You Might Not Get This One

If you don't live in the U.S. and weren't brought up in a church. 

Grrrsday

 

"On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced the US was imposing reciprocal tariffs on a small collection of Antarctic islands that are not inhabited by humans, as part of a global trade war aimed at asserting US dominance.  The Heard and McDonald Islands, known for their populations of penguins and seabirds, can only be reached by sea.

Trump announced the countries now subject to tariffs in a Wednesday press conference, using a poster as a prop.  Additional countries - including the Heard and McDonald Islands, which are, incidentally, not countries - were listed on sheets of paper distributed to reprters.

One of the sheets claims that the Heard and McDonald Islands currently charge a "Tariff to the U.S.A." of 10 percent, clarifying in tiny letters that this includes "currency manipulation and trade barriers."  In return the sheet says that the US will charge "Discounted reciprocal tariffs" on the islands at a rate of 10 percent."

It's Really A Thing

 

So, today is National When Pigs Fly Day.

Grrrsday

 

And in other news, a German shepherd, a collie mix, and a Great Dane walked into a bar...

(The vet's actually.  Batdog was SO good and I am proud of him.  I'm not sure the gentleman who walked in with the cat  made a good choice to have kitty in his arms rather than a carrier, though).

Republican Reality Check

 

It's no longer news that the husband of the Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler is being investigated for rape.  What is news is that he raped the woman with whom the Zieglers had previously engaged in three-way consensual sex, and who told Ziegler that she was not interested in him, but in his wife.

Christian Ziegler is chairman of the Florida Republican Party.  Bridget Ziegler has been actively promoting anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the state.  UPDATE:  this kid has it right.

Hoist, Petard, Own

 "Texas is fighting a lawsuit brought by a prison guard who says she was forced to stay at work during labor pains when she was seven months pregnant. One of the arguments by state lawyer is that the fetus had no rights."

Ridogulously Photogenic

 

We were on our way to a reading therapy session in town yesterday evening, and stopped at a traffic light.  I have the habit, once we are in the older neighborhoods where I can't go faster than 25 if I wanted to, of letting the window down just enough to let him stick his head out.

The woman in the next car rolled her window down and started taking pictures of him.

Gift Horses

 

A local business (let's call it Queenie's House 

Of Fantasy) showed up at the Red Cross shelter to donate several boxes of...um..hygiene items.

Did We Clear This With OSHA?

 

My desk is just the other side of that red brick wall.

Pahk The Cah In Hahvahd Yahd

 

I'm on a Red Cross conference call and deriving a great deal of enjoyment listening to a volunteer from Boston trying to pronounce "tarp."

Happy International Polar Bear Day

 

photos from ABC News

As the new Seawolf-class submarine USS Connecticut surfaced in the ice pack between the North Pole and Alaska on April 27, 2003, a polar bear chomped on its rudder. ~ USNI

(Seawolf-class submarines are 350 by 40 by 35 feet and carry a crew of 130.  Punching above your weight class, buddy).

May You Suffer The Scorn Of A Polite Canadian

It would appear that the Russian UN delegation has been pwned.

Quote Of The Day

 

There are not many boys who don't know how to play "cat."  It requires a good deal of skill, and if you don't break anybody's window or put out anybody's eye, it's a lot of fun. ~ Carolyn Sherwin Bailey, Boys' Make At Home Things

Yes, That Is What You Think It Is

 

A candy dish made from toilet floats. From the Popular Mechanics DIY Encyclopedia, volume III, published in 1955.

Happy Valentine's Day

 

To the service technician who came out in sub-freezing temperatures today to fix an S.I.W. with our furnace.

What Were His Parents Thinking Dep't

 I have requested an investigation into an incident involving one of our rental cars - and it has been assigned to a young man named Alaska Otterbacher.  

Quote Of The Day

 Photo from Wikipedia

According to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our prelates are hanged, not shot.  Please respect our traditions. ~ Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens, after the SS threatened him with a firing squad.

Quote Of The Day

 

photograph from WaPo

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. ~ the Dalai Lama

RIP Ruth Bader Ginsburg - she was small, but by God, she made a difference!

What Has Been Seen Cannot Be Unseen

 

We had a lovely moment on Microsoft Teams today - an older volunteer who is not familiar with the extent of this technology (both audio AND video) was absent-mindedly changing out of his pyjamas during the morning stand-up.

The Usual Suspects

Three freshly-cooked hamburgers have disappeared off the kitchen counter, and nobody's talking.