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.
Looks like they had some snow in Iowa. Global cooling is gonna freeze all the baby birds on the planet if we don't change our evil habits.
Man, those chicks do grow fast. At this moment, Dad just brought home a small fish, hung around for a few minutes, and went off hunting again. These are devoted parents, more so than many humans.
Australian Reptile Park macropod expert Tim Faulkner said Irwin's quality of life needed to be the No. 1 priority.
My point being that the macropod expert sees Irwin as a person too. I'd say that Irwin has got it pretty good when you consider the lifestyle of your average paralyzed Kangaroo.
It is not healthy for our democracy to have half the population with its hand out and no skin in the game. Necessary and proper taxes ought to be the patriotic duty of every citizen.
... there is no such thing as a “McJob.” Putting down the workingman because his wages are not as big as yours is a luxury only a liberal can afford.
True, but I think there was a deal there: We get an Obamacare waiver, and we'll hire 50,000. Maggie's Farm wants a waiver, but we don't know who to call.
Government distorts markets. Problems inevitably ensue. Then government steps in to claim to solve the problems they created - while blaming it on markets.
My church holds a Seder on the Thursday before Easter, with the traditional foods (but no Matzoh Balls or Gefilte Fish - I don't think our folks would eat that). A Seder in total silence.
The Last Supper is thought to have been Seder. Maybe the bread was Matzoh?
Alas, we do not serve wine in our church so cannot follow the Jewish tradition of drinking a little too much of it at supper.
At The Teaching Company. Got the set of 3 Medieval History courses for $160 (usually $750).
Mrs. BD and I live on their courses. There is no reason in the world to watch the crap on TV (except NCIS). I think The Teaching Company is part of the future of education, unless education is about credentials instead of learning.
Egyptian bondage was not a feel-good time for the Hebrew people, and the Crucifixion is a not a feel-good symbol. These are not Hallmark cutie holidays. They were shaped by people who were not sloppy, sentimental, goofy liberals. And no, Jesus wasn't one of those either, no matter what your neighbor thinks.
Passover and Easter are stories of ultimate hope, but they are also pretty unflinching warning about human evil. They are centuries-old warnings, but they are pretty relevant today, aren't they?
Lord Jesus, come Yourself, and dwell with us, be human as we are, and overcome what overwhelms us. Come into the midst of my evil, come close to my unfaithfulness. Take my sin, which I hate and which I cannot leave. Be my brother, Thou Holy God. Be my brother in the kingdom of evil and suffering and death. Come with me in my death, come with me in my suffering, come with me as I struggle with evil. And make me holy and pure, despite my sin and death, in Jesus' name.
One annual fee. Doesn't cover consultants, though, or hospital. Free markets for medical care would solve all of the problems. For example (with apologies to our local Opthalmologist), our family uses the Costco doc for eye care. Nice guy there. You just write him a manageable check, and their eyeglasses and contact lenses are very reasonable (if not high fashion).
Just one more reason for polygamy. Why not have 5 or 6 of 'em? Send them all out to work on jobs on Wall St., and the stud stays home, works out, goes to gallery openings, writes on blogs, practices his trap shooting, goes fishin', makes a venison stew for dinner, and generally conserves his strength for nighttime fireworks.
Cute spoiled kids, looking for meaning and purpose in their empty, easy, self-indulgent lives through telling me to turn off my lights, my heat, and my computer. (Not their own, of course, because they have important "organizing" work to do, and organizing people is hard, important work.) Furthermore, they want me to quit eating Whale Sushi. I can't help it: it must be a chemical addiction and not my fault.
Via Tim Blair, a vid on Greenpeace indoctrination and training:
I graduated in the recession of '75, wanted to return to NH, and was willing to take any job I could get. Apparently people who enter the job market during recessions have some tendency to never recover from that, always selling themselves short and never making as much at graduates in other years. That's true in my case, but also a good thing. I was terribly arrogant and needed to be brought down a few - no, several - pegs. I counted myself lucky to get a part-time job at the Goodnight Motel in Hooksett at $3/hr. The owner's name really was Goodnight - first Fred, and then his son Gary - and their main business was selling mobile homes on the other side of the highway. Marlette mobile homes, I'll have you know. The Cadillac of mobile homes. And they were moving into Yankees (very stylish) and doublewides, 24' x 36'.
...the primacy of local or township government in American society made it possible for a great number of Americans to participate in political institutions on a regular basis. Whether as Fire Chief or head of the St. John’s Mint Festival, whether as Dog Catcher or Mayor, Americans were continually forced to turn away from themselves and to attend to the life and business of their neighbor. The long habit of such participation in public life convinced Americans that, despite their equality, they need not and could not be indifferent to the particulars of social life. This also preserved Americans from the tendency to invest their political beliefs in a few general ideas. Accustomed to the details of daily participation in political life, they did not let what is often called (wrongly, I think) “ideology” substitute for active engagement in the public realm. This was possible chiefly because the actions of political life were largely confined to the local level, even when the legislation directing that life occured far away.
I'm delivering food and doing errands for my old folks this weekend. My Mom fell and cracked her patella while unloading groceries, cannot drive for 6 weeks, and can barely hobble around on her brace - and my Dad is half-blind, has Parkinson's, and is not allowed to drive anymore. His ornery self refuses to take the Parkinson's medicine but, thankfully, he finally agreed to get himself a hearing aid.
A neighbor is driving Mom to her best friend's funeral today at our family church on the hill.
I brought them Chinese take-out last night: Cold hot pepper cabbage, Scallion pancakes, and Scallops with Snow Peas. Then a plate of strawberries. Also left them some black bread and Nova Salmon for breakfast. Tomorrow, I'll bring them some take out Thai soups. They look too skinny, need feeding. They were never much into eating, unless it was especially good.
Somehow, we got on the topic of past family trips. I was laughing to remember the volumes of disposable diapers we travelled with - they were not available in Europe back then. With a family of 5 kids, there was usually at least one in diapers (and at least one in a bad mood). I remember trying to help tie them (the bags of diapers, not the younger brats, unfortunately) to the roof of the rental cars. My Dad always travelled with rope for that purpose, in the pre-bungee-cord era.
My Mom was remembering the large Raspberry plantings at the Roman Camp Hotel, where we all had stayed for a few days. Watching her litter grazing on Scotland's excellent raspberries, ripping them off the rows of canes. A wonderful place. My parents are picky about where they will stay - they can't stand glitz or "fancy," and they don't do tacky. They are the typical old Yankee WASPy breed that is only comfortable with understated refinement and genteel semi-shabby. No "luxury," please. They feel that "luxury" is vulgar (whereas I can learn to appreciate it when I can find it). Mom liked this place:
A few years after that trip, my folks did something unusual and selfishly left the kids behind and took a trip by themselves, and biked the length of Hadrian's Wall. Or, as my Dad corrects me, walls: there are two of them. They were finished with breeding. We had many good trips; lots of stories and tons of colorful memories. I can't remember them all: Somewhere in Europe every August, and Cape Cod too. Ocean liners - I remember each one of them. Two ski weeks each winter. Monhegan Island regularly. Very nice. Like those Bald Eagle parents with their rabbits and fish, I think they wanted to fill us with all of the experiences that they could, and the heck with the expense.
As much as I love my cozy home, going anywhere new, near or far, still ignites the adventurous spark in me, like a kid. I am lucky that I married an adventurous woman who will go anywhere, any time, and try anything. She back-packed down to Greece when she was in college. My kids are like that, too, thank God. They seem to view this world as a wonderful buffet of experiences, opportunities, and challenges.
I think my parents' travelling days are over, but they are fortunate to have 5 kids who want to pitch in, when needed. My favorite Thai place makes damn good noodle soups, and I am gonna fight the traffic and bring them some.
The scriptures say that one man owed his lord a huge debt that he could not pay, and ask that the debt be forgiven. His lord forgave him. Soon the man demanded that a small amount of money that he had loaned to a friend be repaid, and when the friend could not pay the loan on time, he was punished. His lord heard about the injustice, and brought charges against him. The moral is that we should do unto others as we would that they do to us—and that we must practice what we preach before we preach.
If you are dealing with a problem where some other person has hurt you be sure that you pray to God that you will approach it in a Christian manner and never ask more than you would be willing to give. Look at your face in a mirror and make very sure you do not see a “better than thou attitude”.
Especially in my later years, I worry that I will slip along life’s way and ask you to do for Christ something that I am failing to do. I pray that God will not permit me to make this mistake.
From Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:
...from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sinfor us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We shall want to hold ourselves to the course of admitting the things we have done, meanwhile forgiving the wrongs done us, real or fancied. We should avoid extreme judgments, both of ourselves and of others involved. We must not exaggerate our defects or theirs. A quiet, objective view will be our steadfast aim. In all these situations we need self-restraint, honest analysis of what is involved, a willingness to admit when the fault is ours, and an equal willingness to forgive when the fault is elsewhere....that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness ... It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
We are at home, France will soon belong to us. There are already 10 million of us, soon there will be 20 million, you’ll see. You will not be able to stop us from doing anything. This country is ours. - French Muslim
Will the French give a damn when they decide to blow up Notre Dame?
Re our post yesterday about the HuffPo lawsuit by the writers (about which Coyote observes:
In short, I would say that these folks are utterly without personal honor for filing the suit, but in the current state of labor law they potentially have a case. How sad that would be. And what would be next? A class action suit by product reviewers at Amazon for back wages?)
a reader noticed this hilarious rant:
This issue does not arise at Maggie's Farm. Being a commune, we all get paid exactly the same generous amount regardless of what we do: zero.
Among others, outside of our families, who have left lasting positive impressions on us, some teachers and coaches stand out in all of our minds.
(I combine teachers with coaches because they serve the same relationship functions - guidance, pushing, criticizing, inspiring, and cheerleading of efforts that, in the end, only the person can do themselves within their own minds and bodies. For better or worse, we are not empty vessels into which things can be poured.)
For all of everybody's frustration with the government school monopoly, unions, the insane notion of universal higher education, and obsolete and stultifying educational methods which work best only for the most submissive, obedient, or motivated students, every reader of Maggie's has memories of teachers or coaches who made a big difference in their life.
I was fortunate to have had many of them. Interestingly, where I spent my most formative years, each teacher had to be a sports coach too. They were "Sir" in class, but you were allowed to call them "Coach" on the field, in the pool, or on the rinks.
Let's hear about them, in the comments. (I will put some of mine in there, too.)
Why not? People are living healthier, longer - and it would help solve the Medicare and Social Security messes. Few people are over the hill at 65 anymore. Prime of life, and at the peak of wisdom and experience. Much to offer to the world.
I can only paraphrase it now: "The only difference between Leftist academics and liberal elites, and totalitarian dictators, is that the latter have the armies."
He never should have said that semen wards off depression: 
My church holds a Seder on the Thursday before Easter, with the traditional foods (but no Matzoh Balls or Gefilte Fish - I don't think our folks would eat that). A Seder in total silence. 
Business School: Where Education Dies
Among others, outside of our families, who have left lasting positive impressions on us, some teachers and coaches stand out in all of our minds.