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.
Re-posted because it's so good, because it's been in my brain all week, and because it's stormy here today:
Gonna make a lot of money, gonna go up north I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf For the love of God, you ought to take pity on yourself
I woke early on the morning of the operation and lay in bed thinking about the young mother I had operated on the previous week. I had operated on a tumour deep in the right side of her brain and somehow – I do not know how since the operation had seemed to proceed uneventfully – I had caused a major stroke, so that she awoke from the operation paralysed down the left side of her body. I had probably tried to take too much of the tumour out. I had probably strayed too deeply into her brain. I must have been too self-confident. I had been insufficiently fearful. I longed for this next operation, the operation on the pineal tumour, to go well – that there should be a happy ending, that everybody would live happily ever after, Neurosurgeons look with awe and excitement at brain scans showing pineal tumours, like mountaineers looking up at a great peak that they hope to climb. and that I could feel at peace with myself once again.
It's a wonder how many physicians are natural writers. Dr. Marsh is one.
...this is America’s best and brightest — or, at any rate, most expensively credentialed. Sandra Fluke has been blessed with a quarter-million dollars of elite education, and, on the evidence of Wednesday night, is entirely incapable of making a coherent argument. She has enjoyed the leisurely decade-long varsity once reserved for the minor sons of Mitteleuropean grand dukes, and she has concluded that the most urgent need facing the Brokest Nation in History is for someone else to pay for the contraception of 30-year-old children. She says the choice facing America is whether to be “a country where we mean it when we talk about personal freedom, or one where that freedom doesn’t apply to our bodies and our voices” — and, even as the words fall leaden from her lips, she doesn’t seem to comprehend that Catholic institutions think their “voices” ought to have freedom, too, or that Obamacare seizes jurisdiction over “our bodies” and has 16,000 new IRS agents ready to fine us for not making arrangements for “our” pancreases and “our” bladders that meet the approval of the commissars. Sexual liberty, even as every other liberty withers, is all that matters: A middle-school girl is free to get an abortion without parental consent, but if she puts a lemonade stand on her lawn she’ll be fined. What a bleak and reductive concept of “personal freedom.”
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim and roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves - goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying What I do is me: for that I came.
I say more: the just man justices; Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces; Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is - Christ. For Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men's faces.
But we can't let that energy fade -- because in just 60 days, voters will decide who gets to serve in the White House for the next four years. So every single one of us has got to pull together to finish strong.
I know you feel the urgency: Already this week, supporters like you have made more than 500,000 grassroots donations to build this campaign. So if you're fired up, let's keep it going -- let's see how many people we can get to show their support by the end of the day.
Barack's got something that the other side doesn't: more than 3 million grassroots supporters like you -- and together we're going to win this election the right way.
The donation you give today will make a big impact in the final stage of this race. And on November 7th, you can wake knowing that you did everything you could to help us deliver on the full promise of the next four years.
Make this our biggest week yet, and give $5 or more right now to win this election in the final two months:
There is plenty of motherly and grandmotherly wisdom in that book. Men used to talk about "settling down." Women need to learn how to make that happen unless their desire is to live forever like Hollywood starlets.
Here's a quote from the Amazon comments:
"Getting to I Do" catalogued various relationship scenarios, where the authors pointed out what worked and what didn't. I have to be honest, being a self-supportive "modern woman", I at first thought that the simplistic illustrations of male/female dynamics were really old-fashioned and that I might as well just talk it out with my grandmother. But, the book went way beyond just designating roles. For me it helped me to embrace the woman I was and to understand the relationship dynamic I wanted to have.
The book is terrific. I read it and applied it to my next relationship-someone I fell in love with and wanted to marry. I went through the "phases" as stated in the book and when it got down to the "negotiation" phase, my boyfriend wanted to move to France, with me. Great! But, not with an engagement. Turns out he was not ready to be married. It was a very painful to think about being without him. To have my dreams of being married to him dissolve. Fortunaltely, I had learned that I would be putting myself through so much more pain and anguish if I had up-rooted my life without any commitment other than being a great boyfriend. So, I let him go.
There was the relentless emphasis on Government as Community, as the thing that gives us spirit and makes us whole. But government isn't what you love if you're American, America is what you love. Government is what you have, need and hire. Its most essential duties—especially when it is bankrupt—involve defending rights and safety, not imposing views and values. We already have values. Democrats and Republicans don't see all this the same way, and that's fine—that's what national politics is, the working out of this dispute in one direction or another every few years. But the Democrats convened in Charlotte seemed more extreme on the point, more accepting of the idea of government as the center of national life, than ever, at least to me.
The fight over including a single mention of God in the platform—that was extreme. The original removal of the single mention by the platform committee—extreme. The huge "No!" vote on restoring the mention of God, and including the administration's own stand on Jerusalem—that wasn't liberal, it was extreme. Comparing the Republicans to Nazis—extreme. The almost complete absence of a call to help education by facing down the powers that throw our least defended children under the school bus—this was extreme, not mainstream.
The sheer strangeness of all the talk about abortion, abortion, contraception, contraception...
It is un-American to love government. In America, government is to be viewed as a necessary evil.
In 1890, rail was the dominant form of land transport. Now, it's a niche market and the passenger component is, alas, subsidy-dependent. I love trains, but (subsidized) highways, cars, trucks and airplanes won the battle for the future.
When I read the other day that food stamps are being used to buy pop tarts, cookies, honey buns, candy bars, corn dogs, taffy, and cheesecake, it finally clicked: liberal economic and social policies reward stoners.
...the same self-righteous progressive error—of the sense that the Republicans are offering radical individualism and a cold and selfish you’re-on-your-own philosophy of government. And to this extent it was answered by a very revealing display of the left’s tendency to collapse all of society—all that stands between the individual and the state—into the state. Different speakers this week took this up in different ways (starting with the opening video in which one of the speakers said that government is the only thing we all belong to), and Obama’s way was to say that his party’s alternative to the every man for himself philosophy of the Right is an idea of citizenship. “We believe in citizenship,” he said, “a word at the very heart of our founding, at the very essence of our democracy.” It’s an odd claim, as the word “citizenship” doesn’t appear in any founding document (and to the extent that “citizen” does it describes a legal resident, and never seems to be assigned much significance)...
The hypocrisy, the outright lies, the vituperativeness, the purposeful avoidance of key issues, of leading Democrats this election season leaves me so sputtering that I'm almost speechless in astonished disgust.
My friend Ruth King, however, ably sums up the 2nd night of the Democrat Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina:
Did you all know there is no terror threat, no Iran, no Afghanistan no Iraq, no Taliban, no God, no Jerusalem (well maybe little God and Jerusalem, although the Nays among the audience were loud and clear) Nope…only back alley abortions and women subjugated to the back room. By Sharia laws you ask. Nope again. I was actually amused that Fluke’s controlled tantrum and Elizabeth Warren’s wampum was followed by Slick Willie whose treatment of “nutty and slutty” women is one for the records. But, never mind, he aimed his rapier into the heart of the failure of Obamanomics.
Give him another chance, he intoned:
“A lot of Americans are still angry and frustrated about this economy…..If you look at the numbers, you know that employment is growing, banks are beginning to lend again, and a lot of housing prices are even beginning to pick up.
“But too many people do not feel it yet…..If will you renew the president’s contract, you will feel it. You will feel it.”
And then he added this zinger:
“Folks, whether the American people believe what I just told you or not may be the whole election. I just want you to know I believe it. With all my heart I believe it.”
Now would this man ever lie? At least he didn’t wave his finger at his audience.
February 2010 was the ripping point of the Obama presidency. The only way the president could be a Hegelian Great Man of History — a doer of world-historical, taxpayer-subsidized deeds — was by sacrificing the ideals of unity and conciliation that had gotten him elected in the first place. For his transformative agenda was curiously unsuited to the times: Instead of confessing himself “childlike to the genius of his age,” he seemed to think he was living in 1933. He was blind to the fact that in 2010 not even a statesman of FDR’s gifts could have forged a consensus in favor of a centrally planned, state-run behemoth like Obamacare.
Win or lose, he is toast until he can get out of the White House and begin to make some serious bucks on the golf lecture circuit.
Charles Murray guesstimates that something between 1 in 10 and 1 in 30 can make the best use of Liberal Arts higher ed (ie, not as a credential but for the intellectual growth which is more difficult, but entirely possible - to do on one's own). For the rest, it's credential-buying, a rite of passage, an extension of high school, checking a social-advancement box, and/or delayed adulthood.
I've been impressed by how effective the petite 20-something blonde trainers are in encouraging middle-aged men to push to their limits during their 5 am work-outs at my gym. (I suspect the healthy-looking male trainers have a similar impact on the ladies.)
That should be no surprise, of course, given male psychology. Gyms and blonde trainers don't come cheap, however.
Even before Paul Ryan touted his enthusiasm for the Insanity program, I had been hearing about it from people (Ryan uses Insanity and P90X). I kinda like the way the woman in the Insanity ad says "I want to feel good about sharing myself with my husband for many years to come." That's a great attitude.
The problem with home work-out regimens is the self-discipline. On the other hand, challenges to self-discipline are how we build character. But, on the other hand...
This week's Mac virus is brought to you by the makers of BackDoor.Wirenet.1, a delightful little keylogger that has drawn rave reviews wherever it goes.
Keyloggers, to remind you, record all of your keystrokes and then periodically send them home to mama. A program then looks for 16 entered numbers in a row (your credit card) followed by 3 more numbers (your security code), then it's off to cadillac.com and some early Christmas shopping.
It also steals passwords:
The malware "also operates as a keylogger (it sends gathered keyboard input data to intruders); in addition, it steals passwords entered by the user in Opera, Firefox, Chrome, and Chromium, and passwords stored by such applications as Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Pidgin."
(Odd he'd mention the other browsers but not Safari?)
The fix is fairly simple. You delete some files on your computer and then block access to a certain IP address. Details are in the above link and one method to block the IP address is here, more info here. Even if you don't have the bad files on your system, you should still block the IP address.
Nearly 65 years after Israel’s creation, two Palestinian societies emerge, new study shows - 60 percent of Israeli Arabs say they would not allow their daughter to marry a Palestinian from the West Bank
Dems certainly do know how to get rich in politics. Hillary has made $30 million of her own - a tidy sum for a "life dedicated to public service." Bill, I heard, has made about triple that.
Who was Herman Hollerith? His company, the Tabulating Machine Company (1890), was renamed International Business Machines in 1924. IBM, with headquarters in Armonk, NY, is currently the second-largest private employer in the US. When I was young, key punch systems were still in wide use.
Another Labor Day has passed, and I hope all Maggie's readers had a fine, relaxing long weekend. Barbecues, beer, wine, lawn or lounge chairs, picnics, whatever you typically do on a fine summer holiday, I'm sure you had a good time.
My wife and I, after having drinks with friends at the local swim club on Saturday, relaxed on a rainy Sunday then decided to head into the city on Monday to take a look at the Freedom Tower. We usually drive to Jersey City, park at a mall, and take the PATH train in. Parking and PATH for 3 people (our remaining homebound son joined us) was $22, much cheaper than driving into, and parking in, Manhattan.
They've done plenty of work on the tower and the area is finally starting to look as developed as it was prior to 9/11/2001. We checked for tickets to the 9/11 Memorial, but had 4 hours to wait. We decided to pass on that, and take a walk. Note to self, next time order tickets online before going in. They are free, but donations are welcome.
We headed up through City Hall Park, then turned and walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and into the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, where we decided to have pizza for lunch. Grimaldi's is the big name pizza place under the bridge. But the line was too long and we couldn't wait. Ignazio's is around the corner, and turned out to be a great alternative. Good pizza, great location near the water and also under the bridge. I give it high marks for food, service and views.
If you've never walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, I highly recommend doing it sometime. It's worth the effort. Not only do you get to soak up some of its great history, but the views are amazing. Some pictures below the fold. Unfortunately, it was not a bright, sunny day. We had some rain, it was overcast. It was still an enjoyable trek.
There are many people who hate math but are great poker players, but there are hardly any players who lack the people reading abilities and still manage to be good poker players,” said Vonk. “Mathematical knowledge can to a large extent be replaced by intuition and experience. After a player has played a million hands of poker, even if he does not know the math at all, he will have a decent feeling about when it is profitable to draw to a flush and when it is not.”
That said, knowing the math means you can acquire this kind of knowledge much more quickly, and those skills can give an edge in very rare situations that don’t often occur in a poker game. “To be a great player, you need both!”
Deep thinker Alec Baldwin thinks Obama would be 17 points up in the polls if he were white. I think he'd be 17 points down if he were white. His skin tone is a large part of his appeal, I believe.
I'm a fan of Cory Booker. I do not share his politics, but there is much to compliment him on at a local level. I can appreciate how he has improved Newark, a city very close to where I live, and how he has created a strong working relationship with Chris Christie, the Republican Governor of New Jersey.
When he goes national, though, he tends to put his foot in his mouth. Most recently, there was his commentary on Bain Capital, calling out Obama's campaign.
Now he's given a speech at the DNC which makes a claim that is outlandish.
"being asked to pay your fair share isn't class warfare—it's patriotism. But we all know—it's common sense—that for an economy built to last we must invest in what will fuel us for generations to come."
Mia Love On Obama: “I Think He’s Stripping Away the American Dream & the America As We Know It”
VDH: The New Reactionaries - The causes of poverty, the effects of liberal policies — such things are undiscussable. One quote:
If today an observer were to state that the number of children one chooses to have should be in part predicated on the income one reasonably expects to make (I think that is why so-called yuppies often choose to have two rather than five children), then he would be branded illiberal or worse — despite the fact that societies have accepted that premise for centuries, and the middle classes implicitly follow such common calculations. Thanks to today’s government help, the illegal immigrant from Oaxaca might eventually achieve rough parity with the American-born middle class if he were to have two children; however, with five it is impossible.
Clint Eastwood talks #ECOTUS
A good book for single girls and ladies who think having a good husband might be a good idea for a good life:
Is 
This must be what Bill Clinton meant by referring to Obama as "an amateur." Woodward on how
I've been impressed by how effective the petite 20-something blonde trainers are in encouraging middle-aged men to push to their limits during their 5 am work-outs at my gym. (I suspect the healthy-looking male trainers have a similar impact on the ladies.)
This week's Mac virus is brought to you by the makers of BackDoor.Wirenet.1, a delightful little keylogger that has drawn 
Kentucky WWII Vet Earl Jones, 92, 
