Happy Belated Valentines Day!

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Casual up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Happy Valentines Day!

The Wombat is a day late and a dollar short with Rule 5 Monday: Rebecca Bagnol.

The Monday Morning Stimulus

Leslie Eastman at Legal Insurrection, Study Claims People Need to Battle Climate Change by…Drinking Less Coffee "No one appears to take the research or the conclusions seriously."

The Wombat is a day late and a dollar short with Rule 5 Monday: Rebecca Bagnol.

Valentines Day Morning in the Fields of Politics

A shockingly bountiful yield for the morning after the Superb Owl. 

Paul Bedard at WaEx, White House Report Card: A bad one and many more coming. I can't think of a President who failed at more, despite the support of his party, the media, and the swamp. Rick Moran at PJ Media, Democrats Will Pivot to a 'Return to Normalcy' in Biden's State of the Union Speech. The return to normalcy is underway, they just want to get ahead of the train. At Fox, Paul Steinhauser notices Biden says he’s running in 2024, but 2020 Democratic presidential candidates keep coming to NH. Like swallows to San Juan  Capistrano. Mediaite, Most Dem Voters Don’t Want Biden to Run in 2024, GOP Voters Split Down the Middle on a Trump. La Times, With Biden’s agenda hanging by a thread, Democrats question their leaders’ strategy. As Miranda Devine notes at NYPo, Democrats’ policies welcome illegal immigrants, weaken police force. YaHoo! US consumers are 'in a deep funk': What that means for the economy, more like, what it means for Democrats. At Da Mail, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick to air 'Let's Go Brandon' Super Bowl ad which takes aim at economic turmoil, record high border crossings and chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal during the Biden administration and at NewsWeek, Jim Lamon Mocks Outrage Over Super Bowl Ad Where He Shoots at Joe Biden. I didn't see either one, did you?

From JTN, Irreconcilable differences? Trump, Pence aides fear relationship has reached point of no return. Pence without Trump makes no sense. Matt Lewis at Da Beast, MTG Should Be an Embarrassment, Not a GOP Superstar. They always telegraph who they fear. To wit, the Tampa Freep, Florida Gov. DeSantis’ Spokeswoman Calls Out Washington Post For Obvious Hit Piece On Her Boss. DNYUZ goes Inside McConnell’s Campaign to Take Back the Senate and Thwart Trump. On Da Hill angst regarding House races where redistricting is pitting Democrats against one another. Deseret News, Post-Trump Republicans are looking for a new ally in 2022: Democrats. It been obvious for quite a while than many have been in the closet all along. Sundance at CTH gives notice to Sunday Talks, David Perdue Outlines His Primary Challenge for Georgia Governor Bid. KT at Haut Hair, AOC on the campaign trail: "Texas turning blue. Inevitable. Inevitable! It will happen" Maybe, but not if Hispanics keep seeing through Democrats.

At JTN, Biden administration asks court not to release Dominion Voting Systems report, "The attorneys proposed that the government would decide when to release the report." Gee, I wonder what they're afraid to let us see? News Busters takes on Washington Post’s Fairy Tale on Pennsylvania Voter Fraud. They don't cheat in Philly, honest injun. 

William Sullivan at Am Think thinks Supreme Court Vacancy: No White nor Male Folk Need Apply. Da Wire reports NM Senator Lujan Will Return To Senate In Time To Vote For Biden SCOTUS Pick. Well maybe, but I don't think it matters, one or more the Republican ninnies in the Senate will go along with all but the worst possible picks. 

NYT, cited at Haut Hair, reports Giuliani in talks to testify before January 6 committee. Screw 'em. Do a Lerner. Get up, say you didn't do anything wrong, and then take the 5th. Atop Da Hill Glenn Altschuller argues Republicans do not have a right to remain silent. What he's really arguing is that we don't have a right to disagree. At NR, also cited at Haut Hair, notorious never-Trumper Andy McCarthy, sees The irony of the January 6 committee

In sum, it is apparent that the January 6 Committee is now effectively doing the impeachment investigation that House Democrats shirked from doing right after the riot. In principle, Congress surely has the constitutional authority to conduct an impeachment investigation even though Donald Trump is no longer president. But the committee the House has commissioned is not an impeachment committee. Legally, it has not been endowed by the House with authority to investigate whether impeachable offenses have been committed. And politically, it is an inappropriate vehicle, as currently constituted, for doing so.

Kim Du Toit at Splendid Isolation is concerned with Pelosi’s Private Police Force, the Capitol Police. I would like to say they'll regret it when the shoe is on the other foot, but that won't really happen. Like DOJ, once captured by the Democrats, it will remain a police force of and for Democrats. 

A clip at Fox Business  says the Media surrender on masks

Anxious notes Walmart drops mask mandate for 1.6M employees. Rick Moran at PJ Media, Democratic Governor Calls for 'Civility and Respect' on Mask Wearing, "The governor did not say why there shouldn’t have been “civility and respect” directed at those who chose not to wear masks previously. Guess it sort of slipped his mind." AllahPundit at Haut Hair gladly cites You Gov, 56% of Americans say: We want mask mandates, "The people have spoken. …but check back with them in a month and they might be speaking differently." At da Wire, ‘Probably Premature’: Biden Pushes Back Against Blue States Lifting Mask Mandates. NR's Kevin Williamson (a never-Trumper who occasionally says something sensible) cited at Haut Hair on Why progressives can't quit their masks. It's an identity now. At I&I, It’s Time To Ask: Did Any Of The COVID Mandates, Closures, Lockdowns Do Anything? Probably less than their proponents claimed, and more than their skeptics. At Da Caller, Several Celebrities Spotted Without Masks At Super Bowl Despite Mandate. Of course. LeBron James,  Jennifer Lopez, Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan Reynolds, Matt Damon, Jay-Z, Charlize Theron and more. At the Slantic (cited at MSN),Yasmeen Serhan observes that COVID-19 Is Over (If You’re Rich). 

From Breitbart, Ron DeSantis: Florida Parents Should Have the Right to Sue for Negative Effects of School Districts’ Forced Masking. 

Kylee Zempel at Da Fed observes Democrats Are Making Virginia-Style Anti-Parent Mistakes In Wisconsin, A Wisconsin lawmaker doesn’t think parents should ‘have a say’ in the classroom. It’s like she doesn’t know what happened in Virginia."

The Wombat is back at The Other McCain with Rule 5 Sunday: Return From Reno Double-Scoop Edition and FMJRA 2.0: Rainbow In The Dark.

Beach Report 2/19/21 - Ice, Ice, Baby

We got another light shot of freezing rain last night, maybe another 1/8-1/4 inch, which left the trees glistening. Thanks to heavy salting, the roads were fine, but we did see a little tree damage on the way down. In fact, Skye and I had to find our way around the broken top of a small tree on our way down to the street behind the house.

Once down to the harbor, I decided to avoid the docks because they looked like a sheet of ice, and I didn't fancy a dip.

The beach was largely devoid of ice, but the trees on cliffs collected quite a lot.

It was a bit windy from the north; the wind gauge at Cove Point appears to be frozen, and giving a false low reading.

A bit of left over Valentine's Day festivities. 

At 32.5 F, there wasn't much melting going on, but you could here ice fall out of the trees. We didn't walk to far up, because of the ice, and instability of the cliff in a freeze/thaw time.

Not a great day for fossils; we found 8 teeth, none photo-worthy and left these two scallops behind. See the little one in the lower right? I didn't, until I checked the photo. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and linkfest. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Niece Waidhofer up and running.

Happy Day After Saint Valentine's Day

Georgia and I had a nice Valentine's Day. I bought her flowers, in the form of a small potted orchid with yellow blooms that was a target of opportunity when we went grocery shopping in the morning. She, in turn, gave me a plastic heart ring that was free with a cupcake at the bank, and told me I had to wear it all day. I did,

This afternoon we did a beach walk. It was cold and windy, and not a lot of fun, except for Skye, who just doesn't care about the weather. However, I did find this:

and gave it to Georgia. She punctured it with a pink straw she conveniently found on the beach and finished deflating it, and carried both back to the trash, so cows and sea turtles were saved. Funny juxtaposition, this article ran at Hot Air yesterday: Maryland Solves The World’s Ills By Moving To Ban The Release Of… Balloons.

If you happen to live in Maryland and are planning a children’s birthday party or other outdoor celebration in the near future, you may want to keep an eye on this story. At least if you plan on buying any helium-filled balloons. The senate in the Old Line State has now passed legislation that would criminalize the intentional release of helium balloons. This is ostensibly being done to reduce plastic waste in the oceans and protect marine life. If the House also passes it and Larry Hogan signs off, perpetrators of balloon releases could be facing a stiff fine. (CBS Baltimore)

A bill that would ban balloon releases statewide has passed in the Maryland Senate. SB28 would prohibit balloon releases in the state except for those used for scientific or government purposes. People who “knowingly and intentionally” organize or take part in balloon releases would face a penalty of up to $250.
This wouldn’t be the first such ban to be made into law. As CBS notes, Queen Anne’s County banned balloon releases last year. A bit to the north of there, Suffolk, East Hampton and Southampton counties, all in New York State, each passed the same type of ban in recent years.

While it may sound rather silly to some people, I’m actually not all that opposed to banning the release of non-biodegradable plastic or mylar balloons. I originally didn’t imagine the number of them reaching the ocean could be all that high, but perhaps it is. Volunteers with a group called Ocean Conservancy claim to have picked up 93,913 balloons from the ocean in a single year. That’s a lot of plastic.
There’s also no question that quite a few species of marine life wind up mistaking balloons for food or getting tangled up in the strings and ribbons that are attached to them. This generally turns out to be a fatal situation sooner or later. While I remain generally annoyed at nanny state policies regulating every aspect of human life, this is an issue that affects everyone eventually, so there’s probably an argument to be made in favor of such regulation.

Happy Valentine's Day

Wombat-socho has Rule Five Sunday: Post-Valentine’s Day Pinup up and running.