"And, although his methods may be difficult for environmentalists to accept..."

See, stuff like this is what (deservedly) gives enviro-whackos a bad name. It's hard me to accept that the phrasing in the title of this post is entirely tongue-in-cheek. "May be"? Excuse me? It's almost like they approve. See all those "Life After People" type shows and books for examples of their fantasies. (List at the bottom here.)

And then comes Momma Nature to remind us that what we do means diddly squat in the long run. :-) Maybe not this time, but there was once a very frightening illustration of this in National Geographic. (Although I'll admit I didn't quite see it right the first time, perhaps because of how they presented it.)

Meanwhile, the One doesn't really seem to care, which is here, as elsewhere, the main feature of his and both our salvation as well as the danger. (Of course, wouldncha know it's all the GOP's fault, as always.)

Apropos of nothing- or maybe so- I think the way someone responds to this story (I can think of two main possibilities) would tell you most of what you need to know about their views.

"Royale With Cheese."

The statistics here are actually encouraging. (The prices, not too much.) (H/T Gil.) It was just last night, at a shiur, that someone mentioned that combination of kosher meat and cheese at non-kosher Israeli McDonald's actually may make them worse than the equivalent outside of Israel. So here we see that cheeseburgers aren't even advertised and barely ever served, and that 70% of (secular?!) Israelis want kosher meat, and only 5% davka want non-kosher (whatever that means).

What's interesting that (most) Jerusalem locations aren't kosher. (In fact, it's the last non-kosher place on the eatery-heavy Emek Refaim.) I think that may be the tourist trade, though.

Not ideal, of course, but a very good sign, I think. One commenter on that article wonders if it's really about being open on Shabbat. Based on this, I wouldn't be surprised if that was a big factor.

“Make Mine a Courvoisier!”

OK, this story may well be what is technically called "untrue." But it's one of my favorite Kennedy stories nonetheless. (Come to think, that's two Kennedy stories in a row.)

The late Sargent Shriver is running for Vice-President alongside George McGovern, 1972. He walks into a bar full of working stiffs in Ohio and, perhaps coached by Tip O'Neill, accompanying him, says, "Beers on me!" Everyone cheers, but Shriver continues to the bartender, “Make Mine a Courvoisier!” At that point, it is said, O'Neill realizes the election is over and gets on a plane back to Massachusetts.

R.I.P.

Random musings

No wonder Cracked has been running pieces of late about how Islam ain't so bad after all. Another one bites the dust...it's still pretty good, though.

Well, a new Congress, and, in a historical note, the first time since 1947 that there hasn't been an elected Kennedy in Washington (or anywhere else, I think- even Arnold is gone). Wouldn't be so bad if it would stay that way.