Bits & Bytes

AMERICAN FOOD: [13:41] – This channel is such fun. Favorite line – “This pig 100% did not have a gym membership.”

CALI-FIRES: [10:42] – The Democrat so-called leadership in California is a tragic joke. Erick Erickson at Real Clear Politics (link below) provides the details.

• https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/01/10/a_progressive_hellscape_152180.html

FAUXTUS: CLICK https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1878866878254420057 [:24] to listen to him spew more lies and lunacy out his pie hole. Six more days, people. SIX more days!

BTW, “The Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency that protects U.S. political leaders, their families, and visiting dignitaries, while also investigating financial crimes like counterfeiting and fraud.”

• https://notthebee.com/article/fact-check-anyone-joe-biden-just-said-the-immigration-numbers-went-way-down-when-he-took-office
• https://notthebee.com/article/the-number-of-illegal-aliens-who-have-entered-the-united-states-under-biden-is-greater-than-the-population-of-38-states

GOD MADE THIS: The skeleton or crystal flower (Diphylleia grayi) grows in northern Japan and forests in China. When they come in contact with water, the petals become transparent. Once it is dry, the petals return to white.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphylleia_grayi

MIRACLE: I’ve seen snarky remarks on Facebook about how the survival of this statue isn’t a miracle. I’d like to point out that I’ve had two similar cast concrete garden statues fall apart just from being outdoors through multiple winters. While it is true that concrete does not burn, it begins to lose significant strength due to dehydration at temperatures over 572°F. Cracking and spalling of thick concrete structures is common, never mind a little statue like this one. Temperatures in a fully developed house fire like the one that devastated this entire property can exceed 1100°F. According to the homeowners, this statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is only “a little singed.”

• https://aleteia.org/2025/01/10/family-sings-to-statue-of-mary-that-survived-the-la-fire

GRAMMY NOTES: Color me impressed! Dearest and I tried (and failed) to complete this puzzle. Mama and the Mascots did it in three days!