Riders, police scooters from Atlanta, DeKalb Co., Cobb co. and other places, along with many other folks, led the hearse away to the funeral home. I pulled over to the side of the rode overlooking the exit from the cargo area, unfurled my flag that usually flies on the front of my house, waited for them to pull away, and did my best attention, saluting--uncovered!--as the entourage and Skip's body passed by.
Tears were rolling down my face. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people all over Atlanta who stopped to honor the procession, something that really made me feel good. I didn't cry for my brothers who died when I was young, but lots of things bring tears to my eyes these days. I must be getting soft in my dotage. I do not know why this latest shooting event has touched me so, but it has really bothered me. I think Obama's refusal to lower the flag until pressure mounted helped.
ASIDE: Monday morning, I went to work (I teach part-time at the local technical college, GED classes), went to the security guy who usually raises the flag, and took it along with a police academy guy, raised it and lowered to half-mast. I told them to tell anyone who complained that I did it. Turns out the police wannabe guy was a Marine, too. We did out best at "Colors." I saluted--uncovered--because I thought I should. His mother was in a following hearse, and she blew a kiss at us out of the window.
After the procession passed, I went to the international terminal with my wife and two grandsons to meet Kyle as he arrived on leave from Germany. He is fine. He is scheduled to be deployed to Egypt in the fall.
I am no expert, so take with two grains of salt - it is just what I have learned. This is regarding maintaining recreational fitness, ie "Ordinary Fitness for Life" - not serious athletic training or serious muscle-building.
Below average = "weak." Nobody, male or female, wants to be weak or below average. Average is good for a starting target or even an endpoint (Average fitness is my personal endpoint). This isn't about body-building but just about maintaining good, versatile functionality in youth, or later despite aging. These things are not a complete fitness program by any means, just a few rough indices of average American decent fitness because they involve so much of one's physicality.
- Fitnessentails, requires, not being fat.Nobody needs a silly BMIto know when they have unpleasant and unnecessary flab.You can feel itwith your hands.Lard slows us down with everything in life because our hearts are forced to pump blood though itwhen we have other things to do.It's dietary.
- An average fit woman can expect to deadlift 100 percent of her body weight. Average fit males can deadlift roughly 150 percent of their body weight.
- Barbell squats for leg and core strength are roughly the same as above. (For me now, three sets of 25 deep squats without weights is challenging, and torture with plain kettlebells or clasping a heavy ball. I like to do squats combined with light dumbbell military lifts. A full-body engagement but not stressful enough for my fitness trainer who considers it an exercise for nursing homes. I doubt that I will ever get to dumbell squats, but who knows? I may die first.)
- The average fit male should eventually be able to bench press 1 x body weight for a solid set - or at least once. Average fit female can press around 80-100 lbs. They say it's good for boob-fitness too.
- For push-ups, the average fit male can do 25-40. The average fit female can do 20-25 knee-push-ups. (Many exercise trainers feel knee pushups for women are worthless). Push-ups are about muscle endurance, not so much strength. Lots of people do them as part of their morning or bedtime rituals. (I have trouble doing them due to an old right shoulder injury - once body surfing, and again skiing, and then I totally destroyed it for good doing flies. Every middle-aged person has a handicap or two if they have lived life off the chair or sofa, but it's no reason to give up on vigor)
- An average fit person can run a mile in ten minutes or less without dying.
- Elbow Planks - A core exercise. Fit men and women can do 2 minutes or more. My boss puts weight plates on my back to save time. Sheesh. More weight, dude. I can do it. Why not just jump on my back? Sweat drips. I alternate with push-up-style planks and sometimes with one-handed planks.
Physical conditioning is humbling for the middle-aged. Age, joint issues, and body type alter things, eg short people with short arms have shorter and thus larger muscles and can naturally bench more than lanky people - and often average people over 55 need lowered expectations.
In the end, I guess you use good form, do what you can do, and build up from there without obsessing about the numbers as long as they improve. As I said, conditioning is not all resistance, but without rigorous muscle work you can't do all of the other exercises to the max, or all of life as vigorously as one might like. The goal is to maximize ordinary life and your ordinary recreational sports. I assume most of our interested readers do some sports, but perhaps not. Exercise is for life utility. If your day job is physical, lucky you. All of our day jobs were physical a generation or two or three ago, females included.
Loneliness is a painful state. Social isolation feels terrible. Most people need friends and family around for company. It's a true cliche that alone in the city can be the worst.
I agree with Schneiderman that, no matter how much of an outsider somebody is, if you get involved in things sooner or later some kindred spirits will be found: The Loneliness of the Outsider
11:1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
11:2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful.
11:3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, "This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite."
11:4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house.
11:5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, "I am pregnant."
11:6 So David sent word to Joab, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David.
11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going.
11:8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet." Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king.
11:9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
11:10 When they told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?"
11:11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing."
11:12 Then David said to Uriah, "Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day,
11:13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
11:14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
11:15 In the letter he wrote, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die."
Some gal and guy pals and I biked up from the West Village to The Cloisters this morning on Citibikes, along the Greenway. Strolled through the Cloisters and grabbed a coffee there. Then we headed back downtown on Broadway, grabbed some light Dominican brunch with fried plantains and beer in a dive in Washington Heights where nobody spoke much English, then rolled back downtown while ignoring many traffic signals. Beautiful day indeed with light summer traffic. Harlem looks great, but where did all of those Asians come from? Harlem seems full of Chinese people with kids in strollers.
Man, I love this amazing city with one surprise after another.
Mayor DeBlasio hates Uber, as does Hillary!. Everybody else loves it. Let the market (the people) decide: Uber Wins a Battle With New York, Now It’s War. What an arrogant jerk, just like our last mayor. Not enough government controls on enterprise?
I am out on the town tonight, boating and fishing next weekend. Life is good here, despite all the political frustrations. NYC in summer is good stuff, beautiful, intelligent, ambitious, fun people everywhere you go. Just say "Hi." The annoying people are in the Hamptons. Trump for Mayor!
Addendum from the Editor below - could not resist -
...with the exception of wild berries, wild game, wild mushrooms, and most fish and shellfish, everything in American diets is derived from organisms that have been genetically improved in some way.
Most foods have little resemblance to their natural origins. They have been domesticated and are "unnatural." Human genius defeating a cruel nature.
Wild maize is a grass, with the fruit/seed about an inch long. Were it not for those ancient Central American genetic engineers, we'd have neither grits nor polenta.
Walker is not anti-union. He is anti-government employee unions. So was FDR. The real reason he is dangerous is because he rides a Harley, while Hillary! can't drive a car.
Italians Finally Rise Up Against ‘Migrants’ - Slow-motion but steady invasion of Europe by Africa and the Middle East gets some pushback.
A sonnet from Rime in vita e morte di Madonna Laura.
Era il giorno ch'al sol si scoloraro per la pietà del suo factore i rai, quando ì fui preso, et non me ne guardai, chè i bè vostr'occhi, donna, mi legaro.
Tempo non mi parea da far riparo contra colpi d'Amor: però m'andai secur, senza sospetto; onde i miei guai nel commune dolor s'incominciaro.
Trovommi Amor del tutto disarmato et aperta la via per gli occhi al core, che di lagrime son fatti uscio et varco:
Però al mio parer non li fu honore ferir me de saetta in quello stato, a voi armata non mostrar pur l'arco.
It was the day the sun's ray had turned pale with pity for the suffering of his Maker when I was caught, and I put up no fight, my lady, for your lovely eyes had bound me.
It seemed no time to be on guard against Love's blows; therefore, I went my way secure and fearless - so all my misfortunes began in midst of universal woe.
Love found me all disarmed and found the way was clear to reach my heart down through the eyes which have become the halls and doors of tears.
It seems to me it did him little honour to wound me with his arrow in my state and to you, armed, not show his bow at all.
Remember my post about my inherited rusty 70-lb. 120 year-old cast iron lawn chairs? Well, here are two of them now, after disassembling (had to cut some bolts), sand-blasting, rust-proof and powder-coating with their historic black/green, and then reassembled with new non-rust bolts. All these precious things need now are waterproof seat cushions.
In direct sun, there is a greenish cast but in shade or lower light they appear black. Except for a little old rust pitting, they look almost brand new. You can now read on the underside that they were made in Bridgeport.
Besides rusting to bits, another reason why these sorts of things are so scarce is because of iron-collection drives during WW1.
Politicians want to be important people, right? Somewhere inside their souls maybe they feel small, but have dreams of greater significance and appreciation despite often lacking ordinary life talents and skills other than a compulsion to shmooze and suck up to people.
Above all, they need validation, and the power and money are tied for second. Third comes job security. Not all of the time, but most of the time.
Forget campaign finance reform and all that. The old saying is "Politics is the Hollywood for unappealing people." To level the playing field, to lend some humility to politicians, and to put the process into perspective for the citizens, I propose that anyone running for any public office in the USA must be required to wear the Official Campaign Uniform on the right while campaigning.
That way, we the people will know who they are and know that they are special.
My son just showed this to me at a news site. A gamer in Russia caught the so-called "rebels" that have broken away eastern Ukraine, actually the Russians and their stooges, trying to accuse the U.S. of supplying Stinger missiles to the Ukranian government. What they actually showed was a replica of a Stinger missile taken from the game Battlefield 3. Remember, all evidence shows that the Russian stooges shot down a civilian airliner, killing all aboard. Their excuses didn't hold water, and this poor propaganda doesn't pop either.
Go to this link for the whole story in English, and click on the Youtube uploaded by the Russian gamer today.
Despite all of her visits to every part of Italy, Mrs. BD concedes that the best Italian food she has had is at Scarpetta, one of the spots she goes to with friends when she goes to see theater and dance. She has some real foodie pals.
Scarpetta. Give it a try. As a matter of fact, she is taking a BD daughter to dinner there tonight after the new Annie Baker play. (They are Annie Baker fans after loving Flick a while ago.) She says their pastas are amazing but our advice is to always skip pasta in good Italian restaurants. Why dine on starch, when there are so many other better flavors in antipasti and secondi?
I'll make exceptions for Pappardelle al Funghi with wild mushrooms, or Fois Gras Ravioli with Black Truffle.
Looking back, thus far, for Italian, we have also recommended Barbetta,Giovanni,Macelleria, - and Bar Eolo for genuine Sicilian. Only Barbetta is a jacket and tie joint, but for Giovanni a jacket is appropriate.
“Only the disciplined mind can see reality, Winston. You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case soon perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.”
“The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness.”
Answer here. This was a Democrat policy accomplishment, combined with a large dose of noblesse oblige. Mission accomplished.Thanks, greedy Dems, for killing our golden goose. You have fundamentally transformed our traditional Yankee state with its old traditional values of thrift and sturdy self-reliance.
And special thanks to Gov. Weicker, who rapidly exited the state after instituting his new taxes. His noblesse oblige is on us, not him.
Image via 
From 
In Praise of the Benjamin Button Babes
Politicians want to be important people, right? Somewhere inside their souls maybe they feel small, but have dreams of greater significance and appreciation despite often lacking ordinary life talents and skills other than a compulsion to shmooze and suck up to people.
Helicopter Parenting
How