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.
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:
Readers know that the Soft-Shelled Crab (ie moulting Blue Crab) in all of its forms is perhaps my favorite food. My friends and I would catch them at the shore with bacon tied to string and bring a bucket of them home to Mom. She'd steam the hard-shelled ones, and sautee the soft-shells.
I love the soft-shells fried, sauteed, in a sandwich with mayo, Chinese-style - or anything. A perfect combination of juiciness and crunchiness, and you just eat the whole darn thing feathers and all.
And coordination is what took place between Democrats and social media companies during the election (election tampering), and then the Biden Administration. As more of this information comes out, it will become more and more apparent that we have less to fear from "Russia" than our own elitist leaders. Of course, they are doing this to "keep us safe" from "misinformation" because you simply don't know how to think for yourself.
In reality, I'm sure most of Maggie's readers aren't on social media. So technically it's brainwashing the younger folks.
It's why I spend a lot of time debunking the "debunkers" with my kids. They and their friends all get the 'approved memo' and fail to think about it much.
The Aug-Oct migration of the eastern Monarch butterflies from the US and Canada to one small area in central Mexico is, to my mind, more remarkable than the march of those cute penguins in Antarctica. (Those west of the Rockies fly to southern California.) As they pass through New England, I see them fattening up on my buddleias (photo yesterday), but they have been around the milkweed in the meadows all summer. And that's why birds never eat them - they ingest a nasty flavor from the milkweed and birds won't touch 'em.
Recent reports show there are 2X jobs for every unemployed person. When I saw a comment on Linked In (which I use for business, so I won't comment or post there anything except that which is business), I couldn't stomach what I read. The comment said "I don't understand how so many jobs are available and I can't find one that matches my degree and pays a living wage."
Naturally, I had many problems with this. I did not respond there, however. I didn't feel it would 'help' me to have business cohorts seeing my views which are clearly unacceptable to so many these days. Not interested in being canceled (or possibly have my company restrict me in some way), I am sharing some thoughts here.
1. There is no such thing as a "living wage". What you can live on and what I can live on are vastly different things. When anyone is saying they need a "living wage" what they want is "a wage that lets me get everything I feel I want or need". These are incompatible ideas. Technically, a living wage would be a wage that gets you started and allows you to have an apartment and buy food. Beyond that, it's nothing. It shouldn't pay for your iPhone bills, or your gaming, or your travel or anything like that. I know that's what the person meant (it was implied in follow up comments).
Breaking the Cycle of Privilege . Administrators at Bunker Hill Community College noticed that their paid internships weren’t reaching minorities and women in the numbers they intended. Here’s how they fixed it.
Just as the male sexual drive and violent impulses can overwhelm their conscience and their ability to think and act rationally, emotions can do the same thing in girls and women: overwhelm their conscience and their ability to think and act rationally.
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
Trans Toddlers and Secret Abortions: 
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.
Readers know that the Soft-Shelled Crab (ie moulting Blue Crab) in all of its forms is perhaps my favorite food. My friends and I would catch them at the shore with bacon tied to string and bring a bucket of them home to Mom. She'd steam the hard-shelled ones, and sautee the soft-shells.
Nebraska Pumpkin Grower 
We're restoring oyster reefs to New York Harbor through public education initiatives