I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
liddy!
Ooooh shiny new thread! How many more days do we have left until George leaves the People's House forever?
Mornin' Sam...
Mornin' Ralph...
Btw, check out my post about Jefferson's inaugural, written by John Nichols, near the end of the last thread...
Soon, soon.
Deana Holmes sez:
Ooooh shiny new thread! How many more days do we have left until George leaves the People's House forever?
What makes you think he intends to leave?
.
Post whoring, eh WGG? 
Beats a blog whore!
Movie clip: Kicking Fox News anchor ass!
Mr. Herbert in good form this morning...(attached h/w, incase you don't wanna register)...
Dancing the War Away
By BOB HERBERT
Published: January 21, 2005
Watching the inaugural ceremonies yesterday reminded me of the scenes near the end of "The Godfather" in which a solemn occasion (a baptism in the movie) is interspersed with a series of spectacularly violent murders.
Even as President Bush was taking the oath of office and delivering his Inaugural Address beneath the clear, cold skies of Washington, the news wires were churning out stories about the tragic mayhem in Iraq. There is no end in sight to the carnage, which was unleashed nearly two years ago by President Bush's decision to launch this wholly unnecessary war, one of the worst presidential decisions in American history.
Incredibly, with more than 1,360 American troops dead and more than 10,000 wounded, and with scores of thousands of Iraqis dead and wounded, the president never once mentioned the word Iraq in his Inaugural Address. He avoided all but the most general references to the war. Lyndon Johnson used to agonize over the war that unraveled his presidency. Mr. Bush, riding the crest of his re-election wave, seems not to be similarly bothered.
In January 1945, with World War II still raging, Franklin Roosevelt insisted on a low-key inauguration. Already gravely ill, he began his address by saying, "Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, my friends, you will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief."
Times have changed. President Bush and his equally tone-deaf supporters spent the past few days partying hard while Americans, Iraqis and others continued to suffer and die in the Iraq conflagration. Nothing was too good for the princes and princesses of the new American plutocracy. Tens of millions of dollars were spent on fireworks, cocktail receptions, gala dinners and sumptuous balls.
Ten thousand people, including the president and Laura Bush, turned out Wednesday night for the Black Tie and Boots Ball. According to The Associated Press, one of the guests, Lorian Sessions of San Antonio, "donned a new pair of black kangaroo boots, decorated with a white star and embroidery, with an aqua-colored mink wrap she bought on sale at Saks."
An article in The Washington Post mentioned a peace activist who complained that the money lavished on the balls would have been better spent on body armor for under-equipped troops in Iraq.
As the well-heeled Bush crowd was laughing and dancing in tuxedos and designer gowns, the situation in Iraq was deteriorating to new levels of horror. The Black Tie and Boots Ball was held on the same day that 26 people were killed in five powerful car and truck bombs in Baghdad. With the elections just a week and a half away, American commanders, according to John F. B
The temperature of Liddy Dole's auxilary nipple is 98.6F, but with wind chill it is 11.0F.
-Senate Report on Close-Body Meteorology and Topography with Emphasis on Senators with Auxilary Nipples and Extra Fingers.
@Deana Holmes: Clock
Mr Herbert, contd')
As the well-heeled Bush crowd was laughing and dancing in tuxedos and designer gowns, the situation in Iraq was deteriorating to new levels of horror. The Black Tie and Boots Ball was held on the same day that 26 people were killed in five powerful car and truck bombs in Baghdad. With the elections just a week and a half away, American commanders, according to John F. Burns of The Times, are seeking "to prepare public opinion in Iraq and abroad for one of the bloodiest chapters in the war so far."
A photo at the end of Mr. Burns's article showed an Iraqi National Guard member carrying the remains of a suicide bomber in a garbage bag.
The disconnect between the over-the-top celebrations in Washington and the hideous reality of Iraq does not in any way surprise me. It's exactly what we should expect from the president and his supporters, who seem always to exist in a fantasy realm far removed from such ugly realities as war and suffering. In that realm you can start wars without having to deal with the consequences of them. You don't even have to pay for them. You can put them on a credit card.
People traveling in the real world may see Iraq as a place where bombings, kidnappings and assassinations are an integral part of daily life; where police officers are blown to pieces as they line up for their pay; where innocent men, women and children are slain by the thousands for no good reason; where cities like Falluja are leveled in order to save them; where America's overwhelming superiority in firepower has not been enough to win the war; and where the upcoming elections seem very much like a joke since many of the candidates have to keep their identities secret and the locations of many polling places remain undisclosed.
People traveling in the real world may see Iraq that way. But in the fantasy-laden Bush realm, Iraq is a place where freedom is on the march. So why not raise a toast to freedom, and dance the night away.
In the thread below, Cleveland Bob mentioned the weather headed toward the East Coast.
I shit you not ~ watch out. I woke up to a white out ~ can't even tell you how many inches of snow have been dumped on Grand Rapids.
Kid's at her dad's house this weekend, which means I must shovel.
How many more days do we have left until George leaves the People's House forever?
As soon as somebody gets the fucking cojones to draw up impeachment papers.
ahem.
And Scott Smarmon on NPR just rushed through a letter blaming the media for not covering the outrage at the finding that there were no WMDs. Then spent a fair time on a letter about the Village People song "YMCA."
(slapping forehead)
Weather update: (I guess)
Still receiving snow on the shores of Mighty Lake Michigan. Looks like we got another foot to go with the other foot we received on Tuesday night.
Winds are strong and the world is frothy white yet. So, Cleveland, you can expect at least another six hours of this snow. Hope your pups do not mind wet bellies.
As far as my brothers and sisters in the Blue state contingent: relax and enjoy the storm.
I can recommend:
Gordon Lightfoot - Song for a Winter Night
Stan Rogers - Canol Road
Stan Rogers - Song of the Candle
Harry Chapin- Winter Song
Bob Segar - Somewhere Tonight
Enjoy, it is a blessing if you think about it.
You mean Click and Clack aren't on NPR yet?
Damn.
"What I Know About Sex" by Arbusto W. Chimpsimian.
Even though others may think you're square,
Sex gotta be safe, legal and rare.
You gotta tie the knot
Before spreadin' your shot.
And don't fuck with that lovable mare.
Yesterday, Bob Herbert. Today, Bobo tells the world to judge America by what W. says, not by what W's friends do.
cognitive dissonance
Vicki,
NYC is supposed to get 10-15"; out at my mother's, on the end of Long Island - 2 feet! Whoo-hooo!
(the beauty of apartment dwelling - no shovelling)
watertiger,
I was in NYC a year ago in early December when the blizzard hit!
It was a riot (except for the wet shoes)!
You liberals hate our president and America, you really do. And the media ias biased your way but you whine about FOX NEWS, the best news channel ever! They are successful because they are reporting the news real heartlanders want to know about, not the negative, elite prounciations of faggotry and hate for Bush on the liberal media! Freedom and Liberty is on the march and we are bring it to the world. Get with the program or shut up. Look, we won, you lost, get over it or get out. Toodles!
Been out of town the past few days. The only thing I remember from the last time I was here was some discussion of watertiger's breasts. Egad!
Woody, it's big of him, but it's a little late.
Bobo is high as a fucking kite in gale force winds.
Scott Simon has totally lost it.
9/11 changed everything for him and scrambled his brains.
Fear is a funny thing; do you suppose that before 9/11, there were actual grownups who believed they were and always would be perfectly safe?
Is that what all this fundie religious hysteria is all about?
Smirking, smarmy Scott is a total waste of jizz, bandwidth and protoplasm...what a fucking loser!!! God, i detest that assswipe...
Hey. you say it like it's a bad thing.
All right, who left the Troll door open?
I do not answer Trolls directly, but I might suggest that anyone who feels so enamored of the President and his policies should check themselves into the local hospital's mental health wing. They are expecting you to return ASAP.
watertiger, have fun out on the east end. i'm in huntington, bracing, bracing, and hoping my roof doesn't leak (had leaks earlier this year). i haven't turned on the tv yet to see if sam champion and his ch.7 crew have gone completely insane but i'm sure they're about to.
Scott Simon lived in fucking Sarajevo during the war there! He was a goddamned war reporter.
Methinks anchoring makes people soft in the head.
Bring back Bob Edwards.
Expect a lot more of the know-it-all crowd to come out with blistering criticism of the chimp these next few weeks. Now that he's safely ensconsed for term 2. Bastards. Positioning.
Oh well.
Phoenix
Partly Cloudy
High 77°F
Low 54°F
Precip: 10%
details: A mix of clouds and sun. High 77F. Winds light and variable.
Sorry, etc.
Maybe this will make you feel better?
Pincher Creek:
Today .. A mix of sun and cloud. Wind west 30 km/h increasing to 60 gusting to 90 this morning. High 11.
Tonight .. Cloudy periods. Wind west 60 km/h gusting to 90 diminishing to 30 overnight. Low 9.
Sunday .. Cloudy with sunny periods. Wind west 30 km/h increasing to 40 gusting to 60 in the morning. High 13.
I spent most of yesterday in an environmental leadership planning committee. The owner of the company I work for is quite progressive and does his best to walk the talk in his commitment to environmental concerns. They know my politics...that's why I was chosen to serve on this team. I won't stonewall progressive ideas.
At any rate, we were talking about the potential for wind power, and it was ironic that on the drive in to work yesterday, NPR was doing a segment on the damage wind power is doing to the bat community.
Being a moonbat and all...
Morning all! Up since before 7 here, reading last night's thread. It's amazing what leaving a bad work situation will do for your energy levels! Yesterday being the last day - I was giddy all day and up like a shot this morning.
To those in the storm zone, I suggest cooking up a lovely pot of wine stew and hunkering down until the outside world is a bit friendlier.
And to Swan, if you check in here, a suggestion for your creche: Perhaps the figures of all outgoing cabinet members should be branded with a scarlet letter "A" - in this case for "agnostic". Since, as we know, those who are departing were insufficiently enthusiastic about proclaiming W's every move (and W himself) an exemplar of divine intervention. And, it makes more sense than labelling the sneering figures of Condi and Rummy with "TB" for "true believer", since as we all know it's only Condi who is deluded into believing that W is the second coming, while Rummy is just a rank opportunist.
yah, about to walk to the supermarket to get some supplies before the snow hits.
Trolls are named 'Powerfu'? Is this likely?
Pambo,
She's in Amagansett, by the beach. I'm sure she'll have the fireplace roaring, a hearty soup simmering on the stove, and the CD player on. And the dog will be scratching at the door to go outside to chase the squirrels.
I won't be there, though. 
Concerning the inauguration:
As prisoners charged with no crimes, and given no recourse, languish in the hellhole of Guantanamo Bay, torture apologist Alberto Gonzales clicks his cufflinks into place.
As Dan Rather retires in disgrace over forged documents, former CIA Director George Tenet, proponent of forged documents about Iraq's nonexistent nuclear program, adjusts the Medal of Freedom around his neck.
As the working mother in Chicago wonders how to keep her child from being left behind now that her special-ed program has been cut, Armstrong Williams polishes his shoes.
If you want to read the rest, it's here. You Should.
Tip to fauxreal on comments at Moon of Alabama.
yah, about to walk to the supermarket to get some supplies before the snow hits.
don't forget the cat food!
Your mother sux cocks in Hell. Our Dark Lord wishes Linda Blair a Happy 46th birthday.
A spokesperson for the "Alliance for democracy" is on Cspan right now.
She's not faring well with people calling in.
DWD,
I did a remarkable job (for me, at least) of not feeding the trolls this week.
They're dumb as ducks ~ they get pissed when you don't toss them bits of day old bread.
"damage wind power is doing to the bat community. "
That would be where, exactly? I don't think there are bat communities in Southern Alta. Certainly not along Old Man River.
The storm would be pretty and fun except I have to go to work.
My car is buried in snow!!!
I'd take the bus but am afraid they'll stop running and I'll be stranded at work.
Vicki,
it works. I espouse the practice.
okay, i'm off for a while. back later (and probably for a while, since we're now expecting 2 feet here in the city! Woooo!)
GWPDA ~
Think it was in Pennsylvania. I have to see if I can find a transcript.
Now, Vicki, just where in the hell in all of Pennsylvania could one situate a wind farm? They require quite a lot of room. Also, quite a lot of wind. Pennsylvania's a very nice place - scrapple and all - but NPR is surely aware that a -windmill- isn't really the same thing as a windfarm.
Man, I wrote a beautiful post and it disappeared into the vapor. I think I might have had the answer to the mess we are now in contained in its few lines. I am pretty sure there was a mention of the question whose answer is 42. Damn! (Course if it shows up and is not as erudite as I remember it, Haloscan probably altered my words)
Look, the trends are for America's decline and that will have huge social consequences. You all can't understand that. You believe that America can take it all with our institutions but you all forget human beings and our contstucts are fragile and this administration and its supporters have been mindlessly banging away at it for years and now have another run at it. I wont survive.
Why am I still here?
Look, we won, you lost, get over it or get out.
You are welcome to attempt to evict me, you thimblewitted, feculent fascsit mutherfocker...Please! Pretty Please!!!
Albuquerque Civic Plaza. Any Day. Any Time.
Bring a box in which to return your effects to your family...
GWPDA ~
My point was that NPR was doing a negative report on wind power...perhaps trying to persuade folks that green energy isn't such a good thing after all?
"The bats, the bats, but what about the bats?"
We have a wind farm high on a hill up near Traverse City. From what I understand, it's been successful.
Dammit, I hate winter.
I just got in from buying 2 days worth of food. I've got a decent stash and lots of ridiculous stuff to watch. I also have an advance rough mix of the latest by The Mars Volta, Frances The Mute, great stuff.
And, of course, I have all of you. I think I'm set for some heavy dandruff from Yuggoth.
I still don't know what to think about that inaugural speech.
I wont survive if I stay here.
If you haven't already, you east coasters had better run out and do some panic buying. You will be stranded longer than the Donner party.
Jennifer,
I'm actually the creche designer so thanks for the excellent input on both the tableau as well as the stew.
These kinds of wooly snowbound days are oddly comforting. When there is no need to go out, it can be really fun to hunker down, crank up tunes and find some mindless chores.
Mrs. Cleveland Bob is however not so fond of being homebound as I. She's checking the movie listings in the paper as I type this.
Conflict mediation advice please.
Oh, and btw, both Bob Herbert and NY Mary are way cool.
I had to get up early to buy tires for the car, but am now hunkered down eating hash & eggs with 2 Netflix movies in the house and no plans to do a damn thing for days.
Yay! Welcome to the Northeast!
Wife and I both have this wretched cold/flu which has also irritated my asthma big time. Well, it might have been an allergic reaction to the inaugural, although Im not sure you can have an allergic reaction to something you dont watch (or do watch for that matter). Arg, that was clean prose.
Bought 7 quarts of chicken noodle soup from a local pizzaria that does an excellent job of it and a whole bunch of juice. Also lots of tea on hand. Heading to Starbucks now before it hits.
DWD - that happened to me yesterday. I think if you could get all the aborted posts together in one room, you might get cold fusion.
It hurts too much what I see now and this will go on for many years and I just can't do this. It's like half this country I hate their stinking guts.
Did anyone see this article about the Protest Warriors getting their arses kicked? It's priceless, start your saturday off right and enjoy!
http://www.washingtondispatch.co...ves/
000769.html
Forgot one other thing. Fuck yourself Joe Biden. You were a gutless fuck with Clarence Thomas. I fucking remember, bitch. This is your modus operendi, act like the cerebral inquisitor then when it is time to make the choice bend over and let them have their way with you. And you want to be president? I would vote for Jeb before I would vote for you. At least he would cut my fucking taxes. We dont need people like you in the Democratic party.
Oooo...a beautiful day to stay in the shop...turn on all the lights, crank the heat and the tunes, dream of the halcyon mayfly hatches of Spring...We got about 6" so far in Cleveland and more coming down steady...
Cleveland Bob - My bad! Embarrassing to credit the wrong creche creator, especially given that I am a longtime tableaux-maker myself (mine use happy meal toys glued together, plus other little plastic crap). As for mediation with the wife, this won't help for today, but my suggestion is you sign up for Netflix to avoid similar situations in the future.
GWPDA ~
I went over to NPR's web site to locate the transcript, but discovered that if I want it, I have to purchase it. I'm not willing to do that. I'm sorry ~ wish my memory wouldn't fade the way it does.
e-mail I fired off to BoBo
Re: Ideals and Reality, By DAVID BROOKS Published: January 22, 2005
Dear Mr. Brooks:
Talk is cheap. Failed, unnecessary wars are costly in blood and money. You and Mr. Bush seem to have an ample supply of both. I predict that the president who will LEAST live up to the ideals in that speech will be Bush himself. It will give me very little pleasure, in the years that come, to watch your realization of this.
TroyMcClure- Priceless, absolutely priceless. I want video!
Go read the article, trolls, it's what will happen every time you fuck with us.
Jennifer,
Netflix is my new addiction. They appear to have every movie ever made anywhere. Weird. Lots of things I wanted to see and missed are there. Hell, I just put Mike Nesmith's Elephant Parts in my queue. I haven't seen that since about 1983.
Yes, Vicki, I would think that was exactly what was going on. The Traverse City site is hoping that it'll produce as much as 2Mw.
How do I put this. Here. "This pictorial shows the stages of constructing and erecting a 1.2 Mw Wind Turbine by Canadian Hydro. There are over 100 turbines within view of Pincher Creek . Two more projects have been approved."
Interest in wind energy in the US is not exactly encouraged, at any level. Bats are um, a useful distraction.
ah, yes, watertiger, sorry, i misread your post, due to lack of caffeine. she's in a beautiful area. you're in the city? it's gorgeous in winter, isn't it?
You could do a wind farm at my house easily enough. It's Wuthering Heights, as I often say (and I think I did in the last thread....)
Windfarms do harm birds and bats. Hydropower harms fish. Solarpower is expensive. Nuclear is dangerous and its byproducts remain dangerous for, oh, centuries. There's no free lunch as far as sources of power. Fewer people would, however, require less power. Just sayin'
Got to store last night for supplies, including Stoli and olives. Fire in the fireplace. Pot of homemade soup on the stove. Three new DVDs from Netflix. Several new periodicals and a stack of books. Birdseed spread on back deck is already brining cardinals and chipmunks, which the cat watches longingly through the window. Strunz & Farah on the stereo. Bring on the blizzard!b
GWPDA --
There are several windfarms in Pennsylvania. This state has as much in the way of wide-open spaces as any rural red state. About three miles east of the Somerset exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike -- about 75 minutes east of Pittsburgh -- you can see twenty-some windmills from your car as you travel the turnpike. There's one in Greene County hard by the West Virginia border, and I forget where the other one is, but there are plans to build more.
GWPDA ~
Found this small blurb on the bats issue on NPR (doesn't say where, though):
Wind Farms Blamed for Killing Migrating Bats
Well, "it hurts" because I was always taught in grade school that we really were better than bacteria.
BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
TroyMcClure,
Yes. Very nice stuff indeed. I must say though that those freepers sure get up early on a Saturday morning. Didja see all those comments??
Troy,
According to the Washington Post, the Protest Warriors' event drew out a laughable 13 supporters.
Thanks for that!
They'd rather feel tough sitting at home behind their keyboards than actually go out into the real world and demonstrate the courage of their conviction.
Whoops, did I say Courage?
Did anyone see this article about the Protest Warriors getting their arses kicked? It's priceless, start your saturday off right and enjoy!
TroyMcClure
This is as funny as the pro-war rally where they had two people show up. They couldn't organize something without a six figure budget and Gigi Liddy's help. Look at how well their war planning went with even more money available.
Joe Biden has earned the spit running down his face. For every time he says that Rumsfeld doesn't know what the hell he's talking about he does ten of these chickenshit asshole moves.
CS,
Did you say "Conviction"? From your mouth to the ears of whatever deity/force you think os runing the show...
Did anyone see this article about the Protest Warriors getting their arses kicked? It's priceless, start your saturday off right and enjoy!
http://www.washingtondispatch.co...ves/
000769.html
Bobo tells the world to judge America by what W. says, not by what W's friends do.
Well, Bobo certainly cannot claim to be a member of the reality based community.
The people who detest America take a look at this odd conjunction and assume the materialistic America is the real America; the ideals are a sham. The real America, they insist, is the money-grubbing, resource-wasting, TV-drenched, unreflective bimbo of the earth. The high-toned language, the anti-Americans say, is just a cover for the quest for oil, or the desire for riches, dominion and war.
But of course they've got it exactly backward. It's the ideals that are real.
No, David, it's you who have it exactly backward. When reality flies in the face what you want to believe, just insist that the reality isn't real. Cognitive dissonance indeed.
Nothing is safer than saving energy. Nothing is cheaper either.
Mornin' Sam...
Mornin' Ralph...
Best. Cartoon. Ever.
Namestealing Incog,
Knock it off. Other people's pain isn't the hoot you seem to think it is.
Morning all.
Philly Weather Update. The snow has arrived. Love it!
"Windfarms do harm birds and bats. Hydropower harms fish. Solarpower is expensive."
Well, it all kinda depends on where you put them, don't it? Just as an example, locating a high power, multi-mile wind farm in the middle of Pennsylvania might reasonably cause one to consider that migratory life of various kinds might wander thru. Locating it in the middle of oh, say the Southern Alberta desert might be a solution. Or, sure, solar power might be a little costly if it were coming out of Candor, NY. But you know, there are a couple places in the Mohave and Sonora that are real producers....
The point is that these alternate power systems are being effectively sabotaged by the US government by their endorsement and placement in utterly inappropriate places. It's meant to benefit existing power supplies and suppliers, not produce new ones.
Gotta go water the garden - when the temperatures start going above 75, summer's almost here.
it can snow all night
it can snow all day
me and my gravely
will just blow it away.
Didn't our Constitution and Bill of Rights make us better than bacteria? That's gone now. I wont go into democracy because majority rule is bacterial rule without checks now.
Bobo tells the world to judge America by what W. says, not by what W's friends do.
I had a Bobo when I was a child, filled with air, heaviest in the bottom. You were supposed to hit it and it would come up to be hit again. Exactly the same as Brooksie. Bobo's didn't last long.
I think it's time for us to tell them to get over the fact that Europe is not going to get over it. No more than we are going to get over it.
"Get over it", did they copywrite that phrase after the RNC did all of that creative work and focus group testing of it? You can always tell when they've market tested a phrase because it shows up in their talking points.
Here in the DC area, they're predicting 5-9 inches of snow, or 4-8 inches, or maybe snow and sleet. Anyway, it's going to be a mess. Fortunately, I don't have anywhere go go, even if I could get my truck started.
My recipe for stew:
5 lb. or so potatoes
1 lb. or so carrots
1 bunch celery
1-2 onions
a bit of meat
cheap red wine
some other stuff mentioned below
In a very large pot, brown meat and chopped onions in olive oil. Cut potatoes into chunks, but leave the skins on. Add potatoes, celery, garlic, and whatever interesting herbs you find in your cupboard. (Hmmm, do I still have some of that Rosemary I got in 1987? I don't remember.) Add cheap red wine to the top of the pot. Cook on medium heat for a few hours until the potatoes are tender. Eat. Drink the rest of the wine if desired.
Makes enough stew to eat until you're sick of it.
Not a very specific recipe, but good.
IIRC, the bat/wind farm story was from West Virginia.
Other people's pain isn't the hoot you seem to think it is.
Hecate
Nicely said. Thanks.
Hey Sean, hunker up. Michigan is but a white blob at this point! Still snowing, too.
I really needed to do some shopping today for an outfit or two to take to Texas next week, and a baby gift, but the plows haven't been through yet, so I don't think I'm going anywhere any time soon.
Have you ever noticed, when you visit this blog and intend to say hi and read the goings on of the day, you end up staying way too long? I've been up an hour, still in my jammies, haven't even started coffee, because I've been sitting here in front of this screen, fascinated by Eschatonian ramblings.
Hecate,
This is cool.
Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the sun's power into electrical energy, even on a cloudy day.
does that mean i shouldn't go out this afternoon? it just started snowing in philly
CS ~
The problem is, Dick Cheney can't get rich off of the sun. It's continually renewable, and free. It's not tangible, you can't touch it, like Texas tea.
If it werent for bats and spiders, flying insects would overwhelm life on th planet, iirc...
Silly Liberals. Get over it, we WON!
upyernoz,
If you can get around, I'd say go out. But I live for danger.
Vicki, truly, this place is like those times you come in to work on a weekend to pick something up and stay for five hours bullshitting with people and cleaning your desk. It's addictive.
BTW, in case everyone missed them yesterday ... ferrets!
Chicago got dumped on. I'm planning on staying indoors today with the fuzzies.
A.
Boxty
Two potatoes boiled until they can be mashed
Two grated potatoes
Two eggs
Two Tablespoons flour
One onion diced
About 1/2 c. milk
salt to taste (optional)
1 t. Caraway seeds (optional)
Mix together, bake in a buttered, floured loaf pan at 350F
about half an hour to 45 min.
"Boxty in the box
or boxty in the pan.
If you can't make boxty
You'll never get a man."
And I've been trying ever since I first heard the verse.
Filling but good for snow shoveling.
Yeah, Bobo thinks those who oppose the Bush administration and all its works hate America. Yeah, right. That's like a tantrum-throwing child, spouse, or parent who yells, "You hate me! You hate me!"
mmm cajun spiced chicken pasta
When the going got tough, we sure showed them what we're made of.
just where in the hell in all of Pennsylvania could one situate a wind farm?
Rudolph already answered the question. I was trying to remember where I had seen a whole bunch of them while on the drive to D.C. From the Pennsylvania Turnpike, yes. Thanks.
Oh, it's snowing like mad here. Trying to decide if I should bother doing anything until it lets up some.
It's also 15 degrees and windy.
upyernoz,
I have a friend in Philly planning on cancelling a child's birthday party, for what its worth. It's supposed to be that bad.
Have you ever noticed, when you visit this blog and intend to say hi and read the goings on of the day, you end up staying way too long? I've been up an hour, still in my jammies, haven't even started coffee, because I've been sitting here in front of this screen, fascinated by Eschatonian ramblings.
Humph. I can't count the times I've looked at my connection timer and realized that I've been online for two, three, maybe five hours. Once the connection dropped because I'd been online for six hours. I'm glad the ISP industry moved away from per-minute pricing. Remember when just about the only service available was CompuServe, and they charged $12.50 per hour?
You folks are too bloody interesting, that's all.
Why is it that when Bush says "spread freedom throughout the world" I hear "attack Iran and any damn place I want." Does anyone else hear it?
ready to puke
I have long wondered what the folks who make latkes and bokty and other potato products did BEFORE the discovery of the potato in the Andes in the mid-18th Cnetury...
Vicki,
Almost felt like posting the entire Northern I sent you and Tom. Maybe not. We all have to live with the weather, but sometimes it is not so bad.
Fox radio news just informed me in a newscast that hydrogen powered and hybrid cars are a waste of energy.
We must keep on consuming oil. Its what best for the country.
Fair and balanced, we report, you decide.
did BEFORE the discovery of the potato in the Andes in the mid-18th Cnetury...
Mostly starved.
DWD ~
FWIW ~I'd post it, it's great. You write well, smooth, like buttah.
Sink your teeth into the flesh of midnight.
WGG,
Bread. Lotsa bread.
Pvt. Pyle | Email | Homepage | 01.22.05 - 9:46 am | #
===============
Thanks for that. I bookmarked it.
GWPDA,
I agree the govt doesn't want to see alternative sources of power and that placement can make a lot of difference, but if, for example, you locate a windfarm out in the middle of desert, then you've got to build transmission to get it from the middle of the desert to Los Angles, or wherever. That's expensive, ugly, and, depending on how far you're moving the power, line losses can cut down the value of the power you're trying to get from the desert. I'm all for as many alternative sources as possible, although I believe solar will eventually dominate once they figure out how to make it cheaper and more "storable," as well as how to site it as distributable generation that eliminates the need for most transmission lines, but every source of power has concomminant "costs" associated with it.
Hey Sean, hunker up. Michigan is but a white blob at this point! Still snowing, too.
Hi Vicki,
Wow, I bet it's beautiful there. I love it when there is a fresh coat of white snow all over my little town.
Have you ever noticed, when you visit this blog and intend to say hi and read the goings on of the day, you end up staying way too long?
Guilty too, especially the "morning threads", which are my favorite since they are generally troll free.
Now I missed my chance at getting a few things done outside before the snow. Oh well, better do it now.
A Northern, for anyone interested
Emily had changed out of her wet clothes and now wore a simple tee shirt and a pair of sweat pants. She had thought of wearing something more enticing but had decided to remain plain. Taking David by surprise was a constant source of amusement and she did not want to give away the evening’s activities beforehand.
Instead she busied herself in the kitchen. While she did not believe it was the woman’s job to prepare the meals, it was a task that she enjoyed and so did willingly. In fact if someone had tried to stop her from doing so, she would have rebelled. It was not so much that she felt subservient, on the contrary, she thought primarily of her own desires and needs. She loved to cook as much as she enjoyed eating. The constant interplay of the senses was something that she had sought all of her life.
In cooking and eating alone are all the senses utilized. While an artist may seek to control the sight or hearing of a person: food can dominate all of the senses in a way that no other activity can. In many ways she felt that cooking was the highest art form possible for it is used everyday and it achieves that marvelous permanence that all art strives for. The consideration of a good meal is more satisfying than exposure to many forms of what is considered by society to be a higher art.
On this cold day in January as the snow piled high, the smell of the aromatic sauce cooking and bread baking filled the air with a wholesomeness that served as an effective counterpoint to the storm’s fury: for only in the consideration of the good things in life is there room to define the desolation of the winter storm or even the solemn solitude of a dark, lonely night.
Emily, more than any other time in her life, was no longer lonely. The very worst thing about living alone is having no one to share either the good or bad things in our daily lives. Each moment of a day can have a feeling attached and keeping either your elation or frustration to yourself causes one to become bitter toward a world that has seemed to curse the person to a life without love or hope.
Now, this had changed. While Emily had many friends and enjoyed their company, she did not have a lover and she now knew that this was what she had needed. The presence of someone she could share her thoughts, feelings, and even visions of the future with had become more important than she would have believed possible even a few months ago. The realization that her life had improved significantly since David’s arrival was undeniable. Instead of lonely nights and conversations with her friends about small matters, her life was filled with love and joy.
While over the years there had been many sex partners: that was all they were —
temporary men to be used and discarded. There had been no one with whom she could share the inner visions that made up her personality. Now the realization that this had been a void in her life was undeniable
Isn't it amazing that they tell us ~ now ~ how *bad* bread is for you?
Christ almighty, it's the staple of the Bible!
potato gnocchi
1 large idaho tater, baked
1 tbsp. butter
1 egg
about 3/4 cup flour
2 tbsp. chives, if desired
Scrape out insides of potato into bowl, mash with butter and egg until fluffy/combined. Mix in enough flour to form slightly stick dough, divide in two.
On floured surface, roll dough into long thick strand. Boil water in large stockpot. With dull edge of knife cut strand into 1-inch pieces, repeat with other half of dough. Toss pieces into pot, boil until gnocchi float to the top and water is a roiling boil again, then ladle onto plates.
Best with butter and sage and just a little bit of parmesan. You can add chives to the dough if you want a little more flavor. Very filling.
A.
(more)
Instead of lonely nights and conversations with her friends about small matters, her life was filled with love and joy.
While over the years there had been many sex partners: that was all they were —
temporary men to be used and discarded. There had been no one with whom she could share the inner visions that made up her personality. Now the realization that this had been a void in her life was undeniable and conversely, something that she now relished every moment of every day.
Later that evening she would take David to the studio and show him the new piece. She knew that he would be as happy with it as she was. She understood the communion of artists better now than she ever had and though she was sure of his reaction: she was also aware that his reaction was something that she craved.
Even now, thinking about the beautiful sadness she had created caused a tear to well.
She brushed it away and continued with the task of preparing the meal. When Emily had the food on the table she called, “David, come and get it or I will give yours to Rufus.”
“I’m not dressed yet.”
“Come naked it you have to . . .” She said with a grin. “ I might like you better that way.”
David smiled as he retrieved the robe from the hook on the back of the bathroom door. Emily had a way of saying things that made him feel wonderful. After the long indifference of his marriage, he never failed to appreciate the attentions of the beautiful woman with whom he shared his life. The guilt feelings about abandoning thirty years of marriage were beginning to diminish — at least that’s what he kept telling himself in those private moments when he let his thoughts drift to the past. But, these thoughts were infrequent as the present comprised most of his existence almost to the exclusion of all that had come before.
The long white robe felt soft and warm on his skin and further warmed him. While there were no external heat registers that he could see that could cause this effect, he knew that the wall that the robe rested against a wall that must contain a heating duct and because of this it always felt warm to his naked skin. After retrieving his slippers, he cinched the belt tightly and walked into the dining room.
“That’s the way I like my men — warm and ready.” Emily said with a smile as she walked to him, placed her hands inside the robe and behind his back and drew him close. After a brief, passionate kiss she escorted him to the table and rushed to retrieve the sauce from the pan and the pasta from the sink where it had been draining.
“You hungry?”
“As a horse.”
(Still more)
“Pass me one more bread stick, please?”
“Sure and how many have you had?” She said with a large smile.
“Lost count after four. How ‘bout you?”
“Same.” She giggled. “They really are wonderful, aren’t they? It is hard to believe that something so simple can taste so good.”
“I know what you mean. Sometimes the simplest things can be the best.”
“You think so?”
“Not always, but sometimes. I think this happens when we manage to distill everything down to its elemental nature. If we can do this, we are almost invariably left with the essence of what is important. I have often thought that all that we do as humans is to simply try and improve the basics and often we fail miserably. Think about this day. Instead of worrying about what clothes look the best, we are concerned with what clothes will offer us the best protection. But, isn’t that the purpose of clothing anyway?”
“I suppose. Still, there are other elements that have to be considered.”
“Of course there are. I am not fool enough to dismiss all that we do by saying that we should do less. That would miss the point. The fact is that some complications offer us great improvement. Indoor plumbing and central heating come to mind. But, whether we need thermostatically controlled heating zones that allow us to control the temperature of the room minute by minute is another question altogether. To tell the truth a good warm fire would probably feel as good today as any central heating.”
“I was hoping you were going to say that. I have already started the fire for the evening.”
“I noticed. What do you have in my mind, pretty lady?
“My surprise, finish up.”
“A fire . . . Good, there is literally nothing in this world that I would enjoy more than spending a stormy evening by a warm fire with you.” David let the thought drift and concentrated on finishing his pasta. The hearty aroma of garlic and basil inflamed his senses and stimulated his appetite. Eating the last of his bread he said, “By the way, Emily, everything tasted great. The sauce was wonderful, the bread fantastic, the wine delicious — a perfect meal. Thank you, my lady.”
Best way to spread peace and properity:
Food in the belly, tools in the hand, shelter from the weather, the sincere desire to help one another.
Worst way:
Guns, gods and greed.
(And still more)
“Oh that’s all right. Thanks for finishing the driveway. I was not looking forward to that job. It’s cold out there. You are all warmed up now, aren’t you?”
“Pretty much. You were right, as usual . . . about the bath, I mean. It did feel remarkably good.”
“Of course it did. A shower is good for getting clean but for getting warm, there is no alternative to the good old fashioned bath. Maybe that is one of the elemental things you were talking about. I am pretty sure a Jacuzzi would do the same job, but it would not significantly improve the experience other than allowing us to share the experience but I have other ideas for that.” She smiled. “Besides, I think it is the concept and the simple delivery that tend to be most important. Do you agree?”
“Could be. But, with a full stomach and a driving storm, that is probably too heavy a thought.”
“Right. I think it is time to relax.”
“Agreed. So what do you have in mind?”
“Are your muscles feeling a little tired?” She asked with a smile.
“Yes. I am a teacher — not someone used to using the business end of a shovel. However if you have something in mind, I’m not all that tired . . .”
“Come along, writer. There are more things about the world to discover. Have you ever had an erotic massage in front of a fire reduced to glowing coals while a winter storm raged?”
“No, but it sounds pleasant.”
Emily grabbed the belt of the terrycloth robe and playfully pulled David into the living room. The fire had nearly diminished to embers and with the lights off, the small amount of flame left gave a warm, dancing glow to the room. “Take your robe off and lay on your stomach, please.”
David did as he was told. Emily retrieved a bottle of baby oil and said, “Wait right here, writer, I’ll be right back.”
Before she left the room, she went to the stereo and turned it on. Music began wafting through the nearby speakers —Pachelbel. The intonations of the Canon in D captured his mind and he closed his eyes and allowed the vision to grow.
David rested in the warmth of the fire . The fireplace doors were open and the heat emanated onto his skin warming him deliciously. Outside the snow continued to assault the earth. When he opened his eyes and looked out of the window, he could see the street lamp illuminating the white froth of the storm. Instead of individual snow flakes, the entire mass was falling as a swirling, whirl of winter white.
(And the last of it)
Closing his eyes against the night and storm he tried to move his mind away from the coldness and into a place more pleasant. Emily returned and walked to the front window and closed the curtains. “I’ve seen enough of the storm, how about you?”
“Ditto. Once you have seen it and felt it, there doesn’t seem to be much point.”
“Agreed. I think you are going to enjoy this.” She said suggestively. Removing her shirt and pants she knelt beside him. Straddling him she bent over and softly kissed the skin between his shoulder blades. He shuddered in response and she repeated the action with a little more vigor.
After she moved her legs a little closer togther holding him firmly between her strong thighs, she tipped the warmed bottle of baby oil over his back and let a good amount dribble onto his skin. The oil had been warmed to a temperature that was just a little greater than body temperature. Not enough to be hot but enough to generate a soft warmth that permeated his skin and infiltrated his muscles causing them to relax.
Her strong fingers, conditioned by years of sculpting, rubbed the oil deeply into his skin. She kneaded each muscle group starting with his shoulders. Taking her fingers she first stretched the muscles back. Then she forced the knuckles of her fingers and the heel of her palms into the mass and alternately pressed and smoothed. The effect was to isolate each individual muscle causing it to thoroughly relax.
“Emily?”
“Be still and let me work.”
The Pachelbel was done and another disk moved into position — it was Grieg. David recognized the soft sounds of Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suite. His mind drifted a little further down the path toward bliss. The attention of the lady, the smell of the baby oil, and the warmth of the fire helped with the transition. He smiled as felt the warm oil and her kneading fingers carry him far away from the place where the storm raged. The effect was nearly ultimate relaxation and he began to try and sink a little deeper into the carpeting. If there had been a way for him to melt into the floor, he would have done so. However, soon the massage began to have another effect: he was, undeniably, becoming aroused. When he shifted his hips to get more comfortable, Emily smiled and pressed her thighs a little tighter against his pelvic area. “Did I say you could move, writer?”
There's a wind farm in Western Maryland, too. It's in Garrett County, near the Fairfax Stone.
(Should I bring up the old joke about the city visitor to the farm who noticed a windmill and remarked on how thoughtful it was for the farmer to put up a fan to keep the cows cool?
Probably not.)
Ugh...
Total accumulations will be on the order of 20 to 30 inches, with the highest amounts along the immediate Massachusetts coast as well as on Cape Cod and the Islands.
When I got up at 6:00, Weatherbug said it was 31. I see that it has gotten down to 14 at 9:50. Brrrr and the wind is horrible!
Snow is tapering off here in WI and heading east, get ready folks! We got about a foot, I was out in the middle of it last night due to a wedding/reception. Hey, it's Wis in winter, you deal with it.
Anyway I missed catblogging yesterday, so here's a pic to warm the hearts of anyone getting dumped on by the weather.
NYM:
Yeah, bread...wheat flour was 'the staff of life.'
The words "lord" and "lady" are directly tied to the production of wheat, in a synechdocaic fashion.
The Brits hated the potato, because it left them without the leverage of food with which to discipline the serfs, because the potato requires no cultivation--and you'll have immediately noted the connection between 'culture' and 'cultivate', i know...sorta the same way 'technology' is related to 'weaving' in concept as well as in practice...
i love words...i do dearly, truly love words...Un philologiste, c'est moi!
Emily smiled and pressed her thighs a little tighter against his pelvic area. “Did I say you could move, writer?”
Horny, baby.
Now we're quoting Emily Dickinson? Look, until you Yankees crawl out a wolf's carcass like Jake London, don't talk to me how cold it is.
Jack London was gay, by the way, and he knew about cold so don't even think about it.
Sentenza: "Forgot one other thing. Fuck yourself Joe Biden."
Don't be too hard on Joe, he got off one of the best lines about these screwballs:
In particular, Senator Biden declared repeatedly that his own assertion that only about 4,000 Iraqi troops had been effectively trained - Ms. Rice said the number was 120,000 - had been based on confidential discussions with military commanders in Iraq.
"You all don't do anything except parrot, 'We've trained 120,000 forces,' " Mr. Biden said. "So I go home and people ask me, 'Why are we still there?' "
He added that it was worthless to listen to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on this subject because "he doesn't know what in the hell he's talking about on this."
Link
Any time I think the weather here in SouthCentral PA sucks, I go Aa href="http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/
today.html">HERE to see what shitty weather is REALLY like.
Need to go climb into the shower, now. And shovel.
Just what my aching back needs is a foot of snow to shovel.
Peace out.
WGG,
Yeah, the ease of cultivation was a mixed blessing, historically. Famine, anyone?
Funny, it's no warmer (-9 here) and yet after DWD's soft core I'm all flushed. Huh.
Actually, I go
HERE.
It's a "moving" story, isnt' it NYMary?
I sent it to krsaz a while back. He had some "trouble" enjoying it at work.
The tease was accomplished.
Jack London was gay, by the way, and he knew about cold so don't even think about it.
Ô¿Ô
He was also a vicious racist who worked to overthrow Jack Johnson as heavyweight champion...
and he was also the first haole to try and then to write about surfing...
everybody's complex, iow, non?
Mister X,
Try this: BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING... TOTAL STORM ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 10 TO 14 INCHES OVER MUCH OF THE AREA... WITH LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 18 INCHES OVER THE ENDLESS MOUNTAINS IN NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA... AND ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE EAST OF BINGHAMTON AND CORTLAND... INCLUDING THE WESTERN CATSKILLS. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW... NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 20 MPH TONIGHT... LEADING TO CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. WIND CHILLS AS LOW AS 20 BELOW ZERO ARE ALSO EXPECTED.
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS WINTER STORM. NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT AS HEAVY SNOW COMBINES WITH STRONG WINDS TO PRODUCE NEAR ZERO VISIBILITIES AND CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. ROADS WILL BE SNOW COVERED AND TREACHEROUS... AND TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED....
Hey. what's with the person trolling yesterday as your wife? WTF?
DWD ~
FWIW ~I'd post it, it's great. You write well, smooth, like buttah.
=======================
"Silent Screams of a Survivor" by DWD. Excellent.
Quiltlady, (Blushes)
All right, you want cold? This is cold:
--------
Creaking Ottawa Houses Prompt Reports of Gunfire
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A cold spell gripping Ottawa is so intense that
houses have started to produce loud cracking noises, prompting worried
citizens to report burglaries and gunfire, local police said on
Wednesday.
Spokeswoman Monique Ackland said police had received around 20 calls
on Monday night and Tuesday morning, when temperatures in the Canadian
capital dipped to an unseasonably low minus 40 Celsius (minus 40
Fahrenheit).
"Those were calls about breaking and entering, people making excessive
noise and calls about gunshots," she said. Police responded to each
alarm and rapidly realized crime was not responsible.
"Those calls were all (prompted by) the cold," she said, adding that
one possible reason for the loud noises were exploding nails.
--------
(Copied from a thread on rec.arts.comics.strips)
Can't say I'm sorry I'm off Cape Cod and here in SoCal [Dumbya country though it is].
Blizzard warnings for Mass. If I were on the Cape, chances are I'd lose electricity [it happens all the time, even if it rains hard]. No electricity means no heat, no cooking, no tv, no computer. Ugh!
But, I'm not there. I'm here in SoCal where temps will be in the 70s, and I'm preparing to go on a bike ride.
To my friends in New England. Take care and stay warm.
The weather is the price I pay to live amongst the relatively sane.
He was also a vicious racist who worked to overthrow Jack Johnson as heavyweight champion...
So what. Most hetero Americans waddled to the polls and were bigoted and worthless. At least London was exceptional, talented, gay however bigoted. What's their excuse?
Fucking Haloscan!!!
NYM: (reconstruction)
have you heard of Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire, an incredibly well researched, interpreted account of how plants construct human behavior to their advantage...four plants: apple, potato, tulip, and cannabis...
he's a scientifically trained jouralist, and the book appeared in the NYRB, or some such, about four years ago...
It's really worth the read...the politics of the potato are fascinating
I remember that snow storm a year ago December in New York/Boston. Last days of scrambling to get things tied up before moving half way round the world.
But I can't imagine the lead editorial from Saturday's South China Morning Post appearing in either New York or Boston.
Title of editorial: Bush in tyrannical pursuit of freedom
"""These ideals are not, as Mr Bush seems to think, the exclusive preserve of the US. They are universal aims. The United Nations has been trying to achieve them for the past half a century. They might be attainable in Mr Bush's world, where reality is not allowed to intrude. But in the real world, these objectives are much more difficult to achieve."""
emphasis mine... but I'll blog about this one tomorrow I think when i have time. Nightly news just came on and the Chinese hostages have been released unharmed in Iraq.
Snow just starting here in NYC.
Heteoro Americans waddled to the polls with their fat asses and voted for their Heterosexual Hate Amendments.
Ô¿Ô - At least London was exceptional, talented, gay however bigoted. What's their excuse?
If everyone was as talented as Jack London was, then Jack London wouldn't be considered extraordinary, now would he?
Morning all.
Hi Tena!
I've got a big flock of robins in the front yard. In VA in January. Weird, but they're beautiful up against the snow. Wasn't someone saying the other day that their robins had never left to fly south?
If everyone was as talented as Jack London was, then Jack London wouldn't be considered extraordinary, now would he?
Morning all.
Tena
This is the name-stealing Tena.
Hecate, our geese are fucking confused. They keep wandering around the fields wondering if they should stay or go. Poor babies.
I'm going to spend today baking. Ginger pound cake, pumpkin cookies. Time to get our February fat on.
A.
Isn't it amazing that they tell us ~ now ~ how *bad* bread is for you?
Some people will believe anything.
My wife tried to put me on Atkins. I resisted until I could bounce it off my doctor, who told me that my medical condition requires a HIGH-carb diet.
I'm going to spend today baking. Ginger pound cake, pumpkin cookies. Time to get our February fat on.
I'm making stroganoff.
WGG,
No, but I'll look for it.
Kirkpatrick Sale's Conquest of Paradise is another great example of horticultural history. Apparently, the Taino had come up with an ingenious method of planting corn and beans together which controlled weeds, gave the beans a pole to climb, and took almost no husbandry. (The weather helped, obviously.) When Columbus and his men arrived, they assumed that the Tainos were indolent and lazy, just because they spent so little time feeding themselves. But no, just smart agriculture.
Ntodd,
Ooh, Stroganoff sounds good. Homemade noodles and rich creamy sauce . . . .
Incog - No it isn't. It's me.
I know you are Incognito. Ok?
I send Hecate an email about 15 minutes ago.
It is me
I'm going to spend today baking
and I am going to spend today baked. Today is going to be fun, love the snow.
Wasn't someone saying the other day that their robins had never left to fly south?
Hecate
I've never seen so many Robins here, lately. They're my favorite bird as are most peoples. What are they still doing there and not here in Louisiana?
Wasn't someone saying the other day that their robins had never left to fly south?
I thought I saw a robin last week, but it turned out to be a sparrow with an exit wound.
(With apologies to David Letterman)
As soon as somebody gets the fucking cojones to draw up impeachment papers.
nuh-uh. impeachment will never fly against this guy, he hasn't done anything that's a flagrant violation of US law.
you'd have to turn him over to the ICJ if you wanted results.
We are off. Ridiculous that we will venture out at 15 degrees to buy a coffee maker. Ugh. But, then we won't have to venture out again.
The reason I stopped reading popular fiction was that it seemed to be all soft porn that was completely gratuitous. Not that I dislike soft porn, it just stopped being fun. The above was a nice reminder of what it should and can be.
Blogwhoring my review of the Army National Guard's free video game used as a recruiting tool.
WGG - Actually, I believe the answer was TURNIPS.
Hecate - "That's expensive, ugly, and, depending on how far you're moving the power, line losses can cut down the value of the power you're trying to get from the desert. " Mostly, these lines have been in for a long time. Now, as places like Phoenix, Denver, Abq, LA grow, the grid grows along with it. We're moving power generated from the Southwest thru the grid to the north and vice versa. The expense has been largely expensed at this stage, or at least according to PNM and the gang out here. As you know, southwest power growth is one of the things that caused it to be so delectable to Enron. Oh yes, those 'farms' off the Turnpike. Those are what we used to call 'tax shelters.' It's Canada Hydro that's worth looking at in terms of east coast power supply.
Hooray - the peach tree has burst out into blossom. Pink everywhere.
spend today baked
Speaking of which...
Back later.
Ridiculous that we will venture out at 15 degrees to buy a coffee maker. Ugh. But, then we won't have to venture out again.
I ventured out in -11F to buy milk for my coffee!
Why do you people torture me with delicious recipes when my culinary talents do not extend beyond a microwave dinner?
I love Robins because they always look worn out like, I been through enough shit, don't fuck with me. Just leave me alone, Ahhighht?
I love Robins because they always look worn out like, I been through enough shit, don't fuck with me. Just leave me alone, Ahhighht?
Ô¿Ô
Especially the ones toughing out northern winters...
Why do you people torture me with delicious recipes when my culinary talents do not extend beyond a microwave dinner?
Oh, but microwaves can be very tasty with a little salt and worchestershire sauce.
I wonder where robins winter over? My bird books are in Colorado, so I can't look it up. I don't think I've ever known where they winter.
NTodd - Oh, but microwaves can be very tasty with a little salt and worchestershire sauce.
Silly yankee - you need to put hot sauce on microwaves to really make them taste good.
Especially the ones toughing out northern winters...
NYMary
This is really curious to me because they're usually here. What are they still doing there? Not that you don't appeciate them, too.
Silly yankee - you need to put hot sauce on microwaves to really make them taste good.
Oh, I'll have to try that!
Would anyone like a cup of Hot Cocoa?
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
Dash salt
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in sauce pan. Stir in water. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Boil and stir two minutes.
Stir in milk, reduce heat and warm, but DO NOT BOIL.
Remove from heat. Add vanilla.
Makes six cups.
Great for after sliding, skating, shovelling...
theo, I was on Atkins for three weeks. The first week I felt great. The second week I lost 10 pounds and felt like absolute shit all the time. The third week I started dreaming about English Muffins. Fuck that shit.
I"m now on the "don't eat a whole bag of potato chips at once" diet, which is much more efficient. I meant to give up drinking, but then the election happened. I have kept my vow to y'all to quit smoking, though. Haven't had a cigarette since Nov. 2.
A.
Silly yankee - you need to put hot sauce on microwaves to really make them taste good.
Tena
This is Tena who said she would be gone for the next week?
Robins are nice, but cardinals stay around for winter. They are always a nice surprise of red against a white landscape.
Incog, click on the homepage, scroll down 1 post. She leaves Monday.
Monday, we can start bitch-slapping the name-stealer. Today it's Tena.
A.
This is Tena who said she would be gone for the next week?
It's not next week yet, is it?
Winter is good,
It's hoare delights
Italic savor yields... Emily D.
Now we're quoting Emily Dickinson? Look, until you Yankees crawl out a wolf's carcass like Jake London, don't talk to me how cold it is.
Ô¿Ô
Though I'm not a Yankee, being Irish Catholic....
You ever been in an uninsulated New England farmhouse without central heating and a tiny woodstove to heat it?
Em knew what she was talkning about.
OK, so I jumped the gun a little bit.
Monday, we can start bitch-slapping the name-stealer. Today it's Tena.
We're going to bitch-slap Tena today? That doesn't seem proper.
specization: Northern birds winter in midwest, midwest birds winter in south,southern birds winter in central amer.
I really miss the snow. The thought of a day of heavy snow really makes me nostalgic for when I was growing up in State College, Pa., when my father worked for PSU.
At any rate for the Round Rock, Texas area:
Today: Partly cloudy and windy. High 62F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph.
Tonight: Generally clear. Much colder. Low 27F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph.
Tomorrow: A mainly sunny sky. High 46F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
Seeing as yesterday I was driving around with the top down on my car, 62 today, and 46 tomorrow is cold.
IT'S JUST THESE GODDAMN NAME-STEALING TROLLS DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!!
You ever been in an uninsulated New England farmhouse without central heating and a tiny woodstove to heat it?
Garrison Keillor has brought this up in the News from Lake Wobegon a couple of times, though not in verse. A memorable quote: "If you wet the bed, you'd die." In last week's NFLW, he talked about camping in winter in Minnesota, and the joys of getting up in the middle of the night to pee. Here's a link to the news: http://tinyurl.com/4crlp.
American Robin
...some robins overwinter in many places in the northern U.S. states and Canadian provinces. As long as robins have a good supply of fruit, they can keep their bodies warm enough to survive even when the temperatures are well below freezing. Probably the best way to understand robin seasonal movements is to think of these birds as moving between areas rich in their fall/winter diet and areas rich in their spring/summer diet.
Incog - Go check First Draft. I'm leaving Monday morning.
Geez, honey - it was a gentle joshing.
Garrison Keillor,
While there is no way I can top his stories I've matched some of them. Ice on the inside of the wall with the stove glowing red from being over stoked. Burning your feet on the stove while your head freezes. Waking up with frost on the blankets.
"You ever been in an uninsulated New England farmhouse without central heating and a tiny woodstove to heat it?
Em knew what she was talkning about."
No, EPT, but I've worked in a 'library' in Kansas that was Army built in 1888 and with the exception of replacing the wallboard occasionally, adding large, illfitting windows and putting down a (thin) concrete floor had not been altered since. Insulation? I Laugh at your 'insulation'!
And Tena? Here's your snapshot of Ralph Yarborough's hall light, which is now in my foyer, guarding it. My picture cut off the top couple of inches , but isn't the cut glass nice for such a simple thing?
EPT,
I was actually one of those dumb little kids who tried to like a metal fence in winter...
ended up with my tongue stuck to it.
central scrutinizer - Thanks for the information on robins. The robins in Colorado are huge - biggest I've ever seen. Some people call them "camp robbers" because they are very bold and will snatch unattended food.
But people also call magpies and pinon jays "camp robbers."
Great for after sliding, skating, shovelling...
I'm with you Vicki, just came in from clearing out the driveway. Think I might add dollop of schnapps on top of that as I'm in for the day now.
lick for like, gheesh!
Vianne's Spiced Hot Chocolate
Flavors of chili pepper, cinnamon and vanilla come through lightly in this hot chocolate from My French Kitchen (Morrow, $24.95) by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde. Harris is the author of several popular novels, including Chocolat.
Ingredients:
1-2/3 cups milk
1/2 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 hot red chili pepper, halved and seeded
3-1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, preferably 70 percent
brown sugar to taste (optional)
whipped cream, chocolate curls, cognac or amaretto, to serve
Preparation:
Place the milk in a saucepan, add the vanilla bean, cinnamon stick and chili, and gently bring it to a shivering simmer for one minute. Grate the chocolate and whisk it in until it melts. If you must, add brown sugar at this point, but do try to go without it.
Take off the heat and allow it to infuse for 10 minutes, then remove the vanilla, cinnamon and chili. Return to the heat and bring gently back to a simmer. Serve in mugs topped with whipped cream, chocolate curls, or a dash of cognac or amaretto.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2
Vicki - when I was little, our frig had exposed coils under the freezer. Like an idiot, I put one of my fingers on the coil and it froze to it immediately. God my parents panicked. First Mom tried a sponge full of hot water - but it froze to the coil almost at once. They kept pouring hot water on my finger and finally got me unstuck. My finger was frostbitten, though not badly enough to do anything permanent.
When it gets really cold out, however, that finger turns white and aches.
lick for like, gheesh!
I like fences, too.
Vicki
It was a mortal sin around here, no one I know dared. There was a story about the girl who did it on the monkey bars at school....
GWPDA, I'd forgotten all about freezing in college. Damned cold, lousy heating.
The thing is, when you finally pry your tongue from the frozen fence, it hurts and bleeds!
Dumb move. I never kissed metal again.
"I love Robins because they always look worn out like, I been through enough shit, don't fuck with me. Just leave me alone, Ahhighht?"
We get a whole lot of robin snowbirds here in Phoenix during the 'winter' - most entertainingly. The pyracantha berries ripen round about now, and robins are really, really crazy about them - it is by no means uncommon to go out to get the paper and discover that your lawn is covered with robins who have passed out from overindulgence. Pyracantha are evidently much like juniper berries in their end product. On the other hand, I don't think I'd like to see all these drunken robins driving or trying to get home. Best they sleep it off, safely.
Well, on the south edge of Ohio we're gettin sleet and freezing rain on top of the snow we got earlier this week. I was salting the glaze on my driveway before I got on the computer. It ddoesn't look like we're going to get a lot of ice before it switches back to snow, so things could be worse.
Lamb stew - made only when lamb is cheap
Beef broth
Chicken broth
Dark beer or cheap dry red wine
lamb, chunked up bite size
turnips
carrots
onions
lots of garlic
barley
lots of garlic
cumin
poultry spice
barley
oatmeal or multigrain cereal pounded up fine if it needs thickening
You can put a bit of olive oil in the pan and brown the meat abit to start, or start the liquids heating first and just start chunking meat and veggies up and throw them in. However you start, get the meat and veggies and liquids and spices in the pot and bring it all to a near-boil. Turn it down to a simmer, put a lid on, and ignore it except for occasional stirring for at least an hour. If the turnips and carrots are tender, add the barley. when the barley is cooked, thicken if needed.
The lamb cut I occasionally find cheap is a bone-in leg. One of today's projects is to start making a Viking-style fipple flute from a lamb bone.
Can I get in on bigvic's ignore-the typos millenium?
David (Austin,Tx) It was fucking 79 in Dallas yesterday. I was sweating.
Goddamn it, we don't have winter any more except a day here and there when it's cold. This just sucks, frankly.
When it gets really cold out, however, that finger turns white and aches.
I have a similar problem in the pointer and middle fingers of my right hand. A touch of Raynaud's Syndrome that I inherited (thanks, mom!).
All right, has anyone here actually put one's tongue on a pump handle? I grew up in Florida, where the opportunities for frozen adventures are few (I saw it snow there twice, as I recall), and here in Maryland, the only pump handles I know of are at the campgrounds on the C&O Canal, and they're taken down for the winter.
I'm hunkered down waiting for the snow and am planning on torturing myself by watching F911 on the tube (rent a movie).
Then I'll probably go berserk and have to take it out on the snow on my driveway.
I wonder if the REAL Liddy Dole has any idea about the things bebe rebozo posts about her, in parody, of course, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall if she ever read some of his stuff...???
Tena,
It was 76 here. just on the edge of uncomfortable.
I really am holding out for a hard freeze, to kill off some of the grasshoppers, fire ants, and scorpions as they are reaching epidemic proportions here.
NTodd - Mr. Tena has a touch of Reynauld's, too, so I know that that isn't any fun.
Mine is strictly from having frostbitten the middle finger of my right hand (wouldn't you know it would be the "naughty" finger?)
David(Austin,Tx) The damn bugs are going to carry us away in Texas at this rate. The wasps started coming out of their nests yesterday. Oy.
I'm going to have to put flea stuff on the cat if this keeps up. I was so pissed - I was perspiring. In January, damn it.
Mine is strictly from having frostbitten the middle finger of my right hand (wouldn't you know it would be the "naughty" finger?)
I always knew you were naughty.
I once put my tongue on Phyllis Schafley's little man in a boat. It was so cold I was stuck there for hours. Finally had to rub some santorum on it to warm things up.
-Liddy Dole
NTodd - a fellow Raynaud's sufferer! Mine went undiagnosed for 20 years, though oddly enough, I had long before figured out how to deal with it - soak the hands and feet in warm water so the little bugger capillaries will expand. Still, it makes working in the kitchen a real bitch when the weather's cold - anything cold that I touch will make the hands go icy.
Every goddam day I read about further torment for the Iraqi people. After reading the following, I'm very much ashamed of my country
June 2004
[Bush]: You're helping to bring opportunity and security to nations that have known years of cruel oppression. These are difficult tasks, but they are essential tasks. By fighting the terrorists in distant lands, you are making sure your fellow citizens do not face them here at home.
http://www.cpa-iraq.org/transcri...sh-
5ptplan.html
August 2003
Mr. Bremer avoided answering whether the Bush administration set Iraq as a deliberate trap to capture terrorists, although he previously has stated that it is "better to fight it here than to fight it somewhere else, like the United States."
Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez told reporters last month that Iraq would become a "terrorist magnet."
"But this is exactly where we want to fight them; we want to fight them here, we prepared for them," Lt. Gen. Sanchez said. "And this will prevent the American people from having to go through other attacks back in the United States."
http://www.washtimes.com/nationa...24231-
6314r.htm
Oct 2003
Since 9/11, we've decided to fight back against the terrorist, and that often means the kind of violence we're seeing in a country that still has 130 ammunition supply dumps, some the size of Manhattan, that has terrorists coming in from Syria and Iran. We're going to fight there a long time. But if we don't fight in Baghdad, we're going to fight in Boston, so let's understand that.
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/i...m?
doc_id=195701
Indeed, we are fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq. And while none of us are happy that our military is risking their lives fighting against terrorists in a foreign land, it could be worse. Instead of fighting the finest soldiers in the world in Iraq, Al-Qaeda could be murdering unarmed American civilians here in the US, at a time and a place of the terrorists' choosing. Iraq has turned out to be irresistible flypaper for terrorists and quite possibly, we here in the US may have been spared terrorist attacks because of it.
http://www.rightwingnews.com/joh...ohn/
whyiraq.php
Has anyone ever read a children's book called "Round Robin?"
This robin is so fat that when it is time to fly south, all he can do is hop.
My kids loved this story, as did I. I don't remember the author, but I think it is one of the books I but in a box on a shelf in case my kids have kids.
Actually, the U.S. is fighting the Iraqi insurgents in Iraq, not Al Qaeda. The entire idea that we are fighting terrorists there instead of here is a great big fat lie.
Yes. He did use the expression "new order" albeit innocuously: "When our Founders declared a new order of the ages;"
Who slipped that in?
I wonder where robins winter over?
==========
In my front yard. MLK day we counted over two dozen. We always have robins, but I've never seen anything like that before.
The entire idea that we are fighting terrorists there instead of here is a great big fat lie.
Oh, that brings back memories of the 'ole rightwing chant of 'better in Baghdad than in Boise' or 'better in Mosul than Milwaukee.'
Betcha it was Frank Luntz who came up with that...
Idiots.
I have kept my vow to y'all to quit smoking, though. Haven't had a cigarette since Nov. 2.
====================
Congratulations!!!!!!!!! What's the secret. Wish I could stop.
If we didn't torture Iraqis in Abu Ghraib, we would have to torture them in San Quentin.
mena - In my front yard. MLK day we counted over two dozen. We always have robins, but I've never seen anything like that before.
God, that's amazing. I regularly have a couple dozen grackles in my yard. I'd trade any day. The grackles got so bad downtown that they put netting over the trees to chase them away. So they all came over to my neighborhood. They are raucous and messy birds.
The entire idea that we are fighting terrorists there instead of here is a great big fat lie.
indeed. but it's an old one.
my pet peeve this week is all the bastards going around saying "EVERYONE thought Saddam had WMDs."
jesus christ, in the fall of 2002 I could have given you the names of three CARTOONISTS who knew EXACTLY what was going to happen in Iraq - people without Ivy League degrees or Washington experience, people who couldn't even SPELL "Hoover Institution".
NPR interviewed at least one refugee Iraqi physicist who told them that there were NO WMDs. Scott Ritter, in the course of kicking Shepard Smith's ass up between his shoulderblades on Faux News, told him that there weren't any fucking WMDs.
The only way a sensible, reasonably aware person could have thought that Saddam Hussein posed an imminent danger to the US in December 2002 is if that person had had his head so far up George Bush's ass that he couldn't see.
Oh, and Bush has no plan to reform Social Security. But that won't stop him from coming out in about six weeks and claiming credit for all the ideas the AARP is introducing now.
I see... STUPID PEOPLE.
Tena - On a really cold day last winter, I observed a grackle in my back yard pestering what looked like a rope for 30 minutes or more. When he finally flew off, I went out to see what he had been doing (while the others were eating the bird food). It seemed he had found a hibernating snake under the leaf cover in the garden, and had pecked its head off. I'd never seen anything like that, guess it just goes to show animal intelligence (the bird having recognized that the snake was incapacitated but could pose future threat to birds, and deciding on pre-emptive action).
Actually, the U.S. is fighting the Iraqi insurgents in Iraq, not Al Qaeda. The entire idea that we are fighting terrorists there instead of here is a great big fat lie.
one mans terrorist is another man's freedom fighter!!
Not a terrorist!
fighting for freedom!!! not terrorists!! no al qaeda here!!!
no terrorism here folks, move along!!
iraqi minutemen, thats what they are!
I would 'lol' but willful ignorance isn't funny.
It was amazing tena.
I have kept my vow to y'all to quit smoking, though. Haven't had a cigarette since Nov. 2.
A.
Athenae
proud of ya...now don't ever look back except in gratitude...did you get any help??? hypnosis?
Quitting was really hard for me, but i finally got it done, almost exactly 11 years ago...
if i ever get hit by a bus, and have a last breath, somebody stick a cigarette in my mouth, though, please...
Jennifer - That's interesting. I knew they were pretty intelligent birds because no matter what the city does, it cannot control the flocks completely. The birds find ways around most of what is done. They are kind of attractive, too, to look at - their feathers are very iridescent. But man that screech of theirs is ear splitting and they leave droppings everywhere.
Robin = American Thrush, btw...
We've got plenty of pyrocanthus bushes here, and other winter-berrying varieties, too; but robins don't typically overwinter in ABQ, or NNM, that I recall...
WGG - if i ever get hit by a bus, and have a last breath, somebody stick a cigarette in my mouth, though, please...
Eleven years is awesome. I need to quit and I don't want to.
I have a friend who is a retired thoracic surgeon. He's told me that the second that someone tells him he has an inoperable cancer, he's going out and buying a carton.
I don't know that anyone ever gets over cigarettes completely. Like you, it still haunts them.
The only way to read any AARP proposal will be as if you were an insurance company which, for all its pretense and propoganda, is ALL that AARP represents...
Like a french student of mine said, when I told her I had heard they were bad for you and was thinking of quitting: Ah, ze just say zis to scare evrybody. SMOKE!
It's been over 7 years since I was a pack-a-day. Never again.
mena - That was my mom's attitude about it and in fact, she smoked until she died and it wasn't the cigarettes that killed her. My friend the retired surgeon has told me that some people can smoke their whole lives with small ill effect. Others just cannot, and my dad was one of those. I'm afraid I"m like my dad. *sigh*
I like my metabolism the way it is, damn it.
We can only hope things get better, but with such leadership....?
Knight Ridder Analysis Speaks Frankly: U.S. Losing in Iraq
By E&P Staff
Published: January 22, 2005 10:00 AM ET
NEW YORK In a startling new analysis, Knight Ridder reporters Tom Lasseter and Jonathan S. Landay, who have done some of the best reporting on Iraq during the past two years, declare that unless something “dramatic” changes, “the United States is heading toward losing the war in Iraq.”
The lengthy article, distributed Saturday, is based on what the reporters call an analysis of U.S. government statistics, which show the U.S. military “steadily losing ground to the predominantly Sunni Muslim insurgency in Iraq.
"The analysis suggests that, short of a newfound will by Iraqis to reject the insurgency or a large escalation of U.S. troop strength, the United States won't win the war.”
A number of opinion polls in the U.S. this week showed, for the first, that a clear majority of Americans now believe that invading Iraq was a mistake.
Unfavorable trends cited in the Knight Ridder report include:
...
http://
www.editorandpublisher.co...t_id=1000769945
I quit New Years Eve 2000. I think I smoked so much during the election fiasco that I literally blew out my lungs. I was ready to quit. Wasn't too difficult for me.
Although I did bum one from someone the other night.
And then I coughed up my left lung.
In all fairness, I didn't start until I was going through my divorce, at 30. So I smoked for maybe 10 years, mostly at night.
I'm glad I gave it up. If I could just quit drinking alcohol, I'd be perfect (NOT)!
Question for Bush supporters:
What the hell are *you* smoking?
(Other than setting up plenty of hummers for being smoked)
Well, we'll all eventually be abstaining permanently.
OT, but does anyone know where Bob Somerby is? No Daily Howler since Tuesday...
did ya see the story about how some rats are genetically programed to never work out and still be robust(running around mazes for 40 mins compared to 15) but others are wimps?
the same with people being able to smoke with no bad effects too i would think.
waiting, my great grandma smoked 2 packs a day, drank whiskey, ate all those foods that are supposed to be bad for you, and lived to the age of 89- her death was accidental, otherwise she would have probably have lived as long as her sisters, who died at the ages of 104 and 102.
Snowing seriously now here in VA.
yeah i agree. attended a funeral yesterday of 80 year old holocaust survivor. they put a pack of cigs in his coffin. i'm all for taking care of yourself within reason but my intention to quit last birthday flew out the window when i left a nursing home everyday for the last four months.
waiting, yeah, some people are just born with "good" genes- I hope to hell I inherited some from my maternal great grandmother's side, 'cause my father's side does not bode well for the women- they all died young, none made much past 40.
OMG, I fought a losing battle with the snow. It was too deep for the John Deere, so I called the snowplow guy. Our driveway is 75 feet long. And it's still snowing.
Or, NTodd, maybe you could come over with your monster. 
Been snowing all morning, coming down like crazy now, outside of Philly- my thermometer says it's a balmy 15 degrees outside. My hubby, nut that he is, went out at 11 a.m. to go play disc golf in Fairmount Park- usually, I'm just as nutty, and would have gone too, but I was too busy being dazed from last night's drinking spree.
pie - Wow. And it was almost 80 here yesterday.
At this point I can't imagine snow.
Damn. I'm gonna bake me some bakty, make some cocoa and go out and shoot at the starlings.
They're eating all the good feed today.
We're littered with Cardinals. Beautiful out there in the blowing snow.
Nice stuff this morning, guys.
Albert the cat and the snow.
"WTF is that white stuff", asked Albert, looking out the window ?
"Snow", I replied.
"What is snow", he asked?
"It's like frozen water", I replied.
"Water, like the stuff I drink after I eat", he asked?
"Yes", I replied.
"Why is the water frozen", he asked?
"Because it's cold", I answered.
"What is cold", he asked?
"Cold is when the temperature is lower than 72 degrees Fahrenheit", I replied.
"How cold must it be to make snow", he asked?
"Below 32 degrees Fahrenheit", I replied.
"That's very cold", he said.
"Yes it is", I agreed.
"Can we go out in it", he asked?
"No", I replied, "you might catch a cold".
"How do you catch a cold from the snow, is it like catching a mouse, I like catching mice", he asked?
"No", I replied, "catching a cold is not a fun thing, it will make you feel sick".
"Oh", he replied, "I don't like it when I feel sick".
"Me either", I replied.
"Maybe I'll just look at it from my window", he said.
"Me too", I replied.
Well, Tena, I won't see much of it for awhile, so I'm not going to complain. I do like it.
Love it especially cos i grew two groundskeepers!
The snow's really coming down here (Maryland, just over the DC line). The weather service is still predicting 5-9 inches, which is going to paralyze the DC area.
And I have five quarts of stew simmering away...
Love it especially cos i grew two groundskeepers!
Groundskeepers have a habit of growing up and moving away. But there'll always be a snowplow guy.
pie - I love it and I'm jealous. That 80 degrees just about killed me. I was pissed off that I had perspiration running down my face yesterday while I was dragging suitcases out.
Arthur and I were out in the big yellow trucka, gathering mulch and mail and stopping in at Trader Joe's, when, as the result of four years of Arizona sun, our left front tyre shredded off into little burnt pieces of rubber. We staggered over to the nearest tyre fixing establishment, safe and sound (buy Michelins!), but always keep in mind that heat and sun is infinitely more destructive than cold and ice, 'cause it's sneakier. The tyres of course look just fine.
We are now going to relax with a nice drink, on the chaise by the pool. 75F and sunny has some real, serious benefits.
a major snow storm in DC, talking about birds at the feeders and making stew, ah yes, another fine thread, although I come into it very late as always.
Should I mention that it's a fine winter day here in New Mexico? A little overcast, and not as warm as earlier in the week. Had windows open for two days to let some fresher air in to replace the winter funk. Cats sat at the kitchen windows, making their 'wily hunter' trills as the jays came down for their daily offerings of peanuts that keep them from raiding the little bird feeders. The jays come and yell at my office window if I neglect to put out the peanuts by mid-day. When I go out, there's always a few who will sit in the russian olive, yammering and complaining while I distribute the peanuts on the tray feeder and tuck some into the bark and branches of the russian olive (it keeps them busy). I miss the bold blue of the eastern jays, but their western cousins are just as smart and loud. But I sure do miss the redbirds, bright scarlet against the white snow on the ground back in Maryland and Virginia, it was a simple thing of beauty that caught my heart as a small child, watching the redbirds dance upon the snow and the deer come up to the salt lick my mom put in the far field every autumn.
Enjoy the peace inside, you folks who are watching the snow fall. I hope you don't have to go out until it's all over unless you want to.
Damn, all this talk about stew makes me hungry for stew and cornbread. Or boxtys. Think I'll go down to the store and see if there's any decent new zealand lamb to be found.
Snuggle up, find a good book or a fine old movie, or stay around to chat, hope you easterners stay warm and content.
Oh man, I just looked out the window, it's really coming down now- like rain in a downpour, except it's frozen.
Ooooh shiny new thread! How many more days do we have left until George leaves the People's House forever?
What makes you think he intends to leave?
Oh, GW will go. He will make way for the chosen Repub successor, whomever they decide it will be. There will even be an "election" whose votes they will carefully count.
We will continue to have the sham trappings of a free nation even as the camps swallow more and more dissidents, poor and minorities. For any convenient definition of the above. Most of us will fit nicely.
No end in sight, i fear.
(the beauty of apartment dwelling - no shovelling)
Unfortunately, the management of our apartment building shares that joy :-(
NMRed - Russian Olive trees grow in Colorado, too, just not at the alpine level. There are a number of them in Gunnison. I know that because I finally asked someone what the trees were. They are beautiful trees.
The Bush second inauguration is over and the "Name That Bush Scandal Contest" results are in!
Gosh, what a wonderful place this is. Recipes (all sound delicious), DWD writings, spiced here and there with political "stuff" - and posts re: birds and weather. I just love coming here. I can sit on the sidelines and listen to intelligent, wonderful people converse. Unfortunately, I'm becoming a junkie...I can spend way too much time reading the posts.
I'm in Portland, OR. We had ice last weekend, now we've got the "pineapple express", so it's into high 50s (low 60s a couple of days ago). I'd LOVE some snow, but we tend to get very little.
I feed birds and squirrels. I also individually feed my squirrels and jays - that's to say, not "by hand" because I don't want them to trust humans too much, so I throw the peanuts to them. My jays love to "steal", so I'll put peanuts on my front porch rail for them to fly up and grab. Some of them prefer that!
I adore all the birds. Have had Dark-Eyed Juncoes since Fall. Love bird names. ("Ah, my little dark-eyed junco...come to me...")
Sarah - We have juncoes in the mountains in the summer. They are such friendly little birds, hardly scared at all.
Tena, all the birds are wonderful. We get Anna's hummingbirds all year long. Lovely green miracles.
We have flickers, robins, and of course all the wrens and sparrows. Purple (think red) goldfinches, and Lesser Goldfinch" - don't seem to have "Greater" goldfinch, perhaps there are none such!
Grackles...or Starlings (such w lovely name for such a prolific and kind of overpowering bird) are innumerable. They are the ONLY bird that's not protected in the state of Oregon. Still, all the goddess's creatures and all that...They tend to leave our yard alone, but they were crazy for the suet I put out.
I have lots of worms in the yard, and, after a good rain, the robins are all here. They especially love their baths, and I have to keep that tended.
Sorry - this is my other passion!
This in from AP:
"The president, who during the 2000 election campaign disparaged "nation building" by President Clinton's administration, pledged in his speech Thursday to advance liberty in nations whose people were deemed repressed."
Repressed...You mean like in our media, when anything that challenges the administration is brought up?
This is a contradiction... "You liberals hate our president and America, you really do. And the media ias biased your way but you whine about FOX NEWS, the best news channel ever! They are successful because they are reporting the news real heartlanders want to know about, not the negative, elite prounciations of faggotry and hate for Bush on the liberal media! Freedom and Liberty is on the march and we are bring it to the world. Get with the program or shut up. Look, we won, you lost, get over it or get out. Toodles!
First. Fair. Balanced. Powerfu | Email | Homepage | 01.22.05 - 9:52 am | #"
Liberal and liberty in the same sentence, twisted to mean something opposite. Faggotry is a freedom. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness applies to all, else there is no freedom. Wake up, it's 1984.
In the aftermath of President Bush' second inauguration, there is a widespread consensus that taken literally, his address would commit the United States to a global campaign of democratic proselytization. American friends and foes, puppets and pawns, the wistful and the wary, all are understandably concerned.
Before starting a panic over the President's apparent Wilsonian idealism on steroids, it is worth remembering that Bush has not always been the outspoken proponent of democracy, individual liberty and human freedom:
"So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world...America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed."
- President George W. Bush, Second Inaugural, January 20, 2005
"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it."
- President George W. Bush, July 26, 2001.
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
- President-elect George W. Bush, December 18, 2000.
"You don't get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier."
- Texas Governor George W. Bush, July 1998.
So,in China, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel and, for that matter, in the United States, people can take a deep breath and calm down.
As the President himself said on Thursday, "some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty." After all, he should know.
For more, see:
"George Bush: Making the World Safe for Democracy?"
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news..._rights_dc>test
Characters Remaining:
Commenting by HaloScan
