It is February, and they’ve had to cancel the annual ice fishing derby on Lake Champlain because the ice is not safe. A 62 year old man went through the ice on Thursday and died. Today it looks like another. So sad.
Oh, it really can be dangerous, because the water under the ice is so cold this time of year, and the wind can be brisk. Hypothermia can happen in minutes, and if you fall into the water you have less time than that. Some folks set up a fishing shanty and drill their hole in the ice for fishing, inside it. There can be a little village out there if the weather works. February is usually FINE for ice fishing! This year has just been too warm. These two gentlemen were in an enclosed ATV type vehicle that went through the ice with them in it.
Report now is that the second man (the one taken to hospital) has now also died. That's three people in 36 hours. It's a good thing they cancelled the ice fishing derby.
I am surprised to say they think little of it. For decades, our kitties have loved being able to go inside their fort and do battle with anything that moves and passes by (especially one another). But these two rarely check it out. I guess they're getting old. As of April, they will be 11 years old, and that's when vets begin to call them elderly.
And this "house" is inside. We have a small doghourse in our back yard that we put there so our cats could shelter from the rain, but I don't think any have ever used it.
Not too long ago I saw a video of a fellow who had a blank wall and several cats. He put a bunch of shelves, one- and two-cat sizes on the wall, more or less at random, and the cats immediately took to it as a cat tree. ---Alan
Cats love a half-wall! We have that setup out on the back porch. There are two ramp shelves with a corner "landing" between that lead to the X-shaped cross beams at the top of the (square) porch. Up in the center of the X is a platform for them, too. Summer naps are often taken up there.
There is considerable resentment that children have to be sent to school and cannot be put to work to earn their keep. It's a violation of the parent's property rights, the same argument made when the freedmen were emancipated. Another source of resentment is that migrants and asylum seekers are entitled to various kinds of assistance because the U.S. has signed on to the UN human rights treaty and treaties have the same force of law as the Constitution. But, children were apparently not covered by that treaty, so the UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which every nation on earth has agreed to, except the U.S. Clinton signed it in about 1998, but the Senate has refused to ratify. parentalrights.org are really opposed.
Seems to me there are several UN conventions the U.S. has not ratified, among them the one banning land mines. Makes ya proud to be an American, don’t it? :P
The photo is definitely NOT a hot air balloon; it looks like a tethered blimp of the type long used to detect drug smugglers along the US-Mexico border. ----Alan
I was working on my income taxes tonight and was thinking the my heavy dental expenses might make itemized deductions the way to go, given high property taxes and substantial charitable contributions. But the IRS wants you to itemize every single monthly donation, which is simply not feasible, and the standard deduction has gone up to almost $30,000 in my case. (Still filing jointly, with Penny and me both over 65 and me legally blind.) So it looks like it's still standard deduction.
{listener}
ReplyDeleteIt is February, and they’ve had to cancel the annual ice fishing derby on Lake Champlain because the ice is not safe. A 62 year old man went through the ice on Thursday and died. Today it looks like another. So sad.
Ice rescue on Keeler Bay: One transported, one missing
Too bad; but it sounds inherently dangerous to someone who has never lived in a place where ice fishing was even remotely possible.
ReplyDelete----Alan
Oh, it really can be dangerous, because the water under the ice is so cold this time of year, and the wind can be brisk. Hypothermia can happen in minutes, and if you fall into the water you have less time than that. Some folks set up a fishing shanty and drill their hole in the ice for fishing, inside it. There can be a little village out there if the weather works. February is usually FINE for ice fishing! This year has just been too warm. These two gentlemen were in an enclosed ATV type vehicle that went through the ice with them in it.
DeleteUTV vehicle actually. "Utility Task Vehicle"
DeleteReport now is that the second man (the one taken to hospital) has now also died.
DeleteThat's three people in 36 hours. It's a good thing they cancelled the ice fishing derby.
Whose cat house?
ReplyDelete----Alan
Our kitties, Mizzen and Spinnaker
DeleteI am surprised to say they think little of it. For decades, our kitties have loved being able to go inside their fort and do battle with anything that moves and passes by (especially one another). But these two rarely check it out. I guess they're getting old. As of April, they will be 11 years old, and that's when vets begin to call them elderly.
And this "house" is inside. We have a small doghourse in our back yard that we put there so our cats could shelter from the rain, but I don't think any have ever used it.
DeleteNot too long ago I saw a video of a fellow who had a blank wall and several cats. He put a bunch of shelves, one- and two-cat sizes on the wall, more or less at random, and the cats immediately took to it as a cat tree.
Delete---Alan
Cats love a half-wall! We have that setup out on the back porch. There are two ramp shelves with a corner "landing" between that lead to the X-shaped cross beams at the top of the (square) porch. Up in the center of the X is a platform for them, too. Summer naps are often taken up there.
Delete‘It’s just crazy’: Republicans attack US child labor laws as violations rise [Click]
ReplyDelete——Alan
There is considerable resentment that children have to be sent to school and cannot be put to work to earn their keep. It's a violation of the parent's property rights, the same argument made when the freedmen were emancipated.
DeleteAnother source of resentment is that migrants and asylum seekers are entitled to various kinds of assistance because the U.S. has signed on to the UN human rights treaty and treaties have the same force of law as the Constitution. But, children were apparently not covered by that treaty, so the UN adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which every nation on earth has agreed to, except the U.S. Clinton signed it in about 1998, but the Senate has refused to ratify. parentalrights.org are really opposed.
Seems to me there are several UN conventions the U.S. has not ratified, among them the one banning land mines. Makes ya proud to be an American, don’t it? :P
Delete‘A witch-hunt’: how Arizona jailed a grandmother for ballot collecting [Click]
ReplyDelete---Alan
Emmett Till relative’s lawsuit seeks to serve white woman’s arrest warrant [Click]
ReplyDelete---Alan
US jet shoots down ‘unidentified object’ over northern Canada, Trudeau says
ReplyDeleteSomewhere over the Yukon, no other news that I can find.
Delete---Alan
Yes. We're also hearing that yesterday's "object" did not contain surveillance capability. The memes, no doubt, will flourish.
DeleteWell, this is interesting. Have to wonder if the "objects" were ours...
DeleteHigh-altitude hot air balloons are the newest US weapon against Russia and China
...or at least like ours.
DeleteNote: Ours are cylindrical!
The photo is definitely NOT a hot air balloon; it looks like a tethered blimp of the type long used to detect drug smugglers along the US-Mexico border.
Delete----Alan
I was working on my income taxes tonight and was thinking the my heavy dental expenses might make itemized deductions the way to go, given high property taxes and substantial charitable contributions. But the IRS wants you to itemize every single monthly donation, which is simply not feasible, and the standard deduction has gone up to almost $30,000 in my case. (Still filing jointly, with Penny and me both over 65 and me legally blind.) So it looks like it's still standard deduction.
ReplyDelete