That Was Then, This Is Biden

How It Started: CNN: Biden says he won’t pardon Hunter Biden or commute his sentence in first public remarks after guilty verdict

President Joe Biden on Thursday offered his first public remarks about his son Hunter’s conviction on federal gun charges earlier this week, telling reporters in Italy he is “proud” of him and accepts the jury’s verdict.

“I’m extremely proud of my son Hunter. He has overcome an addiction, he’s one of the brightest, most decent men I know,” Biden said during a news conference on the margins of the G7 summit.

“I am satisfied that I’m not going to do anything — I said I’d abide by the jury decision. I will do that. And I will not pardon him,” he added. 

How It's Going: AP: Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous pledges not to

President Joe Biden pardoned his son,  Hunter, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family.

....

In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”

Like most Biden promises, that one didn't age well.

To be fair he likely cannot even remember making that promise 6 months ago, nor his past public statement that he accepts the jury's verdict.

That anyone thought he wouldn't pardon his son likely believed Biden's statements that the inflation act was about reducing inflation. 

The pardon meshes well both with Joe bailing his son out on family grounds and the Democrats' general soft-on-crime outlook as long as the accussed's name is not Trump and has leftist politics.

On the upside, with pardon in hand, Hunter Biden can no longer refuse to testify regarding the Biden family crimes he committed and was involved in on Fifth Amendment grounds as he has immunity for them as the pardon covers any and all possible crime  "he has or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024".  

Hopefully, Republicans call him to testify accordingly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

The turkey I roasted came out great this year.

Possible Lebanon Ceasefire Agreement As IDF Reaches The Litani

Israel fought through Hezbollah and reached the Litani river in Lebanon yesterday.

This is rather a big deal.  The reason is that Hezbollah, per UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Lebanon War, was supposed to remain north of the Litani with nothing but the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL deployed south of the Litani.  Obviously Hezbollah ignored the resolution and it was unenforced - until now, by Israel.

So now, Hezbollah wants a ceasefire after launching thousands of rockets at Israel since October 7 of last year and finding out that was not a good choice on their part as Israel decapitated their leadership, destroyed their weapon depots and have been nailing their positions in Southern Lebanon and driving them across the Litani.

The Detroit News: Israel bombards Beirut suburbs as its leadership prepares to vote on ceasefire with Hezbollah

Assuming Hezbollah actually abides by the terms of the proposed ceasefire it would achieve the majority of Israel's aims in this conflict -  Hezbollah would have to actually stay north of the Litani, and stop shooting missiles at Israel so Israelis living in the north of Israel who have been displaced by the rocket and artillery fire since last October could come home. 

We will see if the ceasefire is implemented and how long it lasts before  Hezbollah starts breaking the terms - and if the world will try and stop Israel from enforcing the agreement, which is apparently a sticking point.

Kid Turns 21

Where does the time go?

Abby turned 21 this weekend. She came up from university with her boyfriend to celebrate her birthday with us.

Leah flew in for the celebration and to spend the Thanksgiving Break together.

As is tradition, breakfast on her birthday was a cherry cheesecake.

After cheesecake, she received her presents.

The kid is now legal to drink and celebrated with her first order of alcohol at a restaurant, and then buying a bottle of Ciroc at a store that she brought home and mixed her very first cocktail, with fresh-squeezed lime juice and including making her own simple syrup.  It was a rather tasty cocktail.

We along with her boyfriend, finished her day with a further celebration and birthday cake and she had a great day.

Local(ish) Game

Went with a friend after work yesterday to the MSU v Purdue Football game.

With an 8pm start it made for a long night including the over an hour drive to East Lansing in quite a bit of traffic.

 Quite a bit chillier than Florida, with a fair bit of wind and temps in the 40s.

I'm not a football aficionado, but it easy to see that it was quite a rough game.

To say it was an ugly game of football is an understatement.

MSU started out with a 24-3 lead, and that lead kept narrowing as the game went on into the second half.

MSU narrowly won, barely, but only by making slightly fewer mistakes than Purdue.  At times it seemed MSU decided the strategy was to run the ball as they couldn't complete a pass if their life depended on it. 

The only saving grace for MSU was that Purdue was worse including suffering a blocked field goal, a fumble, and throwing interceptions, and couldn't capitalize on the many mistakes the Spartans made. 

Still for all that it was a fun time, and good to see the home team win 24-17.

Finally got back home around 1:30 am. Quite a long day, but fun.

Woe Canada

The Loonie Drops For Thee.

CBC: Will the Canadian dollar slip below 70 cents US?

The Canadian dollar is dropping in value  not just due to the fall in the price of oil, but to lousy economic policy choices made by the Trudeau government.

The falling Canadian dollar matches the fall in Canada's standard of living under Trudeau:

"The really sad thing is, for me and you and the rest of Canadian citizens, our standard of living has dropped 35 to 40 per cent versus the United States in the last eight years," he said.

Progressives tend to run out of other people's money, and set their nations on a path to decline and ruin.  Hopefully, Canadians pull their collective head out and vote in a better government soon.

Who Knew That Lefty Progressives On Bluesky

Who knew that Progressive Lefties flocking to Bluesky are, [Checks Notes] so heavily into being purveyors and consumers of CSAM?

 

 

Yep, as proggys flock to Bluesky to recreate and double-down on the comfy ideological echo-chamber they used to have on Twitter, the posting of material depicting, promoting, and advocating for improper activities in regards to children has skyrocketed. 

So much so that the moderators there cannot keep up.

Funny, that.

Scuba Diving The Devil's Den

Devil's Den is a spring about 40 minutes from Gainesville that offers some fun diving practice in fresh water.

The UF Scuba Club had booked some of the gear setup areas with tables and it was very nicely organized. We arrived and the group all geared up and headed into the spring after checking in, doing waivers, paying the entrance fee and rental needed equipment.

Entry is through a tunnel heading downward and you need to mind your head as its rather tight.

Even though you enter through a cave entrance, there is direct sunlight through the ceiling of the collapsed cave.

That hole is rather pretty when viewed form under the water:

There's a nice platform set up that you then enter into the water.

There's a mound of rocks and rubble piled in the middle of the spring with deeper areas to the sides.

There's a few fish wandering about the spring;

There are some swim-throughs, meaning an overhead environment, but it was always a pretty quick transition through them,. and you can still see daylight,  and some swim-throughs turned out to end in blockages that require you to turn around which got a little tight but was fine.

 

There is a cave entrance, but entry into the cave is strictly prohibited.

Most springs with caves have the standard Grim Reaper with the "No Non-Cave Trained Divers Should Enter" sign.  This one is an outright prohibition.

Lights were needed as it was dark in the spring, and a lot of particulate in the water made for some difficult photos.

Leah loved her first certified dive experience, and she did great for a first dive as a certified diver without an instructor present, and did a very good job as a dive buddy.

We had a nice 54 minute run time with a max depth of 52 feet. The temperature ranged from 72-75 degrees depending on where you were in the water which made for a comfy dive.

A great dive and a great time with the kid.

Go Gators!

This weekend I went to Gainesville to visit Leah.

This was the UF Scuba Club Parent-Student dive weekend.  Leah has decided she want to get certified and she just earned her Open Water Certification last week through the club, so of course I had to be there for her first dive as a certified diver.

We had a number of activities planned, including attending a tailgate and going to watch the Gators play LSU.

The tailgate, hosted by the UF Scuba Club was a ton of fun.

Good food, fun people, and a good time had by all.

And, of course, there was a keg of beer. As no tailgate is complete without one.

After watching the kids do keg stands, there is a rumor that I was challenged to do one, and a further rumor that I then set the standard. Rumors only of course, but someone had to show them how it was done . . . .

After the Tailgate, we met up with some of Leah's friends and wandered into a frat house for some food which was also a fun experience. 

Then we headed to the game.  We had seats in the upper level endzone and it was a fun experience.

90,000+ fans. The energy was incredible.

Having 90,000 people belting out Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "I won't Back Down" was quite the experience.

The Gators, while not favored to win, recovered from a rocky start and beat LSU 27-16.

It was an amazing game to attend.

 And quite the celebrated win

Quite a great day.