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.
Like Bird Dog, I was raised with one shoe in city life and one boot in manure and mud. I believe that Bird Dog grew up similarly, not the "mink and manure" set but the "LL Bean and manure set." Comfortable at the Metropolitan Opera and happy with country folk, horses, and farm animals, and in the wild woods with a 20 ga. shotgun and a dog.
LL Bean is a wonderful store with excellent footwear and outerwear, fine hunting and fishing gear, etc. Not high end, and eminently practical stuff. Excellent return and repair policies. They will stand by their outerwear and footwear, even after ten years.
This flawed race trapped in a cycle of cascading pain and wrong is what, and who, God is bound and determined to love; the question is how can He do it?
From the Christian point of view, this is not a trivial problem. People aren’t just messy and incomplete. We are actively evil. As Reinhold Niebuhr puts it, we place ourselves at the center of the moral universe instead of God and our neighbors. We aren’t just victims of an unjust society and a tragic history; we make choices that perpetrate and even deepen injustice and add new dimensions to unfolding tragedies of our time...
In the 2016 election, American society had a little foretaste of what political life can look like when the virtues of humility, forbearance, honesty and tolerance begin to fade from our common life. Virtue is the secret lubricant that makes all our institutions work smoothly—and it is the secret glue that holds the social structures on which we all rely in place. The farther America moves from its rich heritage of faith, the less well America will work. This isn’t a partisan point. Christianity is the living force behind American liberal ideology as well as behind American conservatism. The values of honesty and tolerance in our national political life are ultimately grounded in the Christian faith that has formed the American conscience for hundreds of years. If we as a people walk away from that faith, the many blessings that it brought us will dry up and blow away.
Don't imagine that the world divides naturally into those who can understand what Jesus is saying and those who can't. By ourselves, none of us can. Jesus was born into a world where everyone was deaf and blind to him. But some, in fear and trembling, have allowed his words to challenge, rescue, heal and transform them. That is what's offered at Christmas, not a better-focused religion for those who already like that sort of thing, but a Word which is incomprehensible in our language but which, when we learn to hear, understand and believe it, will transform our whole selves with its judgment and mercy.
We minimize presents, maximize festivity and games, piano sing-alongs, and being together as a jolly family.
Christmas Eve is a fasting day (meaning, curiously, lots of delicious seafoods). Why God would want that is strange to me, but whatever. For Christmas, we're doing crown roast pork with apple stuffing, roasted root vegetables and Brussel Sprouts, and a Buche for dessert with hot chocolate drizzle.
I would never recommend purchasing Cuban cigars for use in the USA as it is, or used to be, against some dumb law. However, I did happen to notice that Top Cubans has some appealing Christmas and End of Year specials right now.
By the way, when are we going to take down that dumb cigar embargo? It just hurts the poor farmers - and us scrupulously law-abiding Americanos.
Photo is a Habanos Romeo y Julieta
BTW, where is the best cigar wrapper tobacco in the world grown? In my home state, Connecticut in the US of A. Also in Massachusetts in the Connecticut River Valley.
Also invented by Germans: Retirement. It was a 19th C. political maneuver, not adopted in the US until the 20th century to lure people out of the labor market during the Depression. A Retirement Plan With Less Golf but More Satisfaction.
Is retirement a good idea? Would partial-retirement be a better idea for those who want it? And what about age of retirement? If "70 is the new 50", what then? Some people end up retired for as many years as they worked, and that seems crazy, a waste of time, skill, talent, and experience, not to mention taxpayer pension costs. Some have no choice, and that is a loss for everybody. Everybody has a need to contribute to society in a useful way as long as they are able. Wise greybeards are always needed even in the more physical trades.
In my experience, many who retire early get a bit lost, aimless, and regress into purposelessness and hedonism. Free choice if you can afford it, so it's fine but...what? You're supposed to want to golf all day? It has become a cultural meme, a theme, a meaningless theme.
Trump is 70 going on 50 and works harder and is far more energetic than I am at a much younger age. At his age, he is required to take Social Security whether he wants it or not! How dumb is that? On the job 16 hrs/day. He is the type that never retires and will always find productive outlets for his energy. Wilbur Ross at Commerce is 79, for heaven's sake. Indeed, they are a credit to their age cohort and good examples for everybody.
Why People Are Boycotting LL Bean Over Donald Trump
