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.
On most holidays, we celebrate 'something', but one thing worth celebrating is the ability to celebrate. So many things can happen which would alter the circumstances of enjoying any holiday. Last week, a fraternity brother sent me some pictures of his brother's plane, which crash-landed in the desert. His brother and sister-in-law were fine, though a team was helicoptered in to check them out. His sister-in-law was asleep during the test flight when the oil pressure dropped and the engine stalled. He woke her and asked her to use the phone cam and record the landing, to keep her mind off the event.
The video is pretty intense, but shows what a well-trained pilot is capable of doing. Today, husband and wife are celebrating with family and I'm pleased my fraternity brother gets to enjoy more time with his family members. I like to call today one of 'his' holidays, because after college he joined the Marines and served our country.
Chinese border guards put secret surveillance app on tourists' phones - Software extracts emails, texts and contacts and could be used to track movements
Salon: Trump remains dominant among white voters — Democrats can't afford to be complacent - Trump retains a built-in electoral advantage, and it's no good denying that. Are the Democrats ready to fight?
About a year and a half ago, in the midst of the last Bitcoin bubble, I wrote about how cryptocurrency will eventually become meaningful. You probably haven't noticed it yet, and over the last year and a half, you've probably felt that article was a one-off. But what you haven't seen is how blockchain is slowly entering your life. Not visibly, but managing things you may purchase and providing a store of value while others are less available.
To be 'money', a product needs to be many things. First, it needs to be a Unit of Value - meaning it needs to be generally acceptable for use in purchases and exchange. For this reason, primarily, people have commonly said items like gold, silver, or even cryptocurrency are not 'money'. But they are. Each one is accepted, maybe not widely, but generally enough to qualify. Some examples of cryptocurrencies being accepted have popped up frequently enough over the last year and a half for this one item to apply.
Another quality is portability. It goes without saying cryptocurrencies are portable. Their digital nature assures this. As long as you have access to your digital wallet, you can make a payment using cryptos. They are also, by definition, less expensive to create than standard currencies. All currencies (paper, coin, check, bonds, etc.) carry a price of creation. They can also be destroyed (and replaced). But because they can be created, hard currencies can suffer from Gresham's Law. Unlike hard currencies, cryptos can't be counterfeited. Cryptos are also indestructible. Most hard currencies are "indestructible" because a government, somewhere, backs its value. But governments fall, and central banks print more than should be printed, and in the process destroy the currency. A visit to Venezuela, or even revisiting Zimbabwe (which seems to be reigniting its inflation) are recent example.
Every one of these Democratic candidates is promising a vision of a vast central government administering almost every aspect of American life. They are gambling on persuading the nation that government alone can make life better and that, somehow, only the government is able to create cost-effective and efficient solutions. They are promoting a massive, administrative state when, at no point in history, has such system produced efficiency, economic prosperity, more freedom, and less corruption.
When all is said and done, the Democratic message to the American people is: “Your life sucks and your country is awful, so get your revenge by giving us all the power.” Moreover, Americans traditionally do not get enthusiastic about the idea of the government telling them it knows better than they do how to run their lives.
Medicare for all (and in Buttagoogoo’s case, Medicare for all who want it – hey, it’s a clever nuance!) Get rid of private insurance Healthcare for illegal immigrants Open borders Empty the detention centers and let the children go free (where and with whom wasn’t specified) Take the guns Abort babies up to birth
Although modern societies have made extraordinary progress in solving a wide range of social problems, from poverty and illiteracy to violence and infant mortality, the majority of people believe that the world is getting worse. The fact that concepts grow larger when their instances grow smaller may be one source of that pessimism.
As social problems shrink, there is less need or demand for the Left. Then the challenge is to magnify smaller issues right down to the microscopic, invented, or imaginary ones. Raise the volume. They are gettng the hang of that. Especially Scare the Blacks, but I don't think that will work this time. The reparations deal might, though, because who does not like the idea of a free check in the mail?
Two years ago, I wrote about how Connecticut morphed from a low-tax state to a high-tax state. The Nutmeg State used to be an economic success story, presumably in large part because there was no state income tax. But then an income tax was imposed almost 30 years ago and it’s been downhill ever since.
Betsy Ross flag
17-Year-Old Soon to Age Out of Foster Care 
Dunkin’ Donuts
RIP, Steve Dunleavy: 
8 Fun (and Possibly Dangerous) Activities Enjoyed by Past Generations