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.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Bless the bed that I lie on. The are four corners to my bed, Four angels round my head, One to watch, and one to pray, And two to bear my soul away. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Although modern societies have made extraordinary progress in solving a wide range of social problems, from poverty and illiteracy to violence and infant mortality, the majority of people believe that the world is getting worse. The fact that concepts grow larger when their instances grow smaller may be one source of that pessimism.
As social problems shrink, there is less need or demand for the Left. Then the challenge is to magnify smaller issues right down to the microscopic, invented, or imaginary ones. Raise the volume. They are gettng the hang of that. Especially Scare the Blacks, but I don't think that will work this time. The reparations deal might, though, because who does not like the idea of a free check in the mail?
Two years ago, I wrote about how Connecticut morphed from a low-tax state to a high-tax state. The Nutmeg State used to be an economic success story, presumably in large part because there was no state income tax. But then an income tax was imposed almost 30 years ago and it’s been downhill ever since.
Northwestern CT, and north into the Berkshires of Massachusetts, is one of the most charming antique parts of the USA. Rolling wooded hills, more horse farms than real farms (but still some of those). A fair share of elegant country estates. People there fuss about their gardens, are civically-engaged. It's not tattoo-land.
I'm talking about the area from Great Barrington MA down through Salisbury CT, Kent CT, Litchfield, Washington, Warren, Goshen, Woodbury, Southbury, etc. Perfect semi-rural villages, each with its dominating Congo church.
We visited the Hollister gardens again this weekend. I like the way that even their formal gardens are not manicured - sort-of random but always with good structure, good garden architecture.
Over the years, I think I have grown weary of the vegetable gardening hobby. It was more fun when the kids were young, and learned from it. Some of my pals have wonderful and attractive vegetable gardens, but it can become just a chore. I just focus on tomatoes for now. Too many other fun things to do on weekends, not to mention social duties. I focus more on shrub borders, perennial borders. I'd rather mow a meadow on a tractor, with a cold beer or two and a ceegar, than hoe a vegetable garden.
To each his or her own, I guess. I have my eye on a rural property in Litchfield County with a pond, a trout stream, meadows, and woodlands. Antique farmhouse, barns, and cottage. Trouble is, we never seem to have free weekends.
Sports shouldn't seem to have much in common with the Electoral College, but in fact they share very interesting facets. Sometimes the team that reaches the championship level doesn't 'seem' like it should be there, or even deserve to win. Yet that team, amazingly, will wind up victorious.
I still have friends who want to eliminate the Electoral College. Apparently, they didn't take any courses about history while in high school or college. More and more states are approving bills that will give their Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote. That will 'work' until the national popular vote winner is someone they do not like. It may be Donald Trump, in 2020, who makes that happen. It would be amusing to see these states passing a bill like this because of 2016, and pulling it back because the man they hoped to stop made them look foolish.
My son is in Orlando on business and went to the capacity filled (20,000+, with attendees waiting in rain before)) stadium for President Trump's 2020 campaign kickoff rally.
Vice President Pence was powerful. Loudest applause at the move of our embassy to Jerusalem. President Trump so far:
"Our radical Democrat opponents are driven by hatred, prejudice and rage," Trump adds. "They want to destroy you and they want to destroy our country as we know it. Not acceptable. It's not going to happen."
"They went after my family, my business, my finances, my employees, almost everyone that I have ever known or worked with, but they are really going after you. That's what it is all about. It's not about us. It's about you. They tried to erase your vote, erase your legacy of the greatest campaign and the greatest election probably in the history of our country."
Where we planted my dear brother-in-law's ashes on Saturday afternoon, in the family churchyard next to my parents. Typical of the Bird Dog family, his widow's first words: "Let's make this quick, everybody, cuz I'm paying the gravedigger by the hour." We all got an F in Solemnity class.
Damn, I miss that good guy, and will miss him terribly in Cape Cod this summer. Navy vet, outdoor-lover, running buddy, fishing buddy, beer-drinking buddy, body-surfing buddy, hiking buddy, farm work buddy. Always up for anything energetic or challenging. Wry, dry humor.
It sucks, as my sister says. Yep. Happy trails, Uncle Bob, and maybe catch ya later in the great unknown.
I think i cracked the riddle: price is the signal in a free market economy that tells everyone what to do. This is why socialists and authoritarians hate market prices so much. They want to be the ones telling everyone what do do.
A commenter at Cafe Hayek.A good rule of thumb is to never tell any adult what to do unless they beg you to.
Yes it is. Your waist size is not your belt size or jeans size though, especially if you wear them on your hips which most people do these days. Your waist is above your belly button, the potentially narrow space below your rib cage.
How to Measure Your Waist
How do you measure your waist? Sounds simple enough, but it’s not always obvious where your waist is. Posture and other variables can affect the reading, so here are some basic guidelines to follow:
Position a tape measure at the narrowest point between your lower rib and the top of your hip bone, or at the midpoint in between. It should be snug but not compress the skin. If you can’t find the narrowest point (it may be difficult if you’re very overweight), measure just above your belly button.
Stand straight and breathe out normally; don’t suck in your belly.
Measure your waist first thing in the morning, before breakfast.
Though there’s no magic cutoff point, values over 37 inches for men and 32 inches for women indicate increased health risks, according to the World Health Organization; values over 40 for men and 35 for women represent substantially increased risk.
The Republican Party’s prior role was to slow down the inevitable trajectory to European socialism, the end of American exceptionalism, and homogenized globalized culture. Losing nobly in national elections was one way of keeping one’s dignity, weepy wounded-fawn style, while the progressive historical arc kept bending to our collective future. Rolling one’s eyes on Sunday talk shows as a progressive outlined the next unhinged agenda was proof of tough resistance.
Like it or not, now lines are drawn. Trump so unhinged the Left that it finally tore off its occasional veneer of moderation, and showed us what progressives had in store for America...
We took my father in law out for dinner yesterday to our favorite Italian joint. I had two appetizers for supper (I often like to do that): Carpaccio, and the steamed PEI mussels in Green Harissa.
Well, that harissa/mussel broth was the tastiest new flavor I've tasted in a year. Wow. Luckily for me, there was no cilantro in it (I am among those for whom cilantro tastes like gasoline).
There are many variations on Green Harissa - you can google them. It's not meant to be overly hot, just tangy. As best I can tell, this one contained jalapenos, garlic, mint, scallions, black pepper, salt, flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, lemon zest, a little sugar. Some water. No spices, because the mussel broth had plenty of good flavor. Mix raw in blender or immersible blender.
For vegetables or fish, you might want to use some of the spices the recipes suggest.
With Justice Department investigators’ noses to the ground, it should be just a matter of time before they identify Brennan conclusively as fabricator-in-chief of the Russiagate story. Evidence, real evidence in this case, abounds, since the Brennan-Comey-Clapper gang of three were sure Hillary Clinton would become president. Consequently, they did not perform due diligence to hide their tracks...
8 Fun (and Possibly Dangerous) Activities Enjoyed by Past Generations
The Atlantic: Sure Looks Like 
How to Measure Your Waist
We took my father in law out for dinner yesterday to our favorite Italian joint. I had two appetizers for supper (I often like to do that): Carpaccio, and the steamed PEI mussels in Green Harissa.