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.
Somewhat related to the post below, AVI is thinking about how much of politics is about virtue signalling.
I suspect that he overestimates its importance. In politics, there are many factors: likability, charisma, vote-buying, partisan loyalty, and so forth. Virtue itself has never been a major factor in electoral politics, or in any form of governance in history.
However, I would not dispute AVI's several posts over the years about the importance of tribal and affinity signalling in social relations. (Two Ls in signalling? Who knew?)
Not really. No doubt these agencies and people hope to do good, but they view "poverty" through Western, materialist eyes. Many people do not know that they are poor and deprived until Westerners tell them that they are because they lack refrigerators and large-screen TVs . (See Eskimos as a case in point.)
I am not talking about famine and the like, just about normal times in subsistence pre-industrial areas with pre-industrial societies. Isn't there a condescending assumption that these brown people cannot figure out their lives by themselves? Why do Westerners wish to intrude on these peoples' lives and cultures? I suppose the Asians and Westerners have done so already through our desire for their natural resources, though, especially in Africa.
“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
"It’s all just so exhausting. And I guess what I resent most of all is the fact that I will spend the rest of my life arguing with people who not only think that their faith in progressivism and the State is smart and modern, but that their opponents are the ones who are stuck in the past. And in the process, they’ll keep making the country worse, with every failure providing the latest evidence that now, now, is the time for a new New Deal."
Mike Rowe is one of my favorite life commentators. His program Dirty Jobs was excellent television, not just for his portrayal of the everyday laborer as a hero of modern culture, but because he showed that hard work is its own reward. He has assiduously avoided taking sides in political debates, though he's made it pretty clear people need to be left to their own devices as much as possible. Mike is a trained opera singer, who stumbled into television quite by accident via QVC, and has become a bit of an icon, though he tries to distance himself from any kind of hero-worship. His life advice, I've found, is usually spot-on. I don't know if he comes up with it himself, but it's all pretty darn good.
He seems like the kind of guy you would love to have an everyday conversation with, toss back some beer or bourbon, then work with him to replace your septic system. In no particular order.
He responds to fan mail fairly regularly, and I really enjoyed his post today:
The New York Times just published a 27-point guide on what it means to be a “Modern Man.” As someone widely regarded as a “Man’s Man,” I’d love to get your take. (Personally, I’m not sure what a “Man’s Man” is, but my wife assures me that you are one.)
Birding is America's second-fastest growing hobby. It's a lot like hunting, but with binoculars. Most birders are not competitors like the ones described: most are people like me who just like to know what's around them and who like to walk and clamber around outdoors. I don't even keep lists anymore, and just enjoy seeing the critters.
It's the beginning, or middle, of hawk migration season in North America, and there are always plenty to be seen on the ridges and shorelines of the Northeast.
Bird guides are not too useful for identifying migrating buteos, eagles, ospreys, falcons, and accipters because the light in nature is rarely perfect, the birds can be quite high and in just dark silhouette, the birds can be immature birds of the year, they could be color morphs, or they might dash past low (like a Sharpie or a Cooper's) without time to get a good diagnosis.
It takes time with an expert to get the hang of it and to get the feel for specific hawks but in time anybody can learn to recognize them as easily as recognizing people.
These three are easy because their details are so well-illuminated in these pics, and because they are not flying at altitudes of 1000-2000 feet as they often do:
In New England, the most common migrating raptor is the Broad Wing, but I rarely see them in breeding season. They seem to hunker down quietly in the woods, like Cooper's, and hunt from a perch. Kettles of Broad Wings can number in the thousands as they ride the thermals to South America for the winter.
"The term "oktavist" describes a basso profundo singer with an extremely deep range. You'll notice that the singers showcased in this video all sound unbelievably deep, with some making you question whether or not it's humanly possible to produce such low notes. Their voices can go as deep as an octave below the bass staff."
Well, that's really what she asked me. I always try to be agreeable - except when I do not.
Yes, I am always ok with picking up a nice rental car at any airport in the world and heading out towards God knows where like some farmhouse miles up unmarked dirt roads in the Sicilian boondocks, but rockin and rollin at sea on an elegant craft with interesting people is fine with me too. It's the lazy way.
Windstar, best small ship sailing in the world. We'll be sailing in the eastern Atlantic and stopping by some cool ports, including Lisbon, Tenerife and North Africa.
New places for the curious to explore. Carpe diem. Home and constant work may suit me best, but I can't be a stick in the mud and Mrs. BD is a skilled, adventurous, and resourceful travelmeister who only wants to do things the average American tourist doesn't do. Lucky me. All of my kids are like her with adventurous travel.
I love being at sea. I love a smoke and coffee on deck watching dawn break over Mother Ocean when everybody is still asleep. I like stormy weather at sea. I am fascinated by the maneuvering into ports. I especially like to hang out with the helmsman and the navigator during transits. Shoulda been in the USN and I could have gotten it out of my system as my brother in law did.
He still regrets his 'Nam tattoos, and now hates boats of all sorts but especially Destroyers.
Holland-America Line is the official line of Maggie's, but we have several friends who love Windstar so we have to give it a try. A free ad for Windstar:
Re-posted from Oct, 2014. Was it really a year ago? Seems like yesterday.
We began our jolly urban hike on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, Battery Park, where the ferries depart to Staten Island, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.
What is fatiguing is not the hiking itself - it's the overstimulation. So much going on, so much to look at.
Below the fold, a photo summary of our hike, with relevant links -
Flock of Snow Geese over a farm field in Manitoba, early morning. When they come down in numbers and set to land in your decoys at dawn, it sounds like a fire fight. And the geese make plenty of noise too:
Emerges from retirement just to remind us how baseball writing is done: Wild North. I always felt that reading Angell was more fun than watching a game on TV.
My old Grandpa said to me, 'Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he becomes too old to take a whoopin'.'
I don't carry a gun to kill people; I carry a gun to keep from being killed.
I don't carry a gun because I'm evil; I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the World.
I don't carry a gun because I hate the government; I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.
I don't carry a gun because I'm angry; I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.
I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone; I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.
I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man; I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.
I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate; I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.
I don't carry a gun because I love it; I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.
Police protection is an oxymoron: Free citizens must protect themselves because police do not protect you from crime; they just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.
Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take a whoopin'!
The left is in full-blown smear-Carson mode. He is, after all, the left's worst nightmare — a black Republican who is brilliant, kind and widely admired, including by many blacks.
From an American perspective, handing the Middle East over to the Russians is not a terrible thing. Americans are far too moralistic to run a proper empire. The Russians are too incompetent to remain a big player in the region in the long run, but in the short run they will be the whip hand that is needed to keep the peace. The Russians will kill everything that moves in eastern Syria, for example, in order to subdue ISIS.
ACTA says in a press release today that only 24 schools out of 1,100 examined received its “A” grade. Their graduation requirements include at least six of seven subjects that are essential to a liberal arts education: literature, composition, economics, math, intermediate-level foreign language, science and American government/history.
Somewhere
between 1 million and 2 million Europeans came to the New World between
1500 and 1800; by contrast, over 8 million Africans came via the slave
trade. - See more at:
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/10/americas-fact-of-the-day.html#sthash.nZxXKlEJ.dpuf
Jim Webb, American Hero- He's everything voters pretend to want in a politician -- but don't.
How much sleep 
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Well, that's really what she asked me. I always try to be agreeable - except when I do not. 
Job 38:1-7, (34-41)
Over the transom - 
Amazing 
Cabin porn