There's a First Time for Everything

Apparently to include "belonging to a government-designated domestic terrorist organization."

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday declaring the National Rifle Association a “domestic terrorism organization” due to its opposition to more stringent gun-control legislation.... The resolution accuses the NRA of not only resisting legislative reforms that its drafters believe would help curtail the country’s “epidemic of gun violence,” but also of “incit[ing] gun owners to acts of violence.”... The resolution also declares the Board’s intent to “limit those entities who do business with the City and County of San Francisco from doing business with this domestic terrorist organization.”

'Greetings, fellow terrorists!'

It's bad enough that the SPLC has been designating fairly mainstream organizations and individuals as 'extremists' or 'hate groups.' Now it's actual government entities, albeit so far not very powerful ones. The penalty for being a 'domestic terrorist' is so far limited to San Francisco businesses being encouraged not to do business with you -- which I suppose means encouragement not to employ members of the NRA. That's a violation of freedom of association that is probably incapable of surviving a court challenge even in the 9th circuit.

Still: what a day for American political rhetoric!

Bee Stings

Biden Claims He Was There 3,000 Years Ago When Isildur Took The Ring And The Strength Of Men Failed

Catholic School Cures Harry Potter Fans By Forcing Them To Read JK Rowling's Twitter Feed

Antifa Unveils New Pumpkin Spice Molotov Cocktails For Fall Protests

Cthulhu Releases Tell-All Book From Time Within Trump Administration

Common sense gun solutions

Never Go Full "1984"

Drudge is leading with some reports today that suggest the administration is considering some radical moves. One of the links is to Infowars, so this may be over the top reporting; but it's worth underlining just how bad an idea it is.

On American Men

Some ladies on Facebook I know were sharing this, which I appreciate.

“Let this sink in for a minute.....Hundreds and hundreds of small boats pulled by countless pickups and SUVs from across the South are headed for Florida.

Almost all of them driven by men. They're using their own property, sacrificing their own time, spending their own money, and risking their own lives for one reason: to help total strangers in desperate need.

Most of them are by themselves. Most are dressed like the redneck duck hunters and bass fisherman they are. Many are veterans. Most are wearing well-used gimme-hats, t-shirts, and jeans; and there's a preponderance of camo....

...they'll spend the next several days wading in cold, dirty water; dodging gators and water moccasins and fire ants; eating whatever meager rations are available; and sleeping wherever they can in dirty, damp clothes. Their reward is the tears and the hugs and the smiles from the terrified people they help. They'll deliver one boatload, and then go back for more.

When disaster strikes, it's what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they'll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they've never met before, and talk about fish or ten-point bucks.

And the next time they hear someone talk about "the patriarchy", or "male privilege", they'll snort, turn off the TV and go to bed.

In the meantime, they'll likely be up again before dawn. To do it again. Until the helpless are rescued. And the work's done.

They're unlikely to be reimbursed. There won't be medals. They won't care. They're heroes. And it's what they do.

Mind Your Business

Yet another thing about which Justice Sotomayor and I disagree.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has said that the seed for what has become her latest children’s book was planted the day a woman called her a drug addict.

Sotomayor , who was diagnosed with diabetes at age 7, had gone to the bathroom of an upscale New York restaurant to give herself an insulin shot. She was in her 30s but hiding her diabetes. Another diner came in and saw her and later, as Sotomayor was leaving the restaurant, she heard the woman tell a companion: “She’s a drug addict.”

Outraged, Sotomayor confronted her, explaining that the shot was medicine, not drugs: “If you don’t know something, ask, don’t assume,” Sotomayor said.

I would have thought that the problem wasn't the making of assumptions, but the injecting yourself into someone else's business. Most people would find it intolerably rude for someone to 'just ask' about private issues, which medical ones tend to be; they also object, reasonably, to people gossiping about them. The right thing to do is to be aware that there can be other-than-bad explanations for things you observe, and to let people be. 'Don't ask, don't tell,' to borrow another phrase that the Left generated.

A relevant musical interlude:

Paglia Again

She's always interesting and usually fun as well. The WSJ has an interview.

Stratospheric Warming

Apparently the Antarctic is a whole lot warmer than usual this year -- at least, way, way up.

So does that mean hotter weather lower down? Apparently not.

These events are significant, as the warming and the disruption of the polar vortex eventually makes its way down to the troposphere and can cause a change in weather patterns. It can bring colder weather and snow into lower latitudes, for example, Australia and New Zealand....

These events will also influence the annual growth of the ozone hole over Antarctica. Warming of the stratosphere should limit its growth, and we might see a smaller ozone hole this year. It will depend on the longevity of these events.

So, colder weather and a smaller ozone hole?

Not a fish storm

Dorian turned out to be a real monster, still sitting on top of the Bahamas with inconceivably high winds, barely moving.

The pictures from yesterday evening before it got dark reminded me of the awful vistas here from two years ago, with all the blasted trees.  The trees do come back, though, given time.  Ours are still funny-looking and will be for a few more years, but this is the difference two years can make, September 1, 2017, to September 1, 2019.  The first picture is after the tree-removal crew was here for a day and a half clearing the driveway with chainsaws and tracked vehicles.