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.
You are a middle-aged dad, and there is a nubile young female living in your house and caring for your kids. Naturally, there is plenty of proximity, relaxed familiarity, and time together. Over time, it can feel polygamous. All it can take to ignite things sometimes is just a couple of glasses of wine.
I have seen this plenty of times, and do not believe it automatically means that there is a marital problem (and anyway, marriages almost always have some problem or other). When it comes to light, however, it is a big problem indeed.
Hillary! says Marco Rubio is too young. Below the fold, a pic of Bill and Hill on a dreamy beach vacation...somebody was lucky to get that photo because those two have hardly ever been together for 8 years:
I'm an enormous fan of Jonathan Haidt's work. Nonetheless, I've always had two outstanding questions about it (and would note that these are not exactly questions of which Professor Haidt is unaware). The first is simply whether his surveys capture the actual moral reasoning that people do, or represent people pretending to do the sort of moral reasoning they think they ought to do.
... they laughed when I said how strange it was that I met many people who fell in with the wrong crowd but never any members of the wrong crowd itself.
Some recent campus actions border on the surreal. In April, at Brandeis University, the Asian American student association sought to raise awareness of microaggressions against Asians through an installation on the steps of an academic hall. The installation gave examples of microaggressions such as “Aren’t you supposed to be good at math?” and “I’m colorblind! I don’t see race.” But a backlash arose among other Asian American students, who felt that the display itself was a microaggression. The association removed the installation, and its president wrote an e-mail to the entire student body apologizing to anyone who was “triggered or hurt by the content of the microaggressions.”
It has little to do with coddling. It's letting the lunatics run the asylum, by submitting to their bullying. Nobody believes all of this nonsense.
I love a good diner breakfast (pancakes, bacon, fried eggs, hash browns with ketchup, white toast) about once a month, but I don't need it. It just makes me tired and useless. My trainer forces me to eat a hard-boiled egg after my morning work-out, so I do that.
Quote via reader:
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts."
What potions have I drunk of Siren tears, Distill'd from limbecks foul as hell within, Applying fears to hopes and hopes to fears, Still losing when I saw myself to win! What wretched errors hath my heart committed, Whilst it hath thought itself so blessed never! How have mine eyes out of their spheres been fitted In the distraction of this maddening fever! O benefit of ill! Now I find true That better is by evil still made better; And ruin'd love, when it is built anew, Grows fairer than at first, more strong, far greater. So I return rebuked to my content And gain by ill thrice more than I have spent.
There's nothing more refreshing than a cold Borscht. A family member handed me an old recipe for it yesterday.
There are countless ways to make it, all from eastern Europe. I think I like it best with chunks, and with a dollop of sour cream on top, but the one pictured is excellent too.
"Tell a joke to a liberal. Between your punchline and his laughter, there is a Progressive Comedy Pause. In this second or two, the liberal will process the joke to make sure he is allowed to laugh.
Is that joke racist? He mentioned Obama, but didn’t make light of him, so to speak. He also mentioned Michelle, but I didn’t notice sexism. Is it dismissive of the LGBTQIA community? Latinos? Muslims? Vegans? Will this joke hurt progressive causes? Will my laughter trivialize oppressed communities? Will I appear intolerant? I think it’s okay if I laugh. Yes, I’ll laugh now to signal my appreciation and to indicate that I’m not a joyless liberal scold.
I've been there twice - saw a bullfight, the markets, the beaches, and the Matisse Museum - but want to go back for a week or so bringing all the kids.
Watch the video in the article. Lots of fine dining and wine. Top two on my travel bucket list: A week in a villa in Provence (or maybe somewhere north of Perugia) with all family, and 4 days grouse hunting in Scotland. Hey, it's almost the Glorious 12th
Good pals recently invited us to join them on this Viking trip. Would love to, but 8-10 days away is my max, and work is one of my joys so my need to get away is just for curiosity and education. No need to escape anything.
Speaking of travel, a daughter of mine found this note in some files I have been going through. My dad had sent me his travel plans in 2001 and my assistant tossed it in a file. They were in late-70s at the time with medical challenges they tried to ignore (Dad was half-blind but still working and Mom could be a space cadet) but they drove all over the world anyway same as my inlaws do now in their 80s).
It was their habit to go to Europe every early summer. They loved the canal barges in France almost as much as they loved small ships.
I suspect the deal was Sissinghurst for Royal Opera.
Stuck at home like a loser tonight with no date, no garden cocktail party, no cook-out to go to, and all your friends are on vacation to exciting places? Ain't That A Shame?
Hillary and Cheryl and Huma ought to have one of those seances Hillary used to have with Eleanor Roosevelt's ghost, only this time contact Richard Nixon's ghost and ask about the wisdom of getting in a urination match with a federal judge.
O, Utopia. Why must your sweet governance always turn so quickly from the Edenic to the Stalinist? The college revolutions of the 1960s—the ones that gave rise to the social-justice warriors of today’s campuses—were fueled by free speech. But once you’ve won a culture war, free speech is a nuisance, and “eliminating” language becomes a necessity.
Cheryl Mills To Destroy Emails About Boss Hillary Clinton
Read more at http://observer.com/2015/08/breaking-cheryl-mills-to-destroy-emails-about-hillary-clinton/#ixzz3iDKgTMLl
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Growing kids need breakfast. Adults do not, except athletes. A coffee and maybe a smoke is perfect, same as the Italians do.
Massive Study 
There's nothing more refreshing than a cold 
How To Slice A Bagel Along A Mobius Strip —