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.
Hollywood gripped by pressure system from China - To appease China and gain access to moviegoers and financing, movies include positive references to the nation (no Chinese villains!) and face censorship.
As Larry Summers put it during one of our interviews, 50 years from now people will remember that Obama gave us health care, not how long the recession lasted. The problem is that, in 2012, voters are still a lot more concerned about the recovery.
Obama is on the wrong side of the union debate - The president wants to send more federal money to states that just funnel it into bloated pension obligations. And Americans are tired of it
The idea behind this and all liberal logic is that if certain people behave badly toward others, there must be a deep-seated reason which is somebody else’s fault. The solution, then, is not to punish the perpetrators, or even demand they take responsibility for their actions, but rather to understand the source of the personal, financial, social, racial, sexual problems or other factor that elicited those actions — and then to try and force the powers-that-be to “fix” the factor. Is it any wonder this never works?
Enrique Granados drowned in 1916 while attempting to save his wife after their ship was torpedoed by the Germans. He was returning home from a performance for President Wilson.
This weekend, we heard a performance of his Danzas espanolas, written for piano but, in our case, amazingly arranged for harp and guitar. Wow. You don't get to hear that everyday - harp as the melodic instrument, with guitar as back-up. Especially after a very pleasant church picnic hanging out with the brethren. A fine day indeed in Yankeeland, then later a delicious no-carb Asian dinner out with dear friends and their Ivy League math genius daughter. Les tres riche heures du Bird Dog. Did I mention three hours of yard and farm work before church?
The classical guitarist we heard with the harpist has a sideline as a studio rock musician. Mrs. BD said classical guitar is like ballet. If you can do ballet, you can do any other sort of dance easily.
The rondalla is wonderful if you can find it, but this is the "Oriental" bit, arranged, in this case, for two guitars:
... the hard-Left takeover of the Democratic Party has meant that there is no longer a credible balance in our system, as almost all the tenets of contemporary left-wing ideology are blowing up, imploding super nova style — unsustainable ideas that are contrary to human nature and demand coercion for their implementation, given that they are increasingly anti-democratic and have to be implemented from high by an elite technocracy whether in Brussels, Sacramento, or Washington.
Americans hate coercion - especially when "it's for your own good."
It's about scientific integrity and junk science. He insisted that scientists report everything that is wrong with their data and their conclusions - to be their own toughest critics and skeptics and, especially, to report and question their own biases and motivations.
This is an adaption of a 1974 Feynman lecture, via the article at Brain Pickings:
Borders R Us. We are educated amateurs, but we work hard on our borders and, when it comes together, it provides great pleasure and satisfaction to us.
Vegetables? I am getting tired of the effort/production ratio but fresh tomatoes are good if the chipmunks don't gnaw on them first. Trouble is, we don't get tomatoes from the garden until mid-late July.
I saw a Killdeer with three teensy, just-hatched miniature Killdeer chicks running around a large gravel parking lot during my morning walk today.
That was a sight which gladdened my heart and sweetened my soul.
The Killdeer is found, either breeding or wintering, in all states of the US. It's a plover of open ground, and not particularly associated with water like most plovers.
You will never find them in tall grass or woodlands, but you can occasionally see them doing their run-and-pause bug-hunting technique on pebbly shorelines.
Their "killdeer" call, sometimes heard at night, and the rusty flash of tail, are distinctive.
You can read about this not-uncommon bird here. Every good person loves the Killdeer.
When in the chronicle of wasted time I see descriptions of the fairest wights, And beauty making beautiful old rhyme In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best, Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow, I see their antique pen would have express'd Even such a beauty as you master now. So all their praises are but prophesies Of this our time, all you prefiguring; And, for they look'd but with divining eyes, They had not skill enough your worth to sing: For we, which now behold these present days, Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.
“Imagine a world in which hunger is vanquished by crops that don’t depend on the soil, water or fertilizer, or pesticides to thrive; they’re just around the corner.”
Via 
115-year-old turtles divorce after 36 years of ‘marriage’
Recivilizing the Alley
I saw a Killdeer with three teensy, just-hatched miniature Killdeer chicks running around a large gravel parking lot during my morning walk today.
Via Insty, 