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.
Donald J. Trump won the U.S. Presidency despite perpetuating sexism, white supremacy, xenophobia, nationalism, nativism, and imperialism," the course description reads.
What does that course cost the beleaguered parents? Parents who likely voted for Trump.
Surely, though, those must have been the reasons I voted for the guy. On the other hand, maybe I voted for him to be a sledgehammer.
Highly effective. It never fails for weight loss, except for the bosses who always seem to be fat.
Humans will work hard for themselves, their families, and their friends. Somewhat less for their tribe. Further out, not so much. It's human nature. Warfare is in a different category entirely.
None of us, no voter or official or institution, has yet to fully assimilate the fact that Donald Trump is president, that this unpopular and unpredictable man holds what has become the primary office of our constitutional system. He certainly doesn't make our jobs any easier: It is hard to read or watch his recent interviews without holding one's head in one's hands. And yet there he is. His daily presence is an accusation, a rebuke, an admonishment, a reminder that the country we thought we lived in might not have actually existed. The shocks of deindustrialization and the financial crisis, of unchecked immigration, multiculturalism, and the transgender revolution, of digital and social media, of inconclusive decades-long wars, of rampant heroin addiction seem to have made large parts of the country unrecognizable to those of us living in coastal cities and their affluent suburbs. Is our country really this divided, our politics this polarized, and our culture this degraded? Was 2016 not a fluke but a warning? What of?
No one wants to answer that last question; no one knows the answer.
Continetti is trying to make too much out of it. Not enough people liked or trusted Hillary. Biden could have won and he is loony too.
...and other topics, but I found the part about his course most interesting. It's easy to see why he is such a popular teacher, but the course does not seem particularly academic. It's more of an inspirational sort of program about how to grow up, face life with strength, and things like that.
Peterson has an interesting and unusual life history for an academic. Myths appeal to him. I think he is a capital C Christian.
It's easy for me to see how it could be helpful to young people. He is a natural teacher or preacher. He is smart as a whip and a fearsome debater.
If you were a visitor from a distant solar system come to our nation or even a time traveler from our own nineteenth century, I submit you would be perplexed. This Trump person (being?) doesn't seem to be all that different from many leaders who have come before him. I mean, what has he done exactly? Enforced some immigration laws that were enacted by the Congress over several administrations? Tried to fix a mediocre healthcare plan with another plan that may or may not be as mediocre? Called for a tax reduction similar to those enacted by previous Republican and Democratic administrations? Cut back on some regulations that became overly burdensome? Called for a temporary halt to immigration from a half-dozen countries his predecessor had already cited as dangerous hotbeds of terrorism? Shot off a few dozen cruise missiles at the airfield of a dictator who was gassing his own people, but didn't harm a single person in the process?
Every person has his (or her) own ideas - and goals - about fitness. Here's another question for our readers: Let's say you're an over-40 or over-50 or over-60 year old guy or gal who has put in the time and discipline for two years to get back in good shape after the child-rearing years of self-neglect and over-working to save for tuitions, etc., etc.
You've done your weights, cardio, and calis religiously. Worked hard at fitness 6 days/wk, suffered, strained, sweated, and endured aches and pains especially when you didn't feel like doing anything but reading a book. You tried to eat enough protein to rebuild muscle. You found time to do it all even when you felt you had no time or energy.
Now you are trim and light on your feet, the belly is gone, you have muscles you haven't had since you were 21 or maybe never had, you look pretty acceptable nude (even if not an underwear model), you have a military posture, your sex drive is up, you can pound out 30 minutes of intervals on the elliptical or sprints on the track, you can jump and lift stuff and you don't get fatigued at the end of the day. You have settled into a routine of eating right and sleeping right, and your body and mind now have gotten into the habit of demanding some effortful physical work every day to feel fully alive. In other words, your animal self likes what you have achieved because you have done justice to one of God's gifts to you.
You are a happy middle-aged Spartan, ready for whatever life brings. While you can always improve regardless of age, you feel sort-of ready to lay off the aggressive daily boot camp effort and aim for smaller gradual improvement but primarily for maintenance of your fitness because, after all, apoptosis is the enemy.I just call it entropy.
For example, I do not feel a desire to run any 10K races anymore (but I could), or deadlift twice my weight (but I would like to and I am getting there), but I think I am reluctantly concluding that we can't ramp it down much because, with each year of age, we are swimming upstream against a stronger current. Regardless of what we do to keep body and mind youthfully vigorous, sooner or later the current will win and sweep us out to the cosmic sea.
The last few months, since the shocking (to some) result of the election, traditional news media has been blaring about 'fake news'. I'm really not sure what fake news is. CBS News says each morning, in their intro and promotions, that they are 'real news' (though I've seen quite a bit that I'd call fake on their network). I've had people try and explain what it is to me, and there are examples of stuff that is clearly fake, but applying a definition to what it is? Unavailable. You pretty much know it when you see it, like porn.
So who gets to make the decision about what is truly 'fake news'? I know it when I see it, and every individual should have that right to decide. As I tell my friends, I apply Occam's Razor to everything I see and read. If it doesn't look or smell right, then it's probably fake and more digging needs to be done. Few people take the time or effort, anymore. So our government wants to do it for us. The politicians, at least, want to promote the concept that someone should be doing it for us. So guess what? They are. It's my view that Google's announcement last week to use algorithms to flesh out 'fake news' is going to be their Waterloo. Algorithms can't tell people what to read, what to believe, and can't discern truth from falsehood. All algorithms can do is push an agenda from those controlling the algorithm. So we'll be spoon fed pablum as real news seekers are cast aside as non-traditional sources or 'extremist' or having some other epithet applied to lower their score on the algorithm.
We may not have a Ministry of Truth, but lots of countries are trying to. If progress and opportunity slow and die in the coming years, the 'fake news' reaction will be why. After all, one clear case of how this is a problem is Man-Made ManBearPig Global Warming/Climate Change. Any site posting legitimate data and information which rebuts the Global Warming/Climate Change agenda will undoubtedly be labelled 'fake news'. From this point forward, any other opinion deemed 'incorrect' will fail the test and we can see where this algorithm will deprive people of good information.
I am, as it happens, evicting my mother’s fourth husband’s fifth wife from a modest house (much more modest than the condition I left it in) in which she resided rent-free for a decade or so. I inherited the house from my mother when she died, and her husband inherited a “life estate” in it, meaning a legal right to reside there so long as he kept current on the taxes and such. He remarried (these are marrying people) and lived there with his new wife until his life estate ended the way life estates end, and I came around to take possession of the house and sell the damned thing. They’d had years and years to prepare for this moment, and, of course, they hadn’t.
These are, in fact, like some of the people Murray describes as residents of Fishtown. They are full of excuses for their disappointing and feckless lives. In my experience, the passive voice reveals that these are people who lack the inner resources to act affirmatively or planfully, to adapt to change or bad luck, adjust, or to learn from experience. It is sad to see, and there is no cure for it. Lots of boats, and lives, end up on the rocks.
In another era, they might have done fine on the family farm with the support, resources, and teamwork of an extended family and a small, healthy community. The post-agricultural, post-industrial world today is far more demanding of us all. It's tough out there.
“I thought I was a Tahitian Eskimo Mexican until I sent in my DNA test kit, and boy was I flummoxed when the results came back! I’m really Croatian with a mix of sub-Saharan! I guess I’ll be turning in my furry hat!”
We will meet at 10 am at the fountain in Lincoln Center, rain or shine. There is a Dunkin Donuts (and a Starbucks) nearby if needed.
We'll have some dumb balloon for recognition. Join us. We're friendly dogs and do not bite. Not a large group, I think, so good for conversation. Weather should be rain-free and cool.
Our leader Bulldog will lead us from there, wandering around the West Side, maybe all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge depending on time.
Lots of things to see along the route he has planned (see below the fold) -
Photo from 
Every person has his (or her) own ideas - and goals - about fitness. Here's another question for our readers: Let's say you're an over-40 or over-50 or over-60 year old guy or gal who has put in the time and discipline for two years to get back in good shape after the child-rearing years of self-neglect and over-working to save for tuitions, etc., etc.
Why Sled Dogs Never Get Tired 
The last few months, since the shocking (to some) result of the election, traditional news media has been blaring about 'fake news'. I'm really not sure what fake news is. CBS News says each morning, in their intro and promotions, that they are 'real news' (though I've seen quite a bit that I'd call fake on their network). I've had people try and explain what it is to me, and there are examples of stuff that is clearly fake, but applying a definition to what it is? Unavailable. You pretty much know it when you see it, like porn.
The 
We will meet at 10 am at the fountain in Lincoln Center, rain or shine. There is a Dunkin Donuts (and a Starbucks) nearby if needed.