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.
Maybe you read about this today. Cecil the lion was killed by a dentist who is now in hiding due to death threats from those who 'cared' about Cecil.
I wish I could care about Cecil the Lion, but as much as I think his killer is a bit of an asshole, I'm more disturbed by the outpouring of death threats he has received.
More to the point, I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be upset about today? The kid whose body they found in the dumpster or a freaking lion who was killed legally (however much the kill was rigged to be legal, and however much of an ass the guy is, it was legal).
Yeah, Cecil is a sad story. Yeah the dentist is probably an idiot. But let's face it - we have a presidential contest about to start and a host of issues here at home that have led us to be concerned about way too much:
1. a moron former first lady who claims she is 'for the people' and gets $600 haircuts, while roping herself off from the people in parades
2. a moron socialist who occasionally says something cool, but is generally an asshole because he wants to pay everyone a minimum of $15 an hour but won't even pay his own staffers that wage - because it's too much.
3. a moron businessman who speaks plainly and pisses people off because running the country isn't the same as running a business. Yeah, he makes a few good points, but he has no shot at winning and even if he did I wouldn't trust him with my tax dollars.
4. a moron president who is no doubt hoping someone will change laws and allow him to run for a third term (while I'd support changing that law, I don't support him)
5. a bunch of morons trying to ban the Confederate battle flag, but not really caring about the 20 other Confederate flags which were equally "racist" then, but have different meanings today.
6. a bunch of morons who think banning guns is a good idea so they created "gun free zones" which have become kill zones - and they believe this supports their cause!
7. a bunch of morons who think certain words are triggers and should be outlawed because they 'offend'
The list of things I need to care about is endless. I have to remind myself each day to not offend anyone, to not be myself because someone else may not like what I am or what I stand for, to abide by some of the dumbest laws a nation can devise (and be concerned about others which are certainly headed our way), and generally be sensitive and caring to all people and all animals, all the time, everywhere, no matter what.
I'm pissed off about Cecil. But he's a freaking lion and he's thousands of miles away. There will be more lions, and he's not in my backyard. But I'm tired of having to care about every little thing that someone thinks is 'important' to them. I care about me, and my family, and my friends. I care if they are healthy, and I care if someone is impinging on mine, or their rights. So yes, I care. But I really just can't find time in my day to care about Cecil. Sorry.
Africa is beginning to go down that dark road towards western-style prosperity, development, and freedom. Like Cuba, see it now before the old Africa disappears. Is "poverty" a Western concept? Masai warriors with iPhones? What next? Disney Africa?
Already, there is no "wild Africa" remaining. Its future is like South America.
Nietzsche killed God in 1883, but man is hardwired to believe in something. Which explains why much of the 20th century was a search for alternate religions: The State, environmentalism, feminism, hallucinogenic drugs, and virtually all other aspects of the left take on religious aspects as they become more and more radical. But then, as Tom Wolfe wrote in “The ‘Me’ Decade and the Third Great Awakening,” “It is entirely possible that in the long run historians will regard the entire New Left experience as not so much a political as a religious episode wrapped in semi military gear and guerrilla talk.”
Geraldo
Rivera Frets Planned Parenthood Scandal ‘Might Put an End’ to ‘Garbage’
Used to ‘Be the Cure for Cancer’ - See more at:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2015/07/28/geraldo-rivera-frets-planned-parenthood-scandal-might-put-end#sthash.9BBnJKEi.dpuf
A fun, wide-ranging interview. She gets it wrong on Clinton-Cosby though. It's not "wired-differently," it's a refusal to exercise conscience. Low-life pond scum. Most people manage to refrain from doing whatever they might feel like doing.
One quote from her re academic craziness:
I prophesied this in a piece I wrote in 1992 for the Times Literary Supplement called “The Nursery-School Campus”. At the time, nobody understood what I was saying. But I was arguing that the obsessive focus by American academe with students’ emotional well-being was not what European universities have ever been concerned with. European universities don’t have this consumer-oriented view that they have to make their students enjoy themselves and feel good about themselves, with everything driven by self-esteem. Now we have people emerging with Ivy League degrees who have no idea how little they know about history or literature. Their minds are shockingly untrained. They’ve been treated as fragile emotional beings throughout their schooling. The situation is worsening year by year, as teachers have to watch what they say and give trigger warnings, because God forbid that American students should have to confront the brutal realities of human life.
Some gal and guy pals and I biked up from the West Village to The Cloisters this morning on Citibikes, along the Greenway. Strolled through the Cloisters and grabbed a coffee there. Then we headed back downtown on Broadway, grabbed some light Dominican brunch with fried plantains and beer in a dive in Washington Heights where nobody spoke much English, then rolled back downtown while ignoring many traffic signals. Beautiful day indeed with light summer traffic. Harlem looks great, but where did all of those Asians come from? Harlem seems full of Chinese people with kids in strollers.
Man, I love this amazing city with one surprise after another.
Mayor DeBlasio hates Uber, as does Hillary!. Everybody else loves it. Let the market (the people) decide: Uber Wins a Battle With New York, Now It’s War. What an arrogant jerk, just like our last mayor. Not enough government controls on enterprise?
I am out on the town tonight, boating and fishing next weekend. Life is good here, despite all the political frustrations. NYC in summer is good stuff, beautiful, intelligent, ambitious, fun people everywhere you go. Just say "Hi." The annoying people are in the Hamptons. Trump for Mayor!
Addendum from the Editor below - could not resist -
Walker is not anti-union. He is anti-government employee unions. So was FDR. The real reason he is dangerous is because he rides a Harley, while Hillary! can't drive a car.
Italians Finally Rise Up Against ‘Migrants’ - Slow-motion but steady invasion of Europe by Africa and the Middle East gets some pushback.
“The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness.”
Answer here. This was a Democrat policy accomplishment, combined with a large dose of noblesse oblige. Mission accomplished.Thanks, greedy Dems, for killing our golden goose. You have fundamentally transformed our traditional Yankee state with its old traditional values of thrift and sturdy self-reliance.
And special thanks to Gov. Weicker, who rapidly exited the state after instituting his new taxes. His noblesse oblige is on us, not him.
When I left for Italy in May, I was aware of a growing pain in my left heel. Plantar Fasciitis is not something I'm unfamiliar with, I've had an occasional bout in the past. I powered through 2 weeks of walking and sight-seeing. The toughest part is always just getting going in the morning. Sometimes, after a brief sit-down, it can be painful when you stand up. After 2 months, though, the pain has continued with me. In the past, I'd just keep doing what I'm doing and eventually it went away. Youth has its benefits. At my age, it takes considerably longer to deal with this sort of thing. I've started stretching my calves and inserted arch supports in all my shoes.
I've learned that people have all sorts of ways to deal with this. My aunt suggested rolling my arch on a tomato soup can for 5 minutes every night before bed (haven't tried that yet). She claims her problems are gone, though she continues this ritual every night just to be sure.
Anyone here suffer from this non-debilitating, but downright bothersome ailment? Any ideas on how to treat it?
New Yorkers love Uber. The wealthy just phone up their limo or their town cars, but now middle class people and poor people can just summon Uber on their app.
McArdle: "Why was I so glad to read that my ancestors had, in fact, faced nasty discrimination? It's a reaction that needs scrutiny. It's an echo of what happens when activists go looking for outrages..."
Pension payments to Chicago public union employees have become so high that today all the property taxes paid by the households of Chicago go exclusively to pensions.
Obama Turns to U.N. to Outmaneuver Congress - Washington is working on a new Security Council resolution making the nuclear deal legally binding on the next president.
Don't forget to 
Image via 
In Praise of the Benjamin Button Babes
Helicopter Parenting
Pangolin 
Dog Days pic via Ace 
Microbiologists Hold 
Elizabeth Holmes 
Pic via 