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.
Photo is from a buddy who took a newbie skiing in CT on the weekend. Cold winter sports are great fun. Skiing is almost equal to sex, but it's (skiing) more of a hassle. Outdoor skating and pick-up hockey is a blast. Paddle is also, if you don't have a bum shoulder like I do. Our local paddle courts have been packed every night for the past week. Best thing about 5 degree (F) outdoor sports? Beers later. Winter is for outdoor fun.
It’s a zero-sum struggle for attention that rewards the most immoderate voices – and, without question, Donald Trump is a master of the game. His unbridled language mobilizes his anti-elite followers, even as his policies appeal to more conventional Republicans and conservatives.
From our annual winter NYC weekend of theater and museum shows on our list. Also hiked 3 miles in a windy 5 degrees, briskly, after an early hour in the hotel's gym.
One of the better sledding hills in the park. Better than it looks from my iphone pic.
To begin with a point to which many Christian thinkers would agree, the United States and other nations rooted in Judeo-Christianity have entered a time of paganization—what we might also call “re-paganization.” The gravitational pull of traditional religion seems to be diminishing, even as a-religious and anti-religious elements accumulate mass. This paganization is especially ascendant among the young, now famously more prone than any other group to checking “none of the above” when asked for their religious affiliation; according to the Pew Research Center and others, the combination of self-described atheists and self-defined “nones” is now the fastest-growing “religious” group.
Wider manifestations of this ongoing paganization have also become commonplaces: the proliferation of religious liberty court cases, legal and other attacks on Christian student groups at secular universities, demonization and caricature of religious believers, intimidation aimed at those who defend Judeo-Christian morality, and other instances of what Pope Francis himself has dubbed the “polite persecution” of believers in advanced societies...
2:1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2:2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."
2:3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;
2:4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
2:5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
2:6 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
2:7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.
2:8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."
2:9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.
2:10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.
2:11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
My Christmas present from Mrs. BD was a winter hiking and birding trip on Barbados. I'm not a big fan of the Caribbean, but what the heck. Lots of good hiking along the 24-mile old railroad bed, and famous birding.
The author, Robert Ligon, was a gentleman, highly educated and literate but a third son so given nothing but education. After losing what little he had on a bad real estate investment in London, he headed to the Caribbean to seek his fortune. He found no fortune, but his book remains the best first-hand report of the Caribbean of the time. An elegant writer too with interest in the geology, the soils, the fish, the trees and lumber, the birds, the architecture, the cuisine, the booze (French brandy for the planters, rum for everybody else including the slaves), etc.
And in the people. The Brit planters (sugar cane, thanks to Columbus) were mostly drunken whoremongers but some were not. Ligon befriended many of the slaves. He even taught them music. Ligon was a talented lutist, and felt the slaves could benefit from learning how to make tunes instead of just their African drumming for their Sunday dance and rum parties.
He also defended their wishes to become Christian. The slaves believed that Christianity seemed to impart wisdom. This was illegal at the time: you could not have a Christian as a slave.
It's a cool term. It refers to the ability to master all aspects of living so as to have the chance for a fulfilling and successful life: Bunky Mortimer’s Guide to Lifemanship
Sad to say, many people do not get As in that course. I'd give myself a B if I compare myself with others I know for whom mastery of most of life's challenges appears to come effortlessly.
Makes some sense. Almost everybody can do something useful. As I said before, we have a Down's gal bagging at my grocery 8 hrs/day, every day. A cheerful presence who clearly loves feeling useful.
The association os this speech with the National Lawyers Guild expressing his support for Olson/Soliah and Joanne Chesimard, for the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Black Liberation Army along with his respect for “Minister Farrakhan” and his prayer for Castro give us, more or less, the whole package on Keith Ellison.
He was formed by the New York press and continues to operate according to its Thunderdome-style rulebook. His scathing denunciation of the overrated Bannon was brutal, funny, over the top, and absolutely withering. Then his lawyers followed up with a cease and desist letter.
But it came with a price...
Yes it does. Nevertheless, Trump sells! He might even help rescue the news business by being so colorful and outspoken.
You know Orion always comes up sideways. Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains, And rising on his hands, he looks in on me Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something I should have done by daylight, and indeed, After the ground is frozen, I should have done Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney To make fun of my way of doing things, Or else fun of Orion's having caught me. Has a man, I should like to ask, no rights These forces are obliged to pay respect to?" So Brad McLaughlin mingled reckless talk Of heavenly stars with hugger-mugger farming, Till having failed at hugger-mugger farming, He burned his house down for the fire insurance And spent the proceeds on a telescope To satisfy a life-long curiosity About our place among the infinities...
Maggie's has run an "Urban Hike" for each of the last 3 years. We've gone north from the Battery and Delancey Street, in NYC, all the way up to as far as Grant's Tomb. We even have traveled south from Lincoln Center to Washington Square Park.
All along the way, we checked out interesting historical, literary, and geographic sites as we got to know each other just a little better. Maggie's audience is a fun and interesting group of people, and we get together because we enjoy learning and having a good time.
To that end, Bird Dog and I have loosely planned our Urban Hike for 2018 in late April. It should be warm and sunny enough. No date yet, we'll have that in a month or two.
Meantime - remember - BROOKLYN. If you have any fun facts or trivia that you'd like to share, post them below in comments. We'll start by hiking over Roebling's wonder, the Brooklyn Bridge, and after that? Who knows (yet)? I know if I can get the Red Hook or Brooklyn Breweries tacked on, as well as maybe Widow Jane's Distillery, I'll be in good shape to let Mrs. Bulldog drive home.
Mostly lazy glib people who want to feel important in jobs with no heavy lifting. The real non-career pols (Trump is an example) are the ones I admire. Give a few years of public service and go back to the farm.
In general, the kinds of men and women attracted to politics are precisely the kinds of men and women who disdain the reciprocities required for success in the market. Market relationships are inherently co-equal: Because I can buy my car from Toyota or Ford, General Motors has no power over me. When I walk into an automobile dealership (or a supermarket, or a department store, or a restaurant, or a bank, or a brokerage firm, or a hardware store, or any private firm that enjoys no government privileges) I walk into an establishment that has no power to coerce me. The consequence is that the owners of that establishment treat me with respect, for if they don’t, I spend my money elsewhere...
It’s been 30 years since then-Education Secretary William J. Bennett took to the pages of The New York Times to chide colleges for their “greedy” behavior. He decried the negative effect federal student aid seemed to have on tuition, namely, that it allowed universities to raise prices without feeling the consequences of reduced demand or lower-quality students...
It's not fair. I know two guys from my local pub, both very unsophisticated about investing who took a drunken gamble and put all their (relatively-humble) savings into Bitcoin almost a year ago. They both sold out this week.
They quit their dumb jobs and bought beers for the whole pub last night. Yes, both are single. Life in America.
“Shame on feminist advocates who whine about a tampon tax in the United States, while remaining silent as a fellow woman in Iran fights for her right to speak at all.”
I am not a big pasta fan, but if you want to try one pasta dish as a primi in Sicily, this is it. Bucatini seems to be the typico pasta for this. Fennell (finocchio) grows wild all over Sicily. A roadside weed.
Recipe here., but, better, a very good instructional video here. The guy claims tinned sardines work as well as fresh, but I dunno. I can buy fresh sardines (and fresh anchovies) here. Anyway, the video makes me hungry.
A theater buff pal tells me that Farinelli and the King is the best Broadway production he has seen in decades.
The castrato Farinelli was the Elvis of the 18th Century. This review says the play is about identity and the terrors of fame. Mark Rylance stars (in his wife's play).
Good review of 
My Christmas present from Mrs. BD was a winter hiking and birding trip on Barbados. I'm not a big fan of the Caribbean, but what the heck. Lots of good hiking along the 24-mile old railroad bed, and famous birding.
The Star-Splitter
