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March 2018

Been off the grid mostly the past few days, without electricity after the Nor'easter that hit the Northeast, but particularly Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. Not only did we lose electricity for several days, but we also lost our favorite tree, an old Apple tree at our shore. It had lost a lot of its branches, but it made a great silhouette. We had an arborist trim it to keep it healthy last fall.

A Polish group is suing an Argentine newspaper for violating a new law that makes it a criminal offence to suggest Poland was complicit in the Holocaust. Warsaw-based Polish League Against Defamation (RDI) filed a case against the newspaper Página 12 shortly after the law came into effect on Thursday.

President Trump has a fantastic sense of humor, the left?  Not so much.  The humorless left is in full meltdown mode after last night's Gridiron dinner at which Trump made some hilarious remarks about the various idiocies of the media and Democrats during his first full year in office. Ignoring many of the self-deprecating remarks about his administration, they seem particularly hysterical about Trump's joke that Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) should take an IQ test.

I have a startling admission to make: I do believe global warming is making a comeback.  Why? Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chief Administrator Scott Pruitt's rollback of senseless regulations warms my heart so much that I am sure it has raised the global temperature average! To begin with, the EPA is now scrapping Obama-era rules tightening restrictions on the disposal of coal ash, the byproduct from coal-fired power plants.

Politico stated it perfectly: "Dan Lipinski is the kind of candidate Democrats need more of for the party to win the House in November. But the national Democratic Party is refusing to endorse him." Lipinski, a pro-life Blue Dog Democrat, has represented Illinois's 3rd district for seven terms. Activist Marie Newman, whom The Independent described as "a decidedly Bernie Sanders-styled progressive," has challenged him with a platform more aligned with the party. So why would the Democratic Party turn its back on an incumbent? The abortion industry? Purity tests? Either way, this move against a popular incumbent shows that the Democratic Party remains in disarray despite their talk of taking over the House.

Earlier this week, Dick's Sporting Goods announced that it will no longer sell AR-15 style and semi-automatic rifles.  This announcement seems a bit cynical given that Dick's stopped selling AR-15 style and semi-automatic rifles six years ago, though its affiliate Field & Stream had returned to selling them five years ago.  As of this week's announcement, Field & Stream's 35 stores will no longer carry these rifles. Dick's did announce something new, though:  they are imposing their own age limit on gun purchasers.  Regardless of state or federal law, Dick's set its own age requirement for the purchase of firearms at 21.  Not to be outdone, Walmart soon followed suit, as did Kroger's.

It appears that over 200 illegal immigrants in Northern California ignored the warnings of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who warned on Twitter of impending ICE raids.
Federal immigration officials concluded Wednesday a days-long sweep of Northern California in the days since a warning of their raid was blasted out by a public official — a move which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says “created another magnet for more illegal immigration.”