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.
When New York began to build its public-housing system, by far the nation’s largest, it made two ill-fated decisions: not only would the city demolish existing working-class neighborhoods; it would also put into practice a modernist vision of towers-in-the-park architecture. NYCHA residents live in an environment conceived by the city’s political and intellectual leadership, promoted in a famous 1934 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and deeply influenced by the French architect Le Corbusier. “The plan must rule,” Corbusier decreed, and in his designs, it did. “There ought not to be such things as streets,” he wrote. “We have to create something that will replace them.” That something was the superblock...
About a year and a half ago, in the midst of the last Bitcoin bubble, I wrote about how cryptocurrency will eventually become meaningful. You probably haven't noticed it yet, and over the last year and a half, you've probably felt that article was a one-off. But what you haven't seen is how blockchain is slowly entering your life. Not visibly, but managing things you may purchase and providing a store of value while others are less available.
To be 'money', a product needs to be many things. First, it needs to be a Unit of Value - meaning it needs to be generally acceptable for use in purchases and exchange. For this reason, primarily, people have commonly said items like gold, silver, or even cryptocurrency are not 'money'. But they are. Each one is accepted, maybe not widely, but generally enough to qualify. Some examples of cryptocurrencies being accepted have popped up frequently enough over the last year and a half for this one item to apply.
Another quality is portability. It goes without saying cryptocurrencies are portable. Their digital nature assures this. As long as you have access to your digital wallet, you can make a payment using cryptos. They are also, by definition, less expensive to create than standard currencies. All currencies (paper, coin, check, bonds, etc.) carry a price of creation. They can also be destroyed (and replaced). But because they can be created, hard currencies can suffer from Gresham's Law. Unlike hard currencies, cryptos can't be counterfeited. Cryptos are also indestructible. Most hard currencies are "indestructible" because a government, somewhere, backs its value. But governments fall, and central banks print more than should be printed, and in the process destroy the currency. A visit to Venezuela, or even revisiting Zimbabwe (which seems to be reigniting its inflation) are recent example.
5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
5:15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
5:16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
5:17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.
5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
5:21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
5:22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
5:23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
This is Mohonk's 150th Anniversary. Still owned by the Quaker Smiley family, and still on Conde Nast's list of 100 best hotels in the world. Not sure I would agree with the latter (it is rustic and a bit stuffy), but it's a unique place with thousands of acres with hills, cliff, farmland, mountain lakes, etc. Great hiking trails, and challenging bouldering not to mention rock climbing. I've been going there since I was a little kid, first did the Labyrinth when I was 12.
Our hiking team is doing an Uncle Bob Memorial Hike up there this week, with a late lunch at their cookout place (there were no more reservations for brunch at the inn). I will focus on bouldering routes, but I have alternates for those who are uneasy scrambling big rocks.
Every one of these Democratic candidates is promising a vision of a vast central government administering almost every aspect of American life. They are gambling on persuading the nation that government alone can make life better and that, somehow, only the government is able to create cost-effective and efficient solutions. They are promoting a massive, administrative state when, at no point in history, has such system produced efficiency, economic prosperity, more freedom, and less corruption.
When all is said and done, the Democratic message to the American people is: “Your life sucks and your country is awful, so get your revenge by giving us all the power.” Moreover, Americans traditionally do not get enthusiastic about the idea of the government telling them it knows better than they do how to run their lives.
Medicare for all (and in Buttagoogoo’s case, Medicare for all who want it – hey, it’s a clever nuance!) Get rid of private insurance Healthcare for illegal immigrants Open borders Empty the detention centers and let the children go free (where and with whom wasn’t specified) Take the guns Abort babies up to birth
The Power of One Push-Up - 
Study: 