BIDEN'S RED LINE: Robert Gates is smart; Joe Biden is not.

Robert Gates’s assessment of Biden’s foreign policy chops: “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” Gates made that assessment in 2014. It therefore predates Biden’s Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran and other debacles. We can now revise Gates’s assessment to the past five decades.

And five decades is long enough....

SHE'S RIGHT: This guy actually scares the heck out of me.

AS A NEAR-80-YEAR-OLD MARRIED MALE, I thought Katie Britt's Republican response to the State of the Union address was spot on. And for many families, the kitchen table is where most of the really important decisions are made.

MORE here. And I'm pretty sure the criticism within won't resonate in my neck of the woods....

MY BET IS ON NETANYAHU: White House is trying to force Bibi out.

YES, MS. WILLIS, YOU ARE ON TRIAL – in the court of public opinion.

It may not mean jail time -- which you richly deserve -- but it will mean ostracism from the public sphere.

IT'S NOT JUST MR. TRUMP: Targetting Mr. 'X'.

FINALLY SPRING, WEEK 1: Last week's spring forsythia preview is proof this week that spring has finally sprung. Here's our forsythia this week, still in full bloom and the leaves just beginning to show.

Last week, while the forsythia was in full bloom, the Bartlett pear trees were mostly dormant; this week it seems every one in the county is in full bloom. Here are some from the county park where we walk:

Now on with the usuals. First, the pond from our back deck:

The trees are still bare, as expected, and for the most part the ground cover (i.e., brush) hasn't begun to poke through the leaves yet. I don't expect any change for at least a week, maybe two before any buds appear.

Here's the pond and its fountain. With the rain we've had, the pond is full -- overfull by about 2-3 inches. We haven't had water overflow the drain yet, but it's been close. Obviously it's past time for me to go down and make sure the overflow drains are staked down, sealed, and unclogged....

Here's the view from the opposite side of the pond. That's our house in the background and hopefully (a small one, actually) the leaves are dense enough to keep the brush in control as spring progresses.

Back up at the top, the daylilies that line our road are finally poking up through the mulch and leaves. There are also roses along the fence line behind this picture, but so far they're still dormant.

And finally, our house and barn taken from behind pine needles from across the road. The grass still looks kinda-sorta green, but it'll take more seed and some tilling to bring it back to last year's glory.

Until next week then....

CALIFORNIA CITY votes to ban all non-US flags on government property.

And it's inclusive; the Stars and Stripes protects all citizens.