It certainly explains the state of our firewood, with less than half a cord remaining out of the four we started out with. Usually by now we'd be heating almost exclusively with the furnace as the only time we'd need heat would be a bit in the evening and first thing in the morning. But for now we still have to run the Official Weekend Pundit Woodstove 24/7. I just hope the cold temps will leave before we exhaust our supply of firewood.
***************
When I heard this I realized the friggin' PC police have taken over the schools in Lexington, Massachusetts.It appears the high school administration banned a planned “American Pride” dance because “it excluded other nationalities.”
WTF?
First, that the school officials in one of the two towns that saw the first battles of the American Revolution would ban something that should be celebrated as much as possible shows just how far the PC rot has progressed.
Second, they seem to have forgotten that Americans are made up of all kinds of nationalities that came here to be American. (My maternal grandparents were just two of them.) If people of other nationalities are attending the high school, could it be because eventually they will become Americans? If they're exchange students, does it really matter?
I have to wonder whether they're putting “other nationalities” ahead of Americans. Do they allow celebration of Cinco de Mayo in the school? (If they do, do they ban the wearing of American flags on that day because it might offend those of Mexican descent, just as has happened in Arizona?)
These people need to be fired because it is quite obvious that they have become deluded and, dare I say it, hostile to our immigrant American roots. These people should have no contact with children...even their own.
***************
I missed this post by Skip the other day, where he skewers the “socialism works” meme and uses the self-made economic debacle in Seattle as an example of how far too often emotions override facts (and math) and the socialists in charge decide that ignoring the laws of economics are already learning about the Law of Unintended Consequences first hand.I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who noticed this fantasy-based 'solution' to a problem that can't be solved by putting even more people out of work. (Scroll down.)
Then again, it never is about logic. It's always about “what can we do to 'help' the 'poor' that will make us feel better about ourselves even though it won't really help anyone and, will in fact, make things worse.”
***************
I think my family is going to have to rethink using these.Wet Wipes Are Forming Sewer-Destroying 'Superknots'.
Wastewater officials are begging people to stop sending wipes down the toilet and preparing lawsuits against manufacturers who refer to their sanitary products as "flushable." That word you keep using... I do not think you know what it means.I have never felt the need to use them except on one or two very special circumstances. I also don't like what they do to our septic system though that hasn't stopped other members of our household from using them.
***************
Fun with Starbucks!***************
Bird Dog reposts his treatise on Maple Syrup and Sugaring Season.The sugar houses have started collecting sap (when it's running) and once they have enough they'll start boiling it down to get rid of the water. At the moment the weather here in New Hampshire isn't conducive to the sap running. It's too cold and it's windy. Sap runs best when it's warm during the day and cold (generally near freezing) at night, with little or no wind. But it's in the upper teens and low twenties today with high, gusty winds, so the sap won't be running.
Now all we have to do is watch out for the maple syrup cartel trying to horn in on our action.
***************
One thing neither the Department of Justice or the usual race-baiters (Sharpton and Holder) and Obamabots ever mention about the aftereffects of their efforts to stir up racial hatred for fun and profit after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson: The average property values have dropped 50 percent in the past seven months.That will help those in Ferguson who would like to leave but are now stuck there because any equity they had in their homes has disappeared.
Call this yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences expressing itself in a way that hurts everyone.
(H/T Pirate's Cove)
***************
Here's another example of the Gore Effect, in this case in New York City at the United Nations.You'd think the warmists would have learned their lesson by now, but we know they are incapable of seeing anything that goes against their religious beliefs.
***************
By way of Granite Grok comes this notable quote from Ace of Spades:Yes, Establishment GOP, you can teach us that you will always lie to us, stab us in the back, humiliate us and crush us; but if you teach us that, be aware we are learning another lesson, too. Not just that “The Establishment Will Always Crush You,” but the lesson that There is no hope in any kind of conventional politics for those of us who want better than this Pile of S&^% the two parties give us.Indeed.
***************
I've been saying this for years, as have many others.Islam needs a Reformation. Much as Christianity's Reformation changed the many of the tenets of Christianity and rejected its previous militancy, so must Islam, otherwise the never ending Holy War being fought by its extremists will lead to yet another Holocaust, this time killing billions.
Writes Ayaan Hirsi Ali:
Not all of this violence is explicitly motivated by religion, but a great deal of it is. I believe that it is foolish to insist, as Western leaders habitually do, that the violent acts committed in the name of Islam can somehow be divorced from the religion itself. For more than a decade, my message has been simple: Islam is not a religion of peace.She goes on to state that “we in the West need to challenge and debate the very substance of Islamic thought and practice.”
When I assert this, I do not mean that Islamic belief makes all Muslims violent. This is manifestly not the case: There are many millions of peaceful Muslims in the world. What I do say is that the call to violence and the justification for it are explicitly stated in the sacred texts of Islam. Moreover, this theologically sanctioned violence is there to be activated by any number of offenses, including but not limited to apostasy, adultery, blasphemy and even something as vague as threats to family honor or to the honor of Islam itself.
As the saying goes, Read The Whole Thing.
***************
Obama's anti-Israel rhetoric is cranking up, particularly since Israeli voters decided they liked the Prime Minster they already have, rejecting Obama's efforts to unseat him. The election results cause the Left here in the US to totally unmind itself, making them determined to throw Israel to the wolves.The Left's hatred of Israel is no longer subtle or just under the surface. It is out there in the open and I have a feeling it will only end when Israel (and a good portion of the Middle East) is nothing but a radioactive wasteland. Even then, the Left will find some way of blaming Israel's destruction upon Israel itself, regardless of the fact they've pushed hard to make sure Iran acquired the means of making and using nuclear weapons. But then that's how the Left operates – create a crisis for a perceived enemy, assist in their destruction, and then rewrite history to absolve themselves of any blame.
With a friend like Obama and the Left, no one needs enemies.