Mice: Ok, this is hugely amusing to me:
UPDATE: Okay, with around 2,500 votes, there's a very large majority in favor of Jimmy Carter running, and an absolutely crushing majority in favor of not voting for him if he does. I can only conclude that the vast majority of InstaPundit readers either enjoy watching train wrecks, or feel that Jimmy Carter hasn't been humiliated enough. Or, possibly, both.
Haha. And yes, that's exactly how I voted. It's the latter reason for me. I don't hate the man, and could have even felt a bit sorry for him if he'd kept his mouth shut and his ass at home. Instead he has chosen to travel the world and kiss the asses of some of the worst tyrants and thugs this world has had to offer, and criticized the US to audiences abroad. He's free to do so, of course. It's not exactly presidential though, and the result for me is that I feel nothing but contempt for the man. Go away Jimmy.
Men(and women too, of course) : It was announced yesterday that the Ham Lake Fire is 100% contained on the US side. As of this morning, they were making good progress on getting it contained on the Canadian side. There is still a lot of hotspots within the perimeter on both sides and a couple of bad days could cause it to flare up again, but they will be watching it closely and I imagine air assets would be employed quickly if it does.
I've harped on this topic the last two weeks for a couple reasons. One, that part of northern Minnesota is my favorite place in the world, and two, this area has been at risk since 1999 for not just a normal forest fire, but an epic conflagration. That derecho that tore through part of the area in 1999 knocked down an estimated 25 million trees just in northern Minnesota. Some burns have been done over the years, as has some logging on private land around the Gunflint Trail. A tremendous amount of fuel still remains within the BWCA though, and the wrong conditions could lead to a fire that would be pretty much unstoppable and devastating to the area. This one was controlled by hard work, some aggressive and bold tactics, and some luck with the wind on Friday, May 11th. A different wind that day and we'd be talking about far worse losses than we are now, including possibly large swaths of the BWCA.
The good news is that the fire further reduced fuel loads in the woods around the northern 1/3 of the Gunflint Trail and that most homes and resorts were still able to be saved. I feel bad for the people who lost their home and valuables, but no one lost their life or was seriously injured that I know of. That's all pretty remarkable to me, considering the terrain and the volatile conditions. All of the people involved in fighting this fire deserve a big round of applause.
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