Guest post by a good friend of the ‘Grok:

FREE DOG IN AMERICA

No, not giving our dog away. Rather sharing some thoughts on dogs.

We have Goldens and have had for quite a few years. The dog fits us to a “T”. Sure she sheds. The pickup truck, dog’s truck, is full of swirling hair when we opt to drive with all the windows down. The bride starts waving her arms in survival mode and I know to roll up all the windows and turn on the AC. But it is the dog’s truck. Not the family “truckster” or a vehicle we pick friends up at the airport. Hundred and ninety thousand miles and not an oil leak. Burns some oil but has been a 100% vehicle for everyday living and hauling. The dog is free to come and go with me all the time and usually does. We both like getting out of the house and we never worry about the mess. A bi-annual clean up of the truck is in order though. It is our truck!!

Here on the hill the dog has free rein. She rarely—RARELY-

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Solar Physics has a breakthrough. The settled-scientific community wants it retracted. Why?

Recent research by Professor Valentina Zharkova (Northumbria University) and colleagues has shed new light on the inner workings of the Sun. If correct, this new discovery means that future solar cycles and variations in the Sun’s activity can be predicted more accurately.

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Would-be self-proclaimed sciency folk are buying and sharing the “hottest year ever” meme. It has been hot in some places at some times but is it the hottest ever? Nope.

Just because it was hot where you live does not mean it was hot everywhere or all the time. Daytime temperatures are not the only dog in this fight. Much like last year, while there were some hot days, most of the nights were very pleasant and in the 50’s. With only a few staying warm enough to make sleeping an issue without AC.

The days make the news but the averages make it, well, average.

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ANALYSIS: TRUE. In Venezuela, It’s not a ‘Humanitarian’ Crisis. It’s a Socialist Crisis.

The disaster unfolding in Venezuela is entirely the fault of the Venezuelans who elected first Hugo Chavez and then Nicolas Maduro. But check out the way CNN Money frames what’s happening. . . . Read the whole thing and notice the one word you don’t see in the article. Go ahead, I dare you.

(H/T: Instapundit) Absolutely right – you get what you deserve as decisions have consequences – you get the government you deserve.  And reap the downside as well. It can’t be a humanitarian crises when you have brought it upon yourselves – ACTIVELY and with DELIBERATENESS.  You had alternatives – but you voted for the “free money” and the “free stuff”.  That’s what socialists do – it’s their version of crack.  Get you hooked, reel you in, and put you on your knees until they give you your next fix. Decisions have consequences and you’ve already made that decision.

And this is what Hillary, Bernie, and the Socialist Democrat Party is now offering America with evil grins. They know you want free stuff; they know they want that control over you.  Is “free stuff”, or making somebody else pay for you, worth your Freedom? And yes, Freedom comes with responsibility for yourself.  Adults accept that responsibility – you?

Recap: blowout screaming match with Michael Kitch that we wouldn’t raise OUR taxes to send the “surplus” to Democrat controlled cities and states that had run themselves into fiscal ruin:

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I was watching the Olympics when in Michael Phelps’ last individual event of this Olympics (the 100M butterfly), there was a three way tie for second at 51.14.  At the time, I thought that odd – certainly timing equipment can easily get down to thousandths of a second, right?  And then Regressing talked about that and why it isn’t the timing equipment or calibration – it’s the pool (reformatted, emphasis mine):

…Modern timing systems are capable of measuring down to the millionth of a second—so why doesn’t FINA, the world swimming governing body, increase its timing precision by adding thousandths-of-seconds? As it turns out, FINA used to. In 1972, Sweden’s Gunnar Larsson beat American Tim McKee in the 400m individual medley by 0.002 seconds. That finish led the governing body to eliminate timing by a significant digit. But why?

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After all, it was President Obama who said to judge the Feds (and his Administration) on whether it works – or not:

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.”  – President Obama, Inauguration (2009)

Instead of a one-by-one series that I’ve done, here’s a few:

Secret Service faces questions about child sex abuse

The U.S. Secret Service is under scrutiny after a batch of newly released documents revealed that a special agent was accused in 2012 of using a date-rape drug to molest boys. The revelation, stemming from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, raised questions about whether the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, which oversees it, as well as its investigative arm, took sufficient action when confronted with the allegations.

And yet, Progressives keep telling us that Government is filled with experts that are non-partisan and only have everyone’s best interest at the forefront.  Again, what were those boys’ best interests in getting molested by Federal Government employees?

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As we entertain ourselves with Les Otten (pictured above) and his ‘North Country’ revitalization promises–and the political hoops bureaucrats and legislators in New Hampshire are jumping through to please him, we get this in-depth investigative reporting on VT Democrats. How they ignored financial risk and promoted fraud (and a Ponzi scheme) in exchange for promises of economic development and yes, generous campaign contributions.

I scratched the surface here back in April, but VT Digger has gone all in to explain and expose the events and the players. Big promises for North Country (Vermont) job creation. Federal programs tweaked. Taxpayer money funneled for infrastructure. Local politicians lined up. Investors corraled and most-likely bilked. Taxpayers put on the hook for fraud investigations and investor refunds.

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But unfortunately, much of the time, we have not understood the importance of the responsibility of voters to maintain a supportive Congress that is compatible with the agenda of the president.

From the Concord Monitor comes this bit of stupidity by Philip R. Harvey of Hillsboro, NH in which we see yet another person wanting America to be something that it is not (full piece after the jump:). To wit, it is clear that he doesn’t like our political system of governance because stalemate!  This is quite clear from the above quote when you shackle it with this (reformatted, emphasis mine):

Many constitutional democracies around the world operate under a parliamentary system. Normally, with that form of government, the people elect the members from parliamentary districts, and the political party having the majority of members selects the individual to lead the government. That individual serves only as long as the majority of members supports his or her position on issues before the parliament…in such a parliamentary system, the legislative and the executive branches of government are permanently intertwined. In other words, there is not a separation of power between the legislative and executive branches of government.

And then he goes on to describe our system.  And Harvey seems to advocating for this notion of further breaking down the series of checks and balances that our Founders put into place?  So he’s quite sure that such a situation that is far superior to our’s in that our government “can get something done”.

First off: seriously, eliminating the role of the various State legislatures wasn’t bad enough in selecting US Senators?  But second, is the major function of government should be “to get things done”? I’ll circle back to the opening “statement of fact” in a little bit.

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“But some men displayed honor until the moment of their death.”

As we have written before, the Left has been waging war on ALL traditional values that America used to stand for over decades.  Frankly, we are now reaping that sullen tornado now in Society.  However, there are still some of us that are bitter clingers to virtues that used to stand for something, that used to spur us on to be better, that acted as rulers against which we could use as standards of behavior, that once were considered to be absolute values (whether or not we actually achieved them or not – they were there to be reached for).

Benjamin Slade over at Medium has written a touching letter to his young daughter caught my eye – someone that has learned the truth and strength of Honor and trying to guide her towards it (emphasis mine).  I’m leaving out the first part of it but take a gander at it if you would and read about honor:

A Letter to My Daughter About Young Men

…So instead I will tell you about young men and honor.

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