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.
Y'all were right. That was an Indigo Bunting, a finch-like inhabitant of brushy edges in rural areas. The males often look black, depending on the light. You can read about them here.
Kagan is wishy-washy on free speech. What the heck does "balanced with the good of society" mean? Only an arrogant, latent-totalitarian elitist jerk would ever say anything like that, in my humble opinion. Americans don't talk like that: we want everybody to say whatever they want, and let us separate the wheat from the chaff.
The Union of Concerned Scientists tackles gardening to save the planet. Good grief. What a bunch of sanctimonious putzes those folks are. They have been like that for years. "Ban the Bomb" and "Better Red than Dead" and the whole Global Cooling scare of the 1970s. A bunch of Viagra-deficient kooks and cranks.
Speaking of santimonious cranks, White House: Stop Marketing Unhealthy Foods to Kids. Hey, Washington: Shut the heck up and leave us alone. You can eat what you want, and we will eat what we like: Philly Cheese Steaks, and barbecued short ribs with corn bread, and stuff like that. Bread Pudding for dessert, with a Port or a single malt on the side. Then a cigar.
"We are building a world in which the wealthiest nations on the planet, from Norway to New Zealand, are all but defenseless, while bankrupt dysfunctional squats go nuclear. Even with inevitable and generous submissions to nuclear blackmail, how long do you think that arrangement will last?"
...Brown's statement appeared to give Clegg's party a viable alternative, and real temptation: join a possibly short-lived alliance, remove the unpopular Brown, and pass electoral reform that could transform their fortunes and even banish the Conservatives to the political wilderness for many years.
Sounds like ACORN. Update: Never mind. Cameron's in, for what it's worth.
“Every decision you can make as a human being has an economic footprint — whether to procreate, whether to marry,” he said. “To say that is enough for your behavior to be regulated transforms the Commerce Clause into an infinitely capacious font of power, whose exercise is only restricted by the Bill of Rights.”
I know nothing, but my impression has been that the intent of the commerce clause was to eliminate and preventobstacles to inter-state trade, not to create obstacles and controls of commerce - much less our daily lives or our deaths.
Kinda makes ya wonder how Ginsberg snuck on there with her sketchy educational resume. My Diversity Meter detects some problems here: Where are the folks from George Mason and Hillsdale, and the folks who say "y'all," and the folks from Montana? It's not as if you have to go to Harvard or to be from New York City to be able to understand the Constitution. It was deliberately written in plain, simple English - instead of legalese - so every citizen of every state could understand what they might decide to sign up for. It's short, and it's not rocket science. The Federalist Papers, however, are more interesting.
The New Deal was a genuine revolution, whose deepest purpose was not simply reform within existing traditions, but a basic change in the social, and, above all, the power relationships within the nation. It was not a revolution by violence. It was a revolution by bookkeeping and lawmaking. In so far as it was successful, the power of politics had replaced the power of business. This is the basic power shift of all the revolutions of our time. This shift was the revolution.
Hey, Northeast gardeners. If you have been too eager to get your tomatoes, etc. in the ground, watch out.
Freezing temps predicted tonight and tomorrow night. Cover them with something. Plastic milk cans or sheets of plastic or whatever. Global cooling, ya know.
As a rational skeptic on the subject, I have fortunately not planted any tomatoes or cucumbers or peppers yet. The guaranteed safe date for putting out uncovered tender plants in New England has been May 31 for over 200 years, and it still is. That is peer-reviewed data: My Mom says it, and my Grandpa said it.
In a chat with an Italian guy from Torino with his two little kids and wife on the flight to Milan, he said "You are only visiting for ten days? In Italy, we have 8 weeks of vacation. We have been in the US for a month, two weeks in New York."
In a chat with a Brit on a ferry on Lake Como: "When you travel with a wife, you see villas and gardens. That's just what you do." They were on a one month trip around Italy.
When do these folks ever work? We talked with plenty of friendly people on our trip, including a Swiss gal who had come down from Bern to the lakes with her dog (travel in Europe is very dog-friendly) for a long weekend.
Some more Italy photos - a cafe in a pleasant piazza in Stresa with a bottle of our staple - the local Barbera:
Another shot of the Isola Bella gardens:
A view from the funicular which connects Stresa with the ski village of Motterone. In the "Borromean Gulf," the left island of the triangle is Isola Pescatore, the far one is Isola Madre, and the one on the lower right is Isola Bella:
I was a bit of a nerdy, introverted kid, with a strong naturalist, conservationist, and hunting bent which has continued into my so-called adulthood.
I owe my Mom (and my Dad) gratitude for introducing me to these interesting things. They are both curious people who do not like to not know about things around them, in whatever depth they are able to pursue.
The energetic curiosity of parents, as of teachers, must surely be a good inspiration for growing rugrats. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
While an expert in nothing, I have learned enough over the years to see and understand more of what's going on outdoors than the average bear. As our readers know, I am interested in the geology, the geography, the wildlife, the plants, the seas, and habitats in general.
I have been birding since I was around 10, when I started with weekend groups from the local Audubon Society, but I remain a novice. Female warblers can drive me nuts, and Fall warblers - forget about it.
Birding can be challenging, physically like hiking and mentally like Organic Chemistry: birds have seasonal plumages, and many vary during their first couple of years of life. Like hunting or fishing, it provides a mission for one's expeditions to the Great Outdoors. I am not one of those obsessives who pursue a Life List: I just like to see what is around in whatever corner of Creation I happen to find myself.
Even when hunting, I tend to have my binoculars with me.
Using data from 2006, a new report, "Wildlife Watching in the United States," found that expenditures for watching birds and other wildlife were equivalent to the revenues generated from all spectator sports, including football, baseball and NASCAR; amusement parks and arcades; nonhotel casinos; bowling centers; and skiing facilities -- combined.
Photo is a tough diagnosis for amateurs, especially when among flocks of Herring Gulls. Sometimes seen on the coast in the Northeast in winter: Glaucous Gull. A big, tough denizen of the high Arctic.
It's the thick of warbler migration season now on the Atlantic Flyway. Step outdoors at 6 AM and you can hear them all (especially the Parulas).
Last time I saw one of the large warblers below was in Central Park, skulking in low brush along the Reservoir (CP has the best birding and the best girl-watching on the East Coast, in May). Male and female:
Douglas told a news conference today that Vermont's student population declined by about 1,600 last year, while schools around the state added 218 new staff. Reformer
Big tits tips for bigger boobs. It's not fair, and I think the government should do something about it. If we really care about equality, that is. My opinion? Vive la difference.
Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as a ditch, Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark, Shoots dangled and drooped, Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates, Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes. And what a congress of stinks! Roots ripe as old bait, Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich, Leaf-mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks. Nothing would give up life: Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.
Capt. Tom thought we needed to post some Django Reinhardt. He emailed me a good one, but I think we'll start with the famous duo of Reindardt and Stephane Grappelli.
I attended the funeral of a colleague and pal of 20+ years early this afternoon. Jewish funeral, very short notice. Just took him and his wife to dinner ten days ago. Massive stroke. Second close death for me in one week. They played Louis Armstrong. The last year of his life was probably the best he had ever had. Recently retired (wife still working), biking through Asia with his lovely Mrs - who is a doctor, a month in Cabo, visiting kids in Lake Como and in California. Loved four things the most: deep thinking, bicycling long distances, his family - and good meals with good wines. Always cheerful, except when stupidity or dishonesty pissed him off. So modest, I never knew he was a Harvard grad til today at the funeral. Full scholarship, worked as a janitor for spending money. Tough for me to lose two special pals who loved life so much, in one week: I am not old yet. It connects to this "passing through" theme for me right now:
The issues around being a Christian in the real world are a regular topic for Bible study groups - and likely for students and followers of any religious discipline. "In the world, but not of it" is the way a part of John 17 is often paraphrased, viewing this life as a swift passage to another version of existence.
Anchoress posted this well-known (but new to me) second century letter to Diognetus, presenting an ideal version of A Christian In The World, in her Paradoxes of Christianity:
Christians in the World
Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not theirwives.
They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven.
No time to think or write, but I want to clean my tabs up, and get these links out to our corner of the universe:
Hey, Northeast gardeners. If you have been too eager to get your tomatoes, etc. in the ground, watch out. 
I was a bit of a nerdy, introverted kid, with a strong naturalist, conservationist, and hunting bent which has continued into my so-called adulthood. 
Root Cellar 
The issues around being a Christian in the real world are a regular topic for Bible study groups - and likely for students and followers of any religious discipline. "In the world, but not of it" is the way a part of