Really? It's That Bad? Voting For Biden Was An Open-Book Test -- November 26, 2021

Link to ISO NE.

Wow, they're reading the blog ... but we've been talking about this for years. Over at Fox Business:

On a Friday holiday, I assume in New England, where few actually showed up at work and all universities are closed for the Thanksgiving break, electricity prices are in the 5th decile in Maine (which I seldom see at the high end compared to Massachusetts), New Hampshire ("first to vote in the nation"), eastern Massachusetts (to include Boston). And it's not even winter yet, and as noted it's pretty much a holiday. 

Decile: scale of ten.

• 1 - 4: least expensive
• 5: not cheap
  
• 6: expensive
• 7-9: really expensive
• 10: Armageddon
  

I suppose all the malls have all their lights on and cash registers "on."  

Reported a couple of weeks ago: New England will be increasing their imports of crude oil from Russia this year. 

Back to the article:

BANGOR, Maine – Mainers, who heavily rely on home heating oil to survive the winter, told Fox News they're already being forced to make difficult decisions due to inflation.

"We nudge our thermostat down lower and lower during the day, trying to save some money there," 63-year-old Cindy Lavertu, of Bangor, said. "I've never worried before. I've never worried about getting supplies like right now. I've never stocked up before.

"I just know that I did not have these types of problems before President Biden took office," Lavertu continued. "I didn't have these concerns. I [attribute] it 100% to Washington, D.C."

Last week, the average cost of heating oil in Maine was $3.16 per gallon, up from $1.90 a year ago, according to the governor's office. The Energy Information Administration forecasts it will increase to almost $3.50 by next year.

Two thoughts come to mind:

• banning all those pipelines; and,
• voting for Biden was an open-book test.

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US Grant

Incredibly coincidental.

One of the few things about which I should know so much, I know so little: the US Civil War. I cannot explain it. I assume I had US History I in eighth grade and US History II in my junior year of high school, but I absolutely don't remember either course, or the instructors. Nothing. Nada. 

In eighth grade, I had the most wonderful literature teacher and I was probably more interested in literature than history. Of course, science and math were much more interesting.

In eleventh grade, my favorite (and as far as I was concerned, my only) subject was chemistry. I assume I was taking algebra II but I don't recall. But I certainly had no interest in history.

A few years ago, I suddenly had the urge to study the US Civil War after "discovering" US Grant's memoirs. 

And that's what I'm working on today in the "bat cave."

It's a coincidence because of this. I subscribe to only one hard copy of anything: The Claremont Review of Books. The essays on politics completely bore me but the book reviews are wonderful. The most recent issue that I received the day before Thanksgiving: "On and Off the Pedestal," Victor Davis Hanson, subscription required.

More on the essay elsewhere. 

However, a new legal term for me from the essay: nolle prosequi.

To dismiss, as in: "With the Big 3 giving in to the UAW on the matter of vaccinations, it's long beyond time to for Bandon to offer a nolle prosequi of his executive mandate. 

Not quite perfect, but it will help me remember the phrase and the definition.

Used in a sentence, "Based on overwhelming division this has caused the nation. the administration nol prosses the vaccine mandate." Link here. Also nol-pros. Link here.

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Brothers

Strolling around the house, hand-in-hand, the day after Thanksgiving: