Assorted

     “The news is all bad, but it’s good for a laugh.” – Tom Paxton

1. Let’s kick things off with a graphic!

     I swiped this one from Dio:

     For those of you unfamiliar with him, Edward Abbey was a Twentieth Century writer whose works were immensely popular – and anarchist in orientation. His novel The Brave Cowboy was the basis for the classic movie Lonely Are The Brave.

2. Some Screeching About “White Nationalism.”

     About three years back, I decided that I wanted to relocate to northern Idaho. Not only did I find the political environment congenial, I have a number of friends there. The C.S.O. eventually talked me out of it – no, her arguments didn’t include “Over my dead body!” – but I still muse over whether it would have been the right move in these times.

     And I’ll tell you right out in front of God and everybody: Among my reasons for wanting to relocate there was that it’s overwhelmingly white. Apparently I’m not the only one who finds that a desirable condition:

     Idaho Republicans are in the midst of a civil war between the far-right wing and relative moderates like [former Kootenai County Republican Central Committee member Dan] Gookin. In recent years, far-right extremists have moved to the heavily white and conservative state as part of an ideological migration that accelerated during the pandemic. Far-right comedian Owen Benjamin now lives about an hour-and-a-half north of Coeur d’Alene.

     I don’t recommend reading the whole of the cited article, as it incorporates a large number of slanders, plus a lot of opinions stated as facts. (Also, it seems to go on forever.) You could easily get the idea that author Claire Goforth:

• Doesn’t like conservatives or Republicans;
• Doesn’t like freedom of speech or opinion;
• Doesn’t like folks who are opposed to abortion;
• Especially doesn’t like that whites want to live among whites.

     I wonder if Goforth would say anything similar about blacks who want to live among whites? An awful lot of them do, you know. Then, there are blacks who want to live among blacks. Would she have anything to say about their preferences? Or would that be racist?

     I suppose we could consult Joy Reid.

3. Heartening If True.

     The two-parent family may be on the rise:

     The Washington Stand reports:

     Newly published data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the proportion of American children living in two-parent families increased to 71.1% in 2023, continuing a slight upward trajectory since 2015. The numbers appear to contradict a popular narrative in the mainstream media that American society no longer aspires to establish households with a mother and father to parent children.
As noted by Nicholas Zill, a research psychologist and a senior fellow of the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), the Census Bureau data “includes children living with a birth parent and stepparent and couples who are cohabiting without being married.” Zill goes on to observe that the proportion of children who live with two parents has been inching upward for some time. After increasing from 67.3% to 69.4% percent between 2005 and 2010, the number has steadily creeped upward from 69.2% in 2015 to 71.1% by the end of last year.

     Single-parent households – especially female-headed single-parent households – are notorious for their role in social pathologies. The proportion of prison inmates from such families is very high. So a diminution of such households in favor of the traditional two-parent model is a good thing.

     What goes unstated, though, is what percent of two-parent households are two-income households, in which both parents work outside the home. They have their own problems, though not (yet) as severe as those of single-parent households.

4. The [In]Famous Artist.

     Did you really think the purchasers of Hunter Biden’s “art” were unknown to him…or to his father? Seems it wasn’t so:

     The art dealer who sold Hunter Biden’s paintings told Congress that President Joe Biden both called and met him at the White House as he was pitching Hunter’s artwork and that the first son also made an unusual request to be informed about who bought his pieces, according to testimony that directly undercuts the White House narrative on the sales.
     The Biden White House repeatedly told the public that Hunter Biden’s art sales were covered by an ethics agreement to ensure they were arms-length and that the first family — Hunter included — was blinded to the identity of buyers.
     But George Berges, owner of the prestigious Berges art galleries based in New York and Berlin that sold Hunter Biden’s painting from 2020 to 2023, told congressional impeachment investigators that the first son likely knew the identity of 70% of the buyers – the largest who were Democrat donors – and that Hunter Biden’s first contract made an unusual request when the relationship started.
     “I believe in the first contract, he was—he was able to know who the buyers were,” Berges told investigators for the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees in a transcribed interview last week that was reviewed by Just the News. “…I don’t know how it was phrased or—but I remember that there—that that was the difference.”

     Further comment seems unnecessary.

5. And I’d Been Thinking It Might Be Safe To Fly Again.

     I haven’t boarded an airliner since 2000. The 9/11 atrocities spooked me badly. That plus my generally poor health have imposed a limitation on my travels. But recently I began to reconsider. Well, maybe air travel is safe for the moment, but maybe not for long:

     United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, in a recent interview, admitted that they are no longer seeking the most qualified candidates to safely transport their passengers on commercial flights.
     Instead, Kirby says, “We have committed that 50% of the classes will be women or people of color,” instead of the most qualified individuals they can find.
     What could go wrong with putting one’s skin color or gender over safety and competency?
     Anti-whiteness appears to be evolving into a trend in the airline industry.

     Didn’t the FAA make a broadly similar announcement? Perhaps they think this is just “evening the odds.”

     Sigh. I used to enjoy flying.

6. This Got Me Laughing.

     And that’s a tough undertaking these days:

     Publix is back to trying to shame people at the cashier by asking loudly if you want to donate a dollar to the Special Olympics.
     I don’t like that.
     […]
     So, I was there again not more than 10 minutes ago.
     The lady did her arm-twisting, loudly asking me, with other people on the line, if I would “like to donate a dollar to the Special Olympics.”
     I said, “no.” I waited a few seconds and said, “not since they denied me my medal.”
     No one said anything, except an older woman who asked if I needed “help getting to the car.”

     Priceless.

7. You Have To Wonder Why So Many Nations Haven’t Left The EU.

     At least, I do:

     In her keynote address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed Europe’s unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion. However, in the open admission of priority, President Von der Leyen declares the #1 priority of the corporations who run the WEF and world of politics, must be control of speech and information against their interests.
     She goes on to note that political dissent, what she calls “polarization within our societies” must be controlled, as the ability of individuals and groups to assemble against the WEF plan remains a constant threat to the fulfillment of the agenda.

     Listen for yourself if you like:

     Politicians never like dissent, no matter what they might say about “freedom of expression.”

8. When An Organization Shows You What It Is…

     Believe it:

     For more than a century, Palestinians have tragically devoted themselves with singular dedication to one goal: that the Jewish people will not have their state anywhere in the historic land of Israel. Once that state was established, the goal remained the same, but the goalposts shifted: that the Jewish people will know not one day of peace until their country ceases to exist.
     Hamas is but the most brutal and successful executor of the fundamental Palestinian goal. They planned their attack in full knowledge that it would be hugely popular among their people and that they would enjoy broad support by whatever anti-Jewish ideology prevails at the moment.
     This should not have come as a surprise. The Palestinians have always been aided and abetted by every anti-Jewish ideology of the past century, whether it was Nazism in the 1930s and 1940s, Pan-Arabism in the 1950s and 1960s, Soviet Communism in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Sunni Jihadi Islamism in the 1990s and early 2000s, and now Shi’ite Jihadi Islamism and extreme Western progressivism, all of which have only ever been “pro-Palestinian” insofar as Palestinians fought the Jewish state.
     And on October 7, Jews in Israel and Jews around the world woke up to their complacency, surprised once more that their enemies meant what they said.

     The extermination of the Jewish people is also a doctrinal part of Islam:

     Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein proclaimed: “Palestine in its entirety is a revolution, since [Caliph] Umar came [to conquer Jerusalem, 637 CE], and continuing today and until the End of Days.” The Grand Mufti underlined the reliability of the hadith before quoting it:
     “The Hour [of Resurrection] will not come until you fight the Jews. The Jew will hide behind stones or trees. The stones or trees will call: ‘Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ Except for the Gharqad tree [which will keep silent].”
     This hadith is also quoted in the Hamas Charter of 18 August 1988, in Article 7 under the heading The Universality of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

     You don’t like that a “religion” that commands the allegiance of over a billion believers is bent upon the extermination of the Jews? Well, them’s the facts, Jack. And facts have no agenda.

     That’s all I’ve got for the moment. I plan to spend today on enterprises that will cost me some time and trouble but little money: e.g., installing new thermostats, coaxing my new bed into a proper alignment with the rest of the bedroom furniture, and shoveling the white crap off the back deck. So have a nice day, and if you know of an OTC cough-suppressant medication that actually works, please note it in the comments. This is getting tiresome.