FROZEN TESLA SYNDROME: Tesla owner goes viral after his car would not charge in the cold.

FINALLY, ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY, the American Story has some thoughts on our American Christmas, American New Year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's been a long day and I leave you with these thoughts from Christmas past:

A Charlie Brown Christmas

A visit from St. Nicholas

A Christmas Carol

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Good night, and may this New Year to come be a happy one.

CHRISTMAS MUSIC I want to hear.

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS caught humbly serving at Arlington National Cemetery.

When we lived in Northern Virginia I always wanted to be one of the wreath layers at Arlington National Cemetary; I never did. There is another national cemetary near Atlanta where I now live. It's too late this year; but next year I resolve to remember.

FLEE FASTER: Another key voting bloc is fleeing the Democrat party.

REPUBLICANS ARE INDEED THE 'STUPID PARTY': Money talks, in Spanish.

HE ROCKS: DeSantis takes on Florida teachers' unions financing.

Democrats to be hard hit.

IN POLITICS, stupidity wins every time.

IF THERE WAS ANY DOUBT THE LEFT HATES AMERICA, border security gets thrown under the omnibus (again).

A DEFINITE STOP ON MY NEXT VACATION: A mountain town, a highway diner, and half a century of exceptional service.

NOW BANNED IN CANADA: the ButtMaster 22.

GET WOKE, GO BROKE: What comes next for the most empty downtown in America.

INTELLECTUAL MORONS: Stanford University's 'index of forbidden words' includes calling yourself an 'American'.

Um, Stanford, Elon Musk is an african American. Does that make him black?

Moron is too high on the intellectual scale to describe the people who created the 'index'; idiot is two levels lower and it's still too high.

WHY WORK? After the COVID lockdowns, unemployment benefits and Obamacare subsidies outpace median income.

YOU CAN HAVE MY GAS COOKTOP when — well, never.

And the same for my ventless (propane) fireplaces. Fuck off, nanny-staters.

ANDY NGO REPORTS: Domestic terrorism charges for five arrested at violent Antifa autonomous zone near Atlanta.

Note that none of those arrested were local and four of the five were from out-of-state.

SUPREME COURT urged to corral 'unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats' weaponizing federal law against Christians.

“As we explain in our brief, federal agency officials frequently disrespect American citizens and businesses’ most cherished principles — including religious freedom and the sanctity of life — by imposing personal political agendas that Congress has not authorized,” the brief argues.

“We urge the Supreme Court to take this case, overrule Chevon v. Natural Resources Defense Council, and affirm that courts should not defer to federal agencies when they overstep their executive authority and violate Americans’ First Amendment rights,” the brief continued.

“When left to their own devices — or to the political calculations of the White House— agencies stretch and strain their authority to impose on the everyday lives of American citizens in ways Congress never prescribed. As one justice of this Court recently put it, federal agencies now regularly ‘write ever more ambitious rules on the strength of ever thinner statutory terms.’”

Since Republicans appear to have no spine, the Supreme Court appears to be normal America's last resort.

DEBT-RIDDEN STACEY ABRAMS panned (by Democrats!) for 'incredibly bad' financial planning. Self awareness is not their strong suit.

Thanks, Presidentish Biden and your progressive supporters....

GOOD RIDDANCE: Generation Z students dramatically threaten to leave country, change schools over Roe overturning.

THEY WERE just willing donations to the Democrat causes....

WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES? Go to hell.

The natives are getting restless. It's about time.

GOOGLE GOES FULL-ON RACIST, will start marking the race of business owners.

Remember the old “Whites Only/Colored Only” signs on water fountains and bathrooms in the old Jim Crow South? Thanks to Google, that kind of open, in-your-face racism is back with a vengeance. Google is so concerned that you not be racist that it is doing the most racist thing a major corporation has done at least since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: it is planning to mark the race of the owners of various businesses so that racists of all varieties can patronize only the stores of their favored group. Have Google’s far-Left ideologues really thought this through? If they really want to eradicate racism, this is just the way not to do it.

I'm old enough to remember and I don't want to go back.

LINCOLN BROWN IN PJ MEDIA: The Quinton Simons story demonstrates why we must fight the evil in this world.

It's a longer read, but eminently worthy.

LOL: Elon Musk delivers the perfect response to QAnon accusations.

To be fair, imbeciles are not at the bottom of the IQ totem pole ... that's inhabited by progressives.

INSTAPUNDIT IS GETTING A LITTLE TOUCHY: Oh fuck off.

IMPRIMIS: Education as a battleground.

It's not 'a battleground'; it's the battleground of the future.

WE'RE LETTING WEIRDOS RUN THINGS: Bald, mustachioed men in dresses should not be running the government.

They should be escorted to the children's table (sans children) in another room and the door locked behind them.

BIDEN'S RETURN TO 'NORMALCY' brought us crazy instead.

For Democrats, crazy is normal....

IT LOOKS LIKE Kari Lake's Arizona election lawsuit has legs.

HAS THE COVID VACCINE MANDATE affected football?

PRESIDENT BIDEN seems to suggest that restaurants kick people out ‘for being gay’.

No, just Republicans and other undesirables.

FOLLOW THE VW MODEL: Turn off the heat and lights, lock the doors, and leave them to freeze in dark.

Then give them their walking papers as they're escorted out the door....

IMPRIMIS: the-economic-disaster-of-the-pandemic-response/The economic disaster of the pandemic response.

RETENTION ISSUES? Political strategists weigh in on recent departures from the Democrat Party.

They want their Democrat party back but it's so infected with wokeism that it'll be a long, hard slog. Better perhaps would be to just form a new center-left Democrat party.

SAM BRINTON, ANYONE? Biden's 'return to normalcy brought us crazy instead.

BUT, BUT ... YOU SHOULD ONLY NEED 10 ROUNDS: AR-15 used 30 rounds to repel home invasion.

IT WON'T STOP 'EM FROM TRYING: Department Of Justice's latest attempt to 'get Trump' face-plants.

BREAKING JUST NOW: It didn't.

ARIZONA SHERIFF calls on Gov. Ducey to stop sending shipping containers to border for makeshift wall. On public land.

Read the comments -- vigilantism is on the horizon. And it won't be pretty.

AFTER 54 YEARS, Boeing completes the last of its groundbreaking 747 jumbo jets.

Shortly after we were married the 747 made its maiden flight around the world. Hawaii was a first stop and we (along with most of Oahu) were at the airport to see it land.

REDSTATE: We are living in a dystopian novel.

POWERLINE'S 'LOOSE ENDS' is full of good cheer this week.

SHOE: The bright side of homelessness.

SO? ILLEGALS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN CITIZENS? Democrat mayor warns city services could be slashed to prioritize migrants.

Analysis: obviously true.

WHITE SUPREMACIST plots to blow up Texas high school. Oh, wait ... he’s a Muslim white supremacist, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Iran.

POWERLINE'S DAILY CHART: the super blob.

More here from PowerLine: the health care blob.

I blame 'higher' education. The 'blobs' - both (no, all) of them - are the only places where the woke graduates of modern academia could even remotely be (gainfully?) employed.

A CREDIBLE CONSERVATIVE WARRIOR emerges to lead the RNC.

THE JANUARY 6 PROTEST summarized in one single sentence.

Follow the link and read the whole post.

POWERLINE HAS THOUGHTS ON 2024: Dear President Biden.

WHAT NEXT? ENGLISH? Grammar is racist.

BECAUSE DESIGNER DRESSES ARE SOOO EXPENSIVE: 'Nonbinary' Biden official Sam Brinton accused of grand larceny amid separate [baggage] theft charges.

He couldn't afford them on his paltry Government salary....

AMMO GRRRLL: "There is no aspect of our lives that is safe from Big Karen."

UNEXPECTEDLY? College degree value plummets as woke insanity spikes.

Linked from Instapundit.

A REMINDER FROM 81 YEARS AGO. December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor … and Midway.

Let's not allow it to happen again.

SINCE WHEN CAN WE GIVE UP NATURAL RIGHTS? Democrats push firearms purchasing ban for people who voluntarily give up their Second Amendment rights.

MAYBE IT'LL EVENTUALLY SINK IN: battery storage is a fantasy. My fear is that we're almost too far along the progressives' path to Nirvana to turn back to reality without a world of hurt.

MORE: Saving the world with electric vehicles (EVs).

WHENEVER I SEE this cartoon

I want to insert the 'Biden Administration' for 'Schroedinger's Cat'. Like Dilbert's boss, we're afraid to open the box for fear of finding the Biden administration is alive.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Democrats can't be election deniers.

But of course -- they're Democrats.

WE CAN'T HAVE A MIDDLE CLASS: Team Biden is using the IRS to attack the gig economy.

Those Deplorables can't be controlled by our usual methods....

LAWFARE: Florida Gov. Ron Desantis reveals his next fight in the COVID-19 vaccine battle.

He's taken control of the Left's playbook.

MOORE COUNTY, NC power substations attacked by gunfire.

[P]ower substations in Moore County, North Carolina were attacked Saturday night, resulting in 40,000 people losing power and effectively shutting down the county.

Once the infrastructure could be examined in the daylight, it was determined that the damage was much more extensive than first thought, and local news reports said sources within the county’s emergency management office believed power could be out through Thursday.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but given that several power substations were attacked, that the attackers seemed familiar with the substation connectivity, that the damage was extensive, that repair will require substantial replacement of heavy equipment, and that Moore County is home to the US Army Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, I have to lean toward the theory that this was a probing attack by terrorists preparing the battlefield for future larger scale attacks.

Again, I hope I'm wrong.

Van Laar's initial post is here.

NOT BRUTAL, DAMNING: The Grand Jury report on 'obstructionist' Loudoun County Public Schools is brutal.

DAVID SOLWAY: Physician, heal thyself.

EVERY LIBERAL NEWS SHOW in sixty seconds.

Linked from here.

WANTED: NYC Rat Czar. Will offer salary as high as $170,000.

I offered it to Tuxedo, but he won't move to NYC.

More here.

YGBFKM -- LIZ CHENEY? Liz Cheney, Ron DeSantis, Elon Musk among finalists for TIME Person of the Year.

I HAVE TO WONDER: Can we survive?

CALIFORNIA COPS: We will only "rarely" send robots to kill people.

Only because there aren't that many Trump supporters left.....

IF IT'S REPORTED BY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA you can safely assume it's a lie.

It's Victor Davis Hanson, so read it all.

Update: "I trust car salesmen more." Even used car salesmen.

KURT SCHLICHTER: Elon Musk's big mistake -- he trusted the Left.

But he's learning.

OBAMA TO GEORGIA VOTERS: The GOP is the party of looney tunes. I would remind the former president that it takes one to know one -- it's called projection.

GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF AUTOMATION IN THE B-21 RAIDER, maybe we should know its pronouns instead.

ALSO HORSE DEWORMER INVERMECTIN. Two veterinary drugs may help eliminate bedbugs (and other human misiries).

Maybe we should trade MDs for DVMs. I know my cats get better medical care than I do (and I trust them more.)

ON A SERIOUS NOTE Ammo Grrrll writes on unpayable debts and unsung heroes.

TWITTER'S FORMER 'TRUTH AND SAFETY' POOBAH demonstrates why we are ruled by idiots.

Bat shit crazy idiots at that....

ELON MUSK should tell European Union (EU) censors to bugger off.

I suggest hejust shut Twitter down in the EU. See how long until they fold.

IF I LIVED IN CALIFORNIA I'D IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFY AS BLACK: California 'Reparations Committee' recommends $223k each for state's 'Black' or 'African American' residents.

SAN FRANCISCO’S TOILET OF THE FUTURE lasted three days before a systems failure. "It is the perfect allegory for the Left. Great at generating the you-know-what and lousy at cleaning it up."

IF YOU REALLY WANT to destroy the United States, here's how.

ELIZABETH WARREN accidentally reveals the truth about Twitter before Elon.

Musk simply entered the 'dark room', turned on the light and watched as the vermin scattered....

CITY JOURNAL: The decline of higher education.

Not decline, destruction.

IT WON'T: Anti-Xi protests should end American left’s China envy.

THE DIPLOMAD on Twitter, Trump, Kanye, Fuentes, China, and Britain.

Intelligent thoughts, all.

LIKE GOOD NEIGHBORS, armed citizens are there.

THEY'RE NUTS: Legal gun purchases = slavery?

Whether it is video games, social media, or the regular media; whether it is the general decay of society as a whole or some combination of multiple issues, no one seems to want to tackle the actual problems that lead a person to pick up a gun and commit an atrocity. That would mean admitting that our society is broken and could be, at best, charitably described as dysfunctional. That would mean that a whole host of companies, governments, organizations, and systems that claim to exist for the benefit and edification of the people have failed horribly in their duties.

But if you're a Democrat, everything is racist....

THE BABYLON BEE publishes a hysterical spoof of a college english course description.

Oh, wait ... it's not a spoof.

BIDEN'S LABOR DEPARTMENT wants to put your retirement savings to work for the Left.

Protect yourself.

WATCH THIS VIDEO, and you’ll quickly realize why the establishment is afraid of Italy’s new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

A NOTE FOR LEFTWING ACTIVISTS: Actions have consequences.

THERE MUST BE GLOBAL WARMING: Elon Musk gutted the "Trust and Safety team" that once used to carefully deliberate and "define dangerous language."

The snowflakes are melting....

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Deja vu all over again.

WELCOME TO FREEZING IN THE DARK. Eco-regulations force massive coal plant shut down.

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH: a relatively decent summary of cryptocurrency in the comments.

ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Maricopa County broke the law on election day.

And nothing has happened.

THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE BOONDOGGLE: This whole sordid business is hopelessly corrupt.

Read it all.

TRUMP ON NATIONAL REVIEW: Let it die.

Already did.

IT'S A BIT LATE, but PowerLine had a Thanksgiving Day edition. My favorite:

Don't miss the rest

IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO WORK, why should I continue to pay you?

MID-TERM BY THE NUMBERS: Hard to believe that the mid-term results were driven by voter opposition to the respective presidential candidates.

POWERLINE'S WEEK IN PICTURES (delayed edition): My favorite.

Just ask Yogi Bear. Now go see the rest.

IT WON'T WORK. ClintonWorld targeting Musk's advertisers?

Update: it didn't.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: A mid-term election post-mortem.

THE DAILY CHART: Greenies need to take more lithium.

No, seriously. Progressives, too.

FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY is a liar without conscience.

FALLING LEAVES 2022 WEEK 8++++(i.e., 12): Well, oops, I lost track of my plan to finalize the Falling Leaves series four weeks ago so here are the final 2022 pictures I planned to post back then. But first, my standard pond view picture from week 1 of this year:

Now for the final 2022 pictures in the same order and from approximately same locations as the Week 1 pictures.

Until next spring, then ....

NO ONE (YET): Post-election debacle, who is getting fired?

I'm still hopeful, but that hope is fading fast....

THANK YOU, ELON MUSK: CBS News announces it’s suspending all Twitter activity out of ‘abundance of caution’.

Update: Dang! They came back - less than 24 hours as I recall.

THIS IS your Democrat party.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE they can't reproduce.

PEACE, LOVE, ... and slush funds.

SOMEONE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE linked to this post of mine from way back in 2014. It's worth rereading today.

IMPRIMIS: the economic disaster of the pandemic response.

No forgiveness. None. They must pay.

THERE ARE MAGIC CARS, and then there's math and physics.

I'll put my money on math and physics....

YOU'RE FIRED: Twitter employees learn the consequences of insubordination:

I would like to apologize for firing these geniuses. Their immense talent
will no doubt be of great use elsewhere.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2022

After Hubris comes Nemesis....

WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, everyone understands zero.

Usually too late....

IMPRIMIS: Complications of the Ukraine War.

It's never as simple as it looks at first glance.

THIS IS SURPRISING? Biden and Canada's Trudeau beclown themselves by parading around in Mao jackets.

THE NEA [NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION] tweets that teachers know better than anyone else when students need "to learn and to thrive."

Rep. Eric Swalwell [D(umb)-CA] agrees. I pity his kids.

FROM THE MIDTERMS, rays of hope.

SHOWING REAL CLASS: Kentucky basketball treats a hard-working coal mining family to a VIP experience.

HEH: "[I]t would almost appear as if people are hungry for a free and open arena of ideas [on Twitter] without the oppressive sword of censorship looming from on high."

AND THEY DIDN'T: The GOP consultant class has a choice to make.

PULLING BACK THE MASK: the battle for a 100% hand count of votes.

Can you ask for more proof that Democrats cheat?

FINALLY TWITTER IS BECOMING USEFUL: Twitter fact-checks Sen. Warren's student debt claims.

RANDOM THOUGHT: I've wondered what it would be like to live in a third-world shithole; it looks like I'm about to find out.

'MASKS REDUCE RACISM' STUDY is the latest sign that the medical establishment is periously woke insane.

THEY CAN ALWAYS LEARN TO MINE COAL: Elon Musk is planning to starve the few remaining employees he didn't already lay off.

No sympathy here.

GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE: These counties experiencing election issues have one thing in common.

Ron DeSantis told them to get out -- and stay out -- of Florida and guess what? Florida counted the votes and published the results in one day.

RANDOM THOUGHT: The longer it takes to count the ballots the more likely it is that the Democrat will win.

DeSANTIS 2024? Think again.

Food for thought.

OREGON'S NEW GUN CONTROL LAW punishes poor people.

Every law Oregon progressives pass punishes poor people (and everyone else).

HOLY SMOKES! You've never met a "perk" 'til you've met a Meta perk.

The 'Woke' are finally feeling the effects of a recession.

THAT SHOULD BE COMPLETELY OBVIOUS TO ANYONE WITH TWO WORKING BRAIN CELLS: Global COVID-19 infection rates may far exceed reported cases.

POWERLINE'S 'PINK RIPPLE' EDITION of its Week in Pictures. My favorite is obvious:

Now go see the rest.

AMMO GRRRLL has a few thoughts about last Tuesday. They're not kind.

WELL, KATIE HOBBS IS SECRETARY OF STATE: What’s the matter with Arizona?

It's long been known in my world that 'to err is human; to really screw things up requires a computer". Technology enthusiasts take note, because it works with cheating as well....

REPUBLICANS NEED TO FIGURE OUT MAIL-IN VOTING: It’s being used by Democrats to influence the course of elections.

The answer, of course, is to ban it. Election day only; Absentee only with proof of disability or absence on election day.

HE'S RIGHT, OF COURSE, but I'm the one who has to suffer with them....

[N]o “red wave.” For that, you need more than a couple of years of a disastrous Democratic presidency. You need millions of Democrats who’ve actually seen the light, who’ve snapped out of the brainwashing, who’ve come to realize that abortion is still legal and that Trump isn’t the devil and that what happened on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, wasn’t anything close to an insurrection. You need a big chunk of the American population to experience a road-to-Damascus moment. And I’m afraid that until that great awakening occurs, expecting a “red wave” at the polls is, alas, sheer folly.

Read the whole thing.

NO. DEMOCRACY DIES IN DEMOCRATS. Democracy dies in climate panic.

THE DIPLOMAD WRITES ON THE MIDTERMS: looking back and ahead.

NO EFFING WAY. Lockdowns and masks didn't work and mistakes were made; now the scolds want forgiveness.

They must be made to pay and be forever banned from any form af bureaucratic power.

ASSUMING THE DEMOCRAT CHEATING ISN'T SUFFICIENT TO KEEP THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, whoever takes the gavel from Nancy Pelosi should have some disinfectant close at hand.

THAT COULD HAVE GONE BETTER: Kurt Schlichter has thoughts on the midterm aftermath.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Tuesday takeaways.

IF YOU CAN'T LIMIT SUFFRAGE TO MARRIED COUPLES WITH CHILDREN, at least raise the minimum age for voting to 25.

"YOU HAVE OUR PERMISSION TO FREEZE AND STARVE IN THE DARK." Northeast faces winter energy crisis as Biden promises ‘no more drilling.’

Lede is from the comments. Read them.

"FLORIDA IS WHERE WOKE GOES TO DIE." Ron DeSantis shows he’s future of the GOP.

"I KNOW I’M AN IDIOT. I’M SORRY.” What every Leftist should say after looking at himself /
herself / itself in the mirror every morning.

WE ASKED FOR FOSSIL FUELS; instead we got fossil fools.

RANDOM THOUGHT: So looking forward to 2024....

On this one I'm hoping to be wrong.

TOLDJA SO. Seventy percent of unmarried women voted for Democrats.

Limit suffrage to married couples with children. Even Swallwell.

ERIC SWALWELL LAMENTS: [I]t’s ‘so stupid’ for parents to control their kids’ education.

Obviously his parents didn't....

WE DON'T HAVE A PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM; we have a public indoctrination system.

And until it's fixed, nothing much will change. Privatize public education. Let the parents choose.

THADDEUS G. McCOTTER: A Veterans Day reflection.

Read it all.

VETERANS DAY:

It's a cool, overcast, depressing rainy day as I watch the Democrats cheating their way to midterm victory, but I console myself knowing this flag don't run.

VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN WINS ELECTIONS: This explains the lack of a red wave more than anything else.

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: Republican Party staves off red wave.

INCLUDING ITSELF: If Disney can kill Indiana Jones, Disney can kill anything.

AND ALL SWIRLING DOWN THE TOILET BOWL: Democrats won full government control in these states.

AS THE TOILET BOWL FILLS: Will the Left coast turn right?

Not until it's flushed....

ANOTHER RANDOM THOUGHT. Earlier I proposed that the vote be limited to married couples with children.

Here's (at least partly) why.

THE RETURN OF "FAKE BUT ACCURATE": The New York Times' weird DeSantis hit piece.

UNDER SOCIALISM YOU DON’T HAVE ANY ELECTRICITY, but you have all the “equity” you can stand.

IF ONLY: Whoopi Goldberg quitting Twitter.

THANK ELON MUSK: Twitter claims user growth at 'all-time highs' after purchase.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Vonnegut doesn't howl.

SO THEY'RE ACTUALLY TELLING YOU where the Democrats are planning to cheat?

That's confidence.

INSTAPUNDIT: The worst of all White Supremacies.

KURT SCHLICHTER: GOP governor grrrl power owning the liberals.

I liked the subtle homage to Ammo Grrrll (Susan Vass).

MORE DEMOCRAT BATTLESPACE PREPARATION: Report claims California election results are expected to be delayed for days or weeks in some Los Angeles-area races.

LET THE CHEATING BEGIN: Arizona, New Jersey electronic voting machines already causing problems.

And where the cheating hasn't (yet) begun, some battlefield preparation....

ILLINOIS SHERIFF warns prosecutors not to be ‘overzealous’ targeting victims stopping criminals: "Citizens could be driven to use [preferably lawful] force to stop criminals."

My response is "toldja so."

PRESIDENT(ISH) BIDEN: Coal plants “All Across America” will be shut down and replaced by solar and wind.

After the Texas ice storm in 2021, somehow I don't think so....

CARRY ON and ignore the din.

The most effective approach is to ignore them until they violate the law, then punish them.

Harshly.

SARAH HOYT: A friendly letter to the foes of the Republic.

They won't can't listen.

NO MORE:

[O]ne way of looking at America’s current disaster is that we, the American people, were lab rats. And since 2021, the Left were the mad scientists, eager to try out their crackpot leftist experiments on us.

Read it all. It's Victor Davis Hanson.

HEH: Elon Musk just pulled the plug on Twitter censors.

SALENA ZITO: How the Democrats lost their way.

SO JOE BIDEN TAKES CREDIT for his inflation causing Social Security payments to increase.

Oops. Elon Musk intervenes: The tweet was accompanied by a note from Twitter that states "readers added context" that "Seniors will receive a large Social Security benefit due to the annual cost of living adjustment, which is based on the inflation rate."

THE DIPLOMAD comments on tomorrow's election.

TO SAVE AMERICA, repeal the 18th Amendment (again).

ELON MUSK MOCKS TWITTER'S HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT for sending 'mandatory' course on how to manage a company.

I hope he had the sense to include the entire HR department in the 50% of employees he fired.

RANDOM THOUGHT ON ELECTION EVE: one family, one vote. You must be married, with children, to exercise the right to vote.

At least families have a stake in the future of the Republic....

ON NOV. 7, honor those killed fighting for us in Vietnam.

That, and new Gov. Glenn Youngkin, are the only reasons I'd consider moving back to Virginia.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID: The Occam’s Razor election.

KURT SCHLICHTER: How twisted must you be to justify cutting apart kids?

TOMORROW WILL TELL, but it's beginning to look like a Republican blowout. Or so I hope.

One thing still bothers me, though -- the thought that the Republicans will fade on doing the things they ran on when challenged by the extremist Left. In some sense the GOP is its own worst enemy.

Here are six must-do's for the incoming GOP majority. (Governors and local officials included.)

[T]HE DEPRESSING BUT UNDENIABLE FACT [is] that the gravest danger to our republican government is that too many idiots vote....

Tomorrow we'll find out how many idiots there are.

FALLING LEAVES 2022 WEEK 8.

Despite the fact that we're having an unusually warm couple of days, this has been a colder-than-normal fall (at least initially) and leaf fall is about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Here's the usual pond view:

The brown leaves that were there last week are gone; so is the little remaining ground cover.

The same is true along the usual fire pit view. Except for that stubborn tree in the foreground, all the leaves are gone. We do have the grass beginning to show in the newly seeded area behind the barn.

Our road is now mostly clear (where you can actually see the road; this section has had the leaves blown off) as the leaves are all gone from the trees.

Here's how it looked outside this morning with the new lawn having had it's first 'haircut'.

Finally, a picture taken a day or so ago showing the last remaining color in our neighborhood.

Next week, a recap of this year's series. (Also, apologies for being a day late; I forgot to upload the post last evening.)

WHILE SLEEPING OR FOR SLEEPING? Twitter employee says he was fired 'while sleeping' as Elon Musk halves company workforce.

Either way doesn't sound good....

EMBRACE THE HEALING POWER OF 'BOTH':

Linked from here.

GOOD FOR YOU, ELON. Elon Musk says what's next for Twitter advertisers if they bow to activists demands and leave the platform.

I will be watching, and those who choose boycott will not be seeing much of my business. Keep in mind boycotters that you all have competitors....

DOESN'T HE HAVE MIRRORS IN HIS HOUSE? Bill Maher says this American value will 'lose' in the midterms.

SO IT'S NOT [YET] BEYOND THE MARGIN OF CHEATING? Pennsylvania Republicans voice concerns about midterm ballot counting in letter to secretary of state.

DON'T WORRY IT WON'T HURT FOR LONG. The quaint customs of our innocent, loving indigenous people.

AS SIMPLE AS ABC: Why suburban women are flocking to the GOP.

ROUND AND ROUND IT GOES, AND WHERE IT STOPS NOBODY KNOWS: the 'intersectionality roundabout' has become competitive.

KURT SCHLICHTER: Everyone is laughing at the ridiculous Pelosi big lie.

THE DIPLOMAD comments on the mid-term election in two posts.

Read them both.

ACCORDING TO OBAMA Herschel Walker is a celebrity who wants to be a politician.
Walker responded:

President Obama was here last night. He said I’m a celebrity. He got that one wrong, didn’t he? I’m not a celebrity, I’m a warrior for God. He got something else wrong, too. Remember two years ago he told us to vote for Joe Biden, didn’t he? He got that one wrong, did he not? He’s lost twice in Georgia already, hasn’t he, so I think he probably needs to sit this one out.

I would have responded by noting that Obama is a politician who wants to be a celebrity.
But Walker did better....

A REMINDER from Instapundit: "You are the carbon they [the Democrats] want to reduce."

RANDOM THOUGHT: 'Our democracy' is progressive-speak' for 'our control'.

BEST WE CAN DO IS 'NO'. Biden accuses Arizona of trespassing and demands containers plugging gaps in border wall be removed.

FALLING LEAVES 2022, WEEK 7:

I have to say at this point it almost looks like Fall is over early. Here's the usual pond view. Leaves are almost all gone, those remaining are all brown. Even the tulip magnolia in the foreground has begun to turn.

Around the fire pit, leaves have gone from yellow/gold to brown (those remaining) and the yard is strewn with leaves even after almost daily use of the leaf blower to keep the grass clear.

Even with all the leaves, the grass is still growing (to my surprise) and only the evergreens have any leaves remaining

Finally a view of the back side of the house, where last week there were still plenty of yellow/red leaves on the trees. This week they're on the ground.

Until next week....

TWITTER WORKERS are twits.

Except for the Chief Twit, who is busily working to redefine the term.

DEMOCRATS: If the midterms don't go our way, it's the voters' fault.

And open borders is the Democrats' way of buying new voters since the old ones won't do....

SEEN ON TWITTER FROM LAUREN BOEBERT:

Joe Biden now says there are 54 states.

I guess if you count the states of denial, confusion, delusion and disaster that his Regime has caused he just might be on to something.

Heh.

POWERLINE: Less is more.

Stay tuned.

‘CIVIL SERVANTS’ IN ARIZONA use their official capacity to openly campaign for Democrats.

WE CALL THEM 'DEMOCRATS'. We are ruled by crooks, incompetents, and clowns.

HERE'S THIS WEEK'S EDITION of PowerLine's Week in Pictures. Many, many good ones this week, especially of the Twitterverse meltdown, but I have a different favorite (suitable for the midterm election):

Now go see the rest.

WELL, IT WILL BE THE END OF THEIR DEMOCRACY. Another Democrat talking head equates voting for economic issues with the end of democracy.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS ALL ABOUT VIRTUE-SIGNALING, not about helping actual disadvantaged people.

It's about saying "I'm not one of them."

THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT: Elon Musk hints at the future of Twitter.

ISSUES & INSIGHTS: Biden's border crisis is far worse than you think.

YOU CAN THANK THE DEMOCRATS: Energy executivess tell Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm that shuttered U.S. oil refineries won’t restart.

BEARING ARMS: Armed citizen stops attack on pregnant woman outside a Florida grocery store.

That armed citizen would have been committing a felony offense if he’d saved that woman from being assaulted in a grocery store parking lot in the state of New York....

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Our two parties have both changed, and that explains why one will win, and one lose in the midterm elections.

ELON MUSK is about to bury his talons into the Twitter bird. Twitter 'workers' are not happy.

REAL PEOPLE ARE NOTICING: Racial and ethnic ghettos are only for Democrats.

GERMANS MAY BE SLOW LEARNERS, but they are learning.

PAYPAL RECOMMITS TO SUICIDE: PayPal has reinstated its $2,500 fine for ‘misinformation.’

IT WOULD BE FUNNY IF IT WEREN'T SO SAD: Fetterman’s lines were canned, but he couldn’t read the labels.

AMERICANS TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA: You suck.

It's interesting to note that Fox News did indeed debut in 1996....

LIZ CHENEY is a prime candidate for a straitjacket in a rubber room so she won't hurt herself.

FETTERMAN BLAMES THE CLOSED CAPTIONING SYSTEM on his disastrous debate performance.

It’s hard to even know where to start with an allegation so moronic. The big thing here is that Fetterman’s biggest problem last night was not whether he could read the questions or not, but rather the answers he delivered. He was clearly having serious mental processing issues in regard to verbalizing what he wanted to say. Closed captioning had absolutely nothing to do with that unless the suggestion is that Fetterman was supposed to be able to read off answers as well.

Well, we've known for years that the Democrats 'mental capacity' is not up to par. Just to name a few off the top of my head: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Mazie Hirono, Hank Johnson, Keith Ellison, Gavin Newsom, Raphael Warnock, and of course John Fetterman....

THE DAILY CHART(S): What border?

IT IS ABOUT TIME FOR AMERICA'S REGULATORY BODIES BE ISSUED 'CEASE AND DESIST' ORDERS: California entrepreneur who was fined $1000 for drawing informal maps without a license takes regulatory board to court.

HER PATH TO CONTINUING GRIFT IS OVER. Stacey Abrams knows she's toast.

Those canceled ad buys are being saved to fund her future lifestyle....

AMERICA'S 'MOST DANGEROUS' LAW? Illinois candidate warns of 'anarchy' after criminal justice overhaul.

I think it's fair to say it's already happening. Vigilantism is sure to come if this isn't stopped soon.

MICHAEL RAMIREZ: It's only unconstitutional if you get caught.

NO, IT ISN'T THE BABYLON BEE. Joe Biden's secret six.

They're good at snark but this is master level.

COULDN'T HAPPEN TO A BETTER ORGANIZATION: The Republican National Committee sues Google.

THE LEFT ISN'T GETTING ITS WAY: Here come the tantrums.

DEMENTIA IS STRONG IN 'THE VIEW': Hosts panic over voter focus on economy.

JEFF GOLDSTEIN: The age of boutique authoritarianism.

MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER: The quiet desperation of woke fanatics.

If only they were quiet ... desperation I can handle.

WE CAN'T HAVE HIGH STANDARDS HERE: Professor fired from NYU after students complained that the class was too hard.

Read it all and follow the links.

VOLKSWAGEN DESERVES A MEDAL. After eco-freaks glued themselves to the showroom floor, Volkswagen did what every single company being protested by assholes should: they shut off the lights, turned off the heat, allowed anybody who wanted to leave to leave, and allowed nobody to come back in.

I may keep my Eos even though its government-mandated sensor systems stink.

RULES FOR THEE BUT NOT FOR ME: Democrat mayor of Ann Arbor MI installs natural gas line in home after pushing city to phase out fossil fuels.

The last time I checked, natural gas is a fossil fuel.

SO I'M NOT ALONE IN GRIPING: Volkswagen is bringing back this old-school feature.

I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY: Pelosi insists Democrats should 'change that subject' on inflation in last-ditch effort to 'inspire' voters.

NEW YORK POST: After the Jan.6th committee debacle finishes, maybe a GOP Congress can probe some actual threats to democracy.

FALLING LEAVES 2022, WEEK 6:

Today I return (mostly) to my standard format. Here's the pond view from our back deck:

Compared to the view from 2 weeks ago, the foliage is mostly gone. We've had some high winds in the last week, and nearly all the leaves have dropped. The leaf blower has been working overtime to keep leaves clear for the grass. Here's the last red tree of the season.

It's already lost some brilliance, and leaves, in the wind. Next week I expect it to be brown (or bare).

The forest on the south side of the house is mostly protected from the wind so the leaf fall hasn't been as spectacular as around the rest of the house. These, too, should be gone by next week if the temperatures remain below average.

Now for some pictures from around the house:

It's been cold, but beautiful

This one of the fire pit was actually taken earlier in week, just before we started seeding between the barn and fire pit. From the week before the leaves went from green to brown.

Here's the view of our new lawn, which is greening slowly.

The house, taken from slightly downslope. All the low lying brush is gone so we have good views downslope toward the pond.

And finally, our neighbor's cat Wanda as we walked the dogs this morning. She frequently goes with her dogs on their walks.

Till next week....

ISN'T THAT THE IDEA? Biden warns Republicans will 'tear down' his accomplishments if they win the midterms.

Linked from Instapundit here.

JUST NOT HER COPS: Defund police socialist fumes at cops for not protecting home from feces-throwing suspect.

Maybe she should rethink her position? Nah.

LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR, a gun owner is there.

THE DIPLOMAD writes on the midterm elections.

Too many variables, too much volatility, and, of course, unreliable vote counting make it very tough. We also have one of the sloppiest vote collection and tabulation systems in the world. We have no clear idea of just who is voting, and how the votes are counted. It's a disgrace.

He's right.

FINALLY: The proper way to treat woke warriors.

Then let 'em freeze in the dark....

IMPRIMIS The politicization of the Department of Justice.

BUT NOT AT MY HOUSE: SpaceX announces Starlink internet service on airplanes.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO ARIZONA: Remove shipping containers filling gaps at the border.

ARIZONA: Best we can do -- Nope.

OUR ENEMIES ARE LAUGHING AT US starter pack.

REALITY STRIKES: Tulsi Gabbard says Democrats have become 'insane'.

Wow.

WE LOVE NEW YORK: First migrants in NYC arrive at tent shelter with 500 beds, big-screen TVs, Xbox systems.

Next up, voter registration....

SO THAT'S WHY THERE'S A DIAPER SHORTAGE. Democrats are filling up their diapers over poll that indicates a Republican tidal wave in next month’s election.

IN THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM, I think Joe Biden is winning.

STACEY ABRAMS EXPLAINS: Quit having children; that way inflation won't be such a problem.

Left unsaid: We're importing our own future voters to replace yours....

ELECTRIC VEHICLE ROAD TRIP NIGHTMARE: Man spends 15 hours to travel 178 miles across Wyoming.

MICHAEL GOODWIN: Joe Biden’s Saudi state of affairs.

WELCOME TO THE WEST COAST, MESSED COAST™ REPORT, where electoral hopes spring eternal for conservatives who haven’t yet moved to Texas, Idaho, Tennessee, or Florida.

ONLY ACTIVISTS NEED APPLY; actual work not required.

WELL, WE NOW KNOW men can get pregnant.

I HOPE HE'S RIGHT: Things are much worse for they seem for Democrats.

TOWNHALL: The Left is losing what remains of its collective mind.

WE ARE ALL MINUTEMEN NOW. Don't poke the Momma bear. She has claws. Sharp claws.

HOW TO WIN: Mock them.

Read it all.

OBVIOUSLY: The Herschel Walker lesson is not what you're being told by the mainstream media.

SEX, BLACKMAIL AND VIDEOTAPES: Republican Congresscritter Lauren Boebert will be the real winner.

THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL (CDC) is forced to turn over 'V-Safe' program data.

'V-Safe' is a voluntary adverse reaction (to COVID vaccination) program sponsored by the CDC. It's not obvious whether the data gathered is meaningful in any statistical sense but the non-transparency is bothersome.

FROM POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures, here's my favorite.

From my experience, I'm guessing he speaks about 100 times per year. That said, this week's selection is excellent with many, many good ones. Go see them all.

ENTHUSIASM FOR ESG (ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE) INVESTING is already starting to wane.

So, given that the progressives never give up, what will the next new name be?

AFTER THE MIDTERMS, we should add 14 days to the January 6 committee hearings....

KRUISER'S MORNING BRIEFING: Let's hope Joe Biden doesn't get the planet nuked for Christmas.

The “Biden administration” is a rudderless ship. There are consequences to installing an empty husk in the Oval Office and playing president by committee. This is an awful time in history to be waiting to see who pops out of the clown car to step up and attempt to talk Vlad out of going all boom-boom.

I'm not so sure the ship is rudderless; it seems to be heading straight for Armageddon.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS HEAD COACH: We don't look at color, we coach football.