On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog

Why are you being hustled by street vendors to buy sad and drooping former roses, vegetative matter that missed the cut for bouquets, or were too late to the hospital?

Blame Esther A. Howland (1828 – 1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts. Her guilt is writ large by the Greeting Card Association’s Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary. She imported the concept to the US from Britain to bolster her father’s stationery store in 1847.

Of course, it wasn’t long before the stationers had infiltrated school boards and imposed the now mandatory exchange in the classroom to push the low end product of Asian children and prisoners.
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Why? Why not…

Today is Darwin Day celebrating the birth and works of one of the greatest scientists the world has ever known. He shares his birthdate, 12 February 1809, with another great man, Abraham Lincoln.

Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species is a founding document of evolutionary biology.

It’s not the 1860s in the US, but the 1930s in Germany, with the MAGAts attempting to create the Fourth Reich.

Judd Legum writes at Popular Information:

A particularly aggressive government effort to limit speech is underway in Florida, led by Governor Ron DeSantis (R). A bill championed by DeSantis prohibits any school or private business from engaging in instruction or training that makes anyone “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” on account of their race.

Now they have moved on to ‘Don’t Say Gay’: White House denounces new Florida bill. No one is to talk about the reality of of the existence of LGBTQ+ people in the population. What group is next – the Rom, Asians, the disabled, who? (It might force TFG to remove YMCA from his play list 😉 )

DeMentis wants to create a new police agency that answers to him. No explanation as to why the current practice of assigning a reserve sheriff deputy to every polling place isn’t sufficient. No, DeMentis wants his own SchutzStaffel or Politische Staatspolizei.

In Heinrich Heine’s 1821 play Almansor a character makes the point:

“Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.” (“That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people as well.”)

That quote was carved into the stones of the Opernplatz (Opera Square) in Berlin where the major book burnings took place in the Third Reich. There are book burnings in Florida, mostly sponsored by “?religious leaders?” to prove how “pure” they are. This sort of thing can get out of hand, is bad for air quality, and adds to climate change and ignorance.

When Henry II of England was establishing what became the Common Law system in his realm in the twelfth century there was no doubt that assault and trespass were causes for action in the courts. Anyone viewing the video of the US Capitol on January 6, 2020 would not have to be a law enforcement officer or a lawyer to recognize the assault and trespass that took place. There was no discourse, political or otherwise, and it definitely was not legitimate. Blood was spilled and property was damaged. Calls for lynching or shooting public officials are not part of “legitimate political discourse”.

If you’re going to do Hitler 2.0, you need better speech writers and decent set designers. Also, find a more charismatic leader who is at least able to read the speeches and not wander into a fantasy world of non sequiturs and petty grievances.

It’s the first Saturday in February which would normally be the start of the Yukon Quest 1000 mile sled dog race, but this year instead of cancelling everything as they did last year, they are running 4 races, two in the Yukon and two in Alaska. The border between the US and Canada is not fully open. They are using the northern course and running a 300 and 100 in the Yukon and a 200 and 550 in Alaska. The reasoning was that if the Covid-19 restrictions were eased they would run the standard races for an even year. There is racing, but it isn’t the real event.

Normally this year would run from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, the easier run as Rosebud/Eagle would be out of the way while teams were fresh. Between disease and climate change the races are going to be forced to change.

It’s Groundhog Day and some of the militant marmots object to being disturbed.

FYI: this is approximately the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. It is called Imbolc among the Celts, which is why people are interested.

On average groundhogs are right 40% of the time. Flipping a coin has a better average for accuracy. With all of the snow in the Northeast any groundhog smart enough for meteorology will roll over and go back to sleep.

February 1, 2003

Commander:
Rick Douglas Husband, Colonel, USAF

Pilot:
William C. McCool, Commander, USN

Payload Commander:
Michael P. Anderson, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Mission Specialist:
Kalpana Chawla, PhD
David M. Brown, MD, Captain, USN
Laurel Blair Salton Clark, MD, Captain, USN

Payload Specialist:
Ilan Ramon, Colonel, Israel Air Force

NASA now has a Memorial Page honoring those who have been lost in the space program.

Year of the Black Water Tiger

Chinese New Year
[Spring Festival]

[Note: The Lunar New Year is tied to the Second New Moon of the solar year, which is on January 31st in my time zone and February 1st in China.]

Matas Maldeikis, Member of Parliament in Lithuania makes an historical point about Putin’s claims to the territory of the Ukraine:

I demand the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the historical sphere of influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, including #Belarus and #Ukraine. Russia’s westward expansion since the annexation of Novgorod in 1478 is an outrageous provocation.

Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson lashes out for the media noticing that he is spewing Russian agitprop on his show.

The media in Russia is split over Tucker Carlson (Такер Карлсон) with the “official state media” thinking that Carlson is just stating his opinion and the independent TV Rain (Дожд) thinking he is taking courses to be hired by the Russian Ministry of “Information”.

Carlson is a “useful idiot” (Полезный идиот). He has spent too many years wearing a bowtie that was too tight. He takes a contrary position to please someone else. Just another tool who is not bright enough to realize that he is being used.

FYI: Moscow is very late to the time line. The Rus settled around Kyiv and Ukraine uses an older character set and spelling than Russia. The presidents of both Ukraine and Rossia (the proper spelling of the country) have the same first name but Ukrainian president Zelensky spells it Volodymir while Putin uses Vladimir.

Falling Iguana Weather

The graphic is from January, 2020 but it is applicable today for South Florida as they are having a cold snap. No drop bears, just drop lizards.

January 28, 1986

Commander:
Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Pilot:
Michael J. Smith, Commander, USN

Mission Specialist:
Judith A. Resnik
Ronald E. McNair
Ellison S. Onizuka, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Payload Specialist:
Gregory B. Jarvis
Sharon Christa McAuliffe

NASA now has a Memorial Page honoring those who have been lost in the space program.

January 27, 1967

Virgil “Gus” Ivan Grissom, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Edward Higgins White, II, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF

Roger Bruce Chaffee, Lieutenant Commander, USN

NASA now has a Memorial Page honoring those who have been lost in the space program.

Digby provides the long form of unGovernor DeMentis’s battle againt medical reality, but Twitter feeds it to you in bite-sized chunks:

Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) notes:

After the FDA discontinued use of monoclonal antibodies because they don’t work on Omicron, which Eli Lilly and Regeneron acknowledge, Dr. Ron Desantis says they are wrong and vows, “We’re gonna fight back!”

DeMentis is definitely not a “doctor” in any sense of the word.

Lindy Li adds:

Regeneron, which makes monoclonal antibodies, says that they don’t work against Omicron

Ron DeSantis is falsely claiming that they do

Citadel owns $16 million of Regeneron stock. Citadel CEO, his biggest donor, gave DeSantis $11 million

I’m sure this is just a coincidence 🙁

You’re right, Lindy. It’s not as if Florida politicians are known for doing “special favors” for their big donors 😉

If DeMentis continues with the monoclonal antibodies, the state is going to be paying for them at $2K a dose. Up until now the Federal government has been paying for the treatment.