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.
All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public services they use impose burdens on our taxpayers. That’s why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens. In the budget I will present to you, we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace as recommended by the commission headed by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.
It is a memorable tune. I think this cute tune was written by the deplorable Pete Seeger, here done by Dulcimer Dave.
Be brave. Even sturdy people have to summon up some courage sometimes to do what has to be done. Be bold and try a cardio/calisthenics class at your local torture center gym. It's much more varied, relentless, and challenging than whatever you might do on your own. A good thing about cardio/calis, unlike weight training, is that they need no recovery period, except maybe a catnap.
Let's face it. Some people are high energy, some low. Low-energy, though, is remediable even if over age 50. It takes courage to go the first time. After that, you get to know all the nice people, get the idea of the routines, and it becomes a kind of terrible painful fun. There is no expectation that you can do everything that is demanded by the Boss. He says "Give me 30 slap push-ups." So you do fifteen with your dance partner. I have a great partner for the pairing exercises with a maybe-60 year-old gal with the most brilliant smile in the world. Beware, Mrs. BD. Well, you just do your best, sweat up a storm, learn some humility, and limp out of the place after 50 or 60 mins, all pumped up and ready for a quick nap before you begin your day. Most people are still lolling in bed so you get to feel morally and spiritually superior.
As I have said, we have athletes in their 20s, and a bunch of men and women in their late 60s, and everything in between. Some are heavy, some are perfect. It's friendly with an upbeat feeling, but there is little time to talk because you can never catch your breath. Still I do my best with wise-ass commentary as you might expect from me.
OK, so we were outside for 20 minutes at 29 degrees (F) for the warm-up in the parking lot. Shorts and t-shirts. We warmed up quick with sprints, jogs, jump rope, before we went indoors. Wonderful to work up a warm-up sweat in below-freezing weather. To make it more fun, we tossed little beach footballs around during it all.
Anything beats sitting. Get-up-and-go has to be practiced and nurtured, like everything else. Just three of those cardio/calis sessions a week would do anybody a lot of good for energy, balance and agility, and general joie de vivre, even though it's not what our serious fitness recommendations are. It's not about strength as much as about preventing deterioration, decay, and laziness. Good for your sex life too. Let's not forget that detail.
1:15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason
1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
1:17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
1:18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
1:20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
1:22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
1:23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
At Maggie's we tend to recommend Christmas gifts like activities and trips rather than material things that moth and rust do corrupt. Of course, if you have a kid that needs something like a computer or a hat, boots, and gloves, I suppose you have to do that but, in general, it seems that very few Americans need any more stuff.
A good stocking-stuffer: The Alltrails Pro app.It's half-price right now, $14 for a year's membership.
We always do two turkeys, one on the grill over a wood and charcoal fire, and one stuffed and in the oven. We make sure there is an overabundance of TG food so those who want to have a next-day mini Thanksgiving at home can have one.
Since stuffing is what a TG meal is really all about, I made three varieties this year. I cheated and did it the easy way with those Pepperidge Farm unseasoned croutons. Immoral I know but, dammit, it's supposed to be fun, not work.
So I made three pans of stuffings - one giblet with the livers, one sausage, and one fruit. The fruity one was most popular, I think. I used half of it to stuff the oven bird.
I soaked a bag of quartered dried apricots and a box of currants in white wine for a few hours (had no Bourbon which is recommended, and some raisins would have been good too), chopped up about 2 cups of walnuts. Sauteed a big onion and some celery (some apple chunks would have been good also). Had a lot of chopped fresh parsley, and threw it all into the aluminum pan with the croutons with 2 cups of fresh cranberries.
Then lots of ground pepper, and a tsp each of ground clove, cinnamon, and ginger. Added three eggs. Toss and mix with hands, then add enough warm turkey or chicken broth (with half or a whole stick of melted butter) to make it a little soggy, and toss again.
You might like it. I think I'll do this again for Christmas instead of our usual standing pork rib roast.
Photo is my grilled turkey. Most of the black is the bacon I covered it with. I filled the cavity with all the beer, chicken broth, and honey it could hold, and put the rest in the pan. Had to add more beer as it cooked. Lots of liquid keeps it from drying out. Does bacon go with turkey? Duh. The sauce in that pan was dynamite. I don't know why I bother with a dull oven-baked turkey.
DEMOCRAT NEWS NETWORK: CNN Fails To Report These 24 Democrat Sex Scandals. All of the Democrat sex scandals that CNN has failed to report on have made news in 2017, with 19 of the 24 making news within the last month.
Apple’s vice president of inclusion and diversity, Denise Young Smith, who once whitesplained how hiring 12 white, blond, blue-eyed men could actually be seen as promoting diversity, has been replaced. By a blond, blue-eyed white woman.
Deplorables grew furious as amnesty Democrats and especially corporate Republicans preached about the values of open borders and unchecked illegal immigration—but never quite experienced first-hand the effects their policies had on distant others. Influential advocates of lax border security tended to put their kids in private schools, lived in mostly apartheid communities, saw illegal aliens largely as cheap labor and personal servants, did not have any personal desire to live among, befriend, tutor or mentor those they championed—and assuaged their guilt by blasting their own fellow conservative with charges of xenophobia and nativism...
Yes, Centrist. It's only in contrast to Obama that he seems conservative.
And, in international affairs, he has been better than most of his predecessors. Obama, for one, was an embarrassment to the US. Even China humiliated him by making him get out the rear of his airplane with no big welcome.
... I've been reading Jonathan Haidt's "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion," which posits 5 foundations of moral reasoning, one of which is sanctity/degradation. Haidt has studied how conservatives and liberals do moral reasoning, and liberals stick to only 2 of the 5 foundations — care/harm and fairness/cheating — which is why they have a terrible time understanding (and appealing to) conservatives, who use all 5. (The other 2 are loyalty/betrayal and authority/subversion.)
I have a problem with that term "moral reasoning." I don't think it exists to any extent in real life. Some people know right from wrong, some do not, and some know but don't care. Aside from the Ten Commandments, most peoples' moral rule of thumb is to avoid, or to feel uncomfortable, doing anything their Mom or Dad would be unhappy about or dismayed by. Morals are mostly cultural, tribal. Are you listening to me, Prof. Haidt?
As I’ve predicted in the past, the first time a major employer winds up standing in front of a judge in an orange jumpsuit and being handed a ten year sentence, the hiring of illegal aliens will plummet overnight. And when the word gets around that there are no jobs to be had, many of those thinking of jumping the border will have second thoughts and probably stay home. You don’t need the same massive level of enforcement resources if far fewer people are coming in.
The New York Times a few days ago ran a column called "I Believe Juanita". I believed Juanita, too - way back when, eighteen-and-a-half years ago, when it counted and when the Times was covering the story only as an illustration of "shadowy, subterranean" media "mechanics"...
If you listen to the stories of some young starlet or aspiring reporter and force Kevin Spacey or Charlie Rose out of their industries, maybe you’ll help the next young woman trying to make it in either business. But who is going to help the bank teller, the nurse or the real estate agent who is putting up with invasive groping because they can’t afford to lose their jobs? If they come forward and nobody believes them, reports on it or publicly holds the perpetrator to account, they’re going to wind up out of work and the next woman who applies to be their replacement will be in the same position.
Two smart guys, Peterson (a mostly-Libertarian, or at least anti-authoritarian sort) and Haidt (non-Leftist Liberal). Warning: Once you begin, you will not want to turn it off because these are thoughtful, knowledgeable guys.
Photo of a SF bus from my California buddy 
We always do two turkeys, one on the grill over a wood and charcoal fire, and one stuffed and in the oven. We make sure there is an overabundance of TG food so those who want to have a next-day mini Thanksgiving at home can have one.
How Does Costco 
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