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.
51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
51:4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
51:5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
51:6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
I am an avowed Anglophile. I spent 2 semesters studying there, visited 6 times, and am now listening to the British History Podcast. Britain and its history is just something with which I'm fascinated. I've never been a fan of the monarchy. The Queen, over time, I've come to respect. I'm not trying to say the monarchy is 'good' or that any monarch is special and should be deified or otherwise held in high regard. As Americans, it's hard to square how we could hold the British (or any) monarchy with any good feeling - we cast them off for plenty of reasons.
On the other hand, there are people who dislike the monarchy, and the Queen in particular. Mostly their reasons that aren't very good, because they don't understand the monarchy. The dislike I've seen is related more toward envy or general distrust of the institution. These people usually don't understand the role, the history, the value, etc. Few people know the Royal Family brings in far more than it receives from taxpayers. It's estimated, that the Sovereign Grant costs roughly $1.30 per citizen annually. Of course, this doesn't account for the amount of tax revenue the Royal Family itself generates from the taxes it pays, the revenue generated from tourism to see 'their' holdings, or just money spent marketing them as a 'brand'. They are as much a draw and benefit as it is a glorified 'welfare family' (a joke I used to make when I was younger and spent time there) - they actually pay for themselves when all is said and done. The monarchy's history is messy, ugly and sometimes difficult to fathom based on modern ethical standards. That has more to do with the differences in eras than ethics, though.
I saw a commentary on the Queen's passing. "Despite the colonial injustices perpetrated by the British Monarchy against Indigenous people, I would still like to wish her majesty Queen Elizabeth II — a blessed journey." Since I saw this particular one, I've seen several that are far, far worse (one from a linguistics professor at Carnegie Mellon, which was horrendous and had Sunny Hostin of The View defending. I will skip that one. It was so bad I'm amazed anyone with half a brain defended it. Some people are just truly awful and hateful. So I'll stick to this one comment, because it is more a backhanded compliment than outright hate. Even so, it's still misplaced.
Statistics say that 73% of Americans are overweight. Everybody knows the health and functional consequences of being overweight, however defined. Most people do not care. It's a free country, so I don't care if you do not.
If you care about fitness and functionality, staying trim and strong is a good idea. Staying strong is easy: Go to the gym or something daily with weights and cardio and calisthenics. It is rewarding if not exactly fun. Exercise will not keep many people trim.
It's an American thing. I don't know why because many parts of the world are full of cheap, tasty fast foods.
Without wanting to seem obnoxious to any overweight readers, I have to offer the best article I've seen about nutrition and weight. It's a bit of a long read, but entirely reasonable: Behavioral Nutrition.
The authors are correct. For many people, willpower doesn't work. Habits do. A quote:
Modern weight-loss approaches thus constitute an incomplete approach to long-term weight-control and one that must be complimented by a much more comprehensive appreciation of dietary habits, thought patterns and behaviors, and individual differences in consumption, food preferences, and control, as outlined below in a new approach to weight-loss [21]. Indeed, the selection and consumption of food in the modern era of abundance may have little to with nutritional analysis, appropriate macronutrient levels, or sustenance, as educational programs over the past decades have ensured that most the population is aware of what constitutes a healthy diet. Instead it could be argued that food consumption (and thus long-term weight control) is driven by a host of forces including personality, cognitive processes, food history, personal habits, ingrained behaviors, genetics, responses to environmental cues, neurochemistry and biological drivers, and mood states. In such circumstances, the current model of weight loss, with its emphasis on education, caloric restriction, moderation (moderate food intake) and will power, is ill equipped to promote sustainable weight-control and instead may have resulted in high rates of failure. One must question where the scientific evidence for this longstanding and continued approach to weight management lies, or perhaps by focusing on the most obvious factor, calories, and the field has overlooked the most critical, the person consuming those calories...
As a kid, I was most definitely not a fan of The Rolling Stones. They were scary hippies making loud music. Eventually, I became a follower of Led Zeppelin, then a punk rock fan by the time I was midway through high school. Devo's version of Satisfactionappealed more to me than Mick's. Sometime around my senior year of high school, I started to gain an appreciation for them, and by beginning of sophomore year of college I attended a concert at Rich Stadium on September 27, 1981. At this point, they were already 19 years into their campaign for great rock and roll. Little did I know at the time I was as old as the band itself. Mick Jagger was 38, which meant he was likely to retire for good within 2 years. After all, he already made it clear he didn't want to be singing Satisfaction when he was 40. I felt lucky to have seen them when I did, on perhaps one of their last tours.
Of course, they played for many years afterward. Bill Wyman retired in 1993. Charlie Watts died in 2021. Brian Jones, the founder, died of a drug overdose shortly after leaving the band in 1969. Despite all this, The Rolling Stones have continued. This was their 60th year, playing concerts delayed by Covid.
Imagine my surprise, as I walked the dog one morning in April, to get a text from Mrs. Bulldog asking "Rolling Stones in Stockholm this summer?" She wanted to see them in Paris, but we didn't have time to do a mid-week trip. Also, Stockholm was supposed to be the last stop on the tour - why not go to possibly their last show ever? How could I say no? Of course you go see The Rolling Stones in Stockholm. Is that even worthy of consideration?
Perhaps it is. Upon hearing our plans, my father said "I'll take a pass." But he'll be 87 soon. My stepmother was impressed, as were most of my friends, that I was willing to travel so far to see a concert. Why not? What's so weird about that? I get to see Stockholm and The Rolling Stones.
This is a question somewhere on the internet. Naturally, most responses suggest Blue sanctuary places like East Hampton, Nantucket, Boston, Albany, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Bennington, Malibu, etc.
Now that up to 40% of the illegals are coming from all over the world via Mexico and the Rio Grande, it might get more interesting.
Stockholm is one of the best hiking cities I've yet visited. Part of this easy walking was the centrality of my hotel (on Benny Fredrikssons Torg next to the Riksbank). That said, even the Grand Hotel, over by the ferries, is within walking distance of most things.
It's important to know Stockholm is an archipelago made up of 14 islands, so ferries and bridges are common. Size-wise, just shy of 10% of the Swedish population lives in Stockholm. California and Sweden are roughly the same size, but Sweden has 1/10th of the population.
Stockholm has a lake which provides its fresh water. Lake Malaren used to be part of the Baltic Sea, and it separated about 1000 years ago. Prior to that event, Vikings could use it to sail deeper into Sweden. Today, Malaren is a fine lake to walk along. There are boats lining the north (Norr Malarstrand) and south (Soder Malarstrand) sides and many have become nightclubs, bars or restaurants. Mrs. Bulldog and I walked along the lake the night we arrived, and stopped for a drink on one boat. Beautiful place to stop at sundown, and the view we had was of a hill on the south side where people flock to watch sundown over Stockholm. We wanted to do that, but time was short and we missed it. Apparently, it's the place to be at sundown. After our drink, we crossed over to the south side for some tapas, then continued along the southern shore and crossed back into Gamla Stan (the old city) and then back up to our hotel. As we arrived later than we'd planned (airlines are a mess), we thought a long walk would be a good way to get a feel for the city.
Sailing or boating at night is mysterious, dramatic, beautiful. At least one person on board needs to be alert though. While that applies during daytime, much more so at night. Need radar and eyes.
Labor Day was meant to be a celebration of labor unions I guess. I do not love government unions, but I have no problems with unions. Free association.
In the end, I respect work of any sort. We sedentary workers have to workout in gyms etc. to try to remain mentally and physically fit for life. It is difficult and unpleasant, but afterwards you feel wonderful. Or not.
A new calisthenic for y'all: Inchworms. People call it a warmup or a rest, but I do not. It's a bitch of an exertion if you do 10 per set:
It is Labor Day in the US, a federal holiday to celebrate unionization. For most people, just a day off towards the end of summer. I am working this morning, and so was the nice cleaning gal at my gym. And the regular folks at Dunkin.
For Biden, a staunch believer in bipartisanship and compromise, this was a huge conceptual leap. The party of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan has devolved into a menace to American democracy. Imagine what any of those men would think of today’s GOP. And weep.
Reagan is not the devil anymore?
Lori Lightfoot, an extreme left-winger, presides over a sanctuary city. So she should be happy to get a few busloads of illegal immigrants, right? Wrong!
Best pizza I've ever had, at least recently. Pupette and I took Mrs. BD out to a fancy Italian dinner for her birthday but I just ordered the pizza there. Not ordinary pizza.
Very thin crust pizza, like a cracker, burned black on the bottom as I like it, with melted chunks of goat cheese and chunks of peanut-sized chopped and sauteed white truffle, (no sauce), cooked over firewood, then sprinkled with some dandelion greens and thinly-sliced fresh figs and the whole thing splashed with hot white truffle oil.
The smell of it was a meal in itself. I usually prefer a pizza bianco with wild mushrooms, but I suppose I am, unfortunately, a pizza snob. This was better than that.
Mrs. BD had their beef carpaccio as an antipasto. It was as good as you can get in Todi, but without the view. Pupette had their tuna carpaccio with dill and cucumber as her antipasto, then ate half my pizza with a bottle of Moretti. She lost 15 lbs. on her 14 hr/day film job, need to fatten her up before she returns to school.
Truffle oil - and truffle - is one proof to me of God's existence. My hope is that Obama or Bernie will make truffles free for us all, when Utopia arrives. I can't wait.
Pic is a beautiful White Truffle. Cost around $125./ounce.
That is actually "Shrimp-Shrimp", because "Scampi" is the Italian term for cooked shrimp or prawns.
In Italy and Sicily, it's just "Scampi." Not a common item over there though. More common are mixed seafood things with shrimp or prawns, squid, clams, fresh anchovies, cuttlefish, etc.
14:25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,
14:26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.
14:27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?
14:29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,
14:30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
14:31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?
14:32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.
14:33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
I have never seen 40 flushes in one day, whether hunting in New England or in Canada. Ten flushes on a great day, and you miss a few of them. Blame it on the trees.
I do not intend to shoot another Woodcock. Just because...
This what it is like, with a great dog and strong legs. Most dogs are not this great:
CORRUPTION
As a kid, I was most definitely not a fan of The Rolling Stones. They were scary hippies making loud music. Eventually, I became a follower of Led Zeppelin, then a punk rock fan by the time I was midway through high school. 
The Origins of Woke -
Stockholm is one of the best hiking cities I've yet visited. Part of this easy walking was the centrality of my hotel (on Benny Fredrikssons Torg nex
Best pizza I've ever had, at least recently. Pupette and I took Mrs. BD out to a fancy Italian dinner for her birthday but I just ordered the pizza there. Not ordinary pizza.
That is actually "Shrimp-Shrimp", because "Scampi" is the Italian term for cooked shrimp or prawns.