Snowdrifts

Just a few pictures from Saturday. We didn't have any new snowfall, but the wind shifted and gave us some big drifts--including nineteen inches in the previously-cleared driveway.


The snowdrift between the house and the future orchard measured 27 inches.

Senator Thune on Obama's Legacy

South Dakota's Senator John Thune, writing in the National Review, notes that "after losing large majorities in the House and Senate" President Obama came to rely on executive actions instead of compromise legislation to accomplish his goals. The result:

In short, most of the president’s legacy is paper-thin and may not outlast his final year in office. Even the president’s two actual legislative achievements may not long outlast his administration. Obamacare is already collapsing under its own weight, and parts of the president’s Dodd-Frank law are under scrutiny by Congress. Thanks to the president’s decision to bypass the people’s representatives in Congress, his real legacy may turn out to be that he doesn’t have one.

This is a good reminder for those who falsely claim that Congressional Republicans have given Obama everything he wanted--he has not had a legislative achievement since before Republicans took the House of Representatives in 2010.

Read the rest here.

A Farm Boy Critiques a Nativity Scene

Why is there a cow in there?

Because Jesus was born in a barn with all the animals.

But one of the cows might think he was hay. That's the problem when you have cows because they don't know very much.

The First Day of Winter

Well, it's officially winter...

A Word from Germany on the Migrant Crisis

From Der Spiegel:

...integration only works if the state doesn't lose control, and Germany at present has lost control. Of course there is a basic human right to asylum, but without an upper limit -- enforced, if necessary, with border controls -- it will be almost impossible to find a way out of the crisis.

This is well said because it provides unpolarized recognition of both the crisis and the plight of refugees, when either element is often denied or ignored.

Read the rest here ("Reflecting on Refugees: A Plea for Measured Debate").