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.
Good fun. He is right that Obama and Biden behaved like traitors to the country, but few will say so. And he is right: the media is designed to make people upset.
"And all it took was one generation of neglect, just one, and poof, the reserve of bourgeois values necessary to maintain Western Civilizational disappeared. And I'm not sure it's possible to ever get it back."
Even I am finding it difficult to keep up a solid routine. Maybe making excuses, but I had a good daily routine which blew up and with all of life complications, it has not been good.
I do not like the new rules at my gyms. I will not deadlift with a mask on, and forget cardio with a mask. That is just unhealthy.
I'll be back to my trainer's home garage on Monday for my heavy weights, I hope. Legal or not, I do not care.
There are distinct and deep-rooted traditions of rational empiricism and religious sermonizing in American history. But these two modes seem to have become fused together in a new form of argumentation that is validated by elite institutions like the universities, The New York Times, Gracie Mansion, and especially on the new technology platforms where battles over the discourse are now waged. The new mode is argument by commandment: It borrows the form to game the discourse of rational argumentation in order to issue moral commandments. No official doctrine yet exists for this syncretic belief system but its features have been on display in all of the major debates over political morality of the past decade. Marrying the technical nomenclature of rational proof to the soaring eschatology of the sermon, it releases adherents from the normal bounds of reason. The arguer-commander is animated by a vision of secular hell—unremitting racial oppression that never improves despite myths about progress; society as a ceaseless subjection to rape and sexual assault; Trump himself, arriving to inaugurate a Luciferean reign of torture. Those in possession of this vision do not offer the possibility of redemption or transcendence, they come to deliver justice. In possession of justice, the arguer-commander is free at any moment to throw off the cloak of reason and proclaim you a bigot—racist, sexist, transphobe—who must be fired from your job and socially shunned.
What the hell is going on in this country? When did we, the majority, stop speaking up for ourselves? Crimes against common sense seem to happen every week, yet most of us stay silent.
I hope all our readers who are fathers enjoy this day with their families.
My father and mother divorced when I was 8, though he'd already left the house when I was 6. For a good portion of my life, my memories of him were of weekend visitations, driving around with 4 kids in Triumph TR5, (2 in the front, 2 in the 'back', which wasn't really a seat). There was a period of several years when he lived in Micronesia with his wife and my half-sister, so our direct contact was minimal. By the time I was 14, I was usually taking a bus to see him for weekends, once a month or so, or for a week in the summer. Eventually I spent three full summers with him while I worked at the Jersey Shore. I was in college, and it was a good place to spend my summer months.
Divorce is difficult on everyone involved. I remember spending time being angry at my father for leaving. I give my mother a lot of credit for knowing that it's important for children to have a father in their lives, encouraging and enabling us to take time to see him. Even scolding us when we spoke ill of him. Eventually, as I got older and more educated, my relationship with my father became much closer. I am lucky to still have him around, and I will be seeing him later today for the first time in 4 months (thanks to this lockdown).
In a way, I may have been lucky, as my mother remarried, and I wound up having a step-father (though he was not officially a step-father as I still had my father). A tough WWII vet, a good man who did his able best to raise 6 children, 4 of which were not his own. He passed 15 years ago. I was able to have conversations about the war, the Depression (which he grew up during) and learned about real estate (his profession). He was a do-it-yourself man, unfortunately not very skilled, but taught me how to do plumbing, auto, and minor electrical work. There were things he passed on to me that my father never could have.
Being a father has no template. We are certainly not perfect. Hopefully, our mistakes are good learning experiences, for both us and our children.
Today will be a good day to share some of the better stories, both good and bad, with our fathers or our children. Of course, we can do that any day, but it's nice to have a day to really focus. Enjoy your day with your family.
We had a lovely June visit to Wellfleet. Cool weather, blue skies, perfect for hiking and biking. The only downside is that not many places are open yet, including the beach sticker place. We worked around it. Lots of restaurants closed forever, some open with outdoor seating.
Why Maskachusetts? You can imagine. Masks in cars, masks walking the dog, masks walking the beaches, masks on runners and bikers. Crazy.
Well, we decided to do a stretch of the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT). Rent a bike and off you go. It is wonderful, riding through marshes salt and fresh, antique villages where you can stop for coffee, woodlands. It's the old railbed for the train from Boston to Provincetown but as of now the relatively flat route is only Wellfleet down to Dennis.
Anyway, at one road intersection I pulled to a stop behind a distinguished professor-looking guy who scolded me "Too close, too close." I said "Sorry, I did not expect you to stop." He raised his voice: "It's not a fucking joke."
By then, Mrs. BD was on the other side of the crossing with that guy's wife, who put her arm over her face and yelled at her "Corona, Corona!" Yelled like a crazy lady.
Mind you, Mrs. BD and I are fairly polite and refined people, but Mrs. BD had had it and responded to the lady "Finally, I have met a real Karen." We went off ahead of them to their relief.
A very weird list written by someone who's heard of older workers, but never met one, and who doesn't know that you don't put a period after each item in a bulleted list. I noticed "editor" isn't on your list.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock: 
