Saturday, September 6. 2014
 A book: Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation
Another book: The Liberal Jihad: The Hundred Year War Against The Constitution
Whatever Happened to Global Warming?
High Flying Hillary Clinton Calls “Climate Change” Most Important Issue Facing Nation And World
‘Human safaris’ in the Amazon basin
Every day in life is a human safari
The FDA vs. Fine Cheese: A Wedge Too Far
Boris and Stefan - Reliving one of the great rivalries in men’s tennis
Counterculture update: Considering most of what we see on TV, the Duggar family is basically transgressive.
"We"? I see nothing on TV
Why Sally can’t get a good job with her college degree.
Waiting on Experiences Can Be More Valuable than Things
But getting things is an experience too, like a Pistachio gelato in Ortygia.
25 Manly Things Every Manly Man Should Know How To Do
Genetic Engineering Could Provide the Solution to Florida’s Citrus Problem
Another all-women’s college to admit transgender students
Really old trousers
Toss the trousers, but try the cannabis
Vomitoria were apparently not rooms the Romans devoted to vomiting after dinner
Joel Osteen and his wife are heretics, and that’s why America loves them
A Tale of Two Ways to Hate Cities
The Simple Technology That Accidentally Ruined Baseball
The Most Expensive Train Station in the US The Wall Street Journal has a humdinger of a piece that beautifully illustrates why we can’t have nice things
Failure on the Home Front - Where is the domestic prosperity that the president’s global retreat was designed to enable?
Geert Wilders: "War Has Been Declared against Us" - A Speech in the Netherlands Parliament
Romney capitalizes on 2012 clairvoyance about today’s global Hellscape with searing op-ed
Cruel but amusing piece on Hillary Clinton's sexuality
Life in Prison for Pot and Other Travesties of Marijuana Prohibition
Videos: The women of ISIS
Sheesh, not my type
Record 92,269,000 Not in Labor Force; Participation Rate Matches 36-Year Low
53 Million Temps: All You Need To Know About The "Jobs Recovery"
Jeb Bush's Team Signals 2016 White House Bid
Please, no.
Central Planning Update: Illinois’ second largest district drops Michelle O’s menu after hummus is deemed too fatty!
At Drudge:
llinois' second largest school district drops Michelle O menu...
Hummus too fatty...
Pretzels too salty...
Hard-boiled eggs banned...
 She was a phantom of delight (1804)
SHE was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair;
Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;
A dancing Shape, an Image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and way-lay.
I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin-liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A Creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A Being breathing thoughtful breath,
A Traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.
Friday, September 5. 2014
When driving on I-95 (actually, I-195 - thanks, astute reader, it is past Providence) through southern Massachusetts, you can enhance your trip greatly by stopping for a bite at Gene's. It's been there for 55 years, going strong. Delicious, near New Bedford.
There is great road food out there in the Northeast US, if you can find it. At Maggie's, we know a few of the best ones in the Northeast. McDonald's? Are you kidding? Never. Barf.
Take the Fairhaven exit (18), and drive south to the light, then take a right on the main drag. It's not too far, on the right side of the road. Do it - you will thank me. Try the fried oysters, or the fried clam bellies, or the codfish balls, or the fish and chips. Or anything else.
If I were Elvis, I'd send a chopper out there to fetch good snacks and meals. Cheap, too.
Yes, if you recall, Fairhaven MA is where Joshua Slocum found the Spray as a deteriorating hulk. If you have never read his book, then you can thank me for that too. First guy to sail around the world single-handed, in her.
Thursday, September 4. 2014
 Spicy grilled Brussel Sprouts
It is reported that B. Sprouts are best after a frost, so we put them in the freezer for a couple of hours before cooking.
Fried Zucchini
 The Truth We Won’t Admit: Drinking Is Healthy
5 Lies Christians Are Told - A few of the lies Christians often believe that are hurting the Church.
Recent college grads:
College selectivity did not significantly affect the graduates’ chances of employment, the authors write, and neither did gender, race or parental education.
About Horowitz's oevre: Rebel With a Better Cause
The Scariest California Drought Map Yet
Double mastectomy doesn't boost survival for most, study says
Priorities: Germany bans Uber, ride-sharing services
Why Dying Is Easier for Doctors
To administer medical care that makes people suffer is anguishing. Physicians are trained to gather information without revealing any of their own feelings, but in private, among fellow doctors, they’ll vent. “How can anyone do that to their family members?” they’ll ask. I suspect it’s one reason physicians have higher rates of alcohol abuse and depression than professionals in most other fields. I know it’s one reason I stopped participating in hospital care for the last 10 years of my practice.
How has it come to this–that doctors administer so much care that they wouldn’t want for themselves? The simple, or not-so-simple, answer is this: patients, doctors, and the system.
September 1st Heros: Shop Teachers
UN Looks In Crystal Ball, Creates Weather Forecasts For 2015
It is Historically Unusual for China NOT to be the Largest Economy on Earth
Fired Writer Gavin McInnes: Politically Correct Outrage Is Like The Mob
Marxist Feminism’s Ruined Lives:
“Why are we here today?” she asked.
“To make revolution,” they answered.
“What kind of revolution?” she replied.
“The Cultural Revolution,” they chanted.
“And how do we make Cultural Revolution?” she demanded.
“By destroying the American family!” they answered.
“How do we destroy the family?” she came back.
“By destroying the American Patriarch,” they cried exuberantly.
“And how do we destroy the American Patriarch?” she replied.
“By taking away his power!”
“How do we do that?”
“By destroying monogamy!” they shouted.
“How can we destroy monogamy?”
“By promoting promiscuity, eroticism, prostitution and homosexuality!” they resounded.
5 Feminist Myths That Will Not Die
"In
short, Defendants claim a carte blanche to target more or less every
person or group that has ever participated in Wisconsin political or
policy debates..." - "... to raid their homes...
Univision Reporter Gets Owned
The Great Myth: World War I Was No Accident - World War I wasn’t an inadvertent war but the result of deliberate German state policy.
AMCHA POSTS LIST OF ANTI-ISRAEL PROFESSORS - Warns Students of More than 200 Middle East Scholars Who Signed Boycott Petition
Jihad in the Balkans: The Next Generation
This message is to you, Vladimir Putin’: ISIS threatens ‘to liberate Chechnya and Caucasus’
Wednesday, September 3. 2014
 Nature's alterations to the landscape never end, and mankind gets in the way.
Billingsgate Island, once the site of a lighthouse, a school, and over 30 houses, is now Billingsgate Shoal. It used to be a popular picnic destination, big clambakes.
Some of it is above water now, during low tides. Best explanation I've heard is that destroying the salt marshes that protected it from Cape Cod Bay (for salt hay to feed the critters) is what destroyed it.
This photo shows what agriculture and deforestation (by the Indians and then by the Europeans with their farms and cattle) did to the soil of the outer Cape: it's down to sand and sweet-smelling scrub now:
Interesting piece on the topic below the fold -
Continue reading "Man vs. nature on Cape Cod"
 The good news for Polar Bears
12 absolutely delicious apples you’ve probably never tasted
What are the Intellectual Virtues?
Privacy and Self-Image on the Internet: Does It Really Matter?
Growing marijuana in the modern cornfield
Cost of educating new class of illegal immigrant minors estimated at over $760M
Maryland’s thought police strike - Teacher suspended and school locked down over sci-fi novel
Good grief.
She writes college essays for Chinese applicants
How easily we forget that Western morality is not universal - even in the West
UN Internet Control As Bad As Feared
No Uncle Toms on the Left
Williamson considers Detroit's criminal machine
A good reason to pay attention in school (video)
Ben Carson: Obama Says ‘We Are Not a Judeo-Christian Nation’ – But He Doesn’t Get to Decide, We Do
College hate crime update
Steyn: The Day After Labor
Consider Vermont. Unlike my own state of New Hampshire, it has a bucolic image: Holsteins, dirt roads, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Ben & Jerry's, Howard Dean… And yet the Green Mountain State now has appalling levels of heroin and meth addiction, and the social chaos that follows. Geoffrey Norman began a recent essay in The Weekly Standard with a vignette from a town I know very well — St Johnsbury, population 7,600, motto "Very Vermont", the capital of the remote North-East Kingdom hard by the Quebec border and as far from urban pathologies as you can get. Or so you'd think. But on a recent Saturday morning, Norman reports, there were more cars parked at the needle-exchange clinic than at the farmers' market. In Vermont, there's no inner-city underclass, because there are no cities, inner or outer; there's no disadvantaged minorities, because there's only three blacks and seven Hispanics in the entire state; there's no nothing. Which is the real problem.
Da Tech Guy meets his local constabulary
Analysts Predict Obamacare Will Eliminate Employer-Provided Healthcare
Ukraine’s Real Problem: Rampant Corruption
It's a crappy place
Related, What crucial American interest is in play in Somalia?
That's a really crappy place.
I love outdoor showers. Nude, or in a salty bathing suit, it's like a Hawaiian waterfall.
Tuesday, September 2. 2014
 Colorful socks for guys: The Tie Bar
Gear everybody needs, cheap: Sierra Trading Post
Perennials to plant in the fall to get a jump start on Spring: Bluestone
A book:American Phoenix: The Remarkable Story of William Skinner, A Man Who Turned Disaster Into Destiny
The Tao Of Dante
Why Our Molecular Make-Up Can’t Explain Who We Are
Feminist Gay Activist Pushing to Keep Bathrooms Gender-Segregated
Why Doctors Are Sick of Their Profession - American physicians are increasingly unhappy with their once-vaunted profession, and that malaise is bad for their patients
Only 28 Percent of ALS Ice Bucket Donations Used For Research
Oregon Denies Permit to Coal Exporter, Greens Cite Impact on Salmon
No warming for 19 years
Joe Biden: Time to take America back
Why Are Democrats Sliming Rand Paul?
Happy Labor Day. Are Unions Dead?
An interview with Rich Yeselson, labor strategist and expert
Want better, smaller government? Hire another million federal bureaucrats.
Obama: People in Power Trying to Bamboozle You
As Obama Heads to Summit, NATO Finds Renewed Purpose
An organization in search of a purpose
World War II Started 75 Years Ago Today, Still Shaping Foreign Policy
Israel’s Decision to Declare 988 Acres of West Bank Territory as State Land
Islam, Postmodernism, and Political Correctness
Jihad Comes To Europe
Israel’s
Decision to Declare 988 Acres of West Bank Territory as State Land -
See more at:
http://jcpa.org/israels-988-acres-of-west-bank-territory/#sthash.EceSqJjB.dpuf
Israel’s
Decision to Declare 988 Acres of West Bank Territory as State Land -
See more at:
http://jcpa.org/israels-988-acres-of-west-bank-territory/#sthash.EceSqJjB.dpuf
Monday, September 1. 2014
I had a great supper last night: Cornbread, superb macaroni and cheese, ribs, cheesecake. A shame that I wasn't hungry because I could not do it all justice. I am rarely hungry despite enjoying some tasty food. Food is overrated, too important than it deserves to be as long as there is a little something around.
One smallish meal daily works well for me. Unless coffee is a meal. I still fit in my college Brooks Bros. tux. Money saved.
Sunday, August 31. 2014
This month a new Dylan album comes out. The author thinks he has Bob figured out:
... then there’s plain sonic impact: Even his earliest important songs have a cerebral and reverberating authority in the recording, his voice sometimes filling the speakers, his primitive but blistering guitar work adding confrontation, ease, humor, anger, and contrariness, presenting all but the most unwilling listeners with moment after moment of incandescence.
And, finally, a key component often overlooked: Dylan’s artistic process. On a fundamental level, he doesn’t trust mediation or planning. The story of his recording career is littered with tales of indecisive and failed sessions and haphazard successful ones, in both cases leaving frustrated producers and session people in their wake. You could say the approach served him well during his early years of inspiration and has hobbled him in his later decades of lesser work. Dylan doesn’t care. During the recording of Blood on the Tracks, which may be the best rock album ever made, one of the musicians present heard the singer being told how to do something correctly in the studio. Dylan’s reply: “Y’know, if I’d listened to everybody who told me how to do stuff, I might be somewhere by now.”
Opera is Not Just Our Most Expensive Noise
Scruton actually composed an opera, says it was the most difficult task he has ever undertaken. One quote:
A full-scale spectacle must run for an extended period if it is to cover its costs. Hence an opera can put the composer's name in lights for days on end, and the more costly the production the longer it must run. But it is not the promise of repeat performances that draws so many composers to this supremely demanding art form. Opera is a crown to be won, a sign that the composer has finally stuck his head above the clouds on Mount Olympus.
Aren't modern musicals operas? Or operettas?
 "...I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprize, and independance to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."
Thomas Jefferson (h/t Ace). Right on, dude. Took the pup for a long walk this moring with a pal with his Molon Labe t-shirt. We ran into a dear 92 year-old neighbor friend on his morning walk, and I accused him of being a dirty old man for drooling over Mrs. BD and the other gals. He punched me in the stomach. He is a mountain-climber, world-wide.
From this site: Aulosinternet
He's only 69. Looks 79. Acts 89. We appreciate his work, though.
Myth of arctic meltdown: Stunning satellite images show summer ice cap is thicker and covers 1.7million square kilometres MORE than 2 years ago...despite Al Gore's prediction it would be ICE-FREE by now
Somewhat related: Wind and solar power are industries that are destined to remain in their infancy, if not forever, then certainly for the indefinite future.
It's all so stupid, if not malevolent.
Matthew 16:21-28
16:21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you."
16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
16:25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
16:26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
16:27 "For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.
16:28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
 We had a few leftover Cape Cod lobsters from our birthday party (because many of the gals could only handle half a lobster). With these critters over one and a half pounds, I like to split them with a cleaver and a mallet, and guests like it that way.
I hit the jackpot with these three - all gal lobsters with abundant delicious roe. I like to eat that green liver too. Tasty.
In Maine, they call lobsters "bugs."
Even if you do not love lobster, it's a festive food. Lobster-buying tip: the meat-weight ratio increases with increasing lobster weight. Bigger lobsters are thus always a better deal. Somebody could do the math. Big lobsters are no more chewy than smaller ones.
Our lobster place in Wellfleet had an 8-pounder and a ten-pounder. Seafood stores will always steam them for you without charge.
Another comment about lobster fishing: government regulations determine keepable sizes and, in government's wisdom, it's ass-backwards just as it is with Striped Bass. Best for the species for fishers to keep the smaller ones, few of whom will ever reach breeding age anyway, and not keep the big breeders. But that makes too much sense.
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