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.
Antic, zany, madcap, anarchic, the Marx Brothers were successful first in vaudeville, then on the Broadway stage, and finally, most emphatically, in the movies. Their act resembled nothing so much as a comic strip brought to life.
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We have picked Saturday, April 23 for this year's hike.
Join us if you want. We had a good time last time we did it. Met a bunch of pleasant Maggie's people. We could easily cover the length of Manhattan in one day, were it not for the darn crossing lights. Doubles the time, and interrupts the hiking rhythm.
Bring camera, good shoes. Rain or shine. It's designed to be a day-long thing but of course people can flake off whenever.
Bulldog will post details. It will be a different route this time. I hope he plans to include the full length of Central Park, and for a cool cheap place for lunch in Harlem or Washington Heights or wherever.
Emergency call to my IT consultant yesterday - "One of my machines is totally screwed. Nothing will open." Guy arrives, sits down, and in 20 seconds says "You just need a new mouse." And leaves. Sheesh. Talk about feeling stupid.
Even though most pundits and politicos have concluded that
Trump’s support is driven by anger, the truth is, it is more about fear.
Americans are terrified that their nation has hit an iceberg and is sinking.
Readers know that I am a fan of all sorts of art, from cave paintings through Renaissance to Cezanne to Thomas Cole and including Picasso whose taste, touch, experimentation, and vitality impresses me more with each passing year.
Does excellent technique equal excellent art? Is there a difference between fine art, design, decoration, and illustration? Does "art" evolve? Does the camera matter?
I tire of those questions.
Is there such a thing as talent? You betcha. I know for certain, because I have none. I envy talent - to a sinful degree.
Is the Art World full of hype and hooey? Of course. There is $ in the art biz.
I hate going to museums. Problem is, you have to, to stare at the good stuff up close.
Is "new" better? Nope.
Image is a Collins self-portrait. I would let him do a picture of me anytime he wants to.
Examples of STEM classroom practices that contribute to a chilly climate are weed-out courses, courses that grade on a curve, a competitive environment, reliance on lecture as a teaching method, an individualistic culture, and comprehensive exams.
Milo Yiannopoulos: And be wrong about everything… Why is it that just because someone is old and left-wing that they’re nice? We don’t say that about right-wingers. Why do we automatically assume that just because he’s old and doddery, has white hair and he sounds like a crazy old lunatic that he’s a nice guy. Really? Is he a nice guy? No he wants Socialism in America. That’s poisonous, ugly, oppressive political philosophy that has made people suffer everywhere that it has ever been tried… Why is he a nice person? What has he ever done that proves he is a nice person?
Europe operating as a market-state without external threats and a pacified population gave the ruling class of Europe the sense that this arrangement would work long term. Then the king went crazy and flung open the doors to Muslim invaders. Initially, this was not a problem as the ruling class lives in bunkered enclaves, removed from the consequences of their polices. They have no reason to care if the train stations are carnivals and rape and assault by the dusky sons of Mohamed.
But, the people have noticed that their liberties are slowly and methodically being curtailed in the name of public safety. When you can only enjoy a traditional parade from behind barricades and armed soldiers, you’re going to start having dark thoughts about the people who caused this...
In fact, the War Party entrenched in the nation’s capital is dedicated to economic interests and ideological perversions that guarantee perpetual war; they ensure endless waste on armaments and the inestimable death and human suffering that stems from 21st century high tech warfare and the terrorist blowback it inherently generates among those upon which the War Party inflicts its violent hegemony.
The Daoud Affair - How Western intellectuals turn themselves into the enemies of an entire class of liberal writers from Muslim backgrounds
The Western intellectuals accuse the liberal from the Muslim world of being a racist against Muslims, or an Islamophobe, or a “native informant” and a tool of imperialism. Sometimes they accuse the liberal from the Muslim world of stupidity, too, or lack of talent. This was Salman Rushdie’s experience in the years after he came out with The Satanic Verses, back in 1988, which he has described in his memoir Joseph Anton. The experience of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, originally from Somalia, offers probably the most widely discussed example after Rushdie’s. But the pattern of Western condemnation can be observed in many other cases as well, directed at liberal writers of different kinds and views—the authors of political essays, memoirs, literary criticism, journalism, and novels, from backgrounds in countries as diverse as Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Kamel Daoud’s Algerian colleague, the novelist Boualem Sansal, last year’s winner of a prize from the French Academy, has come under this kind of condemnation. And now the pattern has reemerged in regard to Daoud himself.
Purple pansies in a big pot - they do not mind cold nights
Planted a pack of Sugar Snap peas in the garden. Soil still cool and damp, but whatever.
Planted the 3 new dwarf hydrangeas in the front garden - they should be swell by July. A garden border is never done.
Moved some perennials around. Now is the time. A border is never done.
Planted my new hardy Chicago Fig in the back garden. Sturdy plant, hardly budded out yet. Counting on a modest crop this summer.
Put 2 new tires on my wheelbarrow - solid tires this time, from Home Depot. Got sick of the inflatable ones.
Started a tranche of Mouse Melon seeds indoors. Last year, I started them too late. Need more containers for more Mouse Melon seeds. Really do enjoy those little buggers and most people up here have never seen 'em. Need enuf seedlings to share with my gardening pals.
Limed the lawn. It works. Rule of thumb: Fertilize things before green or buds emerge cuz the roots have already started growing. I did the delightful Milorganite 3 weeks ago. Thanks, Milwaukee. I like strong grass that can take abuse. In early June I will aerate it with a rented plugger. A mess for a week, but trodden turf loves it and so do the worms. Lawn is a stupid thing, but...
The story of the Megillah, the Scroll of Esther, is the story of how Mordechai, the descendant of the first Jewish king of Israel, snubbed the Grand Vizier of a multicultural empire by refusing to bow to him. The obstinate Benjaminite so infuriated the Vizier that he plotted to kill all the Jews.
The smart thing to do would have been to bow to Haman. To invite him to AIPAC and let him give a pre-written speech and then give him a standing ovation. Then the important official might have been willing to help out the struggling Jews of the Second Commonwealth in Israel. Instead the narrow-minded fanatic offended Haman. And the angry Agagite decides to strangle the newly reborn Second Commonwealth of Israel and all the other Jews throughout the Persian Empire...
Addendum: After reading this essay for the third time, I hear/see the historical idea of Christians, "in the world, but not of it."The Christian sees himself as a sojourner, a Pilgrim, through time too. Empires and nations come and go.
In Sushan, the wine is plentiful, the bazaars are never closed and the empire will never fall.
There never has been a practical reason to import foreigners into the West, much less hostile, low-IQ savages from the Middle East. Whatever contributions have been made to the Belgian economy by Muslims were just blown to bits by a pair of suicide bombers. There are now rivers of blood because the leadership of Europe has been overrun by what looks increasingly like a suicide cult.
Angela Merkel, who will be remembered as one of history’s greatest monsters, is a good example to study. This piece on her from a few months ago walks you through her “evolution” from mundane Christian lady to a prominent deacon is what amounts to liberation theology, centered on the annihilation of the West as penance for generations of oppression.
... stubbornly unwilling to deal with the reality of Islam, our leaders have constructed an Islam of their very own. This triumph of willful blindness and political correctness over common sense was best illustrated by former British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith when she described terrorism as “anti-Islamic activity.” In other words, the savagery is not merely unrelated to Islam; it becomes, by dint of its being inconsistent with a “religion of peace,” contrary to Islam. This explains our government’s handwringing over “radicalization”: we are supposed to wonder why young Muslims spontaneously become violent radicals—as if there is no belief system involved.
This is political correctness on steroids, and it has dangerous policy implications.
The single family home was an artifact of the blue model world. Before World War II, it was common for many generations of a family to live together. Before social security, grandparents didn’t have the money for independent living; children and grandchildren were a safety net. Often, extended families would live together, sharing chores, cooperating with child care and other activities.
But postwar suburbia changed all that: each nuclear family was supposed to be an island unto itself, and zoning laws in many American cities and towns changed to make illegal the kind of multi-family living that had once been the norm.
Where I grew up as a young lad in suburbia, a little old lady ran a candy shop out of her parlor. A gunsmith had his shop in his garage. At the farm, of course, everybody ran their business out of their places: farms, farm stands, blacksmiths, tractor repairs, etc. Farms were often multi-generational. And yes, in town, families lived over the store. It worked.
In cities, mixed zoning is a wonderful thing. Commercial on the first and/or second floors and residential above.
Trump knows psychology. He knows facts don’t matter. He knows people are irrational. So while his opponents are losing sleep trying to memorize the names of foreign leaders – in case someone asks – Trump knows that is a waste of time. No one ever voted for a president based on his or her ability to name heads of state. People vote based on emotion. Period.
He told the BBC: ‘We're in a situation where we have to fight back. ‘The centre has become flabby and unwilling to take people on. We concede far too much.
‘There's this idea that you're part of an elite if you think in terms of respectful tolerance towards other people. It's ridiculous.’
The vast demographic experiment of the West–importing largely unskilled immigrants from an essentially hostile culture–has failed and cannot be undone. Europe is now paying the deadly price. There have been mass murders by Muslim extremists in Madrid, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Brussels and Toulouse.
Steyn: So "British Muslims Fear Repercussions Over Tomorrow's Train Bombing" is now joined by "Belgian Cabinet Minister Says Tomorrow's Train Bombing Is All Our Fault".
Terrorism is an effective tactic around the world because it allows small groups of people to spread hysteria with relatively little manpower, and because it is impossible to prevent entirely, even in a police state. Where a devoted terrorist group exists, it is nearly inevitable its members will eventually succeed to some degree. But in Belgium, jihadists found a society that was unusually susceptible, and exploited it to bloody effect.
With trout season on the way, a useful chart. ("Exercised" means you played the fish a bit before netting):
Event, Seconds out of Water, and Survival Rate
Fish caught, exercised but not taken out of water 0 secs. 88% Fish caught, exercised and taken out of the water 30 62% Fish caught, exercised and taken out of the water 60 28% Fish caught, exercised, placed in boat, handled and flops around 60+ 0%
Out my office window yesterday. That is a Cottontail, a lucky one who survived the winter's Red-tails, owls and foxes. Our bunny population peaks in Aug/Sept, and by this time there are just enough left to begin the cycle again.
Stanford 
We have picked Saturday, April 23 for this year's hike.
Emergency call to my IT consultant yesterday - "One of my machines is totally screwed. Nothing will open." Guy arrives, sits down, and in 20 seconds says "You just need a new mouse." And leaves. Sheesh. Talk about feeling stupid.
The New Old Masters - 
Bison coming 'home' 
In Newly Created Life-Form,
Mizzou Is Now Forcing Undergrads
Toon via Lucianne 
