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.
"These people who are already insecure about losing their job switch on the TV, look at the newspaper and hear that they are being described as bigots, racists... and they resent it."
The Clinton-purchased Steele Dossier was the encephalitic virus that infected the entire Washington establishment between 2016 and 2019. Without it, there would have been no such thing as “collusion,” much less a Mueller investigation.
There will soon enough be an effort to memory-hole it, but the media coverage of the Russia investigation was abysmal and self-discrediting — obsessive and hysterical, often suggesting that the smoking gun was right around the corner, sometimes supporting its hoped-for result with erroneous, too-good-to-check reporting. Never has so little come of so many screaming chyrons. Every mini-scooplet was played up like major news, and if you went on air and said that collusion was unlikely and we should wait for the evidence, you were often treated like you were in the tank for Trump. The last two years have been a disgrace, and no one should forget it.
Yesterday morning I did a free-wheeling workout day. I just felt like it. (And this morning, just an hour of "cardio" - stair machine, HIIT on treadmill, and elliptical because I do heavy tomorrow morning.)
Yesterday morning I had no time constraints for my free-wheeling: 10 min ellip warm-up (needed warm-up), then a 3X rotation of 20-pushups, 10 (assisted) pullups, 30 kettlebell lunges, rower 60-sec sprints; then a 4X rotation of 100 mixed jump rope, heavy ball squat- and- wall throws, and kettlebell swings; then a 4X rotation of kettlebell Farmer Walks, Roman Chair leg raises, overhand curls, and 60-second planks.
Once in a while it feels good to throw away your game plan and just have random fun with all the toys in the gym. You know - masochistic fun. It feels good at the end.
55:1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
55:2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
55:4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
55:5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;
55:7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
St. Patrick's Day is a traditional time to plant peas around here. Sometimes you have to scrape snow off the garden. Sometimes the seeds never germinate. Still, tradition. I'll try to do it today if 1/2 inch of soil is soft.
I don't grow them for the peas. I grow them for the early sweet and crunchy pea-pods. We just eat them raw usually, while checking out the garden.
"Walking Shoes" andTrail Walking Shoes are neither running shoes nor hiking shoes, generally speaking. Like many European cities, New York City is a walking town. New Yorkers walk a lot. In fact, in many circumstances in Manhattan you can get to your destination as fast, or faster, than you can with a cab or an Uber.
For urban walking and urban hiking, you want walking shoes. They are more like heavy-duty sneakers.
I suppose you want to use the lightest weight shoe for your purpose. No bouldering boots for exploring Vienna: Trail Walking Shoe vs. Hiking Shoe. We like Merrells and Keens for either long-distance urban or trail walking.
When reading through the news stories of the Huffington Post, CNN, and some other leftist outlets, I feel as though I am peeking into a perverted mind. Whatever Trump says or does is presented with a hateful smear, facts are either twisted or ignored, and not even a feeble attempt of being objective is being made. No, they are not insane. They attack the president intentionally.
Mark your calendars. We apologize for putting it on a Sunday, but we were running out of possible dates.
As usual, our outing will be regardless of weather. As my sister says, there is no such thing as bad weather, just wrong clothing.
This hike will begin at the Lincoln Center fountain and proceed uptown to The Cloisters, about 9 miles all told. Lots of Broadway, which was the old highway north from New Amsterdam (and, first, an Indian path). As always, there will a lunch stop somewhere with beers, and stops at various spots of historical or cultural interest.
All friends and readers are invited to be a part of our caravan. We always have a jolly time of it. Lots of laughs, excellent companionship, and sore legs at the end. Easy subway or Uber back downtown.
The number of pushups a guy or gal can do is a fair proxy for general fitness. 50 pushups in 60 seconds is a fitness benchmark. (I can not do that yet.)
Pushups are a calisthenic exercise but they do build some strength in the core, chest, arms, and shoulders. I do them on my calisthenics days but you can do them every day.
Why use the handles? Because you can dip lower, and because they are kind to your wrists. I don't approve of declined pushups because of the wrist and shoulder stress.
"More than 15 journalists, several U.S. government officials and multiple lawmakers were shown or given the Steele dossier during the 2016 presidential campaign or shortly after. Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele disseminated the dossier far and wide in an apparent attempt to insert the document’s salacious allegations into the media. Newly unsealed court filings show how widespread this effort was."
It goes without saying that right-wing madmen like Donald Trump and Andrew Scheer are to blame for Christchurch, but did you know that, when you peel back the conspiracy and discover who's really pulling the Trump-Scheer strings, you find Islamophobic white supremacist Chelsea Clinton?
- My weekly Sunday before-church "cardio" workout: 10 min elliptical raising resistance every 60 seconds. 10 minutes Stairmaster, raising speed every 60 seconds, final minute slow. 45 minutes treadmill, rotating 2 min slow walk, 2 min high incline fast walk (10-12% incline), 2 min slow walk, 2 min 4 mph jog, 2 min slow walk, 2 min 7 mph run. Rinse and repeat.
- Watch that renewable energy talk we posted yesterday. I mostly agree with the guy, but I am not worried about "climate". Not one bit. I am a conservationist, not a climate wacko. Their priorities are screwed up.
- With snow cover mostly gone (for the moment, at least) a good chance for outdoor clean-up. Also, try to repair fence the damn fallen tree crushed in an ice storm a couple of weeks ago. A good day for real work, which is what we try to stay in shape for. I'll keep an eye out for our local breeding Bald Eagles overhead. Love seeing them hunting my rabbits and, I hope, the neighbors' cats.
And there is this: Boomer Ballads: Visions Of Johanna (perfection, beauty. Thanks for that masterpiece, Bob, because it enriched my life)
Finally, to make today complete, Van Morrison with The Chieftains. Cry if you must. Sheesh, I am not even Irish but there is so much soulful beauty in this world - The world is so cold, don't care nothing for your soul...:
3:17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.
3:18 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.
3:19 Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.
3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
3:21 He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
Piece Found At Ethiopian Airlines Crash Site Shows Jet Was Set To Dive. A screw-like device found in the wreckage of the Boeing 737 Max that crashed last Sunday in Ethiopia indicates the plane was configured to dive.
If Beto had an R after his name instead of a D, you’d hear he was boarding-school-attending judge’s son who dodged serious charges for the DUI & burglary, used eminent domain to gentrify poor Latino neighborhoods & married into a billionaire’s family.
Stéphane Breitwieser robbed nearly 200 museums, amassed a collection of treasures worth more than $1.4 billion, and became perhaps the most prolific art thief in history. And as he reveals to GQ’s Michael Finkel, how Breitwieser managed to do all this is every bit as surprising as why.
A high-trust, traditionally homogenous community with a deep civil society marked by thrift, industriousness, and openness, Minnesota seemed like the ideal place to locate an indigent Somali population now estimated at 100,000.
San Antonio
St. Patrick's Day is a traditional time to plant peas around here. Sometimes you have to scrape snow off the garden. Sometimes the seeds never germinate. Still, tradition. I'll try to do it today if 1/2 inch of soil is soft.
Your shoes always matter.
Cool story from 1912: 
Mark your calendars. We apologize for putting it on a Sunday, but we were running out of possible dates.
Photo: Lots of snow in California this year 
The number of pushups a guy or gal can do is a fair proxy for general fitness. 50 pushups in 60 seconds is a fitness benchmark. (I can not do that yet.)
- My weekly Sunday before-church "cardio" workout: 10 min elliptical raising resistance every 60 seconds. 10 minutes Stairmaster, raising speed every 60 seconds, final minute slow. 45 minutes treadmill, rotating 2 min slow walk, 2 min high incline fast walk (10-12% incline), 2 min slow walk, 2 min 4 mph jog, 2 min slow walk, 2 min 7 mph run. Rinse and repeat.