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.
Who are these pussified idiots? If kids don't break an arm, get poison ivy, get stung by bees, fall off jungle gyms, light firecrackers, eat bugs, and do all sorts of stupid things, then they aren't kids
If they weren’t trying to destroy the president, Democrats would have to focus on an agenda most Americans don’t support.
...
The point is that somewhere between 2006 and 2009, Bill Clinton’s formerly competitive Democratic party aged and then evaporated. It was replaced by a hard-left coastal coalition, a pyramidal party — ethnic-identity groups at the base and wealthy elites on top, all united by a mutual disdain for the half of the population that covers 85 percent of the geography.
There is no Russia threat. Obama and Hillary tried hard to cozy up to Putin. Russia is a pathetic country, but no danger to the US at all. This whole thing was started by the Clinton campaign. From now on, I will ignore it all.
I was lukewarm about Trump, but I figure I felt like the Hillary supporters did - it was a rotten character but preferable to the other one. I never expected Trump to have a chance.
"...All the nice cutesy little ethics that used to get talked about in journalism school you're just like, that's adorable. That's adorable. This is a business."
CNN producer John Bonifield. If anybody doubted Trump's accusations of fake news...
It is not just the compensation that discourages physicians, especially internists and pediatricians, from working for the government (eg Medicare, Medicaid). A major issue is the paperwork burden. The government paperwork requires a specialized back office staff which only large practices can afford.
... it is just infuriating. We have people come down here saying ‘please don’t take my property’, and because they’re just an ordinary person we take their property. But this guy’s rich enough to fight us for years and so he is gunna win. It’s just so maddening”
I had never heard of Zaz before now. Cool gal, but I do not believe a word of what she is singing. What normal gal does not want some Chanel in the closet?
"Like a bearded nut in robes on the sidewalk proclaiming the end of the world is near, the media is just doing what makes it feel good, not reporting hard facts. We need to start seeing the media as a bearded nut on the sidewalk, shouting out false fears. It's not sensible to listen to it."
The guy says he has a "permissive" view of speech. "Permissive"? Americans do not need permission. "I am almost absolutist about speech, but..." Permission from whom? Students must be protected from provocative speakers?
Their behavior is so insane, their on-command ability to jump on anyone or anything who deviates from the now-current party line so absolute, their arguments so ridiculous, it took me a while to realize what they’re doing is the equivalent of Mao’s brigades of aggressive young people fanning out to rural areas to teach the peasants how to think and what to do.
But they’re not teaching us anything, you’ll say. Mostly they’re ridiculous idiots, who never spent enough time outside a university.
You aren’t wrong. Thing is if you’ve read about the Cultural Revolution – yeah, I do a lot of depressing things – those too were a bunch of ignorant kids, taught only Maoism, and completely ignorant of what the peasants needed to do to survive and grow food.
Our civic debate and the intellectualism surrounding it has become boring. We all know the prism through which Charles Blow (racism), Thomas Friedman (globalism), or any left leaning publication will present its view. Everything the Left does is predictable.
While enduring an implant at the dentist ("implantologist") the other day I was distracting myself by contemplating similar situations of shame, vulnerability, or potential humiliation in which we sometimes must put ourselves. Usually, at the dentist, I distract myself with thoughts about sex or politics, so this was a different approach.
I'll lreveal some of my moments of unpleasant self-revelation or exposure:
- the Dentist. You sit or lie there helpless while some guy struggles with the most disgusting things he can find in your oral cavity
- annual physical. Take your clothes off while some guy or gal tries as hard as they can to find defects. Not to mention a Gyn exam...
- Pooping in a public bathroom. Sooner or later in life you just have to stop caring about your noises.
- Disrobing with a new lover. I can vaguely remember that.
- Psychological nakedness, as with a Psychiatrist. "Now, why not tell me the things about yourself that you don't want to tell me? It might save a lot of time." That is like "Take all your clothes off and the doctor will be with you shortly."
- Oral examinations. Not dental, real oral exams as in college or grad school. Being quizzed by a panel of profs is far more daunting than a paper exam because it's personal and feels - is - more exposing. In med school orals, they just pushed you on every topic until you said "I don't know." Their goal was to discover your limits.
Entrenched in a static, factory model of education, American public schools haven't changed much since the Industrial Revolution. "School, Inc." explores the 19th century origins of mass schooling, noting how the Prussian system of compulsory schooling that was ultimately adopted in the U.S. squeezed out other popular forms of education, and prevented ongoing innovation.
The Atlantic Cod population of the western Atlantic was essentially extinct from overfishing. With a moratorium, it has recovered a bit but I have not seen a Cod from Cape Cod in many years.
10:24 "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master;
10:25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
10:26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.
10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.
10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
10:30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.
10:31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
10:32 "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;
10:33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
10:36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
10:38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
10:39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Side note: This is Saturday, which means three of the best shows on TV are on tonight on Fox. 'Watters World' at 8 (EST), 'Justice With Judge Jeanine' at 9, and, especially, 'The Greg Gutfeld Show' at 10. If you don't have a TV (like me), all three will have been posted to YouTube by tomorrow. If you haven't seen a Judge Jeanine opening monologue, buckle your seat belt.
Following is a review of four movies.
IMHO:
— John Wick - The best shoot-em-up action flick I've seen in years.
— Inception - The most intriguing movie I've seen in years.
— Interstellar - The best space adventure I've seen in years.
— A Dog's Purpose - The most wonderful movie I've seen in years.
Fishing for bottom-feeders is not the most challenging fishing, but Halibut is, in my view, the tastiest seafood. Simply broiled with salt, pepper, and some butter. Overcooking fish is a crime.
I can't locate my past post on garden cancers. I am not talking about evil weeds like Porcelainberry. I am talking about things we plant on purpose which have the power to take over and destroy a planting area.
Such things should only be planted where they can be mowed around because they spread underground, or just spread, to the point of overwhelming everything in their vicinity:
Wisteria Bamboo Trumpet Vine Members of the Mint family (best let to go wild in a meadow) English Ivy Pachysandra
I had a few more on my list, but I can't remember right now.
Our public schools are a national disgrace with abysmal international rankings. Our test scores that haven’t budged in 40 years. Unions prevent bad teachers from being fired. Teachers are essential to academic outcomes but they are academically weak and unimpressive, the bottom feeders of college graduates. Administrators are crippled because they can’t fire bad teachers. We know what works in education. Choice will save our country by improving student outcomes. Charters have proven all kids can learn and poverty doesn’t matter. And so on.
All the conventional wisdom I’ve outlined in the previous paragraph is false, or at least complicated by reality. Any education reformer with more than two years experience would certainly agree that the public is mostly unmoved by rhetoric about teacher quality, tenure, curriculum changes, and choice—in fact, when “education reform” is a voting issue, the voters are often going against reform...
Under the heading “Myth of Meritocracy,” for instance, the document asserts that saying “Everyone can succeed in this country, if they work hard enough” constitutes a microaggression, advising students and faculty members to respond to such statements by challenging the speaker to provide examples.
They are welcome to use me as an example. Meanwhile, I wonder how all of this nonsense does college kids any good. I had some blue-collar white privilege, but I did learn stats, calc, and physics. It was not easy but I earned my stripes. If you go to college today, you had best take on the hard stuff or nobody cares.
Policy think tanks across the country have analyzed the finding of Maine’s experiment and have called on their state governments to follow suit. Some even heralded the program as a model for the nation. The problem facing many action oriented states come from restrictions put in place by the federal system. While the Republican lead welfare reform of the 90s did a great deal to push welfare to the state level, it also left a great deal to be desired.
To function as independent bodies, as the federal system intends, and better serve their most vulnerable citizens’ states ought to have greater freedom to experiment with welfare reforms. Congress could act to give states a greater say in how welfare is implemented within their borders if reform is to be both helpful to those in need and sustainable.
It's an optimistic article. However, there are really no solutions. Modern societies will always have populations who will not or can not function very well. As far as the guaranteed government income idea goes, forget it. People too low-functioning to hold a job probably could not handle money well. The only thing that saddens me about American state and federal welfare programs are the numbers of potentially-functional people who settle for life on the dole and/or the underground economy instead of a life of dignity and self-reliance.
The $100 billion per year back pain industry 
While enduring an implant at the dentist ("implantologist") the other day I was distracting myself by contemplating similar situations of shame, vulnerability, or potential humiliation in which we sometimes must put ourselves. Usually, at the dentist, I distract myself with thoughts about sex or politics, so this was a different approach.
The Atlantic Cod population of the western Atlantic was essentially extinct from overfishing. With a moratorium, it has recovered a bit but I have not seen a Cod from Cape Cod in many years.
Hank Shaw 
Check out the