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.
Our seafood shop sends a guy down to Brighton Beach before each Christmas and New Year's Day to pick up 250 gm. tins of fresh Russian caviar from the Russian shops. (Brooklyn's Brighton Beach is heavily Russian immigrants.) You just have to phone in and pre-order yours from our guy. It's the farmed variety nowadays, which is a good thing.
We can have those large tins of fresh malossol (fresh, unsalted Sturgeon caviar) for $150 each. Mind you, that could be $800-$1000 at Petrossian. If you go to Brighton Beach yourself, you can buy a tin of Russian for as little as $80. Yes, it is the real deal. Amazing. I have never been to Brighton Beach but I hear that if you like Russian food, it's better there than in Moscow.
I plan to keep myself in fighting shape so I can fulfill that job, or duty, or whatever you call it. Little boys, little girls, whatever comes my way. I am prepared.
My plan them is to teach my family ways, to transfer my culture. I will talk with them about books, I will take them on hikes in the woods, I will teach them my secrets about the trees and the birds and amphibians and reptiles and fish and wildflowers, and all of their names. I will teach them how to use a hand saw and a table saw, and how to screw a screw and how to nail a nail. How to make a rustic outdoor table.
I will quote to them from Milton, the Bible, and Shakespeare while I take them on fishing hikes to mountain lakes, valley streams, Atlantic bays, and the ocean itself. I know from myself that grandkids remember every word their grandfathers utter and every bit of lore they convey.
I will reprimand them when they behave uncivilly or in an unsportsmanlike manner. I will teach them firearms and archery. I will teach them how to comport themselves at my NYC club, and how to dine with adults in an adult venue. I would be happy to introduce them to sailing craft, or handling powerboats for that matter. I will expose them to serious music and talk to them about it. I will encourage them towards the discipline of making serious music, or any music.
My two grandpas together helped teach me all of these things and I am forever grateful for that. My Mom and Dad were busy with all of the other kids, plus work of course.
I learned a lot besides all that from my two genteel Grandpas, including how to handle hunting dogs (Don't give them an inch, or they'll take a mile"), handling horses ("Dumb as rocks. Show them who's boss, and they will do anything you want."), and driving tractors on New England hills ("attend to the angles").
They also taught me how to speak with adults. "Ask them about themselves. Learn all you can from them."
Sports? I am no athlete but I would be joyful to swat tennis balls with a kid or kids for hours. Just buy me a couple of beers after as compensation. Interest and cheerful cooperation are required. I am sorry, but the business-essential art of golf is not in my repertoire.
My own Christmas kids are the best, and I will welcome some Christmas grandkids when the time is ripe.
Mark Steyn was funny the other day, explaining how the Customs agents confiscated three Buches de Noel he tried to bring from Quebec to his home in New Hampshire. He observed that if he had brought three Somalis or Syrians without documents instead of three Buches, it would have been no problem.
Order yours now from your local bakery and it will be ready when you need it. They will make them whatever length you need. It's not Christmas without one.
If you really want to ruin Christmas season, try making one yourself. This job is for professionals.
For him, his accumulated stuff is like a joke on his inheritors. He does understand that no amount of possessions can fill an emotional or spiritual hole.
My experience is that most people stop accumulating stuff and possessions around age 50, and begin getting rid of it all slowly thereafter. How many ties, jackets, socks, sweaters, shirts, cooking pans, decorations, lamps, chairs, tables, china sets, serving platters, do I need?
We would have an abundant life without buying a single material thing (other than food) for the next ten years. I will admit that dress clothing becomes outdated and can look ridiculous or like thrift shop goods, so that does need to be replaced. As the kids grow in independence, I will encourage them to take anything here that they want, but they won't want it. They will have their own ways and their own tastes, and all of our stuff will end up in a large dumpster someday. I can live with that.
" The generation now coming of age has been taught three Great Untruths: their feelings are always right; they should avoid pain and discomfort; and they should look for faults in others and not themselves. These three Great Untruths are part of a larger philosophy that sees young people as fragile creatures who must be protected and supervised by adults. But despite the good intentions of the adults who impart them, the Great Untruths are harming kids by teaching them the opposite of ancient wisdom and the opposite of modern psychological findings on grit, growth, and antifragility. The result is rising rates of depression and anxiety, along with endless stories of college campuses torn apart by moralistic divisions and mutual recriminations."
Do you agree with that? Many people today are going to things called colleges like junior colleges and trade school colleges to learn careers in things such as nursing, practical electric, cooking, hospitality, criminal justice, emergency medical service, and all sorts of other practical fields.
His writing and speech-making productivity is remarkable, but he still finds time to write scholarly books, exercise, and to run his farm. Pretty busy for a retired fellow. Admirable indeed.
A little money shows gratitude. Went through my list today for the people who help us out all year long.
- Mailman ($20) - Garbagemen ($50, but during the year I also leave them a 10 or 20 whenever there is a large or messy pile) - My golf club (members make a single donation and the staff divvies up all of the donations - $500 per member is expected) - The guy at my daily morning coffee shop ($20)
When we have more occasional helpers, I usually give them a $20 at the time. I'd give something to our UPS guy, but it's always a different driver. It seems like a short list this year. Who am I missing?
One of the problems we have with Progressives is that they never seem to specify any end point at which government intrusion into our lives, or the desire to "care for our problems," will be sufficient. If they would tell me that, I'd be more comfortable. Their ideological trajectory is Mussolini's "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state."
"Isn't food important? Why not 'universal food coverage'? If politicians had given us 'universal food access' 20 years ago, today Democrats would be wailing about the 'food crisis' in America, and you'd be on the phone with your food-care provider arguing about whether or not a Reuben sandwich with fries is covered under your plan."
Because of his seminal recognition that rights do not originate from government, George Mason deserves more attention. In Robert Rutland’s words, he wrote “on behalf of… the birthrights of every free American… man’s native freedom from restraint unless he threatened or did harm to others.” As a consequence, “His ideas became permeating facts” at America’s founding. They need to again permeate Americans’ thoughts if we are to revive the liberty he helped create.
The vision of liberty the founders envisioned will never be seen again, anywhere. Sad. They gave it their best shot, for sure. Freedom and self-reliance go against man's slavish and dependent nature. Being heroic men in a heroic time and place, they overestimated the strengths and virtues in human nature.
It's difficult say exactly what the topic is (it says "Reality and the Sacred") but it really meanders all over the map. Very rich stimulating. I believe this is from when Peterson was teaching at Harvard.
"A phenomenon always transcends the manner with which you frame it."
"The heroic Lindsay Shepherd's outrageous "investigation" by Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario caused a furor in Canada and beyond, and many of the country's most eminent columnists have weighed in on the matter. But Mark wanted to say a word about it, too, which he does in this brand new SteynPost. "
What the author might not understand is that the kids in the Success Academies tend not to be the same kids that the author probably grew up with. Inner city kids and kids from dysfunctional backgrounds often do not arrive at school with the levels of bourgeois impulse control, respect, and orderliness that middle class schools and private schools are accustomed to. To the contrary, these kids are starved for structure. Actually, most people function best with clear structure and deteriorate or unravel without it.
Moskowitz' idea is neither radical nor new. It's the old way.
Dewey was an idealist who, like idealists in general, imagined an imaginary ideal (ideal in their minds) reality. There are no, or extremely few, little John Deweys or John Stuart Mills lurking inside of most schoolkids. Is that news?
Zoning is often a complex political issue. When overly-rigid, it makes for sterile environments. My instinct is for minimal zoning, but if somebody wanted to put a WalMart next door to our little exurban farm, I'd go ballistic.
Spanning nearly 200 years, Ice Ghosts is a fast-paced detective story about Western science, indigenous beliefs, and the irrepressible spirit of exploration and discovery. It weaves together an epic account of the legendary Franklin Expedition of 1845―whose two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, and their crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice―with the modern tale of the scientists, researchers, divers, and local Inuit behind the recent discoveries of the two ships, which made news around the world...
I plan to keep myself in fighting shape so I can fulfill that job, or duty, or whatever you call it. Little boys, little girls, whatever comes my way. I am prepared.
Mark Steyn was funny the other day, explaining how the Customs agents confiscated three Buches de Noel he tried to bring from Quebec to his home in New Hampshire. He observed that if he had brought three Somalis or Syrians without documents instead of three Buches, it would have been no problem.
Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition