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.
Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabeus. It was actually put together as a homage to the Duke of Cumberland after the Battle of Culloden. About the piece here.
When you sit in the blind awaiting the flight Of the white-breasted northern sprig, While they circle high and think to light, And they look so close and big, You whisper your pard, as you both crouch low, Now! Don't wait too long! You shoot too far and off they go; Whatever you do is wrong!
Then you curse yourself for a fool greenhorn, Your pride has had a blow; Sullen you sit and smoke and mourn, When in comes a bunch, fair low! You watch them circle round and round, Just let them work along! When off they swing, southward bound; Whatever you do is wrong!
And so, through life, a poor wretch tries To do what he thinks is right, To place his funds so that when he dies His family'll be sitting tight; To raise the young with the best in mind, And sometimes it works like a song, But often he finds like the man in the blind, Whatever you do is wrong!
Still, I think that the God who sits in His sky, And watches each man in his blind, When it comes time for the hunter to die, Surely, He'll keep in mind That each tried to do what it seemed he ought, And He'll put us where we belong; For He'll understand the fellow that thought Whatever he did was wrong!
"[M]y duty as a songwriter is not to try to save the world, but rather to save the soul of the world. This requires me to live my life on the other side of truth, beyond conviction and within uncertainty, where things make less sense, absurdity is a virtue and art rages and burns; where dogma is anathema, discourse is essential, doubt is an energy, magical thinking is not a crime and where possibility and potentiality rule."
Tautog is a popular fish for recreational fishers - not really a sporty fish but a dining fish. It's no surprise that they are tasty because they live on molluscs and crustaceans. These guys (they are a Wrasse) live mainly from Cape Cod to Chesapeake Bay.
There's a limited keeping season for them: April, and then mid-Oct to mid November.
They are bottom-feeders, partial to rocky bottoms, underwater structure. Green crabs and clams are the best bait.
Tautog (Tautoga onitis), also known as blackfish, have a lifestyle that promotes a long life: they eat crabs and shellfish, sleep all winter, and in the summer they rest every night and have sex every day.
Not a bad life. In youth, I would catch a few off the wreck outside Wellfleet Harbor. The one in the photo is huge, probably should be tossed back to breed but you can tell from that gal's face that she wants to eat it.
I am certain I was the oldest guy in our morning Athletic Conditioning class early this morning. Somebody has to be eldest but I am not elderly. Anyway, we did it in the parking lot, 36 guys and gals of all ages and all levels of fitness. At this point, I keep up with most of the gals but not all the guys, many of whom can sprint past me, especially the high school kids. That sucks for me but I have determination.
The thing is that everybody sort-of bonds in these classes in their efforts, like boot camp. Everybody makes it fun and cheers on each other, even the laggards.
I had two thoughts about today's exercise party. First, calisthenic-type exercise is much more fun in groups. Everybody works harder, not competitively but inspirationally. Second, avoiding groups and social isolation truly do make people insane in a way by providing no societal reality testing. Or maybe people isolate to protect their personal insanity from outside reality checks. You have to learn where you stand, and how you connect. That thought was from one of Peterson's sentences, but I saw that even something like an exercise class is a social and socially-correcting event.
Not anymore, not nowadays. Not in a time when lots of "higher ed" is about work skills.
For example, 6 million Americans attend community colleges. That's a lot. They are not there to study Shakespeare and Plato. They stop by to pick up credits that help them apply for work: medical coding, computer coding, hospitality jobs, turf managment, nursing aide ed, etc etc.
Actor/impressionist Jim Meskimen (Parks & Recreation, Whose Line?, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) recites "Pity the Poor Impressionist" poem in 20 celebrity voices, with the help of SHAM00K.
Especially in periodically dry areas of the American West, fire is a routine natural feature. In fact, wildfire is needed for many natural habitats, but fire-suppression makes wildfires more destructive and violent when they inevitably occur.
However, there are competing human interests. Many people want to live in those fire zones. Also, the lumber industry wants the trees. What Effects Tree Thinning Has On Wildfires
"[S]ingling out Trump for the turmoil engulfing the country is possible only if you disregard the No. 1 contributor: the refusal of Democrats and most of the media to accept the results of the 2016 election...."
My discomfort in the last few years, first with Russiagate and now with Ukrainegate and impeachment, stems from the belief that the people pushing hardest for Trump’s early removal are more dangerous than Trump. Many Americans don’t see this because they’re not used to waking up in a country where you’re not sure who the president will be by nightfall. They don’t understand that this predicament is worse than having a bad president.
The Trump presidency is the first to reveal a full-blown schism between the intelligence community and the White House. Senior figures in the CIA, NSA, FBI and other agencies made an open break from their would-be boss before Trump’s inauguration, commencing a public war of leaks that has not stopped...
In North America, Beech is the most dense and heavy wood second only to Ironwood (which is a slender tree). Up here, Beech, Oak, Hickory and Maple tend to be climax hardwood forest. Beech will wear out saw blades fast. Wildlife love the beechnuts. White Beech is native, but Copper Beech is not, and is vulnerable to the evil fungus.
With the help of my hearty and cheerful Colombian friends, and a 22-ton splitter, we produced around 3 cords of beech firewood in a nice cool rain. Not splittable by hand - that wood is like iron and the knots are like steel. The unsplit logs have been seasoned since March, so they are quite dry. That dense hardwood will burn forever. Priceless, and smells good too. Sorry that monster tree had to go, but it had the fatal fungus and the falling branches could kill somebody. Around 3 cords I think - that's a double row.
I plan to plant a Pin Oak next to where the Copper Beech was. Nice trees, lots of acorns. Reminds me of the old axiom "When's the best time to plant a tree?" Ans: "20 years ago." Realistically, best time to plant a tree is fall. It will get a good head start in spring before the weather warms.
Ready to go as soon as my chimney sweep shows up to clean out the flues. We luckily have 3 fireplaces in our cottage. Homey, cozy, New Englandy is what we like here. Wish we had a wood stove in the kitchen, but I'm planning for a stone firepit out back so outdoors and s'mores can be year-round.
Everybody knows that most of "homelessness" is about dysfunctional people rather than lack of a roof. Given the complexity of humans, and the complexity of modern society, it's remarkable how few there are.
The great reformer Dorothea Dix recognized the need for "humane asylums" for the mentally ill and incapacitated. By the 1970s, the "miracle drugs" were supposed to treat serious mental illnesses. JFK led a movement towards "deinstutionalization". You all know this.
As things turned out, we found excellent treatments for bipolar ailments but really only symptomatic treatments for the Schizophrenic spectrum of low-functional, marginally-functional, and non-functional people. (Addicts are highly-treatable, but addicts do not always want that and it's a free country.)
So, for the chronically mentally ill (mostly Schizophrenic variants who might be as much as 1% of the population), there is either family support, street life, or asylum of some form. "Asylum" should not be a dirty word. It should be a beautiful word, and asylums can be good places. But nobody is building them or coming up with creative ideas about it.
When you sit in the blind awaiting the flight
Tautog is a popular fish for recreational fishers - not really a sporty fish but a dining fish. It's no surprise that they are tasty because they live on molluscs and crustaceans. These guys (they are a 
Docs Still Overwhelmed by Regulatory Burdens: 
I am certain I was the oldest guy in our morning Athletic Conditioning class early this morning. Somebody has to be eldest but I am not elderly. Anyway, we did it in the parking lot, 36 guys and gals of all ages and all levels of fitness. At this point, I keep up with most of the gals but not all the guys, many of whom can sprint past me, especially the high school kids. That sucks for me but I have determination.
What Columbus Day Really Means - 
