Did you all notice this?
All kidding aside, that's an incredible photograph. Three things jump out at me:
From a reader. While we were freezing in Texas last week, the Saudis weren't having it so easy, either.
Saudi Arabia hit by a rare blizzard as region sees snow fall -- These camels are taking their lumps in Saudi Arabia, which was hit by a blizzard Thursday, according to a report.
Libya sees first snow in 15 years as cold snap hits parts of northern Africa and Middle East -The Green Mountain in northeastern Libya saw its first snowfall in 15 years this week as a cold wave swept through parts of the southern Mediterranean region, northern Africa, and the Middle East, including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
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We'll Never See Snow Again
Comedic timing: If Justin Trudeau had the timing of a professional comic, he would shut down Line 5.
Worst timing ever:
Worst excuses ever: when live mics catch the unfiltered comments of politicians, athletes, and celebrities, resulting in the aforementioned saying that's really who they are not.
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EPD
Expected progeny differences (EPDs) provide estimates of the genetic value of an animal as a parent. Specifically, differences in EPDs between two individuals of the same breed predict differences in performance between their future offspring when each is mated to animals of the same average genetic merit.
It seems like I've posted this before, can't remember.
Wasn't kidding: when Punxsutawney Phil said six more weeks of winter, he wasn't kidding.
Gasoline demand: I forgot to post the graph last week. I'm not going to do it now; it was hardly worth posting then, and it's certainly not worth posting now. The new data will be out in a couple of days. Link here.
Why is every Willie Nelson cover better than the original?
| $61.04 | 2/22/2021 | 02/22/2020 | 02/22/2019 | 02/22/2018 | 02/22/2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Rigs | 15 | 54 | 66 | 56 | 43 |
The February 2021 polar vortex will be one for the natural gas record books in the U.S. and Canada — and the month isn’t even over yet!
Though no stranger to frigid weather, Canada’s natural gas market has felt the impacts of this month’s extreme cold on both sides of the border. Its own prices, demand, and storage withdrawals have reached multi-year or all-time records as gas buyers have jockeyed for molecules from anywhere they can get them. Gas exports to the U.S. have reached highs not seen for more than a decade, adding emphasis to what has been an emerging turnaround story for Canadian gas into the U.S. market. To top things off, the latest gas market records might be a preview of what is to come in the next few years as Canada’s structural demand for natural gas continues to increase, regardless of how cold it is. Today, we describe all the latest Canadian gas market action and what might be in store for next winter.
Tone deaf? I always thought The Muppets were tone deaf when it came to depicting Swedish chefs, swine, and Ranidae. It turns out I was not the only one. Disney has finally gotten the memo. In response, before airing certain episode of The Muppets, Disney+ will flash a warning to the audience that "some of the scenes are inappropriate but because the company makes so much money on the episodes and it cost them a lot of money to acquire the franchise, the episodes will be shown, anyway."
TCM does the same. If not, TCM would probably have to drop 90% of its programming. It is amazing that, for example, organized crime has been so maligned, particularly by Robert Stack. It goes without saying the French cops were maligned in Casablanca.
For Disney, the depiction of the common green frog and swine was bad enough but apparently what took the cake was the depiction of the Swedish chef, who in fact, was Norwegian. The Swedes have apparently only recently gotten in on the joke. IKEA is rumored to add lutefisk to its menu to offset criticism that its meatballs are getting more credit than they deserve.
I would assume it's only a matter of time before similar warnings will have to be placed before airing of Shrek (depiction of ogres is just the tip of the iceberg), Star Wars (depiction of extra-terrestrials as scary), ET (depiction of extra-terrestrials as infantile), and CHiPs (depicting cops as friendly). Shrek 2 was particularly harmful, with the pigs in a blanket reference being singled out as notably offensive.
For more:
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US AIR FORCE
(Memo to self: insert USAF song here)
New helicopters: Minot AFB will transition from the Huey to the Grey Wolf in 2023. Links:
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Miscellaneous
Neanderthals: died out due to climate change, due to flipping of the "magnetic switch"
