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.
My fitness coach is now adding jump rope to the end of all of my daily morning routines.
I know that boxers and MMA people do a lot of jump rope but I still associate it with girls on the playground. Coach says he wants to add it to ramp up my anaerobic intensity. One article says this:
The jump rope is a powerful workout tool. It builds cardio fitness, balance, agility and bone strength. It's also one of the best go-anywhere fitness accessories, fitting easily into even a crammed carry-on.
It is a core-strengthener too. It's supposed to be a good fat-burner, but I don't need that very much although I guess I could use a physical six-pack. It is harmless to knees because all of the minimal impact is taken on the balls of your feet.
Like all cardio, it won't build muscle and it hurts, is not fun. Weight training/strength-building, on the other hand, is good fun. You get to grunt and groan and to look better in your guinea tees, but it's not real functional fitness. It is just a foundation for a fitness program. (It is fun to listen to the females doing their weight exercises. Their noises are sexual and that is a little bit stimulating/distracting.)
Coach will teach me the various techniques next week. Some of them are here. Jumping rope requires instruction. Who knew?
What are the high-intensity, anaerobic general fitness and cardio exercises (ie tough calisthenics)? Burpees, heavy ball exercises like throws and smashes, jump rope, fast squats with weight, jumping jacks with weight bar, sprints, quick high-stepping, running up stairs, and the like. Things that look easy but are not easy at all after a few minutes.
That is our version of regional haute cuisine and I am sure it is government-approved. However, I still prefer a grilled cheese with ketchup. Cheddar, please, white bread, and tomato slices in it. Yum.
Lobster is overrated. It's just a big bug, but I am happy to promote Yankeeland's Clam Chowda, Cod Chowda, and baked beans. Especially Cod Chowda. With hot biscuits on the side.
Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action, and till action, lust Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame, Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust, Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight, Past reason hunted, and no sooner had, Past reason hated as a swallowed bait On purpose laid to make the taker mad; Mad in pursuit, and in possession so, Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme; A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe; Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream. All this the world well knows, yet none knows well To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
A classic, cool weather Southern Italian dish. Easy. I am not a big fan of southern Italian, but this is a standard for those many who enjoy this sort of thing. Use chicken thighs only.
Charles Krauthammer said that he had no doubt some of the 30,000 e-mails Hillary deleted very likely had references to the Clinton Foundation's business, which would be illegal and a conflict of interest. Others say it is organized crime at its finest -- and we are financing it. This is a summary of how the Clinton Foundation works as a tax-free international money laundering scheme. It will probably eventuallyprove to be the largest political criminal enterprise in U.S. history.
This is a textbook case on how you hide foreign money sent to you and repackage it to be used for your own purposes. All tax free. Here's how it works:
1. You create a separate foreign "charity." In this case one in Canada.
2. Foreign oligarchs and governments then donate to this Canadian charity. In this case, over 1,000 did, contributing mega-millions. I'm sure they did this out of the goodness of their hearts, and expected nothing in return. (Imagine Putin's buddies waking up one morning and just deciding to send untold millions to a Canadian charity).
3. The Canadian charity then bundles these separate donations and makes a massive donation to the Clinton Foundation.
4. The Clinton Foundation and the cooperating Canadian charity claim Canadian law prohibits the identification of individual donors.
5. The Clinton Foundation then "spends" some of this money for legitimate good works programs. Unfortunately, experts believe this is on the order of 10%. Much of the balance goes to enrich the Clinton's, pay salaries to untold numbers of hangers-on, and fund lavish travel, etc. Again, virtually all tax free, which means you and I are subsidizing it.
6. The Clinton Foundation, with access to the world's best accountants, somehow fails to report much of this on their tax filings. They discover these "clerical errors" and begin the process of re-filing 5 years of tax returns.
7. Net result -- foreign money, much of it from other countries, goes into the Clinton's pockets tax-free and untraceable back to the original donor.
This is the textbook definition of "money laundering."
Oh, by the way, the Canadian "charity" includes as a principal one Frank Giustra. Google him. He is the guy who was central to the formation of Uranium One, the Canadian company that somehow acquired massive U.S. uranium interests and then sold them to an organization controlled by Russia. This transaction required U.S. State Department approval, and guess who was Secretary of State when the approval was granted?
As an aside, imagine how former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell feels. That poor schlep is in jail because he and his wife took $165,000 in gifts and loans for doing minor favors for a guy promoting a vitamin company. Not legal, but not exactly putting U.S. security at risk.
Sarcasm aside, if you're still not persuaded this was a cleverly structured way to get unidentified foreign money to the Clinton's, ask yourself this:
Why did these foreign interests funnel money through a Canadian charity?
Why not donate directly to the Clinton Foundation? Better yet, why not donate money directly to the people, organizations and countries in need?
This is the very essence of money laundering and influence peddling. Now you know why Hillary's destruction of 30,000 e-mails was a risk she was willing to take.
"There is a self-hatred in the West that can be considered only as something pathological. The West attempts in a praiseworthy manner to open itself completely to the comprehension of external values, but it no longer loves itself; it now only sees what is despicable and destructive in its own history, while it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure there."
A man should have the serenity that comes from living in his own home; should not depend entirely on some boss for his livelihood, and daily permissions; nor be entangled from adolescence in debt, nor constantly huzza’d by tempters. He should never be treated as cattle, or chattel, or “demographic target.” He should not be deflected from the life of pilgrim, sub specie aeternitatis; nor deprived of the freedom to make his own way.
Feminizing the Air Force with legal terror. Having young females around makes guys act stupid, always. I somehow doubt that the Russkis or the Chinese would do that, and their Bergdahl would have been instantly executed
Those were my first skis. Wood Northlands. Kept them for sentimental reasons I guess. I must be ancient. Off to the garbage. At the time, my rich friends had Heads.
Gosh do I love skiing, once I am on top of a mountain. The hassle and cost to get there is what deters me often.
We're throwing out everything we can, or giving away. Closets full of older winter clothing, spare sweaters, parkas, leather jackets, fur coats, the snow-blower, the power edger, the power-washer.
Left 10 duck stamp prints off for the Ducks Unlimited event. I have never had anywhere to hang them.
And tons of stuff to church winter clothing drive, and Good Will.
It's not to prepare for Global Warming; it's to lighten the burdens of excess possession and clutter. We have too much stuff from many years and three kids. On Thanksgiving, I am going to unload all of the family antiques, family china, and art that I can onto my sibs because I will not wait for my kids to have houses.
The only things I am "keeping for the kids when they might need them" are our substantial collection of antique oriental rugs. Rugs on top of rugs, like Armenians. Trouble is, they are so out of fashion they probably won't want them.
I have too many firearms too. More than I ever use. Should sell most of them.
The pleasure in a new possession is fleeting, isn't it? It's a cliche because it is so true. It's a relief of an interesting sort to get rid of stuff.
Did time begin at that instant, so that there was no time or space "before"? Or are space and time human constructs? Of course they are. Humans have been making up our understanding of the universe forever. We are wired to do that although we know that it is all beyond our comprehension and our feeble animal senses.
It’s possible that the looming custodial state, where the Cloud People rule over the Ground People like game wardens, is going to be wonderful. The Ground People will embrace being cared for like children and accept being pushed around by the authorities when necessary. The sense of looming catastrophe that animates much of the alternative right will turn out to be completely misplaced. Instead, it will be viewed as a great leap forward for humanity.
And in the US as in Europe, they are also coming by government invitation. They are offered homes, money, food, and welcoming groups of young women handing out blankets, language lessons, etc. Free stuff. In Germany and Sweden, though, there is really no honest work for a Somali immigrant if they even wanted it.
That's why you see them running scams and stealing luggage all across Europe these days.
George Bush was right when he talked about jobs that poor and unskilled Americans did not want to do, even though he was mocked for it. America has and had plenty of need for unskilled and semi-skilled labor, but Americans passed on that low-paid work while the Guatemalans and Mexicans jumped on those jobs with pleasure. Now they own those jobs - and those small businesses - while the native poor Americans who supposedly have learned American values and the American Constitution remain on food stamps. Bill Clinton, to his credit, tried to deal with that but illegal immigration won.
When I wonder out loud why these hundreds of thousands of fit young men with their iPhones hiking into Europe don't apply themselves to building futures in their own homes, I am termed a racist. But isn't it racist to assume that young, strong and clearly well-fed young men with iPhones are helpless in their own homelands?
Merkel said European Union initiatives hadn’t gotten far enough and that she will push for a permanent distribution of refugees across the 28-member bloc.
Good luck with that, Angela. You and Sweden, stupidly, created the crisis, and you and Sweden alone will bear the consequences.
How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk - What does the way you speak say about where you’re from? Answer all the questions below to see your personal dialect map.
I came out as New York City/Yonkers/Jersey City. Odd, because I grew up in western Massachusetts. I think the test is approximately accurate, though. My parents were immigrant kids from Queens, and I have been in NYC for a few years now.
‘Can you imagine a worse incentive system than one that rewards failure with higher budgets and punishes success with lower budgets?’ I can’t – yet that’s pretty much the prevailing incentive system for governments around the world.
Billionaire investor George Soros has confirmed he wants to bring down Europe’s borders, following the accusation made last week by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Last week, Mr Orban accused Mr Soros – who was born in Hungary – of deliberately encouraging the migrant crisis.
Soros is a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, was Nazi collaborator, got rich manipulating currency markets. What's his issue?
Scarborough:
No Republican Has Hosted Network Sunday Show or Newscast in 50 Years -
See more at:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2015/11/02/scarborough-no-republican-has-hosted-network-sunday-show-or#sthash.0BpWQZrW.dpuf
In the general fitness and endurancecategory of exercises (as opposed to strength and power), bursts of "balls to the wall"* (not sure what term women might use for that) exertion are far more useful than long stretches of less intense cardio. Except for those over 75 or in cardiac rehab, long stretches of "comfortable cardio" advance none of your goals other than plain functional maintenance. Functional maintenance is good, though, for the aging. (Comfortable cardio means you sweat but do not get winded.)
You can watch Social X-Rays, models, and quasi-anorectics jogging or doing cardio exercises for hours all the time in NYC, but they do not look like that because of exercise. They look like that because they don't eat carbs, or anything else much. Creepy.
What most of us regular exercisers do is a combination, eg 20-40 minutes of continuous cardio machines with brief bursts of maximum speed effort - sprints in effect. Distance runners train with sprints, as do swimmers. Other high-intensity sprint-like exercises? Squats, heavy ball smashes, lunges, high steps with weights, burpees, and the like. Basically, any relatively-brief spurts of demand that make you feel like you might drop dead, or might wish to drop dead.
Remember, cardio doesn't burn fat hardly at all, and does not build strength or power either. It can burn some carbs (roughly 2 slices of toast per hour), help mobilize fat-burning somewhat only when combined with low carb, and it puts whatever strength and power you have to work. It is really just about endurance/fitness. If you build your strength and power with other exercises, your effectiveness with high-intensity will obviously increase because your maximum will be more intense.
Losing fat is low-carb diet, improving fitness is demanding cardio, and improving strength/power is resistance. It's simple. Our goal is simple too: to be fit for whatever life offers.
*Thanks to reader for etymology of the balls expression
One thing that stood out to me was the arrogance of the academics quoted. Like this:
Panelists spoke passionately and knowingly about the ability of art and literature to increase empathy and human understanding and to improve students’ critical thinking and writing skills. “From my experience, it is not possible to develop those skills without a liberal arts education,” said UNC system president Thomas Ross.
I think Herman Melvlle, Mark Twain, and even Bob Dylan might dispute that.
My fitness coach is now adding jump rope to the end of all of my daily morning routines. 
Most kids in New England are raised on 
Photo: Dawn at Maggie's HQ, with coupsie car 
Sonnet 129
Agriculture is "
Those were my first skis. Wood Northlands. Kept them for sentimental reasons I guess. I must be ancient. Off to the garbage. At the time, my rich friends had Heads.
Decade long ice age
I ate your candy! Jimmy Kimmel Pulls Off Halloween Candy Prank for 5th Straight Year,
Images via