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.
There appears to be little real self-reflection in Mexico about how and why such a naturally rich country — blessed with good soil, climate, natural resources, ports, and a strategic geography — remains so dismally poor.
Another:
Mexico plays the same role with the United States that North African countries play with Europe, except in the former’s case, it has a deliberate rather than chaotic emigration policy — and uses it as direct leverage over the U.S. Mexico’s sense of immigration entitlement is predicated on the assumption that corporate America wants cheap labor, that liberal America wants voters, that identity-politics activists need constituents, that a liberal elite expresses its abstract virtue by its patronization of the Other — and that until recently most Americans were indifferent...
and one more:
There has been much wild talk of the “servitude” and “serfdom” of impoverished illegal aliens. But the real moral travesty is that Mexico’s entire foreign and economic policy is based on exporting its poor people abroad to scrimp and save cash to send home to provide the support their own government will not.
The United States has many enemies in the world, but it is hard to find one that deliberately is trying to undermine U.S. law by exporting its own citizens to change the demographic and politics of its supposed ally.
They say "Curls for Girls" and "Sun's Out, Guns Out" because, for guys, strong arms are a sign of vigor, health, and fitness to females, and of dominance to males. For gals, toned beats flabby all the time as a sign of health. It's primitive, but physicality matters because we are animals.
Biceps (and brachialis) are a bit more about vanity than functionality, but we want all of our skeletal muscles to be firm and fit. Triceps are much more functional, but what the heck. Good to be strong all over.
I tend to do one or two sets/week of curls more as "maintenance" than as strength-building. Can't do everything in the allotted time, and curls are "accessory." Furthermore, all upper body exertions stress arms so there is no real need to mess with them.
My point here is to mix overhand curls (whether dumbells, straight bar, or crooked bar) with the usual underhand grip. The overhand grip stresses the heck out of your forearms, so it's a good mix.
Grip (ie, forearm strength) tends to be the weak link in many exertions (ie, deadlifts). Another good forearm stressor is max-heavy Farmer's Walks (squeeze those kettlebell handles like your life depended on it). We like functional multi-muscle group exercises, and that darn Farmer'sWalk stresses everything from legs to forearms and everything in between.
Tip for curls - lower you arms to a count of 3 or 4. Don't just let gravity do it. The "negative" is as important as the pull. That applies to most weight work.
I think Trump admired Putin only for being another alpha male who puts his country's interests first. Trump relates to alpha guys, so that's his preference. He does not care for weasley boys like Justin, and that's his choice. Not many alphas in the press corps, so there's that too.
Purely by accident, I watched about 20 minutes of Trump's rally in South Carolina last night. With no notes and no prompter, the guy was a brilliant and highly amusing speaker, interacting with his audience, spewing stats and numbers constantly, and light-heartedly teasing about his opposition. All upbeat and good fun.
He was not my choice, but my choices would have lost to Hillary. As a communicator, Trump makes Reagan and Obama seem like amateurs - and he just wings it. His job seems recreational to him.
As an uncouth outsider, naturally the establishment hates him. That's why he was elected. If it turns out that Trump really is a Russian agent, I'll gladly change my mind about the whole Trump thing.
However, it appears that many US government agencies were working hard to prevent Trump a year before the election, and to undermine him afterwards. If true, it would be the biggest political scandal in US history. Seven Mysterious Preludes of the FBI's Trump-Russia Probe
Sure looks like a CIA/FBI string to me. Who arranged that?
" America is the only country ever founded on an idea. The only country that is not founded on race or even common history. It’s founded on an idea and the idea is liberty. That is probably the rarest phenomena in the political history of the world; this has never happened before. And not only has it happened, but it’s worked. We are the most flourishing, the most powerful, most influential country on Earth with this system, invented by the greatest political geniuses probably in human history."
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out . . . For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
That's what I call these cool (low 60s), windy, and drizzly days in New England. They lift the soul. This is a pic of one of Wellfleet's ocean beaches - part of The Great Beach.
Thoreau hiked the glorious length of the Great Beach (Chatham to Provincetown), and wrote about it in Cape Cod. It's a Bird Dog family place, a place to love. No gardening needed- nature does it perfectly.
Yes, suicide does correlate precisely with US spending on science. Fun topic, fun book. But you can get the gist of it just by looking at the site: Spurious Correlations.
The word "myth" seems to have two meanings in English: first, ancient and enduring tales containing deep meanings about human nature and existence itself, and, second, common but mistaken out-dated beliefs. For examples, "myths about nutrition" vs "so-and-so is mythic in depth, scale and scope." Moby Dick is mythic.
Freud's one-time colleague in depth psychology had many interests but among them was a study of myths and the representations of archetypes embedded in them. In a way, Jung viewed myths as related to humanity as dreams are related to an individual. I suppose that seems obvious now.
For better or worse, Europe is no longer a world player. In visible decline, becoming a (nice, except for the immigrants) museum. Heck, we love southern France, the Cotswolds, and most of Italy.
orker: 
They say "Curls for Girls" and "Sun's Out, Guns Out" because, for guys, strong arms are a sign of vigor, health, and fitness to females, and of dominance to males. For gals, toned beats flabby all the time as a sign of health. It's primitive, but physicality matt
Wow, 
Cooking With Glass: How Pyrex Transformed Every Kitchen Into a Home-Ec Lab
‘Climate Change’ Made Lobsters Awesome,