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.
Why Peterson's talks are controversial escapes me. The useful thing he does is to talk about Human Nature 101 and Adult Life 101. Maybe some people do not want to learn about human nature or adult life.
The only thing remarkable to me is that these things need to be said. Basics. A life worth living has to be constructed thoughtfully, in my view. I find it sometimes needs revisions, if not tweaking, because the things that mattered to me at 25 are no longer the most important things to me now. I like to think I have gained a little bit of wisdom.
1:1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
1:2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.
1:3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
1:4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
1:6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
In 1952, Armon M. Sweat, Jr., a member of the Texas House of Representatives, was asked about his position on whiskey. What follows is his exact answer (taken from the Political Archives of Texas):
"If you mean whiskey, the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fiber of my being.
However, if by whiskey you mean the lubricant of conversation, the philosophic juice, the elixir of life, the liquid that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of anelderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life's great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into Texas treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation, then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it.
This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle."
It's one thing for political campaigns to spy on each other. That's normal because politics is an ugly business. When government does it, it's criminal. I hope all of this evil deep state conspiracy comes to light, and that the people are held to account. Jail time.
I suspect the mole was Carter Page, but who knows? He had done odd jobs for the FBI in the past. This feels like CIA business, done on American soil.
Photo is the Lemon Squeeze in Mohonk's Labyrinth Trail. See why you leave your daypack behind. No worries - nobody will steal it. Only nice people there.
Liberals are perpetually offended by just about everything. Why? Because liberals have decided that being offended trumps logic, fact and every other argument that anyone can make. If it were up to liberals, we would not have free speech because too many people say things that contradict liberal ideas. So, they may not be able to put you in jail for believing that you can’t change genders or that it’s not smart to send gay men who may be sexually interested in teenagers out into the woods with them overnight as scout masters, but they can use a variety of different tactics to silence you. Outrage is one of those tactics because again, according to liberals, the second someone is outraged, the debate is over and they’ve won (Of course that only applies to liberals. If conservatives are offended by something, that doesn’t count.)
There is a sacred, secret line in loving which attraction and even passion cannot cross, — even if lips draw near in awful silence and love tears at the heart.
Friendship is weak and useless here, and years of happiness, exalted and full of fire, because the soul is free and does not know the slow luxuries of sensual life.
Those who try to come near it are insane and those who reach it are shaken by grief. So now you know exactly why my heart beats no faster under your hand.
I listened to about 20 minutes of Trump's rally last night. He is an amusing talker, quite informal, and constantly going off-script. He called Gov. Brown "Governor Moonbeam." Since he had been up all night, I was impressed. He is bold. Honey Badger doesn't give a shit about the pearl-clutchers.
What the novice president understands, in a way that none of his predecessors since Ronald Reagan has, is that (as the Declaration puts it) “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind” does not mean to sacrifice control of America’s self-interest on the altar of cultural-Marxist shibboleths like political correctness, “fairness,” “tolerance,” “diversity,” or “white privilege.”
Almost every advice article I read about fitness makes a big point about fat loss and fat-burning. Perhaps that is what readers are interested in, given that so many people in the Western world are over-nourished but wish to look better and to be lighter on their feet if they can do it easily.
Fitness training is about strength, agility, athleticism, endurance, speed, power. Good things like that. I am a strong believer in maintaining maximum functionality with a fitness program, but mixed and balanced exercises (ie calisthenics, weights, and some cardio) done at a rational level (5-6 hrs/wk, not including walking, sports, hiking, etc) will likely have no effect on your body fat. That's not why you do it.
As the guy in this article notes (and as I have noticed countless times), after a year or two of nothing but daily cardio machines, running, or swimming, most people in the gym are just as pudgy as when they began. Sometimes more. Just putting in their time but ignoring their food intake and their exercise intensity.
To get rid of body fat, you must manage your daily nutrition. Do not rely on exercise or cardio, especially "long, slow cardio" to do it. It will not. (In fact, an excess of cardio exercise, anaerobic or aerobic, might be a bad idea for many people, if not a waste of time.)
Fitness and nutrition are separate but somewhat overlapping topics.
Jump rope is great cardio. I get winded after a couple of minutes. I figure jumping is 80% cardio and 20% strength, so you could consider it a calisthenic. I find it extremely fatiguing, but it's fun to learn all the moves. I still can not to double-unders, but I'm fine with one-foot, jacks, running man, split step, etc.
I try to practice my jump moves at least 3 times/week, trying to get better and to improve my endurance with it.
You can see how this graceful gal does a little active recovery by swinging the rope. She is fast. Her criss-cross is cool. How is that done?
Taleb believes that individuals require a great deal of autonomy in order to be truly free. In this view, working in large corporations or other hierarchical environments is antithetical to freedom.
I am sure we have readers who did wait staff jobs at some point in life. I discussed the skills involved with somebody this weekend. We laughed about two topics in particular. First, how to load and balance a full tray of plates and silverware, get under it in a squat, and lift. Second, how to load a tray of 20-30 glasses and throw a damp towel on top to glue them together.
Of course, the dramatic moments are when you drop a fully-loaded tray because some little kid scurries in front of you. Big crash, everybody has to rubberneck. Good times.
Just busing tables at large events quickly and efficiently is a skill. Delivering food to the tables is another skill. When I was in college, we figured 40 wait staff for 1000 guests, 4-5 for 150 guests. It's a work-out.
View of the lake last weekend, with Shadbush in full bloom.
My kids are 4th generation Mohonk-lovers. A perfect New York State getaway for outdoorsy people. A classic old-timey place and somewhat kid-friendly.
The place has changed a bit over its 146 years. For examples, the rustic old Quaker place has decided to serve alcohol at meals, there is no longer a daily morning prayer service (sad - it was a good way to begin a day), dancing is permitted, and they built a lovely indoor pool. Also, it has become more expensive but the meals are far better than decades past when "Quaker simple" ruled and the only dessert was rice pudding. Still, no TVs and the rooms are plain although there are 130 working fireplaces. Just call down and they will bring you wood.
Also, a 110 year-old golf course and tennis courts.
The Smiley family, who have owned and run it since the beginning, gave around 10,000 acres to the Mohonk Preserve Land Trust, but the resort still has around 4000 acres of woods, gardens, pasture, the lake, etc. Of their 85 miles of hiking (or running, cross-country-skiing, etc) trails, many of them are wide, well-maintained gravel trails built in the 1870s for horse and buggies and designed to show the mountain views. Plenty of them are rugged enough, too.
You might call it a resort, but it's really not luxurious and is all about outdoor activity in all seasons. For us, it's about the hiking. I like to do an upper-body workout in the gym early, then do hikes after breakfast and skip lunch. Just bring a banana and an orange in the day pack. On our next visit, I want to focus more on bouldering and climbing trails than on plain hiking. My relatives like to use it for runs.
I am planning a bouldering day trip there soon for our hiking pals. As a reader reminded us, if you buy one meal online in advance you can get a day pass for everything.
More of my free ad for Mohonk below the fold, with snaps -
Is Maternal Instinct Only for Moms?
DON'T YOU LOVE A MAN OF PRINCIPLES???
This is a big deal: 
Photo is the Lemon Squeeze in Mohonk's Labyrinth Trail. See why you leave your daypack behind. No worries - nobody will steal it. Only nice people there.
“GATES APPEAL TO ME BECAUSE OF THE NEGATIVE SPACE THEY ALLOW. THEY CAN SHUT YOU OUT OR SHUT YOU IN. AND IN SOME WAYS THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.”