A POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR TODAY: Let the protesters stay until academia burns to the ground.

Then grind the remains to rubble and pave it as a parking lot for fossil fuel vehicles only.

MIKE ROWE CALLS GEN Z the next 'toolbelt generation' amid increasing vocational enrollment.

IS IT NOW A CRIME to be a Jew in London? "I remember 20 years ago when people like Melanie Phillips were talking about 'Londonistan' they were treated as extremist alarmists. Have you noticed that the 'extremist alarmists' keep turning out to be right?"

HERE'S MY OBVIOUS FAVORITE from Powerline's Week in Pictures Uncle Bosey edition:

Now go enjoy the rest.

BUT DEI IS FOR THEE; AND JUST FOR THEE: [Newly] former Al Roker Entertainment producer claims company failed diversity initiative.

IT MUST BE BECAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE-- OR RACISM -- MAYBE RACISM: CDC warns of extreme heat dangers amid ‘record-breaking high temperatures’.

It's scare tactics ... that's all they have to (somehow) maintain control.

AMMO GRRRLL explains the reality gap.

I’ve heard a lot of concern today about how some students are not keeping up with others. Couldn’t you just solve this by asking the white kids to do WORSE?

Columbia, Harvard, U Penn, et al., are trying ... and so are the white kids there.

BIDEN'S EDUCATION SECRETARY MIGUEL CARDONA vows to shut down the largest [private] Christian university in the United States. You can't learn things we don't want you to know.

When you read it, think about Columbia University, Harvard, MIT, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and on and on....

THE DAILY CHART(S): The tax burden and other scary things.

The first chart is merely accurate; the second is is actually frightening.

HOW LONG UNTIL EACH HOUSEHOLD is assigned a homeless person/family to take care of?

That's a serious question, by the way. I remember a science fiction story from my younger years where taxpayers were required to house and feed those families and individuals unable -- or unwilling -- to support themselves.

Our current reality is stranger than -- or at least as strange as -- this fiction.

SO WE'LL BE VOTING TOMORROW: Stop telling people to only vote on election day.

Early voting in Georgia starts Monday.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: DEI cronyism and woke grifters.

America can afford neither.

EVEN THE BABYLON BEE CAN'T COMPETE: Biden's Middle East policy is beyond parody.

THE U.S. NAVY: Israel’s near-perfect missile success had a special line of defense.

I'LL PAY ATTENTION WHEN TESLA MARKETS A HYBRID. Tesla to lay off more than 10% of its staff.

THANKS TO THE CASS REPORT, failing to follow sexist stereotypes (which decree that girls play with dolls and boys play with themselves) will no longer get you marched off to the sex-correction clinic.

FINALLY SPRING, WEEK 8: This week I'm finally on top of everything, actually posting early. Here's the usual pond view picture:

The tulip magnolia has finally given up its flowers and is now concentrating on leaves with great success. Behind it, the trees are pollenating like crazy and beginning to leaf out. 'Poof day' -- when everything is suddenly green -- is soon.

Even around the fire pit, leaves are coming out. The tree in the foreground, which has been lazy this year, is pollenating and about to bud out.

Across the driveway all the trees have begun to leaf out -- even the lazy ones in the center of the picture. The iris in our 'iris garden' are growing nicely after transplantation and beginning to bloom.

The dogwoods have all given up their blossoms and begun to bud out. By next week we may not be able to see the other side of the valley.

The pond is coming alive finally. All the light green in the picture is new growth. By next week the fountain side of the pond should be in full summer mode.

The dam side (yes, it's a pun) is still a bit behind. The light green is new growth, but our house is still visible. I don't think that will be the case much longer.

Until next week, then.

MORE -- MUCH MORE -- PLEASE. Generation-Z personified: Watch pro-Hamas protester squealing like a stuck pig as trooper carries her away.

HEY SNOWFLAKE

In the real world
You don't get a participation trophy
Not everybody is a winner
There are no "safe spaces"
Screaming doesn't make you right
No one owes you anything
Crying doesn't solve problems
Nothing is free in the world
People are going to say things that you don't like

and ...

YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL

GALLUP POLL: Biden worst President in polling history.

So vote for him again; he'll do better next time. It's the Democrat way....

FINALLY SPRING, WEEK 7: It was a dark and stormy morning, so my pictures are limited to what I could see from cover this morning. First are the two usuals, the pond and the fire pit.

In both you can see that the tree canopy is beginning to fill out, as evidenced (to us) by the green pollen that's everywhere here. The biggest obvious change is the amazing growth and blooming of the irises.

The iris garden is beginning to take shape. Two dead trees have been dispatched for future firewood and an (as yet incomplete) edging for the garden, which has one white super iris already blooming.

Along the fence line all the flowers are beginning to blossom, though the iris plantings have a clear head start. You can also see in the upper left that the trees are just now beginning to leaf out.

Finally our dogwood trees are blossoming, unfortunately not the ones nearest the house. If you close your eyes and squint real hard you can see a line of blossoms downslope abour 100 feet away.

Until next week.

ALL OF IT? How much money does our government waste?

WHO KNEW? Our institutions are run by the corrupt, the crazy, and the moronic.

Well, that's because our ruling class is filled with corrupt, crazy morons.

IT'S TRUMP'S FAULT that "don't is not a foreign policy."

SATIRE OR NOT? World in shock as murderous terrorist state ignores warning from impotent old man.

The Babylon Bee is truly becoming America's News of Record.

GOOD NEWS? Poll shows voter shift toward the GOP.

Pew poll results from 2023 reveal a significant shift in party affiliation this cycle, reporting that 49% of voters identify as Democrat or leaning Democrat, while 48% identify as Republican or leaning Republican.

Additionally, about 33% of respondents said they identify as being conservative or moderate in 2023, while the other side of the aisle only sees 23% identifying as liberal Democrats or leaning liberal.

It's not enough -- not nearly enough -- but it's a start.

SNOWFLAKE PROGRESSIVES, take note. You don't know just how good you've got it.

THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE. After last night.

I'm beginning to lean toward anyone carrying a Palestinian flag being pilloried and the flag burned at his/her/it's feet.

Extreme? Yes, but after the anti-Israel protests we see daily, deserved.

FINALLY SPRING, WEEK 6: Finally we're beginning to get somewhere. Not much difference in the pond view this week,

but there are buds beginning to show in the upper reaches of the deciduous trees. I expect some green by next week if the warming trend continues.

The same changes are evident in the fire pit view. The taller reaches of the trees are a bit 'fuzzy' this week, indicating that they are beginning to wake.

Looking down the street, the trees are beginning to bud out (there goes my 100% Starlink connection, I fear).

I braved the elements (sunny skies, no wind) today and Tuxedo and I walked down to the pond. Here are two pictures (neither including Tux) taken from opposite ends of the pond.

Note in both that the deciduous trees are still mostly bare, the pines happily basking in what little sun gets down there.

And finally, the 'bent tree'. This picture was taken at Meeks Park in Blairsville this morning. I have no idea what must have happened to cause that shape, but the tree survived and is growing happily.

Until next week, then....

DON SURBER: NPR personnel policies mug a white, straight male liberal. It's hilarious.

SIXTEEN CRIMINAL COUNTS AND $1M BAIL: Unhinged pro-Hamas woman finds out threatening city council members isn't a good idea.

I'M ALL FOR LIMITING ACCESS TO CALIFORNIA: Google to limit access to California news sites.

Heh.

I QUIT YEARS AGO: The NPR-listening 'elite 1%'.

My son quit more recently after NPR went batshit crazy.

IOWAHAWK has a few thoughts on 'latine'.

UNREAL: As predicted, California has killed the rooftop solar market.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: DEI cronyism and woke grifters.

It's VDH; read it all.

ISRAEL IS RISKING LOSING THE WAR by caring what people who hate it think.

Don't. Do what's necessary to win.

WORDS STILL MATTER: What's with this 'partner' crap?

KURT SCHLICHTER: It's time to rethink your 'never Trumpism'.

BIDENOMICS UPDATE: That's gonna leave a mark.

I would only note that my number for groceries is consistent.

UPDATE: Powerline has much more.

IDAHO GOVERNOR BRAD LITTLE: No, we aren't playing the pronoun game here.

RED STATE'S Thursday morning minute. There are several stories; read them all.

"THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME YOUR PRONOUNS. I USE CORRECT GRAMMAR:” TalkTV host gives 'epic' response to guest who states preferred pronouns at start of interview.

I'D BE OKAY WITH THAT if they were also exempt from taking welfare: "Black people should be exempt from paying taxes."

WE ARE RULED BY MALEVOLENT CLOWNS. Because the earth is boiling and we are doomed, and we must shoot the sky.

ON ABORTION: 'Voters don't care' what [former VP Mike] Pence says.

TEXAS STILL HAS GOOD ROADS: Eclipse visitors were supposed to overwhelm Texas and its roads.

THE BIDEN INFLATION INDEX as seen by my household budget. The chart below is my personal inflation index, the average monthly dollar amount spent in grocery stores (averaged over the first three months of 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024). Budgeted is in red; the actual amount spent is in blue.

The year 2021 can be safely assumed to be indicative of the Trump years, since the Biden administration didn't begin until the end of January. Then 'Bidenomics' took over.

Wow. Just wow. If only my income had kept up....

Trump 2024.

SATIRE? American transition to idiocracy running ahead of schedule.

Somehow I think it's more of a prediction coming true.

GOOD FOR YOU: Sen. Joe Manchin [D-WV] blocks Democrat hopes to replace Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Manchin is a real Democrat. I wish there were more.

BECAUSE HUMANS ARE INCREASINGLY STUPID MALEDUCATED: Artificial Intelligence will be smarter than any human around the end of next year.

I blame Democrats.

VERIFYING WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW: seedy links between media, NGOs, and the far Left.

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE BRAIN: "[A]ll the ills that Planet Earth is and has forever been heir to -- quakes, fires, floods, high winds, rough seas, soil erosion, volcanoes, temperatures well below zero and above 100 -- have triggered an aboriginal, superstitious reaction among the panicky, the feeble-minded, and the credentialed-but-uneducated."

TEXAS GOV. GREG ABBOTT: Migrants are 'pawns' to Joe Biden (and the blue-state elites).

SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER as education bosses use any excuse to skip class.

BY A FACTOR OF TWO: Trump campaign fundraiser crushes Biden’s.

It's looking better and better, but don't get cocky.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON ON TWITTER: Why are they destroying us?

As to why, Hanson postulates 4 reasons. I'm comfortable with the first three, but I also think #4, with a touch of crazy, is an equally significant factor.

ISRAEL SHOULD COMPLY: Hamas just begged Israel to finish them off.

THE LEFT wants to destroy your neighborhood.

They want us in high-rise apartments with no cars living in 15-minute cities -- the easier to be controlled.

MAKING MONEY: Linemen for the county. An energy firm’s pre-apprenticeship program points to ways that states could help train future employees in the skilled trades.

Not bad. Not bad at all. It's about what I was making when I retired 10 years ago. (And I have a PhD in engineering.)

I WISH THE HEADLINE SAID 'ALL': U.S. says it destroyed Houthi air defense and drone systems in Red Sea area.

AMMO GRRRLL gets in the spirit of a renowned international day with CELEBRATE NORMIES’ INVISIBILITY DAYS (Days ending in “Y”).

She's on a tear this week; go read it all.

FROM POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures, I have two favorites in this edition. This is from Biden's announcement that his government would rebuild the Francis Scott Key bridge:

And this is his presidential campaign team:

Now go see the rest.

IMPRIMIS: Disparate impact thinking is destroying our civilization.

It is urgent that we fight back against disparate impact thinking. As long as racism remains the only allowable explanation for racial disparities, the Left wins, and our civilization will continue to crumble.

Read it all. Then think about it. Think seriously about it.

TRUMP CAUSED THE ECLIPSE TODAY; here's proof.

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY PETE BUTTIGIEG: DC crime rate is not a problem if you have taxpayer funded armed security detail.

WOKE IS A JOKE: This week's wins in transfantasy land.

TRIFECTA! The No Labels party has no ideas, no candidates, and no clue.

That statement applies equally -- if not more so -- to Democrats.

SATIRE? 'I didn't do that,' insists Biden After aides ask him who colored on the wall of the Lincoln bedroom.

Are you sure it's satire?

THEY HAVE NOTHING TO SELL AT THAT PRICE: 99 cents only stores are all closing.

I KEEP GETTING THESE STUPID WEATHER ALERTS ON MY iPHONE: Just this week:

A moderate severity wind alert: "sustained winds 10-20 mph; gusts to 30 mph." When I lived in the desert areas of New Mexico and California that that was called a 'light breeze'.

A moderate severity freeze warning: "sub-freezing temperatures expected as low as 32F". Last I checked, 'subfreezing' meant below 32F (usually well below).

The source for all this nonsense is our very own National Weather Service. Anyone (besides me) for cutting their funding?

IF THE U.S. WON'T STRIKE BACK, MAYBE ISRAEL WILL: Israel is on high alert in the aftermath of an airstrike that killed an Iranian general earlier this week, prepping its defenses against a possible retaliatory strike.

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS when a Virginia police officer comes upon a street takeover. It's in Springfield, Virginia, one of the wealthiest and most Democratic counties in the country.

The comments are not kind, and they give you a sense of what's to come.

THEY HAVE NO PLACE TO GO: Bureaucrats hunker down to protect themselves in anticipation of a Trump victory.

They'll die without the government teat to support them.

SON OF HAMAS COMMANDER delivers takedown of pro-Hamas activist:

There is no difference between Hamas and the so-called ‘Palestinians’, as the vast majority of them support Hamas.... There are no ‘Palestinian’ people. There are conflicted tribes, and without Israel as the common enemy, they would kill each other.

Read it all.

FINALLY SPRING, WEEK 5: Kinda-sorta on time this week. Not much has happened weatherwise. Here's the usual pond photo:

Brighter than last week, clearly, and the tulip magnolia has pretty much lost all it's blossoms, but the leaves have started to come out finally. We're on the way to summer.

The dogwoods are finally coming out of hiding. These outside our kitchen window have just begun to bud; hopefully we'll have more by next week.

Further down the hill toward the creek there are more dogwood trees, and they've now begun to come out of hibernation a bit early. Usually the trees leaf first, hiding the dogwoods from view.

The fire pit view is next, and nothing much has happened. Trees behind it are still mostly bare, though there are fits-and-starts beginning to show.

Along the road, the trees are beginning to show life at the very tops. Certainly the greenish pollen that comes with every spring has begun to show up on the cars, though it certainly hasn't reached its peak.

Until next week....

ANOTHER INEPT ORGANIZATION: Amtrak Twitter account goes woke on climate change.

THE ORWELLIAN NATURE of 'sex assigned at birth'.

Every time I see 'gender' on a form, I cross it off and write 'sex' in place.

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY PETE BUTTIGIEG HATES YOUR CAR, but mostly he thinks you're an idiot.

'Let's be clear, the automotive sector is moving toward EVs and we can't pretend otherwise.' This is like telling a death row prisoner that he's moving towards the electric chair and can't pretend otherwise. The prisoner might not want to make the "transition" to the next life, but the government has set a date for him — just like the Biden administration is trying to transition the entire country to EVs.

This from a guy(?) who's driven to work in a gas-guzzling limousine?

EVERYTHING BUT A BAGGIE OF CHEERIOS — Media is always babysitting Biden.

IN A NATIONAL DIVORCE, what happens to Missouri?

KURT SCHLICHTER: Use their calculated insults against them.

[They] are vulnerable to our power, ruthlessly exercised. Look at Ron DeSantis in Florida, scoring win after win, using his power without apology. Trump needs to do that when he wins – and he is promising to. The enemy will then try to do what it always does – leverage our values against us to get us to act as it wishes. They will seek to call us “authoritarians” who “hate democracy” whenever we exercise our power. Laugh at them. Suggest they cry more.

They can’t stop us; they can only try convince us to stop ourselves.

Don't let them.

THEY'RE GETTING NERVOUS. To keep the bureaucracy in place and functioning even without a progressive president, the Biden-Harris administration has issued a new rule that will make it difficult for Trump to clean house during his second term.

VIA 'WATTER'S WORLD' TONIGHT, Biden's 'growing economy' is a result of an illegal immigrant job fair.

I'M A DEMOCRAT; THE LAW DOESN'T APPLY TO ME. Nathan Wade in hot water for ‘reneged’ court-ordered payments to wife amid separation.

THERE’S CONTEXT and then there’s context-context.

Like Whoopi Goldberg's 'rape-rape'?

THE RACE HUSTLERS are terrified that Trump will end racism.

By eliminating Democrats (and Progressives, but I repeat myself) from power....

Update: Even some Democrats are having their 'come to Jesus' moment as a pro-Israel Democrat group is looking to oust two controversial far-left "Squad" members from their seats in Congress.

WELL, THE REAL MINIMUM WAGE IS ZERO: Fast food workers left in 'shock' over layoffs as former manager warns more are coming.

DO YOU APPROVE OF DEI? If so, you must be a 'DWEIB' [Diversity, Whinging, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging] (pronounced 'dweeb').

NEWS OR SATIRE? Judge orders Trump to stop noticing that the people trying to put him in jail are Democrats.

SOME GOVERNMENT MANDATES WORK: The University of Texas clears offices and fires DEI employees in light of new state law.

HE WOULDN'T KNOW A MAN IF HE SAW ONE. Rep. Jerry Nadler [D(umb)-NY] claims no men are in women's sports.

JESSE WATTERS ON 'THE FIVE' TODAY: "Just because it's new doesn't make it progress."

I found that somewhat amusing since it was juat a few hours earlier I was voicing a similar complaint when we couldn't find a simple bath brush when our older one finally died.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE REBOOTS after Peter Doocy questions her on Biden's 'bloodbath' comments.

Gotcha!

KURT SCHLICHTER: Some basic law for conservatives watching our legal chaos.

My take on all this is, at least with Trump's legal woes, is that we're headed for violence. I hope I'm wrong, but it's just a hope.

JON STEWART [THE DAILY SHOW] mocks MSNBC and CNN over their histrionic coverage of hogtied Biden image on tailgate of pickup truck.

THEIR WORST NIGHTMARE is that We the People will meet their violence with force.

And that likelihood is increasing daily.

MIKE ROWE IS WINNING: best news of the day.

THE MYSTERY of your “fair share”.

There's no mystery; for Democrats your 'fair share' is 'more'.

SINK FASTER, MANHATTAN: New York City isn't going to survive the Democrats' reign of error.

REAGANOMICS HAS BEEN AROUND OVER 60 YEARS; 'Bidenomics' won't make it past four.

FINALLY SPRING, WEEK 4: This time, 2 days late, $2 short. Compared to last week, the weather is miserable -- much cooler, cloudy, windy, and with thunderstorms in the immediate forecast.

Here's the initial pond view, taken this time from around the fire pit. Nothing much has changed, except the clouds. The tulip magnolia is trying to bloom again, but mostly unsuccessfully. The trees are still not showing signs of buds.

The fire pit is showing more of the same. No buds to speak of, the ground cover is still mostly dormant although I have cut back some brush in places. We've got dead trees back there that will become more prominent as days go by and will also have to be cut down before they can fall into the road.

Looking west across our road, the view is much the same -- trees not budding yet; ground cover mostly dormant, and some more dead trees that will have to be taken down.

On the bright side, our trusty forsythia has given up its blooms entirely and has fully leafed out.

Until next week.

A NUMBER OF FAST-FOOD EMPLOYEES ARE GOING TO FIND OUT THE REAL MINIMUM WAGE IS ZERO. Fast-food franchisee taking big hit from $20 minimum wage invests in neighboring state.

REMINDER:

The election is Nov. 5, 2024. Vote early, vote often every chance you can. Don't miss any state/local election.

IN HILARIOUS APRIL FOOLS JOKE, Congress announces they are working hard to serve the American people.

"I'M NOT FINISHED YET": Guyana President schools BBC scribe on climate.

Good for him.

WILL YOU BE READY? America is going to be targeted for a massive terrorist attack.

Ready or not, it's coming....

THE CENSUS SNOOPS are returning.

I haven't had the pleasure (yet), but the IRS did come snooping about last year. It wasn't voluntary; I was told that my tax return wouldn't be processed if I didn't participate.

POWERLINE on Biden's true misery index.

As a final note: Biden may have put 3 more potato chips in every bag, but all the potato chips are smaller....

I'VE WON THE ARGUMENT ABOUT ISRAEL I wish I hadn't.

FISMAN'S FRAUD: reminiscent of a certain Dr. Anthony Fauci in the United States....

AND MORE: Four years on and COVID damage remains while Fauci and company pay no price.

IN TODAY'S EPISODE OF “THIS IS HOW DEMOCRACY™ WORKS, we have the president of the United States getting lost in the rain, rescued, and then shielded from public views by his handlers.

MIKE ROWE - 1, CNN REPORTER - 0, smoothly handling the reporter's 'gotcha' game.

LIBERAL LANGUAGE UPDATE: Doesn't know sh-t Schumer from Shinola.

Heh.

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, a clear and present danger to the First Amendment.

I DON'T THINK TRUMP NEEDS ANY HELP: RFK Jr. picks radical leftist as running mate.

But thanks for the offer.

FORGET HILLARY AND KAMALA — Here’s a real woman to celebrate for Women’s History month.