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.
The prospects for Irene in the northeast change by the hour. Last night, she was downgraded but now it's just confusing. However, if she does hit New England hard, don't be surprised if Maggie's is down for a while. As of now, predictions are just "rain and wind" on Sunday, warm and sunny Monday. (That's obviously an old toon from the files)
Pull in your lawn chairs and stuff. Prepare for loss of power. Beer, charcoal, batteries, beer, candles, booze, gas, beer, etc.
Bungee cords. Forceps. A large sheet of vinyl. Thirty feet of 1/2" clear tubing. A dead rabbit, two pairs of black pantyhose, a quart of corn oil, a large pumpkin, and a fully charged cordless drill with a size-variety of wood boring bits.
You will need these things. Survival is the word. And, undetectable perversion in early natural darkness. Those are also. Some words.
Business Regulation vs. Growth: The View from Middle America - It has become clear that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been a real deterrent to companies that would like to go public.
Zuckerman: Obama and the 'Competency Crisis' - Like many Americans who supported him, I long for a triple-A president to run a triple-A country.
Excuse me, Mort, but a prez does not "run a country" - not in the USA anyway. And your "longing" is immature.
There’s a major difference, though, between New York and the country as a whole. The New York option—move somewhere else—doesn’t apply to private-sector middle-class workers fighting adverse conditions that exist throughout America. So they’ve exercised the classic democratic right of political action, organizing themselves to compete in elections. The Tea Party is the national voice of the private-sector middle class—despite the demonizations heaped upon it by public-policy elites whose own judgment and competence leave much to be desired.
I doubt that the world "needs" more people, but I do think it needs more millionaires and billionaires because they buy stuff and invest in new enterprises.
Texas governor Rick Perry is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination now, at least in the national polls. Undoubtedly that’s the main reason so many East Coast pundits and Beltway wags are making fun of him. He likes guns! He’s from Texas! He talks funny! He’s a — gird yourself now — Christian! New York magazine and others mock his harmless, Bush-like pronunciation of nuclear (“nuke-ular”). They’re scandalized that he doesn’t go to a golf course to relax, but a shooting range. It’s already a cliché among liberals to describe him as the sort of cartoonish, ignorant cowboy ...
I can say for certain that I would reconsider any sailing plans around the Outer Banks, the Chesapeake, New Jersey or southern New England this weekend. I remember being on Martha's Vineyard a day after Hurricane Bob. Big waves. They were already selling "I Got Blown By Bob" t-shirts. Let no hurricane go to waste.
Somewhere, somebody is already printing tees with "I Got Blown By Irene" - just in case they do.
Irene seems to be weakening, to Brendan's ill-concealed disappointment.
Lewis’s aversion to government was clearly revealed in 1951 when Winston Churchill, within weeks after he regained office as prime minister of Great Britain, wrote to Lewis offering to have him knighted as “Commander of the Order of the British Empire.”Lewis flatly declined the honor because he, unlike the “progressives,” was never interested in politics and was deeply skeptical of government power and politicians, as expressed in the first two lines of his poem “Lines during a General Election”: “Their threats are terrible enough, but we could bear / All that; it is their promises that bring despair.”
From our archives, because the sound of saws may be constant around here this weekend, if Irene hits us in Yankeeland:
Burning carbon to kill trees! Good work and good fun.
The gasoline-powered chainsaw is one of the finest inventions since the wheel and the plow. It's really just a mechanized stone axe like my Indian sncestors used, and I am eagerly awaiting the laser saw to bring wood cutting into the 21st Century.
While the engineering principles of the chainsaw may go back to surgical instruments of the 1800s, the modern concept dates to the 1920's with bulky and impractical designs until the German engineer Andreas Stihl developed his "tree-cutting machine" around 1929. The one-man saw dates to around 1950 and was perfected by Stihl and their main competitor, the weapons manufacturer Husqvarna. The Stihl family still owns their company. Check out their saws here. (No, this is not an advt.)
I have always enjoyed power saws: my godfather's father started the Wright Saw Company in CT, which produces a reciprocating power saw - an anomaly in the development of power saws which never really caught on except for special uses.
Of course, the famous and indispensible Sawzall is a reciprocating saw.
Here's the interesting weather we have to look forward to, up here. Think I'll go get some gas for my Stihl Farm Boss.
599 Chequessett Neck Rd Wellfleet, MA. 3bd. 2fb. Single Family, asking $1,900,000. I know the site all too well. This place is on half of the lot we wanted to buy, years ago, for $125,000 and felt we could not afford it. Turned out we could have, and should have. I'd be rich now, at least on paper.
Details and pics here. It's right down the road from Aunt Sukie's. Much as I love that area, I'd rather have a place on Lieutenant Island.
It must be late summer, and I have hunting on my mind.
This is my muddy-legged huntin' Standard Poodle, gazing out the cabin door after a long day in the woods and bogs a few years ago. Don't laugh: he points hard, and retrieves. Bred from a line of hunting Standards, and my second from that line. Used to hunt pretty close, but lately ranges too far yet will loop 20 yards left or right on command. Will chase a damn deer in a swamp forever, dang it. That's what whistles and shock collars were made for. He's been good with whistle commands, but I haven't practiced with him lately. Also known to point on mice. Love the guy despite imperfections, and well-aware that any dog's imperfections in training are really the master's laziness.
"Find the bird." He will do that with the greatest of pleasure, but it might very well be out of range if he puts the bird up or points on it. Loves the job, loves the hunt. Like most field dogs, cannot understand how any human can miss a bird. "No bird, no bird." They look at you like you're an idiot. You are supposed to be God.
I cannot clean a shotgun with him in the room. He goes berserko with excitement. All hunting dogs know the difference between hunting gear and ordinary outdoor stuff.
There is no work-out like a few days over hill and dale and busting brush in Maine near the Quebec border, pursuing the Ruffed Grouse (they call it pa'tridge up there - or "chicken") and Woodcock. Gosh, I just love it, even though you occasionally annoy a cranky moose.
Irene might be headed to New England. No problem - we can deal with it. It's always a smaller deal than they make it sound. I call it "Weather Porn." And if Yankees can't deal with bad weather, who can? Heck, we enjoy bad weather.
Muslim immigrants to America seem to get with the program - that's why they came. I wonder why they form dangerous and socially-hostile ghettoes in Europe. Might it be because they are given too much? The workers in my Dunkin Donuts used to be all Hispanic women - now it's half Hispanic women and half Muslim men.
What an absurdity. Had Obama not shattered investor and employer confidence with massive intervention after massive intervention in the markets, had he practiced any fiscal discipline or simply not imposed the enormous burdens of Obamacare on employers, then the country would not be struggling to get unemployment under 9%. If he just called off the NLRB there would be more jobs in South Carolina, and that is one of thousands of destructive regulatory decisions, perhaps tens of thousands of such decisions.
My stage-and-screen pupette drove out to Cleveland last week to work in her second major motion pic this year, part of which is being filmed there. She has to be ready, on the set at 5:42 each morning. Why not 5:45? Don't ask me. She says she's staying in a really nice place near the Cleveland Clinic.
I emailed her this old vid which I still find amusing, and she emailed back that "It's actually quite nice here."
I think the debt ceiling debate this year has done for future debt ceiling thresholds what the Bork nomination did for judicial politics in 1987—changed the political rules of the game forever.
If the moral arc of the universe truly bent toward justice, Theodore Parker's line wouldn't be inscribed in the Martin Luther King monument and ascribed to King as one of his most famous sayings.
As a very casual fisherman now - but an ex-avid fisherman (I no longer really care whether I catch anything or not as long as I can be out on the water), I kinda wonder.
For that, Mr. Gore himself has a lot of blame to carry. His own “sputtering righteousness” and his adolescent barks of “bulls–t” to his critics may be a reverse of the Obama declaration. Gore’s meltdown might just be the moment when the people of the planet saw the carney show for what it was.
As fall planting season approaches here in the Northern Hemisphere, here are two simple tips to save you money and hassle:
1. When you plant a tree or shrub, space it to what its size will be in 10 or 20 years, if not more. Time flies, and the next thing you know you'll be cutting some of them down so they don't jam eachother into poor health. This error is commonly made when planting things too near the foundation of a house. Landscapers love to jam things in everywhere because they can sell you more stuff, and it looks better right away. I have made this foolish error enough times to have truly learned it: I am having to cut down a $175 fir today which I had planted, five years ago, too close to a group - because it looked good at first.
2. When you read that a plant needs "full sun," that means direct sun from morning until dusk. It does not mean full sun for part of the day. Furthermore, half-sun means half-day sun - preferably morning light. More sun is not better for a half-sun plant: just ask any Rhododendron or most Hydrangeas.
Oh, almost forgot a third: Never plant Wisteria anywhere, unless you have full-time gardeners to keep your place looking neat and under control. Take it from me. Just don't do it, no matter how delightful it is in May. Pick some other vine for shade unless continual warfare is your plan.
How do they get 40 black government SUVs to the Vineyard? Do they charter a ferry? Or two? And where does this entourage sleep at night? In tents? Space on MV ain't cheap at all.
Related: Steyn: The Imperial Presidency- European royals make do with a less lavish lifestyle than the supposed citizen-executive of a so-called republic.
Christians are used to their generosities doing no good at all. We rather expect that will be the case many times. It is ours to give, and then the matter is out of our control. We even accept, more reluctantly, that our gift may go to wrong purposes, that in the free will of the recipient are many of the evils common to mankind, and our nickel may go to the devil.
When we know that the gift will harm, however, does the picture change?
While the evidence (both from polling and observational data) strongly indicates Romney has the best chance to beat the Obama candidacy the Republicans are most likely to face in 2012, his biggest problem appears to be that while the base claims electability is the most important quality it is looking for, it doesn't yet understand that he may be the only person with a real shot.
It is also possible that, much like a young woman on the dating scene, what the Republican base says it wants and what it really desires are two very different things. They have already discarded the "nice" guy who would have been best for them in the long run (Pawlenty) and are now enamored with the latest "bad boy" (Perry) who is exciting but who has very little "marriage" potential.
In short, Romney is in great danger of being left at the alter (sic) by a base which wrongly thinks that Obama's weakness has left them free to follow their hearts instead of their brains.
He might be right. I don't know. I do know that Palin can't win a national election
Those leftists who spend their days spinning apology for this sort of thing (and for worse) might like to think about how they could contribute instead to forming a more appealing vision of ways to challenge the extremes of capitalist inequality, and social injustice more generally.
Yeah - they could start a business and hire some people. That would make a real difference in some lives. And pay themselves the same as they pay their employees...
12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.
12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
12:4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,
12:5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
12:6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;
12:7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;
12:8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
REX MURPHY: Global Warming Runs Out Of Gas.“In tight economic times people are naturally unwilling to engage in the comicbook fantasies of the wilder environmentalists. Perhaps Climategate gave a too-souring glimpse into the mixture of science and advocacy that has, to some extent, corrupted both. Perhaps, finally, the unctuousness, sanctimony and sputtering righteousness of the high profile environmentalists signal to most observers that they aren’t really as certain of all this ‘science’ as they pretend to be. “
The prospects for Irene in the northeast change by the hour. Last night, she was downgraded but now it's just confusing. However, if she does hit New England hard, don't be surprised if Maggie's is down for a while. As of now, predictions are just "rain and wind" on Sunday, warm and sunny Monday. (That's obviously an old toon from the files)
Image via 
Gun Owners: 
The Angler: 
As fall planting season approaches here in the Northern Hemisphere, here are two simple tips to save you money and hassle:
Photo from