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.
Predictably, Donald Trump was attacked both by the establishment and the media as “crude,” “unpresidential,” and “gratuitous” for a recent series of blunt and graphic statements on a variety of current policies. Oddly, the implied charge this time around was not that Trump makes up stuff, but that he said things that were factual but should not be spoken.
Few people are locked for life into an income category. Grad students are poor in income, as are many retirees who have decent wealth. That's why snapshot income data is deceiving.
Shoehorned into the festivity of the season is the lame-duck session in congress, and one of the main events it portends is the end of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The Sphinx-like Mueller has maintained supernatural silence about his tendings and intentions. But if he’d uncovered anything substantial in the way of “collusion” between Mr. Trump and Russia, the public would know by now, since it would represent a signal threat to national security. So it’s hard not to conclude that he has nothing except a few Mickey Mouse “process” convictions for lying to the FBI. On the other hand, it’s quite impossible to imagine him ignoring the well-documented evidence trail of Hillary Clinton colluding with Russians to influence the 2016 contest against Mr. Trump — and to defame him after he won. There’s also the Hieronymus Bosch panorama of criminal mischief around the racketeering scheme known as the Clinton Foundation to consider. Do these venal characters get a pass on all that?
Best thing about it? No darn presents. Nobody needs presents, unless they are edible. Mrs. BD is threatening to get me an iphone XS for Christmas. Do I need that gadget? My life is pretty good right now as it is.
Wives returning from work to an apartment or house are expecting their husbands to fulfill all the emotional and conversational needs that were once fulfilled by other women of multiple generations throughout the agrarian workday in the fields or at home (where the burdens of childcare and eldercare were group shared).
It's the second time smoke and horror have driven him from his home, if you recall his writings from Brooklyn Heights about 9-11. He was done with The Hive after that horror.
I wonder what it's like to lose your home, your neighborhood, your town, and everything you own. I'm sure he will let us know because he likes to write.