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.
Last year he announced his retirement from his regular columns and academia, but he keeps writing anyway. Some Thomas Sowell quotes here.
I picked a rebellious one for the 4th because, in my lifetime, the "best and the brightest" have produced nothing but trouble:
In their haste to be wiser and nobler than others, the anointed have misconceived two basic issues. They seem to assume: 1) that they have more knowledge than the average member of the benighted, and 2) that this is the relevant comparison. The real comparison, however, is not between the knowledge possessed by the average member of the educated elite versus the average member of the general public, but rather the total direct knowledge brought to bear through social processes (the competition of the marketplace, social sorting, etc.), involving millions of people, versus the secondhand knowledge of generalities possessed by a smaller elite group.
The vision of the anointed is one in which ills as poverty, irresponsible sex and crime derive primarily from ‘society,’ rather than from individual choices and behavior. To believe in personal responsibility would be to destroy the whole special role of the anointed, whose vision casts them in the role of rescuers of people treated unfairly by ‘society.'
Man, was the place packed this morning. The calis classes were packed, the yoga classes, the cycle classes, and the running classes (actually, HIIT sprinting classes). The work-out floor was packed too. Saw people I haven't seen in years.
Wonderful, like a party. I like the place when it's quiet, but when it's full the energy level rises for everybody, like a contagion. Great way for us to spend an hour or two in the morning on a hot holiday, especially with blasting a/c and Wimbledon in the TV. Vanessa is 38!
I think we'll grab a kayak (and a beer) this afternoon to complete a perfect holiday. God bless America.
(For my fellow exercise people, all I did was 5 sets of pull-ups - actually, 1 set of pull-ups and then 5 sets of "hangs." Hangs strengthen your pull-ups. Jump your chest to the bar with overhand grip and your elbows at your side, then hang as long as you can. You get remarkable arm vibration, and watch your lats and arms slowly give way until they give out. Count the seconds. Then I did just 60 mins of elliptical cardio with Wimbledon because I do heavy weight tomorrow morning and because I love tennis.)
Mexico permits essentially no immigration - unless you come with plenty of money. Puerto Vallarta has been a bit of an American colony for many generations.
A friend just returned from a destination wedding in San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico. It's a World Heritage site. He loved it - said it felt like Seville but with lots of Central American Indians. Turns out it is popular for expats and American retirees - 20% of its population is non-Mexican. Due to its altitude, it is always Springtime there.
I enjoy Mexico, but not Cancun and Cozumel and all those drunks and college trash. I think I'll plan San Miguel for next winter, then maybe hop over to Puerto Vallarta for some water and beach.
It's a country formed in rebellion and built on freedom from government power. That's a healthy attitude. As Jefferson said, every once in a while you have to throw the bums out and get a fresh start. Well, Jefferson's terms were more bloody, but it's the same idea.
I love the "everybody's in grief and shock this morning."
Why is it that when anybody (including returning Americans) coming to the US through a port of entry requires papers, passports, etc or they are sent back immediately to whence they came?
But if you wade through the Rio Grande, they put you up and feed you.
What intellectuals don't get about MIGRATION is the ethical notion of SYMMETRY:
1) OPEN BORDERS work if and only if the number of pple who want to go from EU/US to Africa/LatinAmer equals Africans/Latin Amer who want to move to EU/US
2) Controlled immigration is based on the symmetry that someone brings in at least as much as he/she gets out. And the ethics of the immigrant is to defend the system as payback, not mess it up.
Uncontrolled immigration has all the attributes of invasions.
3) As a Christian Lebanese, saw the nightmare of uncontrolled immigration of Palestinians which caused the the civil war & as a part-time resident of N. Lebanon, I am seeing the effect of Syrian migration on the place.
So I despise these virtue-signaling open-borders imbeciles.
...who works in the mental health field: "You assumed I would hate Jordan Peterson? Wrong. I just finished his book. He is so clear and common-sensical that he's helped me see my own life in a different light, not to mention my work with clients. It's so easy to get fogged over with details and complexities and daily crap that we lose sight of the basics."
Pic is my medicine ball on our Cape Cod driveway. Garbage cans out - a decorative touch.
If you have invested time, money, sweat, and tears into a fitness regimen, it is depressing to learn that your level of conditioning will deteriorate measurably within 7-10 days if all you do is walk around for hours. Many people go for morning jogs but there are plenty of other morning calisthenics that can be done anywhere.
I have done it all, in hotel gyms, in the sandy driveway on Cape Cod, and elsewhere all over the place. Even in Maine. A light protein and banana shake after. There is no more invigorating way to begin an active day outdoors.
One observation: We Americans are fitness nuts by comparison to the rest of the world. It's cultural and, to some extent, class-related We (frequently) overweight Americans try to stay fit and vigorous until something strikes us down. In Europe, not much. In Asia, very little. How often do you see gyms or street runners in those places? An exception might be Switzerland, where I am told gyms are sprouting up on every corner in every town. Especially in Zurich, or course, because Zurich is like a mini-NYC but without the charm.
For a business meeting, a business speech, or a job interview, there is nothing like an hour of calis to prepare.
Use it or lose it. Strength and power diminish measurably after 7-10 days, cardio fitness after one week without stressing your heart hard. The older you are, the quicker the loss.
It will overrule Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortions and to criminally prosecute any physicians and nurses who perform them. It will allow shopkeepers, restaurateurs, and hotel owners to refuse service to gay customers on religious grounds. It will guarantee that fewer African-American and Latino students attend élite universities. It will approve laws designed to hinder voting rights. It will sanction execution by grotesque means. It will invoke the Second Amendment to prohibit states from engaging in gun control, including the regulation of machine guns and bump stocks.
and he concludes with this ignorant statement:
... the Constitution grants only those rights that the Supreme Court says it grants, and a new majority can and will bestow those rights, and take them away, in chilling new ways.
If the US government bestows rights, it's news to me. That turns the Constitution upside-down. The American idea is that individual freedom is a gift of God, and limited powers are given to government only to protect that freedom from threats to it. Rebels wrote the thing, rebels who believed government was a necessary evil. I do not think the youth are taught that.
It's Hot Dog Day on Coney Island. Joey Chestnut ate 72 Nathan's Hot Dogs last year in ten minutes at the contest. 
Photo stolen from 
