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.
Two weeks ago, I questioned if we were in another bubble based on the (then upcoming) IPO of King Digital Entertainment, makers of the highly addictive Candy Crush game.
Well, the IPO has been launched, the early returns are in and... you can decide on whether we are in a bubble.
Or maybe it's just a Buble and everybody is feeling good...
There is no official information about who selected the individuals to write the Common Core standards. However, none of the writers of the math and English Language Arts standards have ever taught math, English, or reading at the K-12 level. In addition, the Standards Development Work Groups did not include any members who were high school English and mathematics teachers, English professors, scientists, engineers, parents, state legislators, early childhood educators, and state or local school board members.
Every small-to-medium-sized business in America pays quarterlies, as do all Maggie's Farmers. It's simple: you just write a check to the US Treasury, and they pay it to the Chinese as interest on our national debt.
Everybody is a felon. There are 40-50,000 federal crimes, but even the government cannot count them all, but they can do a legal search and find one that fits you. Do you know what they all are?Ignorance of the law is no defense.
In recent years, we have had authors and commenters come and go. We're a voluntary commune. (nb: We encourage commenters. Please comment, readers, if you have anything to say even if it's not brilliant. Just show good manners, please. Polite disagreement - with hard facts - is always welcome.)
Our collective favorite Commenter was Marianne Matthews, a wonderfully-reflective Texan, a Barnard grad, a Taurus (the handy-dandy firearm, not the car) owner and a Greenwich Village folksinger in her youth who died in her early 80s with a pulmonary embolism. We miss her. She once mailed me, at my request, a CD of her recordings with a photo of her lovely self playing guitar. She loved NYC, but she loved her Columbia-trained oil-engineer husband more. She always wanted to come back from Houston after he retired, but was responsibly and lovingly caring for him there when I believe he developed a dementia.
Also missing - our old irascible pal Dr. Mercury. No mystery there. He's a ramblin' man, and rambled on to other things after a while (I do not know what) but left behind the useful Dr. Merc's Computer Corner.
Missing in Action: Buddy Larson, a popular and frequent Texan commenter who always brought something to the table, either deep, witty, or usually both. That's a mystery. I hope he is OK, and I hope we didn't do anything to piss him off.
Capt. Tom: He wrote posts for us for a while, but seems to have lost his writing desire. Writer's block? Perhaps the muse might return. I hope so, because he has lots of experience to share, and can write about photography, fishing, boating, engineering, guitars, and all sorts of things if he wants to. Maybe he is too busy living. He does find time to comment on occasion under his real name, Tom Francis. A Yankee, moved to the Carolinas.
Roger de Hauteville? Not to worry. He is around and healthy, but locked in the uninsulated attic for the moment. Those Norman barbarians need time-outs on a regular basis. He'll be back after the next war. In fact, we have planned a job of work for him which naturally involves Sicilia.
Bruce Kesler, our San Diego/New Yorker. He's sort-of on Sabbatical, but he is in touch with me almost daily and (among other emailers) contributes to our morning links, for which I am quite grateful. At some point, I think he may be back on the payroll unless he gets a better offer (he has had many newspaper op-eds published). And he has a day job plus young kids at home. Anyway, always take the better offer if you can get one!
Here's a poor recording of Marianne in New York, in her younger days (1950s), probably in some folkie den in the Village, long before Joanie, Bob, Phil Ochs, Sebastian, and all the others:
The only poverty this girl suffers from is a poverty of the soul–made plain by her obvious disregard for all those who love her and who have sacrificed to give her every advantage in life.
... But Miriam Weeks will never escape the choices she has made, never be able to leave it all behind. Friends, relatives, neighbors, future relationships. These memories and images will live on forever – following her and the ones who love her for the rest of their lives.
Deciphered Roman Soldier’s Papyrus to Family Complains: ‘You Never Wrote Back to Me’
- See more at:
http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/barbara-boland/deciphered-roman-soldier-s-papyrus-family-complains-you-never-wrote-back#sthash.5P9I7Zl5.dpuf
Academic leftists used to be interested in ideas and arguments; much less so today.
Now, the lefties just use name-calling and "Shut up" as debating tools.
As a youth, I used to debate my Conservative friends over beers and/or a little weed. My political evolution from adolescent Lefty to conservatarian began happening when I entered the adult world and learned more about human nature and how it is expressed, in part, through the miracle of markets. My evolution continues, because each year I realize more how precious and rare freedom is, and how dangerous and oppressive the State is.
Heading back up to Killington tomorrow (where it was a balmy -4 degrees F this morning) for my last few days of skiing this season. I need a few more days on those bumps on Superstar. Carpe diem.
Who counts "vacation days"? I have equity in our company, we're making money - and anyway, I'm skiing with my boss and we plan to meet some gals at the pubs. America is a great country!
Speaking of time away from work , this guy is our employee and he can't be fired:
...the president might consider rearranging his work schedule. Last year came the news that Mr. Obama was unaware of the problems plaguing his health-care website until after its rollout and that he never once had a private meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius between July 2010 and November 2013. How does something like that happen?
An answer of sorts comes in an article by Sean Blanda on "How Barack Obama Gets Things Done" on the 99U website. The president, Mr. Blanda reports, wakes up at seven o'clock. He works out 45 minutes a day every day, not including his regular basketball games. He watches a lot of "SportsCenter." Dinner each night with his family. To limit "decision fatigue," he likes to set policy via memos where he can check the box on "agree," "disagree," or "let's discuss."
Life insurance benefits can be tax-free. Inheritances over $5.3 million are taxed — with rates going up to 40 percent. That's why the life insurers lobby like crazy to save the estate tax.
Guessing Games And Climate ‘Science’ - They seem so certain when predicting what long-term weather has in store for us, but don't be fooled. Read the fine print in their pronouncements and the truth is revealed: those much-quoted experts admit they don't have a clue
The European Union’s characterization of the Crimean vote to join Russia as “undemocratic” is laced with stunning hypocrisy given that the EU ignored its own citizens when they rejected the European Constitution on numerous occasions.
In an autobiographical essay published 20 years ago, the left-leaning economist Kenneth Arrow recalled entering the Army as a statistician and weather specialist during World War II. “Some of my colleagues had the responsibility of preparing long-range weather forecasts, i.e., for the following month,” Arrow wrote. “The statisticians among us subjected these forecasts to verification and found they differed in no way from chance.”
Alarmed, Arrow and his colleagues tried to bring this important discovery to the attention of the commanding officer. At last the word came down from a high-ranking aide.
“The Commanding General is well aware that the forecasts are no good,” the aide said haughtily. “However, he needs them for planning purposes.”
Red-baiting was one of the more fantastic inventions of the left. Suddenly pointing out that someone was a member of a mass murdering ideology bent on world conquest… was worse than actually being a member of that ideology.
Red-baiting was tacky, hateful and everything that enlightened people didn’t want to be. It was perfectly all-right for a Communist to say he was one. It was alright for an admiring fellow traveler to say it. But not for anyone who thought that mass enslavement and murder under the red flag were bad things.
Red-baiting gave the Marxists and Communists immunity from criticism. Questioning their politics had become worse than their actual politics.
A book: 
A recent study has shown that 
Are 
New dinosaur 
Here's How 
Heading back up to Killington tomorrow (where it was a balmy -4 degrees F this morning) for my last few days of skiing this season. I need a few more days on those bumps on Superstar. Carpe diem.
1. Where the heck is that airplane?
‘Is this a joke?’ Salon writer asks: