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.
Boswell to Dr. Johnson: My friend, Lord So And So from Edinburgh, has studied too deeply and aberrantly, has become a drinker, and has turned unfaithful (to the church).
Dr. Johnson: If he has drunk his way out of faith, he will in time drink his way back into it.
It is fascinating how the intellectual elites of Jackson’s time had the same level of contempt for the common man as the arrogant ruling elite have for the “deplorables” inhabiting the towns and hamlets of flyover America today. Alexis de Tocqueville, a pretentious French intellectual, and contemporary of Andrew Jackson, treated Jackson, his presidency, and his supporters disdainfully in his book Democracy in America, written during Jackson’s presidency. The haughty condescension of the rich and powerful elite towards the plebs has spanned the ages, with the NYT, Washington Post and CNN scornfully filling the role of Tocqueville today.
In reality, the chief political “weakness” of conservatism—it is better to think of it as a challenge—is that modern Americans are conditioned to expect that government can solve all our problems, or must at least try to solve them. It is the lot of conservatives to resist solutions that are popular but barmy. Populism cannot change the fact that government is incapable of solving problems upstream of government—problems of culture and complexity that government amelioration efforts, however well-intentioned, often exacerbate.
Maple sap begins to flow when there are sufficient daily temperature swings between below and above freezing. That tends to be towards late February-early March in New England, depending on latitude and the weather. Curiously, Sugar Maple sap does not just flow up from the roots - it flows both downwards from the branches and up the trunk, depending on the time of day and the whim of the tree.
Our Vermont friends have been busy getting ready for sugarin', so it's time for some info. We tend to think of Vermont maple syrup, but Canada is the major producer. We consume it abundantly in New England and do not approve of the cheap substitute goop in the supermarkets. We buy the real stuff by the gallon when we can, especially the Grades below Light Amber. You can buy the rather intense Grade B here, but I think I prefer the third level of Grade A - Dark Amber. This place sells all of the grades.
Grading - Many of of us like the intensity of the lower grades , but you won't find them in supermarkets. They are easy to find in Maple sugar country, though. About Maple sugar grades
$ - We pay retail in the $20s/gallon, but the farmers get between $2-$3/gallon, usually. More in a "bad" year.
When it looks like it has gone bad, it hasn't. Give it a light boil, skim it, and it's fine. Better yet, use it before any mold grows on the surface.
Besides on waffles, French Toast, and pancakes, what can you do with it?
- Put it on oatmeal like the Pilgrims did. - Pour some into winter squash halves with a pat of butter and bake, like my Indian ancestors probably did. - Drizzle some over fresh-fallen snow. Instant Maple popsicles with the power to pull out all of your fillings and crowns and to enrich your dentist. - Drizzle some over Pumpkin Pie. Wow. Tom taught us that. - Drizzle it over salmon, with some butter, before baking
Ancient Israel's National Anthem - The great song marking the Israelites’ safe crossing of the Sea of Reeds is the Hebrew Bible’s only full-length poem recited collectively by the people as a whole. What is it really about?
Thanks to Vanderleun. Somehow, I never knew this Tennyson poem. We all have regretful knowledge lacunae but we fight them daily. In sophomore (required) Public Speaking, part of that course was to memorize and recite a poem, an epic fragment (choice of Milton, Homer, Chaucer, Virgil, Hesiod, or Dante), or a Shakespeare soliloquy, each month. I have a few Shakespeare sonnets permanently in my hippocampus. Wish I had found this Tennyson then. The Sparks Notes re Ulysses.
Ulysses
It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea: I am become a name; For always roaming with a hungry heart Much have I seen and known; cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments, Myself not least, but honour’d of them all; And drunk delight of battle with my peers, Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy. I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’ Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades For ever and forever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! As tho’ to breathe were life! Life piled on life Were all too little, and of one to me Little remains: but every hour is saved From that eternal silence, something more, A bringer of new things; and vile it were For some three suns to store and hoard myself, And this gray spirit yearning in desire To follow knowledge like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
This is my son, mine own Telemachus, To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,— Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil This labour, by slow prudence to make mild A rugged people, and thro’ soft degrees Subdue them to the useful and the good. Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere Of common duties, decent not to fail In offices of tenderness, and pay Meet adoration to my household gods, When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail: There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners, Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me— That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old; Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods. The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks: The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, ’Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’ We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
My routine is to get a general physical (with big blood work, stress EKG with echo, etc) from my internist every four years, but this week I did it after 2 years because I was curious about the effects of my quite intense exercise program after 2 years of 4-6 days/wk.
He couldn't find any problems with me. He said my body fat was down to "athlete," that my fitness and endurance were far above average for my age and markedly improved from 2 years ago, that my heart was perfect, that my physique looked excellent for my age (Daddy Belly totally gone), that I should try to gain 5 more lbs by eating more (same thing my trainer keeps bugging me about but I don't like to eat much - I like to consume just enough to stop feeling hungry). Other than that, it was "Keep doing whatever you are doing."
He had me cut my BP meds in half. He wanted me to stay on the lipitor because my triglycerides had improved dramtically even though I was on the lipitor before, and were now perfect (I don't believe in that triglyceride stuff, but I want him to be happy).
He went over the details of my exercise program and told me that it was similar to his with a balance of weights, calis, and a little cardio, about 5hrs/wk total. He is fit as hell, 55 but looks like a powerful and athletic 40. However, he has been doing his program for many years. We estimate that I lost around 8 lbs. of pudge and gained about 10 lbs. of lean muscle in 2 years.
So it's been good for me from the medical angle, but that is not why I do it. I do it to maintain Fitness for Life. Any medical bonus is welcome.
(Also, he has some interesting ideas about the traumatic arthritis in my right shoulder. Wants me to see his pal at HSS if I feel like it. Just for fun, I got a tetanus booster, a Shingles vaccine, and a Pneumonia vaccine.)
This might be inspiring - I hope so. Have readers had a similar experience?
Sanders is ignorant about real life. New businesses do not make money. They hope to. Reminds me of Hillary's famous "We can't worry about every undercapitalized business in America."
The American Climbing the Ranks of ISIS - John Georgelas was a military brat, a drug enthusiast, a precocious underachiever born in Texas. Now he is a prominent figure within the Islamic State. Here’s the story of his long and troubling journey.
Our realtor friend in Wellfleet is constantly tempting us with items. But we are smart: We rent on vacations and we are not rich. Who really wants more property maintenance when you could be reading, fishing, sailing, hiking, kayaking, or swimming? Who wants more drudgery?
The old Bookstore on the edge of Main St. is for sale. Not the Bookstore Restaurant, the old bookstore. Being a short walk to "downtown" is very desirable these days. A real bookstore in that tiny village is absurd, with tourists basically 2 months/yr. It's a house. Built 1830. Asking $648,000.
Is The Donald half-nuts? I sort-of think so. It's why he was elected. Overturn tables, rattle cages, slash and burn, etc.
I think I figgered it all out. His mom, Mary Ann Macleod, was a penniless immigrant from the Isle of Lewis, outside Stornaway. Lots of wild and crazy Clan Macleods up there - or used to be before most of them sensibly emigrated to America where the living is easy.
Trump's mom worked as domestic help in NYC before marrying Fred Trump, the real estate developer of German extraction.
As I understand it, the Hebrides islanders are like high-octane Highlanders. They had to be, to fight to survive the elements, the sea, the Danes, rival clans, and the Brits. Women as tough and stubborn as the men. A semi-civilized, fighting, reckless, ignorant, defiant breed.
Conan the Barbarian was modeled after highland Celtic warriors. Barbarians. America was fed up with its elite overlords who always knew better than us, the great unwashed.
Parsi’s cynical histrionics, like the incessant cries over a nonexistent “Muslim ban,” are symptoms of a larger problem with the left’s reaction to Donald Trump, who indeed poses a genuine menace to both this country and the world. Consider: In the months following his upset presidential victory late last year, three white men screaming Trump’s name assaulted a young Muslim woman on the Manhattan 6 train and tried to rip off her hijab, a black church in Mississippi was firebombed with “Vote Trump” spray-painted on its brick wall, a Jewish family fled Lancaster County in Pennsylvania after receiving threats for exempting their child from an elementary school Christmas pageant, and just last week an elderly Iraqi woman died awaiting medical treatment because she was barred from entering the United States due to Trump’s executive order.
Fortunately, none of these things actually happened...
What if time has passed the Left by? What if its future is the past? The frightening question must be faced. One solution says Harris, is for the Left to completely rearchitecture itself, starting with an abanonment of the proletariat by accepting that traditional work no longer exists. Having left the greasy workplace it should become instead a lifestyle party.
We consider planks to be a basic in the calisthenic component of a fitness program. While many planks are really isometric, I'll put them under the calisthenic umbrella along with more active planks like Mountain Climbers and Burpees.
Regular elbow or straight-arm planks are good uses of "rest" periods between weight-lifting, too. Planks are not really cosmetic, for creating visible 6-packs. You will never do that. They are core-strengtheners, which means torso. A sturdy torso is one's core.
I probably do 8-10 30-60-second planks of various types weekly, usually as part of supersets. Not much, but it fills the time. I do plenty of other calis that make demands on core, but all exercise stresses the core because...it's the core.
That was quite a game last night, wasn't it? Commenter at Gateway:
The Falcons plan to file a lawsuit saying the Patriots may have had the highest score but Atlanta should be declared the winner since they rushed for the most yards.
1:18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1:19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom,
1:23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1:25 For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
1:26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
1:28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are,
1:29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
1:30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1:31 in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
I don't follow pro football, so it doesn't mean much to me. It does seem like a decent excuse for a cheery mid-winter party, though. Just spare me the revolting chips and guacamole.
Serious football fans seem not to like Superbowl parties. My father-in-law would never attend one. Too much noise and distraction. When it comes to football, he likes to focus like a laser beam, in solitude.
We linked a piece about the life of H A Rey (Curious George) a while ago. Rey also wrote Find the Constellations and The Stars. I learned the constellations from those books.
I can still look up and find the North Star as long as I can find the Big Dipper (which is low in the sky this time of year). Basic life knowledge.
Constellations illustrate an interesting cognitive phenomenon. There is no pattern up there in the sky, but if you invent some, you will see them for the rest of your life.
Six Plants and Animals 
How the 
Maple sap begins to flow when there are sufficient daily temperature swings between below and above freezing. That tends to be towards late February-early March in New England, depending on latitude and the weather. Curiously, Sugar Maple sap does not just flow up from the roots - it flows both downwards from the branches and up the trunk, depending on the time of day and the whim of the tree.
Grading - Many of of us like the intensity of the lower grades , but you won't find them in supermarkets. They are easy to find in Maple sugar country, though. 
Toons on top via Orwellian Happenings: Twitter Censors Trump,
Ulysses 
A reason to 
Gwynnie's photo from yesterday. Buried in snow today 
Is The Donald half-nuts? I sort-of think so. It's why he was elected. Overturn tables, rattle cages, slash and burn, etc.
An Eagle
Today's real headline: 
We linked a piece about the life of H A Rey (Curious George) a while ago. Rey also wrote