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.
While conservatives have much reason to be encouraged by the Senate results, the bottom line is that the balance of power has shifted tonight, and now the Democrats decisively control one half of one branch of government, a part of the government with considerable power. Don’t be surprised if they use it as aggressively as they can against Donald Trump.
LIC, a once-industrial area of the western tip of Queens, is no longer cheap. I've been there. Some excellent bistros and high-rise luxury apartments. 20 years ago, that was unimaginable. If this happens, all those Amazonians will not be able to afford NYC. They will need to commute from Long Island.
Adams' concept of the "talent stack" is a good one. It helps me understand many things. What is my Talent Stack, and how does it effect my life? (Being a basically positive guy, he never talks about anybody's Weakness Stack which is also a major factor in life.) I also like his distinction between people who order their lives by "systems" and those who use "goals." He thinks systems work better. I had never thought of that. I think he might be correct. It does apply to fitness programs.
... if the fact your country is poorer than the US qualifies you as refugees who cannot be turned away (really?) then we’ll have the entire world here. That’s fine. We’ll move en mass and found the US elsewhere. Hey, there’s a ton more natural resources further south. They can have our land. We’ll take theirs Within ten years, they’d be wanting in to our place again. Easier if we just tell them to take a hike…. in the other direction.
It demonstrates just how racialized liberal thinking—liberal in the American sense, not in the classical, Adam Smith sense—has remained in America. Once you start down the road of equality of outcome as the measure of justice, rather than equality under the law, you inevitably start dividing humans into groups, and one of the most obvious ways to do so is race. So, having spent years denying that there is any objective reality to racial classifications, liberals start sifting people into racial categories with an obsessiveness that puts South African policemen under the old regime to shame. Race, among other classifications, becomes a lens through which the whole of social life is examined. In short, there is no racist as fanatical as an anti-racist.
I spent the summer of 1982 with a group of 7 other people, one who was my brother, the rest were his high school and college friends. We had a 36 year get together not too long ago, and 2 of them had become lawyers. As the weekend wound down, we were entertained as the two of them talked 'shop' and one asked the other a question - "Does your firm have a diversity officer?" The reply, not surprisingly, was "Yes." Thereupon they launched into a Q & A regarding "What exactly does a diversity officer do?" The answer from both was "I don't really know."
I work at a major corporation and we have a diversity officer. I'm not sure what that position does, besides pay well and provide a public face at industry events which address diversity. The reality is the position isn't much more than virtue signaling.
I happen to support diversity as a concept, but not as a goal. For one reason. It can't be a goal because it can never be 'finished'. My favorite moment at any HR event was many years ago when my firm was giving everyone an update on diversity and pointed out that our employee base mimicked the make-up of the US in terms of percentages for gender and race. That, in itself, was considered an accomplishment. But more needed to be done, of course.
My boss, a female, raised her hand and asked a simple question. "When are we finished?" HR was floored. What did she mean? My boss said, when you have a goal to achieve something, you are finished at some point. She was curious what the goal of diversity was and when it would be met.
I've mentioned this story before. It's important to revisit. What's really at stake when corporations invoke 'diversity' isn't anything truly tangible. I know there are almost no firms that value older employees. They are expensive and their experience is no longer valued the way it once was, so the 'diversity' they offer isn't a valued diversity. Older employees are often viewed to be technologically impaired, owning mindsets which are not as 'out of the box' or forward-thinking (I take issue with both these points). Diversity for most firms isn't really diversity at all. It's just virtue signaling to the public. True diversity is recognizing that different personalities and viewpoints have value and welcoming them as part of the mix so the overall organization benefits. It's not a goal, just something which should be done naturally. Do you need an officer to tell you how that's done?
Not really a new story, there have been plenty like this in the past, but it is possible to build a home that can withstand a hurricane.
It's still more expensive than a standard home, by about 20%. Those costs are coming down, though.
Surviving a massive hurricane is a mixed blessing. If everyone else has lost their home, you've lost your neighborhood, and a good portion of your value.
However, as the costs for building this sort of home continue to fall, more homes are likely to survive, and overall values along the shoreline will be maintained more effectively.
Mille grazie to Roger de Hauteville, the Norman King of Sicily (recent photo on the right) for his change-of-pace morning links while I was away. Much more clever and fun to read than mine are.
President Trump sees Honduras as “a distressed property” that will become “the jewel of Latin America after it gets the Trump treatment,” according to a new brochure release by the White House to attract investment partners to the new property, tentatively dubbed Trump-Rico International. “The Trump Organization will create a luxury experience delivering a sense of style with unrivaled customer service — a real boutique nation for the discriminating resident or traveler.”
Coffee Is Awesome for Your Health, 
Endorsing Dead People 
Image via 
Chocolate:
I spent the summer of 1982 with a group of 7 other people, one who was my brother, the rest were his high school and college friends. We had a 36 year get together not too long ago, and 2 of them had become 
Is there a 
Mille grazie to Roger de Hauteville, the Norman King of Sicily (recent photo on the right) for his change-of-pace morning links while I was away. Much more clever and fun to read than mine are.