Saturday, December 31, 2016

2016 In Review - Good Riddance

I figured I could list out the positives and negatives of 2016, and it just reminded me how I'm not going to miss this year.

Positives:
My employer was profitable
Best calf crop ever (14 calves out of 11 cows, 13 survived).
I bought a farm (I'm still not sure if this is all that positive).
A couple positive things on the personal side, sort of.
Survived this otherwise shitty year.

Negatives:
Drought pummeled corn and hay crops.
President-elect Donald Trump!?
World Champion Chicago Cubs.
Everything else.

Thank God this year is over.  Unfortunately, based on crop prices and the upcoming inauguration, 2017 is set to be even worse.  Maybe it will rain more between June 15 and August 15 next year.

Happy New Year and be safe.  I'll drink a few for you.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

The War on Christmas Mapped

Fivethirtyeight:

In both years, white evangelicals strongly favored “merry Christmas,” while secular respondents prefer “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings.” But the “War on Christmas” does not divide people simply along religious lines — there are also regional differences. In both 2013 and 2016, the weakest support for “happy holidays” and “season’s greetings” was in the Midwest (42 percent in 2016), not the South (50 percent), as you might have guessed. Although both regions have large evangelical populations, the South is also home to a large percentage of the country’s African-American population, and that group strongly prefers “happy holidays” (72 percent in 2016) despite their high levels of Christian religiosity. Support for “happy holidays” decreased somewhat in both regions this year compared to 2013.
Looks like the Battle of the Corn Belt is the final struggle in the War on Christmas.