- United sorta-kinda-but-not-really apologizes to the woman who got bumped from her first-class seat so it could be given to “Queen” Congressthing Sheila Jackson Lee.
- This Future of Freedom Foundation piece on Christmas-tree protectionism is good as far as it goes. But it doesn’t mention the obnoxious “checkoff” program that turned real Christmas trees into yet another federal hog trough.
- An oldie-but-goodie: Frank Chodorov’s 1952 thinkpiece, “Time for Another Revolution.” (H/T CB)
- You’ve heard the U.S. homicide rate is going up? Thank Chicago.
- Jim Bovard: Homeland (Achtung!) Security’s multibillion dollar comedy show
- Ten times the intelligence community violated our trust. (What, only ten?)
- Armed woman saves deputy being beaten by a man he tried to do a favor for.
- With New Years resolutions in mind, here’s how to quit your bad habits without willpower. Hm. Dunno, but it seems easier to keep mine.
- Fascinating trivia regarding that that famous painting of George Washington engaging in unsafe boating practices on Christmas Eve.
- Ha. Pretty clever. Brother trolls the guy who stole his little sister’s phone.
A lady I know set her phone down, briefly forgot it, and someone grabbed it. She waited a few hours and called from home to the cell phone. A guy answered. She explained that the cops could track the calls he had made. They’d go to those people and ask who had called. Did he think they wouldn’t tell the cops who had called? She’d file charges.
She gave him fifteen minutes to get the phone back to where he had grabbed it. He said he couldn’t get there in fifteen minutes so she said thirty minutes.
When she arrived, her phone was waiting.
We live in the forest….
Wife talking to neighbour…”I thought that tree in your driveway was your Christmas tree,why didnt you use it?” He said he saw the tree trimmers cutting down trees and thought a branch looked like a C tree,so asked for,and they gave it to him.It was too tall,so what we saw was what he trimmed off.
Good thinking Brandon!
The artificial tree’s? We’ve been using em for years.I dont even have space for a big tree,and so much easier.Why kill a tree?
Lived in St Louis for a number of years and found real trees expensive to buy and a pain to dispose of. It didn’t help that most were pretty dried out by the time we bought them, and I was always concerned about fire. Reluctantly, we paid $200 for an artificial tree…and 20 years later we still have it. No fire hazard, no disposal issues, and so far it has cost me $10 per year to own. I like real trees, but I like our fake tree a little more.
We had quite a bit of cedar in the woods of the old family place near Austin. I made a production of hooking up a trailer behind our farm tractor and taking BossLady and YoungSon on a “Christmas tree hunt”. She was pleased, and he was ecstatic. Fun times.
I’m sorry, SJL is from Texas, elected by one of the poorest districts in Houston.
This may explain a few things:
Jackson Lee was born Sheila Jackson in Queens, New York. She graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the folks who move to Texas want to be Texans, and we appreciate them. It’s the ones that bring their background with them that we don’t like.
Nobody would blame you, larryarnold. Not even if “Queen” Sheila was a Texan born & bred. 🙂
The last few years I’ve bought a potted rosemary that was shaped like a Christmas tree. It smells good, isn’t a fire hazard, is small enough to put just about anywhere, and in the springtime I can plant it and have rosemary all summer long.
Decades ago I had a Norfolk Island Pine and a cup with eight small spherical ornaments sitting on my dresser. When Christmas was coming, I would put the balls on the tree. When Christmas was over, I would put them back in the cup. Worked for years. I kind of miss that little tree.
A second painting – I enjoy Mort Künstler recent addition
https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/a-famous-painting-meets-its-more-factual-match/?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=0B3A4F66AD8227C5DC122413BE486996&gwt=pay
In “Time for Another Revolution” I almost didn’t make it past the place where Chodorov wrote “the Founding Fathers forged well. Putting aside what it might have been, the Constitution did pay homage to the doctrine of natural rights. It did so by the simple expedient of putting restraints and limitations on the powers of government.” As I really haven’t read his work, I worried at that point that some form of back-to-the-Constitution urging was ahead. But what followed was pretty wonderful, thanks Claire.
I have a 2-foot tall, artificial-fir tree I display for Christmas. It has built-in fiber-optics lit by multi-color rotating LEDs [light-emitting diodes] in the base. It is quick to put up and take down, doesn’t take up much space (up or down), and is fire-safe. It has endured more than 15 seasons now. Cheap or tacky? I don’t think so. It’s symbolic. Plus, my cat loves to sleep under it.
Belated Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Best Wishes for the New Year to you, Claire, and all respondents here. Although I am NOT very confident about 2018 …