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.
Doubtful. There are 60,000 pages of federal administrative law. Nobody knows those laws because it would be impossible, but they can nail you if you break one. Not only that, but Congress not only never passed those details of the laws, but has no control of them either. UNDERSTANDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE.
Feminists wish to demystify mathematics - and all science too. Go for it, ladies. Please. Math beyond Calculus was a mystery to me due mainly to my IQ limitations. Physical Chemistry stumped me too, which is how I ended up in my career path.
The teaching of science and mathematics must be purged of its authoritarian and elitist characteristics, and the content of these subjects enriched by incorporating the insights of the feminist, queer, multiculturalist and ecological critiques.
I haven't seen any queer critiques of Pythagoras yet, but he was probably gay anyway, being Greek.
Reynolds asks the right question: Would the Left be so gung-ho about a "Living Constitution" if conservative activists controlled the Supreme Court? Discussed at Althouse.
A "living Constitution" just means the politics du jour which can bend with the winds.
As we've said in the past, it depends on how one wishers to define "disease." The term is highly fluid, constantly expanding to include normal variations and things one might term "conditions" (mainly for insurance purposes), and lacks any natural definition.
My view is that substance abuse derives from one simple effect: Some people like it a lot and it makes them feel better than they otherwise feel. Any physiological dependence part is secondary to that. Also, I am not too keen on the criminalization of drugs. The "War on Drugs" has accomplished little good and has many unintended and unfortunate consequences.
The Left has a genius for ratcheting up dependency and government largess, and then daring Republicans, when they come into power, into undoing it because it’s extremely unpopular. And they did gin up a system that is completely unworkable but does have some who benefit, and some are going to lose.
“There's as much crookedness as you want to find. There was something Abraham Lincoln said - he'd rather trust and be disappointed than distrust and be miserable all the time. Maybe I trusted too much.”~John Wooden
1. The U.S. leads the world in health care spending per person, but not in health care outcomes. Many people look at that and say that health care costs too much in the U.S., and we should be able to get the same or better outcomes by spending less. Maybe that is correct, maybe not. That is not the point here. But–
2. the U.S. leads the world in K-12 education spending per student, but not in student outcomes. Yet nobody says that education costs too much and that we should spend less. Except –
3. me. I believe that we spend way too much on K-12 education...
I'm no longer a Democrat (it's been many years now), and though on the rarest of occasions I worried I'd made a mistake, Tuesday night watching the shell-shocked faces of the Democrats on the floor of Congress while Donald Trump delivered his magnificent speech, I knew I had made no error. I even wondered what was going on in my head in those isolated moments I doubted myself.
The Democratic Party members watching that speech looked like a party of the living dead. They didn't know how to react. They didn't know if they were Americans. They didn't know who they were.
...despite delivering an unquestionably positive message, Democratic members like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi glared, shaking their heads and scowling in apparent anger. Notable were moments when Trump proposed bipartisan positions like extending treatment opportunities for Americans addicted to drugs. Despite the uncontroversial nature of these policies, Democrats sat in defiance.
But Trump’s message of one America nevertheless persisted. Between the bookends of unity, Trump doubled down on his campaign promises to the American people, but he did so in a way that broadened their appeal. He pierced through the unflattering portrayal of the mainstream media and articulated the well-reasoned impetus behind his proposals.
Trust is faith, a scary risk, but it's ever too late to reach out for Christ's hand. Your final seconds of life are enough: Natalie Grant - Hurricane (h/t Vanderleun a couple of years ago)
The Democrats and their press proxies were all prepared with their talking points against the Donald Trump who sneers in their smug faces. Instead, President Trump was at his presidential best, clear, softly spoken, strategic in his sweep across the policy landscape, offering his hand to his opponents to instead think first of America instead of scoring petty points.
The Democrats in Congress looked bewildered and pantsed, sour looks on their faces in the face of programs that appeal to most Americans, not knowing what to do, their steam looking like hot air, and the media stammered its appreciation with less of but not excluding their sneers.
The American people got to see it all, to the self-created embarrassment of the Democrats.
LEONARDO DeCAPRIO's self-declared climate expertise enables him to speak on the world's environmental issues with a high-school education. He never took a college biology, chemistry, physics or climatology course, yet he knows more than most scientists. He proved that by addressing climate change before a full gathering of the UN.
SEAN PENN's quick takes on everything put him at the lofty level of an Einstein. He visited Iraq once and became an expert on that country. The same for Iran. He also became buddies with the brutal Venezuelan communist Hugo Chavez and consistently lauded that murderous thug. Now that Chavez is gone and Venezuelans are raiding dumpsters for food scraps, Penn is having a rare silent moment. Penn deserves some credit for becoming a world-affairs genius based on two years of auto mechanics classes at Santa Monica College.
This is a downer for Mardi Gras and Carnival season, the modern Saturnalias where no rules apply and reckless hedonism is in the air, but I'll post it anyway like a fuddy-duddy:
I am not sure how to define "natural" for human beings when humans are the ultimate culture-building and society-building animal. For humans, relationship-building and relationship-maintenance are complex, demanding, and sometimes seem almost impossible. Perhaps "natural," though.
Being an acceptable member of a bourgeois society and culture requires hundreds of external restraints (laws, rules, conventions, and expectations) and self-restraints (mostly against temptations and impulses and for reputation-protection). Bourgeois Westerners do not do many very "natural" things like pooping in the park, clubbing people who piss us off, grabbing genitalia when the impulse hits us, stealing people's purses, shooting a neighbor's dog to roast on the backyard grill.
As in ancient times when aristocrats and overlords lived without the constraints of the common folk and the stolid gentry, the Western world still has subcultures which are "above" - or you could call it "below" - the respectable bourgeois Judeo-Christian norms. I am thinking of the special subcultures of Hollywood, Washington, and the like where celebrity, money, and power can exist with separate rules. I am also thinking of some Fishtown subcultures, Tattooland, where there are different standards and expectations.
I must agree with Scarlett Johanssen that monogamy is not "natural" for humans although there is much variation in how libidinally- or id-driven people are. It is definitely not natural for me if some of my X-rated fantasies are evidence but, by behaving myself in many "unnatural" ways, I have managed to build a solid happy life without harming very many people, without blowing up my life, and without too much burden of guilt.
Bill Clinton and Scarlett Johanssen and all the others are free to live as they choose. Tabloid fodder is necessary to drive eyeballs. Perhaps that is why Miss Scarlett made her honest statement about her libidinal intentions. As some guy said on some site, "So I still have a chance to get it on with Scarlett?" Yes, maybe you do if you act charming and catch her in the right mood. Buy her a cocktail and act soulful and deep, wounded but brave. It might work on her and, despite talent, she is not overly bright. Seduction is natural and women like love and sex.
Women are far better at that game than men, however. Women have the power.
The only conclusion I can draw at the moment is that candidates like Le Pen and Wilders really have the wizened heads at the European Union in a panic. The lesson we can take from this is found in observing the response. Actual freedom requires a robust rebuttal and persuasive argument against real hate speech. But in the EU they can simply make your speech disappear, and the powers that be get to determine what qualifies as acceptable.
I'll confess to using protein powders. I prefer the egg white powder because it is close to flavorless. I put it in water in the blender with a banana or a bunch of frozen berries as my after work-out breakfast. Since I do not enjoy fruit very much, that's my daily fruit.
However, this is not really using the powder as a supplement. I's just using it as breakfast with 25-30 gms of protein. Otherwise, my breakfast would be just two mugs of coffee.
Most trainers tell weight-lifters to have a dose of protein after heavy lifting. It sounds logical, but nutrition is a field packed with superstition and magical thinking. Other forms of exercise do not require a shot of protein because they do not produce muscle fiber damage.
Powders as supplement would, I think, entail maybe twice-daily use in addition to normal balanced meals. Since I can't get on board with three normal balanced meals, I probably should do a second dose of powder protein to make sure I have enough daily protein.
Another excellent calisthenic to add to a calisthenic circuit. The guy below does it with a push-up, but the push-up piece is optional. Yes, it is high-intensity exercise, great for endurance and cardio. I guess they ought to be done as quickly as possible.
Shipping by ships, that is. I have a pal whose dad was a sea captain. Those guys certainly lead interesting, useful, and colorful lives. Long trips. Women or wives in every port.
A kid of a friend went to the US Merchant Marine Academy, which is in NYC. It is a demanding program and it is difficult to gain admission. An excellent goal for a kid who doesn't want to live in a cubicle and who is interested in mechanics, leadership, and can handle some math. Not unlike the Naval Academy, really, without the guns.
This post, From Breakbulk To The Container, will take some of your time because the amazing vintage videos will captivate. I had not realized that there were steel sailing ships at the NYC docks into the 1930s. Wonderful.
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