#I am on Captiva and I want to get home for that

[whereisthedamndaddymanual]

We probably did meet at Walmart years ago

Not officially but enough for a couple kids to share a few grins in the toy aisle

[weekendsinmaine]

The memories of my life are so in step with the rhythm of the ocean that the thought of living anyplace where I couldn’t get to the coast within an hour or two makes me anxious.

My grandparents lived at the beach. My grandmother especially loved the water. It’s one of the reasons my grandfather choose to build their home next to the ocean. The salt air is good for the soul. Maine waters are chilly even in the warmest of summer days but my grandmother was undeterred and continued to swim in the ocean every summer until her health waned. She was happy at the ocean.

My mother spent her school years “in town” and not at the beach. Her grandmother and aunt lived there during those years. They were still living there when I arrived on the scene. My only memories of my visits to the house during those years were of the disturbingly vivid portrait of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns as blood streamed down his face. It hung prominently in their living room. It made an impression on me.

Eventually my grandparents moved back to their home at the beach.

I was spoiled with ready access to the salt air growing up. We lived about six miles away from my grandparents and I could go to the beach whenever the mood struck. It didn’t require planning or preparation. I could stop in for an hour or for the whole day. On ambitious days, I would ride my bike down, arriving sweaty and exhausted but happy.

In my teen years, my grandparents’ spot wasn’t cool enough and I’d venture to Old Orchard Beach with friends. Better to see and be seen. There was the beach, the boardwalk and the bustle and energy I wanted then.

But that faded and I returned to the more familiar spot.

For all my love of the ocean, I’ve never had the desire to take an beach vacation. Sure, I made it down to Cozumel for spring break one year, but that really wasn’t for the blue waters. And I’ve done a day here or there in glorious beach destinations like Sanibel Island, Captiva, and Catalina Island. All beautiful. None of them my beach.

I moved to Massachusetts for graduate school and stayed there after I got married. Our girls were born there. While the ocean was accessible, it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t home.

We wanted to come back to Maine. I had started looking for a lake house in Maine as soon as I moved away, knowing I could never afford ocean front. Shortly after our youngest was born and seven years after I began my search, we found our camp on the lake.

We traveled back and forth most weekends, settling into a relaxed rhythm. I started spending summers in Maine with the girls enjoying both lake and ocean life. Now doubly blessed, it didn’t take long before we realized our hearts were in Maine and we returned full time a few years later.

My girls got to experience the ocean the way I had as a child. Joyful, unhurried days with their grandparents keeping a watchful eye. My Mom and her sister now lived in my grandparent’s house. It had changed physically, with a renovation making it more comfortable for two couples to share, but it was still our ocean.

The image of my mom standing guard, hands on her hips as her granddaughters swam in the ocean stays with me so vividly that I included it in her obituary. While we love the ocean, we respect its power. A riptide will pull you away from shore easily. She didn’t have to worry. Their dips were usually quick before they would come running back, happy to be playing on the shore. Beach sand, buckets, and shovels keeping them entertained for hours.

The fourth generation to enjoy our family escape.

We’ve celebrated birthdays and weddings at the beach. Our dogs have run along the shore and swam in the water, less concerned with the temperature then their humans. We’ve had clambakes and eaten so many lobsters. We’ve walked along at low tide, collecting sea glass and sand dollars. We’ve visited during stormy weather, witnessing the ocean’s power. We’ve had quiet moments with just a few of us and more lively ones with extended family. We’ve had joyful days filled with laughter and devastatingly sad ones filled with tears.

Each new family member has felt the pull of our ocean. It’s magic. I know a house is just a house but when you fill it with decades of memories it becomes part of who you are.

In my first A to Z Challenge, I blogged about one of my other family memories at the beach in my post Q is for Clam Digging for Quahogs

Why does it bring me bliss? The lifetime of memories and shared experiences in this one little spot along the vast ocean is tied to who I am. It’s not the biggest,  the warmest or the most beautiful but it’s our piece of the ocean. It’s our special place.

Do you have a place that is meaningful to you like this spot is to me?

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  I’m participating in a Blogging A-Z Challenge for April 2020. I will be posting new content every day this month except most Sundays. Each post is associated with a letter of the alphabet, starting with A and ending with Z. My theme for the challenge is Bliss. To read more of my A to Z posts from this year, click HERE.

My latest blog post... #AtoZChallenge | O is for the Ocean and the pull of a lifetime of memories. The memories of my life are so in step with the rhythm of the ocean that the thought of living anyplace where I couldn’t get to the coast within an hour or two makes me anxious.

[rebeccahpedersen]

Going On Vacation!

TorontoRealtyBlog

Folks, I haven’t had a vacation since last August.

And as a thrice-divorced client once told me, “Don’t worry about your family, they’ll be fine!  Just keep working, and they’ll always be there when you get home.”

So with that in mind, we’re heading to Atlantis.  Yes!  Atlantis!

They say it’s a myth, but I just knew this wonderful underwater city existed…

I can’t tell you how disappointed I was to learn that the “Atlantis” we’re going to is a resort in the Bahamas, and not a secret, mysterious city that exists underwater, like in the above photo.

What the hell am I going to do with this Bare Velocity 5mm wetsuit?  Not to mention all the tanks of oxygen…

Yes, we’re going to Atlantis.

It took a lot of back and forth, but eventually we settled on this resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas.

It was where we initially started looking, but then Ramon just absolutely rocked my world, and threw our plans into disarray.

You know those “Live Chat” pop-ups that exist on most sites, including real estate websites?  Well the Atlantis website has a live-chat pop-up, and somebody named “Ramon” asked me if he could help, so I thought, “Okay, sure!”

I wrote, “Ramon, I see on the website that kids need to be at least 3-years-old to use a lot of the facilities in this extremely ‘child-friendly’ resort.  My daughter is about 1 1/2 years old, can she not play with the Lego, watch the movies, or pet the turtles?”

Ramon responded, “Thank you for your interest in Atlantis.  All the activities require that children must be at least 3-years-old.”

Somewhat defeated, and I guess, unsure of the reason for the requirement, I said, “But my 1 1/2 year old daughter plays Lego here in Toronto, and watches movies.”

Ramon repeated, “Unfortunately, all the activities require that children must be at least 3-years-old.”

So then I turned into a jerk and said, “Geez, Atlantis is marketed everywhere as this ‘family-friendly’ resort, I guess it’s not, eh?”

And amazingly, Ramon responded, “It is, just for families with children over 3-years-old.”

So I said, “Great, I’ll go to Florida.”

And Ramon said, “Thank you for choosing Atlantis!”

Hurt, and vindictive, I replied, “But I’m NOT choosing Atlantis, Ramon!”

He told me to have a great day, and closed the chat window, on me!

So with Atlantis out of the picture, we started to look for other places to go to – preferably ones that were more family-friendly.

My travel agent (yes, I have one…) suggested the “Sandals” for families, known as “Beaches.”  I guess the marketing people weren’t feeling original on the day they picked the name, but I digress…

Quite happy with Sandals in the past, my wife and I were encouraged by the idea of an all-inclusive resort, by the same company as Sandals, but for families!  The only problem was the locations.

Something called…………Zika Virus?

Turks & Caicos, Negril, Ocho Rio…

…zika, zika, zika.

And look, the odds are low, and depending on who you ask, it’s not an issue.

But with Baby Fleming V2.0 in the master plan, why risk it?

So with the islands out of the question, we started to look where most other people look: Florida.

I’m not a huge fan of Florida, I don’t know why.  Perhaps it’s because everybody goes to Florida, and I’m not really an assimilation/conformity kind of guy.  I’m also very binary, so I think if you’re going to do something, you should go all out.  And if I’m going to take a week off work, I should make it count, and go to a tropical island, rather than some random B- resort a swamp-like state.

So we started looking around, randomly Googling “best places to vacation for families in Florida,” and I realized just how many SEO experts, sitting in how many coding-caves across the world, were waiting for a sucker just like me.

We found a couple of places online in the Florida Keys that looked good, but when I showed my wife the series of over-water bridges and highways that connect the Keys, she freaked out.  I suppose all the facilities that are temporarily shut down because of Hurricane Irma didn’t help me plead my case…

Google took us everywhere from North Captiva Island, to Longboat Key and back.

But when my wife found some random resort that wasn’t even on the ocean, but rather on a small lake that looked like a swamp, I was so depressed by the idea that I said, “We need a new plan.”

I came home that evening, and my wife was beaming.

“I got it!  I have it all figured out!” she said.

And like the advertising gimmick has taught us to say over the years, she shouted, “We’re going to Disney World”

I forced a fake smile; who wouldn’t?  I love my wife, I’d go to Nunavut if she wanted to.

But the idea of going to Disney World didn’t set well with me.

You see, I’m a seasoned traveller, and I know that the one distinction you need to make at the very start of planning a get-away is to decide whether you’re going on a trip, or a vacation.

The two could not possibly be more different.

Who wants to do a vineyard tour in Italy?  Sound fun?

Well, that’s a trip.

That’s a grind.  A “schlep,” if you will.

It’s a long flight, it’s in a different time zone, and you’re constantly on the move, from town to town, riding buses, in and out of hotels, packing and unpacking.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful journey; a fantasy for many!  One that I’d love to embark upon one day.

But it’s not a vacation.  It’s a trip.

Now you might not want a vacation.  You might look at your cousins, who visit their grandparents’ condo twice per year, plop by the pool, sit on their phones all day, and then head to a strip mall for dinner every night, and think, “I have no interest in that.”  And I can’t say I blame you.

To each, their own, no doubt.  And there is truly something for everyone.

But right now, in my life, and looking at what’s best for my wife and child, I think we need to avoid a trip, and take a resting vacation.

So……..Disney World.  Right.

Buses to monorails, monorails to shuttles, shuttles to golf carts.  That’s a non-stop schlep, and the thought of doing that every day for a week made me cringe.

This trip is for me, but more importantly, it’s for my daughter, and for our family.  I don’t see my daughter as much as I’d like to, and at 17-months-old, it’s now that I can really “connect” with her, spending 24 hours per day together, for eight days.

As much as I liked the idea of Maya laughing at Goofy, or being wowed by Mickey, I know in my heart that she won’t remember any of this.  She’s just too young.

And buses, monorails, shuttles, and golf carts are going to wear her down.  Not to mention, wear my wife and I out.

My wife came to this conclusion on her own, thankfully!  I feared the plan from the get-go, and ultimately nature took its course.

So now what?  Where did we go from here?

I know this is the classic definition of “first word problems,” trust me.  The irony of not being able to find a suitable place to vacation is not lost on me.  This is just a story, so call it what it is.

But after two weeks of back-and-forth on locations, we finally came full circle.

And you know who made the decision in the end?  Our daughter.

Like most children her age, Maya seems to be completely and utterly enthralled by just about anything.  She could find a leaf on the ground outside, and play with it for an hour.

We were in Winners one day, and Maya was entertaining herself by picking up shoes, looking at herself in the mirror, and well, just about anything or anyone she came across.  My wife looked at me and said, “I’m pretty sure we could take her anywhere, and she would have a good time.”

We watched her move around, from item to item, fascinated by everything in her path.

And we soon realized that we didn’t need “Lego World” at Atlantis, or their “Sea Adventure” program for children 3-and-up for Maya to have a good time.  As my wife said, “We’ll probably walk from the room to the beach, and she’ll stop every ten feet to play with a stick.”

So in the end, we figured we may as well just go to Atlantis!

She can play with what’s allowed to, just as Ramon told me during our epic live-chat session.

She’ll make her own good time, as she always does, wherever she goes.

The weather is better than in Florida, it’s a direct flight, and believe it or not – it costs less than Disney World anyhow!

I am bringing my laptop with me.  It’s unavoidable in this business, but I’m looking forward to some quality time with the two special ladies in my life!

I won’t be posting new material until next Monday, but I won’t leave the blog to get stale – I’m going to turn back the clocks on a couple of old videos for Wednesday and Friday!

See you back on Monday the 30th!

The post Going On Vacation! appeared first on Toronto Real Estate Property Sales & Investments | Toronto Realty Blog by David Fleming.

Originated from https://ift.tt/2Jlj9Y7

[foursprout-blog]

Sheet Pan Meal-Prep Tofu Quinoa Burrito Bowls Video

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/health/sheet-pan-meal-prep-tofu-quinoa-burrito-bowls-video/

Sheet Pan Meal-Prep Tofu Quinoa Burrito Bowls Video

Throw all of the ingredients for this Meal Prep Sheet Pan Tofu Quinoa Burrito Bowls on a baking sheet and you’ve got a delicious, vegetarian meal ready for the entire week!

It’s @linleyshands here to say HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season full of delicious food, family, friends, and some downtime! Cole and I spent the holidays in Captiva, Florida with is his family. There’s just nothing like the beach when it’s -15 below in Minnesota. Am I right? We ate fresh fish, spent time together, and played beach games (one of which involved Crisco and a watermelon…). We had a blast. I did get home ready to be on some sort of schedule again. January is a big month for FFF and I missed Lee, so jumping right back to work was definitely welcomed when we got home this last weekend.

  MY OTHER VIDEOS

  I’ve been thinking a lot about intentions for 2018. Last night after work I headed home to make some tea and journal a little bit about what 2018 had in store for me (If you watched FFF’s insta story this week, you already know the story I’m about to tell you). While making tea I see FLAMES out of the corner of my eye. My tea kettle was on FIRE. Like, big flames. I grabbed a pot full of water and avoided a house fire. My tea kettle even survived (with a charred handle, but still useable). Frazzled from the fire, I cozied up on the couch to chat with my roomies.

Chatting away, I smelled something a bit funny…like something was burning. I looked down at my feet and the blanket I was using was on fire! It somehow caught fire from the candle I had burning. After two fires in one night, I decided to call it a night and head to bed early at 8:00 pm. I set my alarm bright and early to start the day off right, get a cup of coffee in before work. I prepped my French press, boiled some water, and while pouring boiling water into my French press, the cap of the tea kettle fell into the french press, burning my palm. WTH. No big deal, I can handle a burn.

BUT GUESS WHAT? That’s not it.

While continuing to pour boiling water into the French press, it EXPLODED. That’s right, my french press exploded. You just can’t make this stuff up! 2018, I hear you!

I figure I’m getting all the fires and burns out of the way early in 2018. So, I’m going to burn sage, say some prayers, and revisit my 2018 intentions this evening.

2018 Intentions (so far)

Find somewhere to volunteer. I used to donate most of my spare time to some of my favorite non-profits. It’s time to start again and finds somewhere that needs an extra hand.

Let things go. I’m a fixer and a fixator. If there’s drama, I try to fix it. If something happens or someones mad, I fixate on it. 2018 is the year of just letting it go.

Yoga teacher training. I have always wanted to get my yoga certification, so this is the year. I’m not sure what season, but we’re going to make it happen.

Budget. I need to make a budget and actually stick to it. I want to up my savings and have more of a grasp on where I actually spend my money.

There you have it. Some of the things I’m going to try and be mindful of this year! I’ll keep you updated. But now, how about we chat about these Tofu Quinoa Burrito Bowls.

Lee and I don’t eat a ton of tofu, but when we were testing recipes for the HGG Reset we used ingredients that were outside our comfort zone and it was wonderful. We grew and became pretty excited about experimenting with new ingredients in 2018. These tofu quinoa burrito bowls were our first tofu test in a while and we are SO excited about them.

Not only is the tofu in this recipe flavorful, but it is packed with delicious veggies, beans, and quinoa so you get your dose of fiber, vitamins, and protein for the day. These tofu quinoa burrito bowls are perfect for meal-prep during the week and for dinner on #meatlessmoday!

VIDEO: Meal-Prep Vegetarian Quinoa Burrito Bowl

Throw all of your ingredients for this Meal Prep Sheet Pan Tofu Quinoa Burrito Bowls on a baking sheet and you’ve got a delicious, vegetarian meal ready for the entire week!

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Author: Linley Richter

Yield: 4

Ingredients

For the Quinoa

1 cup white quinoa

2 cups water

For the Tofu

14 oz. firm tofu

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

For the Peppers

2 large peppers, sliced (any color)

1 medium purple onion, sliced

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

For the Black Beans

1 15-oz. can black beans

juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

Toppings

avocado

fresh cilantro

lime wedge

Instructions

For the Quinoa

In a large pot, bring quinoa and water to a boil. Cover and lower the heat to low and let simmer for around 15-20 minutes or until all the water has evaporated.

For the Tofu and Peppers

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Remove tofu from packaging and place between two pieces of paper towel or wrap in a tea towel. Place the wrapped tofu on a plate and put a cast-iron pan on top of the tofu (or anything heavy). Let sit for 10 minutes in order to remove as much moisture as possible.

Slice peppers and onion and then place in a medium-sized bowl. Add olive oil and spices and toss until combined. Place on one half of the baking sheet.

Remove tofu from the towel and chop into bite-sized cubes. In a medium-sized bowl, toss tofu with spices.

Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat and add olive oil. When olive oil is fragrant, add tofu and saute for 5 minutes. Then, transfer to baking sheet.

Bake tofu and peppers at 400ºF for around 15 minutes, tossing halfway.

For the Black Beans

Heat a small pot over medium/high heat.

Place all ingredients for the beans into pot and bring to a boil. Once simmering, remove from heat.

Assemble bowls by equally separating quinoa, tofu, peppers, and black beans into four equal bowls and enjoy! Serve with avocado, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

Notes

Will last in the fridge for up to 5 days!

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/4

Calories: 411

Sugar: 9

Fat: 13

Carbohydrates: 58

Fiber: 13

Protein: 21

[eemilymm-blog]

Facebook Ads

Last Tuesday the class took a little field trip to a local agency called Social Forces. Aside from the office being in the complete ghetto, the small, but mighty agency was a pleasant surprise.

We learned about Facebook advertising and how it is very helpful for brand awareness and recognition. Facebook knows their audience, and if a client knows theirs as well it is beneficial to take advantage of Facebook advertising.

In my 22 years here on Earth I have had the opportunity to manage a few Facebook pages and create ads. When I graduated from high school I worked at an ice cream shop on Sanibel, and the man who owned the store was an older gentlemen from England and his wife was from Ireland, he wasn’t at the shop often and usually left my coworker and I in charge of almost everything (I’m not exaggerating). Scheduling, ordering, advertising, marketing, design of the store - even sent us to IKEA to purchase (and pick out) all new tables and chairs. It was an awesome job right out of high school, and at the time I was going to my local university and studying nursing. I loved dealing with people, and Sanibel, being a small island it was so neighborly and communal I thoroughly enjoyed going to work. After getting a small taste of the owning a business lifestyle, I quickly changed my major to what I am today. I was there three years until I realized I wanted to move to Tampa to test other waters.  

Most recently, I have been working for my neighbor back home and his nonprofit organization remotely from Tampa. The organization is called “Fish with a Hero” and works in tandem with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, a national organization that is dedicated to the rehabilitation of disabled veterans and active-duty military personnel. Fish with a Hero is an event that takes place annually in Islamorada, FL and Captiva Island, FL. FWAH funds a world-class fishing trip for 30 veterans for four days.

For the Fish with a Hero event, I am in charge of press releases, Facebook, Facebook ads, sponsorship relations, and other event organizational tasks. Recently, my boss-neighbor wanted to explore Facebook ads. I have launched a few campaigns on Facebook for very few dollars. We have only spent about $100 on ads promoting page likes, kayak raffle tickets (which are only $5 and can be bought here!!!!), the actual event, and t-shirt sales.

On Facebook you can choose your audience that you want your ads to be served to. Our target audience were males and females ages 45-65+ in the Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Captiva, Cape Coral, and Naples area that were interested in nonprofit organizations, fishing, veterans, military, volunteering, boating, etc..    

All ads have resulted in a total reach of about 5,600 and about 7,000 impressions. We increased our page likes by 109 likes, sold 3 t-shirts, and 43 raffle tickets in just two weeks. I guess it’s not too shabby for a (very, VERY) small organization and how much money we spent!!!

Although working for my neighbor has been a challenge, he is really supportive of giving me experiences to learn from and experiment with different business tools and for that I am super grateful. Going to Social Forces and learning more about Facebook ads really helped me understand the backbone a little better than I previously did.

[oldguardaudio]

Powerline image at HoaxAndChange

Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton Drown and Rape at HoaxAndChange.com

Daily Digest

A Chappaquiddick Reckoning At Last?

John Kelly fires back at Luis Gutierrez

Irma update

Almost blacklisted by Google

The gutless Mr. Franken (2)

A Chappaquiddick Reckoning At Last?

Posted: 11 Sep 2017 04:46 PM PDT

(Steven Hayward)

I paid no attention to the fact that Hollywood was producing a biopic of Ted Kennedy’s famous “accident” at Chappaquiddick in 1969, and would have assumed that it was a typical gauzy pro-Kennedy puff piece if I had known. But Variety magazine, the main trade journal of Hollywood, offers a review that not only says that the forthcoming movie Chappaquiddick is suitably harsh on Teddy, but that he—and the Kennedy reputation—deserve it:

The film says that what happened at Chappaquiddick was even worse than we think. Kopechne’s body was found in a position that implied that she was struggling to keep her head out of the water. And what the film suggests is that once the car turned upside down, she didn’t die; she was alive and then drowned, after a period of time, as the water seeped in. This makes Edward Kennedy’s decision not to report the crime a clear-cut act of criminal negligence — but in spirit (if not legally), it renders it something closer to an act of killing.

But this is just the beginning. The reviewer, Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman, piles on:

“Chappaquiddick” is a meticulously told chronicle, no more and no less, and at times there’s a slight detachment in watching it, because it’s too tough and smart to milk the situation by turning Edward Kennedy into a “tragic figure.” . . .

Forty-eight years later, let’s be clear on what the meaning of Chappaquiddick is. Ted Kennedy should, by all rights, have stood trial for involuntary manslaughter, which would likely have ended his political career. The fact that the Kennedy family — the original postwar dynasty of the one percent — possessed, and exerted, the influence to squash the case is the essence of what Chappaquiddick means. The Kennedys lived outside the law; the one documented instance in American history of an illegallystolen presidential election was the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. He lost the race to Richard Nixon, but his father sealed the presidency for him by manipulating the vote tallies in Illinois. That’s the meaning of Chappaquiddick. too.

I don’t say any of this as a right-wing troll. But those are the facts, and they are facts that liberals, too often, have been willing to shove under the carpet. And they have paid the price. Ted Kennedy became known as “the Lion of the Senate,” and did a lot of good, but when you try to build a governing philosophy on top of lies, one way or another those lies will come back to haunt you. (Hello, Donald Trump! He’s an incompetent bully, but his middle name might be “Liberal Karma.”) As a movie, “Chappaquiddick” doesn’t embellish the incidents it shows us, because it doesn’t have to. It simply delivers the truth of what happened: the logistical truth of the accident, and also the squirmy truth of what went on in Ted Kennedy’s soul. The result may play like avid prose rather than investigative cinema poetry, but it still adds up to a movie that achieves what too few American political dramas do: a reckoning.

I hope Gleiberman has good life insurance and checks his car’s ignition before he starts up every day from now on. Just to be safe, don’t park next to Oliver Stone.

For what it’s worth, some years ago I had a long conversation with someone who owned a second home on Chappaquiddick and was present that weekend, though, as a Republican, he was not at the infamous party. He told me the story went out over the weekend that Kopechne had fallen asleep in the back seat of Kennedy’s car, and that Teddy wasn’t aware she was back there when he drove off the bridge. This doesn’t square with a lot of the circumstances and other facts of the story, leading to the suggestion that this was the first version of an alibi that was abandoned because couldn’t hold up.

This person (now deceased) also said that the Kennedy machine descended upon Chappaquiddick like the Normandy invasion, canvassing the island’s small population to see whether there were any witnesses and tamp down any “rumors.”

   John Kelly fires back at Luis Gutierrez

Posted: 11 Sep 2017 03:20 PM PDT

(Paul Mirengoff)

I wrote here about how Rep. Luis Gutierrez called John Kelly, President Trump’s chief of staff, a “hypocrite” and a “disgrace to the uniform he used to wear.” Kelly served in the military for more than 40 years.

Gutierrez never served a day. However, he became hysterical over Trump’s decision to phase out the DACA program, while giving Congress the opportunity to implement its protections. Gutierrez claimed that Trump’s action violated a promise Kelly had made. As I demonstrated here, though, there is no inconsistency between what Gutierrez says Kelly promised — no mass deportations of “dreamers” — and the winding down of a program that granted them secure status plus benefits.

Kelly has now responded to Gutierrez. He said:

As far as the congressman and other irresponsible members of congress are concerned, they have the luxury of saying what they want as they do nothing and have almost no responsibility. They can call people liars but it would be inappropriate for me to say the same thing back at them. As my blessed mother used to say “empty barrels make the most noise.”

Kelly also defended the decision to phase out DACA, while giving Congress time to pass legislation that accomplishes the same things:

Every DOJ and DHS lawyer says DACA is unconstitutional. Every other legal scholar – right and left – says the same thing. Trump didn’t end DACA, the law did. That said, I worked and succeeded to give the congress another six months to do something. I am not confident.

It’s not really true that every legal scholar says DACA is unconstitutional. One can find left-wing academics who defend its constitutionality.

It’s telling though that a former left-wing academic initially conceded that DACA-style amnesty would be an illegal usurpation of power by the executive. The professor’s name was Barack Obama.

Rep. Gutierrez’s office responded lamely to Kelly. It noted that “the constitutionality of DACA has never been challenged successfully in court.” But the constitutionality of DAPA has successfully been challenged, and the arguments against DACA are very similar.

In any event, the president of the United States takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. He has thus sworn not to maintain programs that, in his view, are unconstitutional. He need not, and should not, wait for courts to opine.

If the president were considering a program to take some as yet unheard of draconian measure to punish illegal immigrants, it would not do for him to blow off constitutional concerns on the grounds that the constitutionality of the punishment has never been challenged successfully in court. It will not do for Gutierrez, apparently illiterate when it comes to the Constitution, to blow off constitutional concerns over DACA.

Gutierrez owes Kelly an apology. But Kelly probably doesn’t take the open-borders loudmouth seriously enough to want one.

   Irma update

Posted: 11 Sep 2017 02:38 PM PDT

(Scott Johnson)

Our Florida hurricane correspondent provides this brief update from Fort Myers and Cape Coral:

Irma passed very slightly to the east of Fort Myers, which was actually worse for the city since it saw nothing but eyewall for several hours instead of getting a respite in the eye. Still, there is little major damage – uprooted trees, a few houses damaged by falling trees, localized flooding, signs damaged or knocked down, widespread power outages (though LCEC has done a very effective job at restoring electricity to critical installations). The vicious storm surge everyone feared largely did not materialize; even Sanibel and Captiva suffered little significant damage. No doubt damage and fatalities would have been worse had a large surge occurred. Miami, Naples and the Keys suffered the most of what damage there was, and only the latter was really smashed. No reports of looting locally and the cleanup is proceeding.

Six deaths are attributed to the storm. Three emergency responders were killed in car accidents, a fourth death was a civilian in a car accident, and a carbon monoxide poisoning from a Miami man who ran a generator in an enclosed space. Only one person was killed by the storm itself, a man on Shark Key (Monroe County) who failed or refused to evacuate or go to a storm shelter and was apparently drowned in his house.

There is not a single other reported death — not at the landfall site in Collier (Marco Island; Naples), not in Lee County, nor anywhere else in the state. As Irma was still a huge Cat 2 storm when it raked most of the peninsula, I attribute the good outcome to Florida’s preparation and its building codes – Florida is a much harder target than pretty much anywhere else in the country. The authorities responded magnificently, organized, efficient, and firm. And the vast majority of people acted rationally and cautiously. I think having Harvey hit two weeks earlier probably prompted even the most blasé Gators to prepare and/or evacuate and/or shelter.

One notable casualty: the 100-year-old Banyan tree at the Edison estate. A shame.

   Almost blacklisted by Google

Posted: 11 Sep 2017 05:20 AM PDT

(Scott Johnson)

In a message addressed to us along with Drudge Report, American Thinker, InstaPundit, PJ Mediaand Gateway Pundit, Leo Goldstein writes:

Dear Editors,

You might be interested to learn, that your websites have been almost blacklisted by Google. “Almost blacklisted” means that Google search artificially downranks results from your websites to such extent that you lose 55% – 75% of possible visitors traffic from Google. This sitution is probably aggravated by secondary effects, because many users and webmasters see Google ranking as a signal of trust.

This result is reported in my paper published in WUWT. The findings are consistent with multiple prior results, showing Google left/liberal bias, and pro-Hillary skew of Google search in the elections.

I write to all of them to give you opportunity to discuss this matter among yourselves. Even if Google owes nothing to your publications, it certainly owes good faith to the users of its search.

Intentionally hiding conservative and/or libertarian websites from the customers is an obvious breach of good faith.

Those of you who do not know me are welcome to visit at Climate Realism Against Alarmism.

The almost blacklisted domains: americanthinker.com drudgereport.com powerlineblog.com pjmedia.com thegatewaypundit.com

Best regards, Leo Goldstein DefyCCC.com

All I can say at this point is that we are in good company.

   The gutless Mr. Franken (2)

Posted: 11 Sep 2017 05:00 AM PDT

(Scott Johnson)

President Trump has nominated Notre Dame Law Professor Amy Barrett to the Seventh Circuit and Professor Barrett once gave a speech to the legal rights organization Alliance Defending Freedom. The ADF has recently been designated an anti-LGBT hate group by the absurdly misnamed hate cult known as the Southern Poverty Law Center. Drawing on the SPLC’s assault on the ADF and Professor Barrett’s appearance to speak before the group once upon a time, Franken has attacked Professor Barrett as unworthy of confirmation.

Here we have absurdity heaped upon absurdity in the style of McCarthyite guilt by association, but with a twist. At the end of McCarthy’s attacks was the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. At the end of Franken’s attack is the Alliance Defending Freedom. Franken’s performance in the hearing on Professor Barrett before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week made for a sickening display of ignorance heaped upon bigotry and dishonesty.

Franken has drawn on the same technique to state his opposition to the nomination of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the Eighth Circuit. In the statement that he released after his pretended four-month study of Justice Stras’s record, Franken announced that he would withhold his blue slip and therefore prevent Justice Stras’s nomination even from consideration by the Senate unless it is dishonored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley. Here are the two operative paragraphs of Franken’s statement (with my editorial notation of falsehoods):

Early in his career, Justice Stras worked as a law clerk for Justice Thomas, one of the Supreme Court’s most conservative members [lie] Justice Stras has described Justice Thomas as a mentor, and at an event hosted by the conservative [lie] Federalist Society, Justice Stras talked about how the jurisprudence of Justice Scalia helped to shape his own views. He said, “I really grew up with a steady diet of Justice Scalia, and I’m better for it.” Justice Scalia embraced a rigid view of the Constitution that favored powerful corporate interests [lie], was blind to the equal dignity of LGBT people [lie], and often refused to acknowledge the lingering animus in laws that perpetuate the racial divide [lie]. As a state court judge, Justice Stras has not often had occasion to consider cases raising these issues, but I am concerned that a nominee nurtured by such an ideology would likely seek to impose it on the litigants before him [libel based on lies].

And as it turns out, there is good reason to be concerned about that. During the presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump proudly declared that he would “appoint judges very much in the mold of Justice Scalia.” And to make certain that his nominees would espouse such views, President Trump outsourced the job of identifying them to the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, deeply conservative interest groups that cast skeptical eyes on workers’ rights and civil rights [a lie several times over]. Those groups produced a list of conservative judges for then-candidate Trump to consider naming to the Supreme Court-a list that included Justice Stras.

Again note the McCarthyite approach that makes up the sum and substance of Franken’s opposition to Justice Stras (and of his prospective opposition to Professor Barrett). Justice Stras clerked for Justice Thomas. Justice Stras has spoken highly of Justice Scalia. Justice Stras is supported by the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society (putting the facts to one side). Franken, therefore, opposes Justice Stras.

Franken cites nothing from Justice Stras’s scholarly or judicial record to support his opposition. Franken’s opposition is founded entirely on guilt by association — not with the Communist Party or some nefarious organization, but rather with Justice Thomas and with the Federalist Society.

I took a look at Senator Amy Klobuchar’s statement on the Stras nomination last week in “The many moods of Amy Klobuchar.” Klobuchar’s statement supports a hearing for Justice Stras while also supporting deference to Franken’s blue slip. Star Tribune reporter Patrick Coolican declared Klobuchar’s statement — seeking to please all while committing herself to nothing — “peak Klobuchar.” She is a walking parody of a politician.

They put the question squarely to Senator Grassley. Will he respect this nonsense?

   PowerLine -> A Chappaquiddick Reckoning At Last? Daily Digest A Chappaquiddick Reckoning At Last? John Kelly fires back at Luis Gutierrez Irma update…

[janinaodum96733-blog]

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From Light Shows to Mangroves by Allen Bush

Sunset light show on Sanibel Island, Florida. Shutterstock photo.

Rose and I returned home from Sanibel, Florida, a few weeks ago. I couldn’t stir up a bingo game there but found plenty of other subtropical diversions for old people. I was homesick the whole time but the beach was good to us.

Glimpses of spring arrived in Kentucky while we were away, with record warm temperatures taunting me: I should be transplanting, slender whips of basswoods and oaks. I’ve got a funny feeling that winter has not gone away for good. But go ahead and throw whatever nagging, cold curve ball at me you want. I know, with beach sand still stuck between my toes, I can make it to the spring equinox.

We were joined on Sanibel by a scattered portion of what is left of Woodstock Nation. (You can interpret scattered any way you want.) A beachcombing boomer wore a t-shirt that identified him as a “Shell Ambassador.” On the back of his t-shirt, it said, “I Talk Shells. Ask Me!” The ambassador told me he’d once found a rare junonia. Spotting a junonia seashell, washed up on the beach after a Gulf of Mexico storm, is as hard as it would have been to find a bag of ice at Woodstock.

Shutterstock photo.

I finally came to grips with my current reality. I have become what I never could have imagined in 1969. I am now a Snowbird.

Here is the Urban Dictionary’s definition of snowbirds.

Irritating old people who come down to Florida from Northern states, drive like maniacs, and should be illegal.

I was with my people, then, on Sanibel.

I saw my first, liquid (pyschedelic) light show at San Francisco’s Fillmore during the 1967 Summer of Love. We were on a family vacation. I was sixteen. My younger sister and I were escorted to the show by our wonderful, hippie cousin. He looked the part; I didn’t. I wore a blue Oxford cloth shirt, chinos and Bass Weejuns.

Mangrove Overlook at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

These days, a colorful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico—shifting shades of blue, orange, gray, red with the rare green flash—would be my “Cool, man!” moment. Seashells and birds fascinate me, too—more than standing eyeball to elbow at a crowded concert. There are lots of oldsters on Sanibel with these same, quieter interests.

Those of us with diminishing dopamines sift through beach sand looking for pretty shells. And then we migrate to the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge to look for birds. I carry a set of binoculars that make me look like I know birds, but I’m hopeless with birds. Each year Rose and I go out with Aunt Rose, who knows birds. She teaches us a dozen birds. I return home and forget the bird names within weeks. How can I learn the Latin names of hundreds of plants and not remember the common names of a dozen overwintering Florida birds?

I suppose it was bound to happen. I returned to plants. I am a one-trick pony.

But I did become a mangrove fan on this trip to Sanibel.

Mangroves are essential to life on Sanibel Island and elsewhere in the sub-tropics and tropics. You might not notice this by looking at Sanibel’s residential and commercial landscapes of colorful bromeliads, philodendrons, strangler figs and palms, but it’s the unassuming mangroves that are doing the island’s heavy ecological lifting. They are “natural carbon scrubbers.” One acre of healthy mangroves can deposit an estimated 7,000 pounds of leaf litter, on average, per year. The leaves generally do not rot in the saline soils, and an estimated 10% of carbon from the leaf litter is sequestered in the soil. Mangroves are second only to tropical rainforests for carbon sequestration.

Seedlings of the red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, in the nursery of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation.

I’ve paid attention to mangroves over several years on these winter getaways. Three years ago I collected seeds of the red mangrove. The slender seedpods are heavier at one end and drop from the trees and, with a little luck, get stuck upright in the brackish muck. Precious new life begins slowly. Patience is required. Germination began a year later on a windowsill in Kentucky. I had little to do in the meantime but keep the soil soggy and add a pinch of table salt to the watering can once or twice.

We took a guided kayak tour through the Tarpon Bay Estuary on our visit last month. Wendy Schnapp, an Environmental Biologist and General Manager of Tarpon Bay Explorers, shared her passion for the island’s birds, fish, and especially three native mangroves. Mangroves should not be thought of as just a creepy dark canopy and tangled mess of roots. The thick, green leaves feel like a 60-millimeter roof liner.

Biologists take mangroves very seriously. Some Florida property developers consider them an impediment. Remove one at your peril in Florida. Without permission, you risk a fine, jail time and mitigation obligations—reestablishing mangroves (which may be the best instance ever of the punishment fitting the crime). That hasn’t stopped the loss of mangroves in Biscayne Bay in South Florida.

The author and journalist Carl Hiaasen has witnessed a lifetime of environmental abuse in his native Florida. At the Ocean Reef Club, developers took out several thousand mangrove trees to give the development a “better view.” Hiassen spoke to the Daily Telegraph in 2002: “This is in my own backyard and the man responsible will get away with it. Maybe he gets fined but he’ll make millions. That’s what Florida’s all about—money.” An estimated 82% of Biscayne Bay’s mangroves had been lost by 2015.

Residents of Sanibel and neighboring Captiva Island are considerably more protective of mangroves and their environment. The 6,400-acre J.N. “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge represents one third of island’s total acreage. And the Sanibel-Capitva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) manages more than 1200 acres on Sanibel and 600 acres on Captiva.

Mangrove foliage.

Mangroves are vital to coastal estuaries. They buffer the wind, withstand storm surges and are tolerant of brackish waters. Wendy Schnapp explained how mangroves provide a valuable habitat for other wildlife. This sounded to me a little like code for man-eating, venomous snakes. Wendy assured us the non-venomous, reclusive, persimmon-orange colored mangrove tree snake is the only snake slithering around these mangroves. Crabs and raccoons make their homes here among these “walking trees,” too. So do fish and birds.

The red, white and black mangroves are the three Florida native species. None is cold hardy. The red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, the “wettest” of the three native mangrove species dominates the shoreline of southwest Florida bays.

Tunnel of mangroves, Tarpon Bay Estuary, Sanibel, Florida.

We paddled our kayaks along the rising tide “lazy river” on the way out into the estuary and through a tunnel of mangroves. We saw white ibis, yellow-crowned night heron, osprey and anhinga.

I took notes on these birds. I’ll try to remember them for another month or two. I won’t forget the mangroves.

From Light Shows to Mangroves originally appeared on Garden Rant on March 8, 2017.

from Garden Rant http://gardenrant.com/2017/03/from-light-shows-to-mangroves.html