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.
Snow Day! Winter wonderland. Gym uncrowded early this morning, car slippin' and slidin' a bit because no plowing that early. Fun. Got my third weights day done without having to wait for anything. Yes, all the regular morning gals were there.
As creatures of the market, modern voters are consumers first not citizens. They require something in return if a politician wants their vote. Accordingly, election campaigning is frequently marred by thinly disguised vote buying. The consequences of this for fiscal control are evident in budget deficits across the democratic world. Sadly, voters today would stare with either incredulity or confusion if any politician reprised John F. Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
“Why you fool, it’s the educated reader who can be gulled. All our difficulty comes with the others. When did you meet a workman who believes the papers? He takes it for granted that they’re propaganda and skips the leading articles. He buys his paper for the football results and the little paragraphs about girls falling out of windows and corpses found in Mayfair flats. He is our problem. We don’t have to recondition him. But the educated public, the people who read the highbrow weeklies, don’t need reconditioning. They’re all right already. They’ll believe anything.”
– fictional character Miss Hardcastle, from That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis (h/t AVI)
Tree guys are skilled guys with highly-dangerous work. Well-paid, too. Taking down a half-dead 60' Beech tree is not for amateurs, especially where pool fences and utility wires are a factor. Last week's windstorm put an end to coddling this failing but magnificent monster of a tree. Sometimes reality says Give Up. Beech Bark Fungus.
Beech is tough on chainsaws - very dense wood - and near-impossible to split by hand whether seasoned or not. It's like iron. I think, as dense as Ironwood which does not provide much firewood but which also wears out blades. Beeches are great for wildlife. Beech nuts are food for turkey, grouse, squirrels,chipmunks, deer, birds, etc.
Tree guys refuse to cut you regular-sized logs. Takes too much time. They throw them all in the chipper. A shame but I don't have time on a workday to do it myself. Wish I did, cuz I have good saws. Annoys me, because good firewood is gold. We have daily fires from fall to spring. Still, with all of the big stuff they are leaving me, we might need to rent a log splitter this summer. As a freebie, though, the guys cut me a 4" through- trunk slice for an outdoor coffee table top. Nice.
It takes 10-12 months to season firewood around here. If left out in the weather, 10-12 months to be fireplace-ready. However hot the fire, I will not burn green wood anymore.
Also, always tip workmen generously - before the job is done. It's good for the economy, and a display of gratitude is welcome and encouraging. Around here, a $20/day cash tip per guy is a good show of thanks. These hard-working guys do not need the gym; just a couple of Coronas and a good sleep. Often, I feel that I would like work like that. Vigorous physical outdoor work is good for the soul. Just my opinion.
This was a splendid and beloved tree - but mortal, and mighty even in death. We tried to count the rings: around 120 years old. Copper Beech is a dramatic tree, but not native to North America. It's European. Yes, that is snow around.
While the Smollett case continues to take twists and turns, it's paramount that we acknowledge that for every case such as this, there are thousands of others that are indisputable and leave a lasting impact on the targeted victims and their communities. We must make it clear, over and over again, that the bias-motivated crimes happening every day are unacceptable.
College hate crime hoaxers usually don’t file police reports. If they do, it’s to the campus cops who generally do the first part of their job and discover it’s a hoax, and then do the second part of their job and cover it up. Local cops in campus towns also often shrug and the perps walk away with no charges.
15:35 But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"
15:36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
15:37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
15:38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
15:42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.
15:43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
15:44 It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
15:45 Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
15:46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.
15:47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
15:48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.
15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
15:50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
In the end, Stafford suggested that even if Smollett were guilty of staging a hoax "hate crime," he still highlighted a greater truth. "Jussie may have created this whole situation to highlight a reality that is happening every day," he said. "Our current administration doesn’t support people like him — that are black and queer."
There are many unspoken rules in gyms. One is that you do not look at other people whether in the locker rooms or in the gym. Except furtively. Minimize eye contact mostly.
Another is that you do not talk to people you don't know. The exceptions are with people you see all the time in a class or using the weights, etc. Over the years, I have several friendly acquaintances from the gym, and one new pal.
Another is that you should not hog equipment or space. Do some pushups or leg press and let another person use the pullup machine for five minutes. Politeness and consideration.
MacDonald: The Frenzied Search for Racism. Elites bought Jussie Smollett’s story because it confirmed their cherished narrative about a hateful America.
The only hate I see in the US is from the Left. Consumed and blinded by hate.
'I made a big mistake': American ISIS bride who called for terror attacks at Memorial Day parades and has married three jihadi fighters begs the US to let her go back to Alabama
There are many unspoken rules in gyms. One is that you do not look at other people whether in the locker rooms or in the gym. Except furtively. Minimize eye contact mostly.
Nude Beaches: 
Photo from a reader: Ice castle in Dillon, Colorado, this week 
