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.
"But, Dana, my point is, you ask Congressman Nadler whether the House is going to impeach the president and I'll answer that for you. Yes. They fully intend to impeach the president and they don't care about the basis," Cruz explained. "Twice Congressman Nadler said something remarkable. He said, 'Listen, the special counsel's focused on crimes. We're not all that concerned with crimes. Our focus is – this is Democrats in the House – is much broader than crimes.' What they're basically saying is they're going to impeach the president for being Donald Trump and they don't care about the evidence, they don't care about the substance."
55:1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
55:2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
55:4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
55:5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;
55:7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
St. Patrick's Day is a traditional time to plant peas around here. Sometimes you have to scrape snow off the garden. Sometimes the seeds never germinate. Still, tradition. I'll try to do it today if 1/2 inch of soil is soft.
I don't grow them for the peas. I grow them for the early sweet and crunchy pea-pods. We just eat them raw usually, while checking out the garden.
"Walking Shoes" andTrail Walking Shoes are neither running shoes nor hiking shoes, generally speaking. Like many European cities, New York City is a walking town. New Yorkers walk a lot. In fact, in many circumstances in Manhattan you can get to your destination as fast, or faster, than you can with a cab or an Uber.
For urban walking and urban hiking, you want walking shoes. They are more like heavy-duty sneakers.
I suppose you want to use the lightest weight shoe for your purpose. No bouldering boots for exploring Vienna: Trail Walking Shoe vs. Hiking Shoe. We like Merrells and Keens for either long-distance urban or trail walking.
When reading through the news stories of the Huffington Post, CNN, and some other leftist outlets, I feel as though I am peeking into a perverted mind. Whatever Trump says or does is presented with a hateful smear, facts are either twisted or ignored, and not even a feeble attempt of being objective is being made. No, they are not insane. They attack the president intentionally.
Mark your calendars. We apologize for putting it on a Sunday, but we were running out of possible dates.
As usual, our outing will be regardless of weather. As my sister says, there is no such thing as bad weather, just wrong clothing.
This hike will begin at the Lincoln Center fountain and proceed uptown to The Cloisters, about 9 miles all told. Lots of Broadway, which was the old highway north from New Amsterdam (and, first, an Indian path). As always, there will a lunch stop somewhere with beers, and stops at various spots of historical or cultural interest.
All friends and readers are invited to be a part of our caravan. We always have a jolly time of it. Lots of laughs, excellent companionship, and sore legs at the end. Easy subway or Uber back downtown.
The condition and characteristic of an uninstructed person is this: he never expects from himself profit, or advantage, nor harm, but from externals.
The condition of a philosopher is this: he expects all advantage and all harm from himself. The signs of one who is making progress are these: he censures no man, he praises no man, he says nothing about himself as if he were somebody or knew something. When he is impeded or hindered, he blames himself. If a man praises him he ridicules the praiser to himself and if a man censures him, he makes no defence. He removes desires from himself, and transfers aversion to those things which are contrary to nature. He employs a moderate attitude towards everything; whether he is considered fooling or ignorant he cares not.
In a word, he watches himself as if he were an enemy and lying in an ambush.
The number of pushups a guy or gal can do is a fair proxy for general fitness. 50 pushups in 60 seconds is a fitness benchmark. (I can not do that yet.)
Pushups are a calisthenic exercise but they do build some strength in the core, chest, arms, and shoulders. I do them on my calisthenics days but you can do them every day.
Why use the handles? Because you can dip lower, and because they are kind to your wrists. I don't approve of declined pushups because of the wrist and shoulder stress.
"More than 15 journalists, several U.S. government officials and multiple lawmakers were shown or given the Steele dossier during the 2016 presidential campaign or shortly after. Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele disseminated the dossier far and wide in an apparent attempt to insert the document’s salacious allegations into the media. Newly unsealed court filings show how widespread this effort was."
It goes without saying that right-wing madmen like Donald Trump and Andrew Scheer are to blame for Christchurch, but did you know that, when you peel back the conspiracy and discover who's really pulling the Trump-Scheer strings, you find Islamophobic white supremacist Chelsea Clinton?
St. Patrick's Day is a traditional time to plant peas around here. Sometimes you have to scrape snow off the garden. Sometimes the seeds never germinate. Still, tradition. I'll try to do it today if 1/2 inch of soil is soft.
Northern Lights
Your shoes always matter.
Cool story from 1912: 
Mark your calendars. We apologize for putting it on a Sunday, but we were running out of possible dates.
Photo: Lots of snow in California this year 
The number of pushups a guy or gal can do is a fair proxy for general fitness. 50 pushups in 60 seconds is a fitness benchmark. (I can not do that yet.)