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.
A couple of years old, but still fresh and smart. Mr. Dalio makes it all sound simple, common sense. He views markets on the large scale, global scale; buys and hedges entire international markets and currencies, never individual securities. (FYI, here's a piece on the All-Weather Portfolio)
He advises people with lower net worth (eg under 10-50 million) to stay away from the equity casino where the master poker players will beat you, but ordinary people like me are naturally a bit greedy and ignore wisdom. As a commenter says, "The man knows exactly what he doesn't know and builds his portfolio around that. Genius." As I listen, I see the huge role that central banks and governments play in the international games of money. There are no free markets today.
His funds require a minimal investment of many millions. Enjoy this, despite an annoying Maria. And who is she to call him "Ray"? I'd like to ask him about the necessity of central banks and their role in creating the economic swings.
Napolitano: What if the government fears freedom? What if Bush and Obama have been wrong about the priority of their constitutional duties as president?
Don't all governments fear freedom? Power, unlike money or sex, is a zero-sum game.
Here. Lawyers will get rich on this for many years, and Americans can rest comfortably knowing that our internet is in good hands, same as in Russia and China.
The problem with this, of course, is that most respectable medical research turns out to be wrong too. I recently read that coronary bypass has no value compared with the alternatives, but they are done constantly. I also read that prostate cancer surgery may be pointless after age 65 or 70, yet they are performed constantly.
...while coming up with eye-catching theories is relatively easy, getting reality to bear them out is another matter. The great majority collapse under the weight of contradictory data when studied rigorously. Imagine, though, that five different research teams test an interesting theory that’s making the rounds, and four of the groups correctly prove the idea false, while the one less cautious group incorrectly “proves” it true through some combination of error, fluke, and clever selection of data. Guess whose findings your doctor ends up reading about in the journal, and you end up hearing about on the evening news?
When politics gets involved, it all gets worse. If you need a doctor, get one with grey hair (who has seen it all) and a male (not bound by all the idiot rules).
Not long after it was announced that 2014 was the hottest year on record, evidence has come to light of massive tampering of temperature data to make it appear that the earth is warming.
Paul Homewood discovered the tampering when he examined NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies temperature recordings. You may read about his findings here and here. He began by looking at the recordings from rural stations in South America. What he found was staggering. The originally recorded data had been changed dramatically. Not just altered slightly but shifted dramatically.
The originally recorded data clearly showed a relatively steady cooling from 1950 to now. Actual temperature readings ranged from a drop of 1/2° Celsius to a full one degree. However the doctored data flipped the original graph almost completely around. The new graph, the published data, showed almost a full 2°C warming. It’s outrageous! And this is the data that “climate change” experts base their bogus assertions on. And because they’re “men of science” no one is allowed to question. Oh, and it’s not just on graph or one temperature station.
There can be no reasonable explanation for this. These “men of science” have been lying to us for decades, and this deception is finally, albeit overdue, coming to light. They are being shown for who they truly are – liars and cheats.
Excuse me, Mr. Kerry, but when the earth was formed it was not like today. Fact is, without amazing human ingenuity, little of earth would be inhabitable by humans today.
“I don’t think we should jump every time the freaks with the ACE bandages around their faces put out videos,” Ingraham told the Fox hosts on Tuesday, adding that the U.S. should not be reacting “emotionally” to threats from ISIS, Al-Shabab or other terrorist groups.
Annie Hall was on the other night. As a young teen, and to some degree even today, I remain a devoted Woody Allen fan. His personal issues, which are many, aside, he made some great films. I had forgotten this exchange, as the Alvy seeks to convince Annie to return to New York from Los Angeles:
Alvy: So what - you-you're not gonna come back to New York?
Annie: What's so great about New York? I mean, it's a dying city. You read Death in Venice.
Alvy: Hey, you didn't read Death in Venice till I bought it for ya.
Annie: That's right, that's right. You only gave me books with the word 'death' in the titles.
Alvy: That's right, 'cause it's an important issue.
Annie: Alvy, you're incapable of enjoying life, you know that? I mean you're like New York City. You're just this person. You're like this island unto yourself.
Alvy: I can't enjoy anything unless everybody is. If one guy is starving someplace, that puts a crimp in my evening.
I recently learned that "HD" - Hoarding Disorder - is now a reimbursable and nameable disease. It has long been considered just an eccentricity.
What drives the disease craze? Big Pharma, and insurance. Normal variants are labeled as diseases and disorders. Think ADD, ED, infertility, fear of dying, and on and on. I term them, smirkingly, "life-style disorders."
It's not too cheap, the hassle factor is huge, but it is great cold weather fun and excellent exercise.
Like many, I grew up skiing at a small local place with rope tows and poma lifts, and one two-seater chair lift, and slowly advanced to more challenging places as funds permitted.
I love it. For me, winter means skiing, spring means fishing, summer means boating, fall means hunting. It's that simple.
There are no real class divisions in America except one: the college-educated versus the non-college educated. It helps to think of this in terms borrowed from the world of a Jane Austen novel: graduating from college is what makes you a “gentleman.” (A degree from an Ivy League school makes you part of the aristocracy.) It qualifies you to marry the right people and hold the right kind of positions. It makes you respectable. And even if you don’t achieve much in the world of work and business, even if you’re still working as a barista ten years later, you still retain that special status. It’s a modern form of “genteel poverty,” which is considered superior to the regular kind of poverty.
If you don’t have a college degree, by contrast, you are looked down upon as a vulgar commoner who is presumptuously attempting to rise above his station. Which is pretty much what they’re saying about Scott Walker.
We have said here at Maggie's, for years, that a "healthy diet" cannot be defined without evidence, and there has never been any evidence. "Healthy" has just been bias, old-wives tales, and happy-sounding ignorance like "eat your peas and kale and fruit". All nonsense.
It's a big deal that even the slow-witted government finally comes around to what we have all known. America, go easy on the carbs, eat veggies only if you like them, use butter and olive oil, enjoy a fine steak when you can afford it, and do not become food-obsessed.
Sorry, Whole Foods, food quacks, and food faddists. You have been wrong all along. Docs finally now feel free to share the real facts, which they have known for years. I've never known a doc who would refuse a rare ribeye steak or filet mignon. Never known a vegetarian doc either, or a scientist who ate organic food. In fact, the biological scientists I know like to go to fancy French and fancy Italian restaurants as often as possible.
Government regs always disadvantage the little guys. That's why the bigs guys don't mind too much.
Over time, regulatory systems degrade: they become more corrupt, less effective at dealing with real risks, and increasingly suppress innovation and competition rather than promoting them.
Mexico! More historic than Europe, and mostly safer than Finland. My in-laws are there now, and each winter. Us? Been there, done that.Mayan ruins, beaches, amazing seafood, delightful people.
Which
is the most improved vacation opportunity for American dollars? - See
more at:
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/02/which-is-the-most-improved-vacation-opportunity.html#sthash.jupdWdSy.dpuf
Henryk Gorecki's Third Symphony, the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (1976). Mainly Polish laments, but using medieval musical modes. Gorecki's music had been more modern (ie, atonal and unlistenable) before this. This recording is with the amazing Dawn Upshaw. For me, it took three or four listenings and I liked it better each time. Deeply moving piece, in my opinion.
Gorecki insisted that this 55-minute piece, in 3 movements, was not about the holocaust but simply about sorrow in general. However, many feel otherwise, anyway - including the person who put together this visual accompaniment which is, of course, disturbing, but also distracting from the music.
All of these puddings require something to be served on top. For Bread Pudding, I've seen Rum Sauce, Lemon Sauce, Vanilla Sauce, etc etc.
Or the old standby, English Custard Sauce. No need to make it yourself - you can buy Bird's at Amazon. Ol' Mr. Bird invented it because his wife had an egg allergy. A bird, allergic to eggs...
American ballet: 
Oliver Sacks,
Thanks to ski lifts, snow cannons, and plenty of dynamite, 
Things Episcopalians say (1): “Not literally.” Seriously? 
It’s official:
A book of interest: 
My favorite winter puddings are Indian Pudding, Bread Pudding, and Plum Pudding (with hard sauce, please).