• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Second rate reporter says what?

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

The revolution will be supervised.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

No one could have predicted…

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

This blog will pay for itself.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Monday Morning Open Thread

Monday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  December 28, 20155:43 am| 84 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Daydream Believers

FacebookTweetEmail

Get Fuzzy

(Get Fuzzy via GoComics.com)
.

Another feel-good story for our inner Satchels, per the Washington Post:

In a small, two-bedroom apartment in Corona, Calif., Trinity Santos, 5, reads her hardcover copy of “Green Eggs and Ham” again and again. She never tires of the Dr. Seuss classic, sometimes reading it to her 3-year-old brother, Joshua, said their mother, Diane.

Life is a struggle for the Santos family. Diane worked as a waitress before her children were born, and the family of four lives on the $35,000 that her husband earns as a phlebotomist. They don’t have much. But the children own the four dozen books in a small, homemade bookcase, courtesy of First Book, a nonprofit organization that combines market forces and philanthropy to get new books into the hands of poor children to encourage early reading.

“I didn’t have books at home when I was growing up in the Philippines,” said Diane Santos, 33, who connected with First Book through a local parent­ education program she attended shortly after Trinity was born. “I learned the most important thing is reading with them, talking to them, introducing new words.”

First Book, founded in the District in 1992, has grown into a sophisticated national enterprise that gave away more than 15 million new books to low-income children and teens in 2015. But as financial troubles have deepened in households nationwide, First Book has turned to items well beyond books, this year adding winter coats, nonperishable snacks, toothpaste, fleece blankets, underwear and other goods to its charitable arsenal…

More than 215,000 teachers, libraries, health clinics, after-school programs, shelters, faith-based groups and others — more than five times its 40,000 users in 2012 — are now registered to use First Book. Any provider or program is eligible if at least 70 percent of the children served come from low-income families…

First Book’s website says it can triple donations through December 31, if you’re looking at your tax deductions.

***********
Apart from hanging onto hope (if only by our fingertips), what’s on the agenda for the start of this foreshortened, wrapping-stuff-up week?

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « An Evening Snack: Brownies!!!!
Next Post: The morality of waiting for a pony »

Reader Interactions

84Comments

  1. 1.

    PurpleGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 6:23 am

    Trying this week to wrap up 2015 stuff (bills, mostly), set up the calendar for the start of 2016, and get a lot of decluttering done.

    In light of what First Book does, I wonder about the status of Reading Is Fundamental, a federal program that also worked to get books to low-income children. When I worked at Learning Leaders (formerly the New York City School Volunteer Program), we had several special reading/book programs. (For years we administered RIF in schools where had other volunteer programs.) My favorite reading was Authors Read Aloud which sent children’s book authors into schools to read their book(s) to a class and discuss writing with the students. I recently looked at the Learning Leaders website and it is half the size it was when I worked there and several of the special programs — like Authors Read Aloud and ArtWorks — were no more. The economic collapse of 2008/2009 really did a number on their funding.

  2. 2.

    WereBear

    December 28, 2015 at 6:38 am

    I got hooked on Bar Rescue this weekend, had never seen it before. Turns out, even bars are not recession-proof. Most of the stories had a middle that went “and then 2008 happened.”

    Tell me again how the Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility? I keep forgetting.

  3. 3.

    BruceFromOhio

    December 28, 2015 at 6:48 am

    Back to the grind, with its associated barriers and pitfalls.

    Thanks for the link, AL, this sounds like a really cool organization. I can attest first-hand to the power of books and reading in the formative years; it makes Maslow’s hierarchy a bit more attainable, and can free the mind in ways unmatched by other means.

  4. 4.

    Soprano2

    December 28, 2015 at 6:49 am

    I’m dreading work this morning. I live in SWMO, or, as it’s now known after the past weekend, Lake Missouri, and I work for the local sewer department. I dread the phone calls from people with water in their basements that are sure to come our way today. We’ve done a lot of rehab work the past four years; this will show how much good we’ve done.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 6:55 am

    @PurpleGirl:

    The economic collapse of 2008/2009 really did a number on their funding.

    I suspect it was the GOPs fetish for cutting programs that help those people that did them in. The rising deficit was just an excuse.

  6. 6.

    Mustang Bobby

    December 28, 2015 at 6:56 am

    Packing up and checking out of the hotel in suburban Cincinnati, then spending the day with my parents before heading to the airport and going back to Miami this afternoon. I had a nice time that included a meet-up with a local B-J comment thread denizen and meet my great-nephew.

    When I got here the weather was in the 60’s, but now it’s back to normal Ohio-in-December: 30’s and steel grey skies and raw. I remember why I moved to Florida.

  7. 7.

    PurpleGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 7:02 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Learning Leaders was raising money to meet a 4.5 million budget a year. Almost all of that was foundation/corporate grants and individual donations. They had a contract with the NYC Department of Education for parent training, but that was a few hundred thousand a year. Most of LL funding was from the private sector.

    ETA: When Learning Leaders was started it was part of the Board of Education. Then it was taken private to avoid some of the politics in NYC education. The name was eventually changed to Learning Leaders from NYC School Volunteer Program because so many people and funders thought we were part the Board of Education and was funded by the City.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 7:12 am

    @Soprano2: I’m treading water up here in Washington Co. We got 6 inches the past 2 days and we’re supposed to get 4 more today. Flash flood warnings up everywhere and Roads under water everywhere. the STL Post Disgrace says says the STL area has now broken the record for wettest year ever (58.14 inches) and the rivers are supposed to crest later this week just 2nd to what they did in ’93, the big difference being in ’93 the rivers came up, and stayed up, for a month. They’re going to crest and drop fairly quick this time.

    Still, we’ll have some widespread flooding this week. I-70 is under water in St Charles this morn and it won’t surprise me in the least if I-44 goes under at St Clair later today (it’s already under water in Phelps county). The wife may have an interesting commute today.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    December 28, 2015 at 7:14 am

    BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces said on Monday they had seized a strategic government complex in the western city of Ramadi from the Islamic State after a fierce weeklong battle to retake it, following a brutal seven-month occupation by the extremist group.

    “The security forces have entered the governmental buildings and raised the Iraqi flags over them after killing many ISIS militants, and the rest have escaped,” Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said.

  10. 10.

    PurpleGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 7:14 am

    As to one point the article makes — reading (and talking) to children when they small is vitally important to their success in school and life. Children need to establish early a relationship to reading and gaining a large vocabulary. It must start before they reach school and be reinforced by parents reading to them and reading themselves. That’s where the parent training contract Learning Leaders had comes in — they were training parents, especially of kindergarten age children, how to read to the child and play learning games with children. So many parents hadn’t had this done with them, they needed to taught to do simple things. Also how to be involved with their children’s education and school.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 7:18 am

    @PurpleGirl: Sorry, I had a brain fart there, I saw “Reading is Fundemental” and then “Learning Leaders” and conflated the 2. Reading really is fundamental.

  12. 12.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 7:23 am

    Home after a flu-ridden weekend in Virginia and a swell 6 hr drive to Athens.

  13. 13.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2015 at 7:23 am

    My Monday is done. I went to a hospital clinic to have my swollen pinky seen to. An X-ray found erosion of the bone in the middle segment of the finger (I guess that’s it for my dreams of playing the guitar righthanded), and I have an appointment with an orthopedist for Thursday. I’m on paracetamol for the swelling in my left hand.

  14. 14.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 7:24 am

    Aw damn, Meadowlark Lemon died.

  15. 15.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 7:30 am

    Meadowlark and Sweet Georgia Brown

  16. 16.

    JPL

    December 28, 2015 at 7:30 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The normal creeks have been flooding around the Atlanta area and a few bridges in Northern GA have failed, but we haven’t had nearly the amount of rain as you have had. The system over you is suppose to move east today, so we shall see. Take care.
    How’s the hobbling going? Are you behaving?

  17. 17.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 7:33 am

    @JPL: We live in Normaltown

    http://normaltown.com/

    Ha, the map is of Java!

  18. 18.

    Baud

    December 28, 2015 at 7:34 am

    @Amir Khalid: Is there a cause? Or just getting older?

  19. 19.

    JPL

    December 28, 2015 at 7:39 am

    @raven: How very normal! Where do you enjoy your morning coffee?

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 7:40 am

    @Amir Khalid: Not good.

    @JPL:

    Are you behaving?

    Badly.

  21. 21.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 7:43 am

    @JPL: Big City Bread, it’s not downtown but it’s not Normaltown either. It’s about a mile walk from here.

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2015 at 7:43 am

    @Baud:
    A cause for the bone erosion? Some kind of bacterial infection, most likely, which may require a course of antibiotics.

  23. 23.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2015 at 7:44 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    It’s only my pinky finger, which I hardly ever use anyway.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    December 28, 2015 at 7:48 am

    @Amir Khalid: Doesn’t seem too bad. Hoping for a quick recovery.

  25. 25.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 7:53 am

    @Amir Khalid: Mine was badly dislocated playing hoops 10 years ago and this spring I sliced it open and severed the ulnar nerve. It’s beat up but it doesn’t bother me save a bit of tingling.

  26. 26.

    magurakurin

    December 28, 2015 at 7:57 am

    @Baud: good news. And the Kurds in Syria have made a big advance, too. There is talk that they are going to cross the Euphrates River and head west. If they do Turkey will be pissed.

  27. 27.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 8:02 am

    @magurakurin: This is where Pat Lang’s site can really be instructive.

    This offensive is well outside the range of artillery interdiction from Turkey and, thanks to the R+6 imposed Turkish no-fly zone, the Turks cannot provide air interdiction for their IS brethren. If the SDF pushes west towards Manbij and the R+6 pushes east from Aleppo, the question of Jarabulus becomes moot.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    December 28, 2015 at 8:02 am

    Holy cow

    After 209 Days at Sea, Man Rows From U.S. to Australia
    MON, DEC 28

    After leaving San Francisco in June, 53-year-old John Beeden rowed 7,400 nautical miles, in what is believed to be the first successful person to row solo and non-stop from North America to Australia.

  29. 29.

    magurakurin

    December 28, 2015 at 8:04 am

    @raven: I agree. I read that the other day, too. He is really good on breaking down the actual tactical movements.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    December 28, 2015 at 8:12 am

    @PurpleGirl:

    Happily, RIF is still around, celebrating 50 years. I worked for a publisher that published lots of RIF books. Amazing how those little paperbacks just sold and sold.

  31. 31.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2015 at 8:13 am

    @Baud:
    Is this a realistic alternative for those of us who can’t afford the airfare?

  32. 32.

    Baud

    December 28, 2015 at 8:15 am

    @Amir Khalid: I’m afraid you need a healthy pinky to accomplish this feat. You’ll have to fly.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    December 28, 2015 at 8:15 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 8:21 am

    @Amir Khalid: An osteomyelitis is nothing to play with and having it in multiple locations is very serious, especially in this day and age of antibiotic resistant infections. My son almost lost a leg to one a way back when and things are a lot dicier now. If you don’t see significant improvement in just a few days, don’t wait, go back and demand a blood test. In fact, I’m not sure I wouldn’t demand one now.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    December 28, 2015 at 8:25 am

    @Amir Khalid

    You may be temporarily down a pinky, but you’ve still got the brain.

  36. 36.

    Skepticat

    December 28, 2015 at 8:25 am

    Please check out http://theliteracysite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/lit/home?gg_source=ctgtabs&gg_medium=sitenav&gg_campaign=ggc

    Every day I got to the Great Good site and click through each subsite, with special attention to the animal rescue section (check out the Shelter Challenge there too, please).

  37. 37.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2015 at 8:33 am

    Good morning, all. Hope many of you are taking more time off this week. (My sister is, and that soothes me as much as it does her. She has been frenetically busy this year.)

    Wishing you all a marvelous final week of 2015 (and only good things for us all in 2016).

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    December 28, 2015 at 8:33 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I’ll be seeing that orthopedist on New Year’s Eve. I’ll bring up what you said with him.

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 28, 2015 at 8:34 am

    It’s freezing here, quite literally. Fortunately my long nightmare with the November Win10 update on my Intel Compute Sticks seems to be coming to a close.

  40. 40.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 8:37 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: 37 on the LAT site!

  41. 41.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 28, 2015 at 8:41 am

    @raven: 30 here in beautiful West Glendale(I have a weather station outside).

  42. 42.

    Bruuuuce

    December 28, 2015 at 8:45 am

    Feeling for all the folks in the disaster areas from NM through TX through the Midwest to the Southeast. Looking forward to the Congressfolk from NY/NJ/CT and other areas affected by Hurricane Sandy voting, without hesitation, to provide federal disaster relief to all the areas whose reps tried to withhold it here.

  43. 43.

    Satby

    December 28, 2015 at 8:52 am

    @raven: My dad played an exhibition game against the Globetrotters once and always laughed that he was the guy Meadowlark Lemon pantsed in that game.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 8:53 am

    @Bruuuuce: West Alton MO is going under. Again. Those people are beyond help.

  45. 45.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 8:56 am

    @Satby: Aw that is great!

  46. 46.

    Satby

    December 28, 2015 at 8:59 am

    We have the promised freezing rain falling now, it was supposed to end by midmorning but now the advisory and radar are showing it’s going to last all day. And I start my job, not just training, today. Ugh.

  47. 47.

    Bruuuuce

    December 28, 2015 at 8:59 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Do you mean that the area is physically not a place to build in, or that the people are recalcitrant, ignorant, stubborn, and other suchlike? We could say the first about Bound Brook, NJ, for example, but at least some of the people there are worth saving. I can think of a few communities where I might say the second, but most of those aren’t prone to natural disasters.

  48. 48.

    Satby

    December 28, 2015 at 9:01 am

    @raven: Yeah, that would have been in the ’40s. That clip you linked is so good I just shared it on FB.

  49. 49.

    debbie

    December 28, 2015 at 9:05 am

    @Bruuuuce:

    Looking forward to the Congressfolk from NY/NJ/CT and other areas affected by Hurricane Sandy voting, without hesitation, to provide federal disaster relief to all the areas whose reps tried to withhold it here.

    I hope one of those Cogressfolk brings that up as the legislation is introduced.

  50. 50.

    Jerry

    December 28, 2015 at 9:06 am

    First Book seems like a nice organization and all, but why no mention of the library in Corona, CA? Public libraries are an essential part of any community, but are especially important for those that don’t have as much money as the rest. If this family were to visit their local library (this is assuming that they can get there, of course), they would have shelves upon shelves of books for their children; for free!

  51. 51.

    raven

    December 28, 2015 at 9:06 am

    @Satby: In Chicago? This was my dad’s first team at North Chicago High, 54-55

    https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5543/10019805413_d3920a928b_o.jpg

  52. 52.

    debbie

    December 28, 2015 at 9:07 am

    @Satby:

    Good luck driving. At least you won’t be dealing with all the rush hour traffic. That’s more dangerous than ice!

  53. 53.

    Bruuuuce

    December 28, 2015 at 9:07 am

    @debbie: Yep. Get it on the record, and then vote to support citizens in distress. THAT’s how it’s done.

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    December 28, 2015 at 9:13 am

    I love this story about home libraries…that rocks.

  55. 55.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    December 28, 2015 at 9:19 am

    @Baud: Have you seen pictures of him? He looks like Sisyphus! (Or my picture of him) Not an ounce of fat on him.

    BBC.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    December 28, 2015 at 9:20 am

    UH HUH

    UH HUH

    ……………………

    CHICAGO POLICE SHOOTING OF GRANDMOTHER, TEEN DRAWS CRITICISM
    BY MICHAEL TARM
    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    CHICAGO (AP) — Bettie Jones, known in her Chicago neighborhood for her work with anti-violence community groups, was killed by police responding to a domestic disturbance just hours after she hosted family on Christmas Day.

    The fatal shooting of Jones, 55, and 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier, a college student visiting his father for the holiday, at a West Side apartment has raised further questions about a police department already under intense scrutiny. Grieving relatives and friends of the two victims gathered Sunday to remember them and criticize city officials who they said had once again failed residents.

    The shooting happened early Saturday morning at the small two-story apartment, where Jones lived in a ground-floor apartment and LeGrier’s father in an upstairs unit. Police, who were responding to a 911 call made by LeGrier’s father after an argument with his son, have released few details beyond a brief statement.
    ……………………………………………………..

    Sam Adam Jr., a lawyer for the Jones family, said Jones and LeGrier were apparently shot near the doorway of the home, but that shell casings were found some 20 feet away. He said that raised questions about whether police could have perceived LeGrier as a threat at such a distance.

    It couldn’t be independently verified that the casings had any link to Saturday’s shooting.

    Adam also said police took the hard drive of a home-security camera from across the street, but it was unknown if it or other cameras in the neighborhood captured the shootings.

  57. 57.

    Satby

    December 28, 2015 at 9:24 am

    @raven: Great picture! Yes, St. Sabina was my dad’s parish back in the day, he was (I think) just out of high school at St. Leo’s when the game took place.
    St. Sabina is where firebrand priest Father Phleager is now. Very activist parish on the sout’ side.

  58. 58.

    Satby

    December 28, 2015 at 9:26 am

    @debbie: I can take it slow, all back roads all the way if I want. Thanks!

  59. 59.

    Satby

    December 28, 2015 at 9:30 am

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Wow. What a story!

  60. 60.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    December 28, 2015 at 9:34 am

    @Satby: Thanks for sharing the story about your dad. Meadowlark Lemon was a genius.

    Best of luck with your job and the drive!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  61. 61.

    Linnaeus

    December 28, 2015 at 9:36 am

    The Weather Channel’s convention of naming winter storms is kinda annoying.

  62. 62.

    Paul in KY

    December 28, 2015 at 9:48 am

    Back on 23rd, my parent’s main sewer pipe in basement cracked. Had to get them out of house & into hotel. Had plumbers over there that day for clean up/diagnosis of cause. I now know why plumbers make so much money. Had to clean it out by hand. Those 2 guys deserved combat pay.

    Think tree roots got into pipe & caused clog. Will have to replace pipe out to sewer. Yippie.

    Parents fine, just want to go home.

  63. 63.

    Paul in KY

    December 28, 2015 at 9:49 am

    @Amir Khalid: Best wishes on speedy recovery. Hope they don’t have to amputate.

  64. 64.

    Paul in KY

    December 28, 2015 at 9:50 am

    @raven: Saw him hit 5 half court hook shots in a row back in 70s sometime. Wonderful ball player & person.

  65. 65.

    Satby

    December 28, 2015 at 9:51 am

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: My dad was always somewhat proud of that incident, but there was nothing he enjoyed better than a joke on himself. He was a good man and a good cop; if he hadn’t died in 1989 I think what has happened to the force he was on would kill him today. He took a great deal of pride in how he could defuse situations and never needed to draw his gun. He would be appalled today.
    Thanks!

  66. 66.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    December 28, 2015 at 10:27 am

    @raven:

    You can’t buy memories like that!

    At least being sick is better at home.

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 10:30 am

    @Bruuuuce:

    the people are recalcitrant, ignorant, stubborn, and other suchlike?

    West Alton is long time unincorporated settlement that lies within the long low finger of land between the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. Every time God pees, they go under. But first they call for sand baggers. Then they rebuild. Again.

  68. 68.

    Bruuuuce

    December 28, 2015 at 10:36 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sounds like they need Baba Yaga for an architect :-(

    Thanks for the clarification.

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @raven: yeah, but did either of you throw up on yourselves in the car? You haven’t lived til you do that. I got suddenly sick while driving alone and was so sick that I called my best friend and asked her to stay on the phone with me until I could make it home. I really thought I might crash the car but I was so sick I was afraid of what would happen if I just pulled over. Fun times!

    I did feel for you guys when I read that yesterday. Glad you made it home!

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    December 28, 2015 at 11:02 am

    @Linnaeus:

    Super annoying.

  71. 71.

    PurpleGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 11:17 am

    @Jerry: But the children can’t keep the books at the library. The thing about First Book or Reading Is Fundamental is that the child gets to keep the book. It becomes their property. I know that Learning Leaders, in their parent training, teach parents about how to use a library and its various resources but there is something special when the child can keep a book. (We can only speculate as to how much First Book talks about libraries in their trainings and materials.)

  72. 72.

    PurpleGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 11:30 am

    @Paul in KY: When my friends had the house in Boca Raton there was a huge tree in the front yard. Not sure why N decided the tree had to come down but he did. The guy who mowed their lawns wanted $150(?) to cut the tree down; a licensed, bonded tree puller quoted him $350 to take the tree down. N, contrary to usual behavior, hired the licensed, bonded tree puller and they set the date. The day came, the guy is cutting the tree down, section by section and suddenly chaos breaks loose — water is gushing up. The tree’s roots had wrapped themselves around a water main that went through the front yard. The water main for the cul de sac. The reason you hire the licensed, bonded tree puller is that he knows the guys in the water district office and can call them on Sunday afternoon about the water main breaking. So the water district guys help to pull out the stump and the water main gets fixed.

    Sorry for parents in having to deal with this problem.

  73. 73.

    Jerry

    December 28, 2015 at 11:35 am

    @PurpleGirl:
    I understand that the children can keep the book with this program, but funny thing about children, they outgrow things very quickly. The greatest thing about the public library is that there are tons of new books waiting for them. Age appropriate books, as well, no matter how old they are.
    Please understand that I’m not belittling this program. It’s just that a public library can never be beaten. Besides, there are many other services a good public library will offer other than just books. The free Internet access being the most important.

  74. 74.

    PurpleGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 11:50 am

    @Jerry: I’m sure First Book does talk about libraries. I can say that because Learning Leaders teaches about libraries and their resources in their parent trainings.

    ETA: And we’re talking at cross purposes now. I think the article wanted to highlight one aspect of First Book. Anne Laurie wanted to present them as a good place to give some money.

  75. 75.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2015 at 11:53 am

    @Jerry: I never out grew ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ or “The Grinch who Stole Christmas”. Some books are with you forever.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    December 28, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    @Jerry: If you don’t have much money, you may be working multiple jobs and it’s hard enough to shop and put food on the table. There might just not be time or energy for running to the library. I think your life has to be pretty smooth in order to fit trips to the library into it.

  77. 77.

    randy khan

    December 28, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    @Jerry: Speaking just for myself, the little bookcase in my room was someplace I turned to again and again even thought I was a big user of the local library. I read a lot of the books repeatedly, and once I got to chapter books, they were good for a long time. Owning a book just is different from taking it from the library; you read books you own differently than ones that are just borrowed.

    This is not to belittle libraries at all – I spent a lot of time in the library and read a lot more library books than books I owned growing up (particularly books from the school library) – but a book you own is sort of like a toy that you play with again and again, and that’s a good thing.

  78. 78.

    J R in WV

    December 28, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    Libraries are the Nuts! I was able to read at a young age, as my Mom and Grandma both read to me a lot. As oldest son, I got a lot of individual attention until little bro showed up. By which time I was reading kid’s books on my own.

    By the time I was 6 or 7 Mom was going to the library and letting me loose in there. At first the librarians wanted to restrict me to 2 books at a time. Mom spoke to them, and I was allowed to take as many as I could carry. Small town, everyone knew everybody. I also outgrew the kid’s department pretty early.

    Then as an adult I could afford to buy books, and had trouble keeping the library books apart from our books. We stopped using the library for years.

    But now I am less busy, and have resumed using the resources at the library, mostly for borrowing classical music CDs, of which they have thousands, at least. Wonderful variety, I suspect the local professionals help with selection, or perhaps the library has a designated employee with a strong musical gift.

  79. 79.

    Paul in KY

    December 28, 2015 at 12:41 pm

    @PurpleGirl: See what happens when you hire licensed/bonded people ;-)

    Appreciate your concern. We’ll be fine.

  80. 80.

    Paul in KY

    December 28, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Mine is the Sneetchs book.

  81. 81.

    Death Panel Truck

    December 28, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    @Paul in KY: Bartholomew and the Oobleck, If I Ran The Zoo, If I Ran The Circus, and my all-time favorite, The King’s Stilts.

  82. 82.

    mclaren

    December 28, 2015 at 8:02 pm

    …the family of four lives on the $35,000 that her husband earns as a phlebotomist.

    I’m narrowing the problem down to the choice of profession as “phlebotomist.” Alchemist, phlebotomist, dowser and ufologist all look like poor career choices for the 21st century.

    A society should not reward people for practicing pseudoscience as a profession.

    On the other hand, economists are highly paid, so we’re not consistent in applying that rule as a society…

  83. 83.

    Steeplejack

    December 28, 2015 at 9:19 pm

    @mclaren:

    Snark fail? A phlebotomist is a med tech who draws blood.

    I’d love to see what a phrenologist would make of your head.

  84. 84.

    Paul in KY

    December 29, 2015 at 9:46 am

    @Death Panel Truck: Great ones all. Might I add ‘On Beyond Zebra’.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - dmkingto - SF Bay Area Scenes 7
Image by dmkingto (7/31/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • Geminid on GOP Stupidity Open Thread: He’s Not *My* Daddy, You Weirdos (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:46pm)
  • Matt McIrvin on Excellent Read: Unbridled Joylessness (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:46pm)
  • Harrison Wesley on Excellent Read: Unbridled Joylessness (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:45pm)
  • Baud on Excellent Read: Unbridled Joylessness (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:45pm)
  • bluefoot on Excellent Read: Unbridled Joylessness (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:43pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!