Pouring rain, it is...

Pouring rain, it is...  And I am very glad that Tim and I managed to get the trenching finished yesterday! 

Why I love the Daily Shot, part 3,821...

Why I love the Daily Shot, part 3,821: today's edition has this gem on the budget “deal” Obama just signed:

So what does this new deal do? First of all, it lifts those pesky caps from the 2011 Budget Control Act that everybody in Washington hated (mostly because they worked really well to control spending). The deal is for two years, which means there won’t be any uncomfortable discussions next year about how much the government is spending, and no “crisis” over a shutdown right before the election. Also, the debt limit is suspended until March 16, 2017, so it won’t be an issue next year either. Basically, everybody wins. (Unless, you know, you’re a taxpayer, then you’re kind of getting the shaft.)

Obama said Monday that this deal “puts us on a responsible path.” Let’s see if we’ve got all this: Last-minute deal, worked out behind closed doors, under threat of a shutdown, unbalanced budget, deficit in the hundreds of billions, scheduling things to avoid public debate in an election year, removing the only thing limiting spending, and eliminating the debt ceiling. Yep. Seems like a “responsible path” to us.

Oh no, wait, the complete opposite of that.

Subscribe here (free), and consider subscribing to Ricochet (almost free)...

Pluto is weird!

Pluto is weird!  Another strange-looking closeup view of Pluto's surface downlinked from the New Horizons spacecraft (click to embiggen it and see the strange landscapes)...