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Bark louder, little dog.

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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Saturday Morning Open Thread: For the People!

Saturday Morning Open Thread: For the People!

by Anne Laurie|  December 24, 20226:15 am| 189 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., NANCY SMASH!, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

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For The People — Democrats have averted shutdown, invested in our heroic Veterans and 1st Responders, invested in the health, housing, education and well-being of America's working families and defended Freedom and Democracy. -NP#DemocratsDeliveredAgain https://t.co/SY0g6iYNyQ

— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) December 23, 2022

225-201-1, the omnibus has passed and now heads to Biden's desk for his signature.

Dems who are still hanging around cheer and break into applause.

The House ADJOURNS, as the stragglers wish each other a merry christmas.

— Emily Cochrane (@ESCochrane) December 23, 2022

… To ensure that the government does not run out of funds and shut down at the end of Friday as the legislation is processed, the House also approved a one-week stopgap bill, which Mr. Biden signed into law Friday afternoon. The president also signed a military policy bill on Friday that will be funded by the government spending package.

“We have a big bill here because we have big needs for our country,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on Friday, noting that it was most likely her last speech on the House floor as speaker. Evoking a common Democratic slogan this Congress, she added, “This is truly a package for the people.”…

The annual government funding legislation includes a substantial increase in spending for the Pentagon and adds more money for health, education and veterans affairs programs. By providing billions of dollars to aid the Ukrainian government and replenish U.S. weaponry already sent abroad, it also brings the American investment in the country’s war effort to more than $100 billion this year.

Lawmakers also included about $40 billion to assist federal agencies and local communities as they rebuild after droughts, wildfires and hurricanes this year.

“It’s not a question of whether it’s perfect or not — it’s a very good bill,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. “It addresses some of the serious issues that this country faces and its challenges.”…

And at the end of a Congress that began with a mob storming the Capitol during the certification of Mr. Biden’s 2020 election victory, lawmakers agreed to overhaul an archaic 135-year-old law, the Electoral Count Act, which former President Donald J. Trump and his supporters tried to exploit so he could remain in power…

Aka Individual 1. https://t.co/ZuaNyhN17p

— KAMALA LA LA LA ???? (@KamalaNation) December 23, 2022

"The best advice I ever had, that I extend to you is, be yourself. You're the only person in the history of the world who is you," Pelosi said when asked what advice she has for women. "It's okay to assert yourself, to have confidence." https://t.co/Sl1gmn5qpm

— Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaReports) December 22, 2022

Power, freedom and the ways in which the former could most effectively be wielded to achieve the latter were very much on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mind Thursday morning…

Zelensky’s speech was part of “a momentous week for our democracy,” Pelosi declared Thursday in her final news conference as speaker. It had also reminded her of another moment from decades ago, when Winston Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom, spoke to Congress in 1941, as World War II was underway. In the audience was Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., then a young congressman from Maryland. Pelosi herself was a toddler at the time.

“It always was a source of pride to me that my father was there that day and now a source of pride that I could be there to hear another heroic leader of … a country at war, come ask for help,” Pelosi said. “When Winston Churchill came … he said, ‘We are doing the noblest task in the world, not only defending our hearths and homes, but the cause of freedom in every land.’ So much the theme, so much the common purpose of President Zelensky.”…

In farewell speeches and events, Pelosi has spent the past few weeks emphasizing the importance of defending democracy, turning a lame-duck session of Congress into her swan song of sorts as a foil against former president Donald Trump. She opened her final news conference Thursday thanking reporters, calling them “guardians of democracy,” a sharp contrast to Trump’s attacks on the press.

Her remarks also came just before a final report was set to be released by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.

“The 117th Congress began with a violent assault on our democracy, and now we hear its conclusions,” Pelosi said. “We have a vital road map, ensuring justice will be done and that this won’t happen again.”…

Pelosi acknowledged that she would be transitioning from a role that comes with “awesome power” to one with still “strong,” if subtler influence, particularly on women who might want to run for office. Pelosi recalled how, when she arrived in Congress in 1987, there were only 23 women in the House out of 435 lawmakers.

“I want women to have confidence,” Pelosi said. “So sometimes when I act a little more, shall we say, like myself, it’s because I want them to know it’s okay to assert yourself, to have confidence in what you bring to the table, and also to understand your uniqueness.”

Pelosi ended by citing President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech, which she said she recalled attending in the “freezing cold.” Most people remember the penultimate sentence, she said, recalling Kennedy’s speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for our country.” But Pelosi said it was the next sentence that struck her: “Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

She has told Biden that he has fulfilled in so many ways what Kennedy was signaling in his ability to rally international support for Ukraine.

“Working together with all of the countries to come together to support Ukraine, not by dictating what we think is the way to go, but through listening, working together so that everybody felt committed to a plan for the freedom of mankind,” Pelosi said. “And that’s how I tie being there as my father’s daughter at the inauguration to what happened this week and what our responsibilities are later.”

Slava Ukraini! pic.twitter.com/qFrO25ZocH

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 22, 2022

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Reader Interactions

189Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    December 24, 2022 at 6:16 am

    Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 24, 2022 at 6:27 am

    A little something not so blechy:

    Polar bears move into abandoned Arctic weather station – photo essay

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    December 24, 2022 at 6:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:  Incredible photos and story.  Polar bears look so deceptively cuddly.

    Merry Christmas Eve, jackals.

  4. 4.

    Lapassionara

    December 24, 2022 at 6:40 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sweet! Made me think of the polar bear in the St Louis Zoo. I bet he doesn’t mind our current arctic temperatures. It is 7 degrees outside this am. An improvement over yesterday’s minus 3.

    good morning

  5. 5.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 24, 2022 at 7:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:  Thanks for sharing that! I love the pic of the house with polar bears poking their heads out of various windows.

  6. 6.

    WereBear

    December 24, 2022 at 7:13 am

    I am so impressed with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She even orchestrated her own memes better than he did.

    Like the red coat and sunglasses. She played tRump and the media the whole time.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 7:28 am

    A different flavored Christmas playlist timeline.

    Yogi Yorgessen (1949?)
    Cha Cha Cha (1950s?)
    Stan Freberg (1955)
    Nut Rocker – the original (1962)
    Nut Rocker – cover by
    EL&P, live (1970)
    >The Kinks (1977)
    Metal style – joined in progress, earlier parts are too raucous for me (2000s?)

  8. 8.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 24, 2022 at 7:34 am

    A couple of months ago I wrote a longish comment in one of Adam’s threads on the history and significance of the “Slava Ukraini” phrase. To see that last Tweet is truly remarkable. To see the President of Ukraine in the House chamber, and to hear him responding to that, when it was shouted from the gallery, is something that at one time was literally inconceivable.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 7:36 am

    Managed to screw that up a tad. Try again.

    A different flavored Christmas playlist timeline.

    Yogi Yorgessen (1949?)
    Cha Cha Cha (1950s?)
    Stan Freberg (1955)
    Nut Rocker – the original (1962)
    Nut Rocker – cover by EL&P, live (1970)
    The Kinks (1977)
    Metal style – joined in progress, earlier parts are too raucous for me (2000s?)

  10. 10.

    MomSense

    December 24, 2022 at 7:37 am

    We had a big storm yesterday and my social media feeds are full of OMG look at the ocean covering the entire road, crashing onto this house/business.  OMG look at the river flooding this entire street /downtown.

    WTF did people think would happen with climate change?

  11. 11.

    p.a.

    December 24, 2022 at 7:37 am

    So when’s the next game of Republican Roulette with gubmint funding?

  12. 12.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 7:50 am

    @p.a.: Next December, probably. They used to get this stuff done by Thanksgiving but this last-minute Omnibus bill is the new normal.

    There will probably be another crunch time late summer when there will be a need to raise the debt ceiling. That time may come sooner if there is a recession, while a strong economy could push it back.

  13. 13.

    emmyelle

    December 24, 2022 at 7:57 am

    @WereBear: Gonna miss her so much. She has been one of the great blessings of our time

  14. 14.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    December 24, 2022 at 7:59 am

    @NotMax: Wha – No Spike Jonse?

  15. 15.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 24, 2022 at 8:01 am

    Pelosi: I was speaker and minority leader under President Bush, under President Obama, under what’s his name.

    And under Putin’s puppet.

  16. 16.

    Mimi haha

    December 24, 2022 at 8:07 am

    7AM and 6°F in Chicago. I love radiator heat.

    A sibling I don’t even talk to sent me an Amazon gift card. I got them nothing and am not planning to, or calling them to thank them. That might be donated someplace, I haven’t decided.

    The radio informs me if I’m planning on tailgating at the Bears game today open fire is not allowed in the parking lot. I’m guessing that’s a given in Soldier Field.

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 8:08 am

    @David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    Linky limit is seven.

    :)

  18. 18.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    December 24, 2022 at 8:09 am

    HBO has a new documentary “Pelosi in the House” (preview)

    It’s phenomenal. A more accurate title would have been “Giant”

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 8:14 am

    @emmyelle: Well, Speaker Pelosi (and she is still Speaker for a few more days) will not be leaving Congress. I think she will let the new leadership of her caucus make its own way, but this will free her up to advocate for initiatives and call attention to issues that she particularly cares about.

    And maybe work on her memoirs, which will as the youngs say, be lit.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 24, 2022 at 8:14 am

    @Mimi haha: How spicy!  1° by the lake, and hooray for steam radiators!

  21. 21.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 8:17 am

    @mrmoshpotato: 8° in Stanardsville, Virginia. And sunny!

  22. 22.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 24, 2022 at 8:20 am

    @Geminid: Tanning weather!

  23. 23.

    mali muso

    December 24, 2022 at 8:24 am

    @Geminid: 5 and sunny here. Left a faucet dripping last night just in case, and thankfully the pipes are fine. A good day to heat up the oven and bake more bread, methinks!

  24. 24.

    raven

    December 24, 2022 at 8:27 am

    @Mimi haha: Damn, we had a Weber fired up for Walter’s last game there! They shoveled off the seats but not the rest where you put your feet. And da Berz lost to the Seahawks!

  25. 25.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 24, 2022 at 8:28 am

    11° F. and sunny here in northern Calvert County, MD.  Was probably in single digits just before sunrise.  And the wind chill is -2°.

  26. 26.

    Layer8Problem

    December 24, 2022 at 8:30 am

    Weather at the closest weather station at Teterboro sez 6°F, -14°C for the metrically inclined, with 14 MPH wind gusting to 22 so it feels like -10°F.  I’m not inclined to go out.

  27. 27.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 8:33 am

    @mali muso: I’ll be frying up some potatoes and onions in a bit. My cottage is small and very snug. I don’t really have heat besides one electric radiator-style heater, but just cooking heats the house well. And I’ve soaked some beans so I’ve got them to cook later.

  28. 28.

    Immanentize

    December 24, 2022 at 8:35 am

    As we dip into the Christmasy weekend, I thought I would emerge from the binary shadows to wish you all a warm holiday. Or not — depending on your personal lifestyle.

    For me, things are good right now — the Immp is home, we took a couple days to go to Central NY and visit the beavers at the new  place (the beavers were sleeping), and eat a bunch of good Italian food. How is it that there are so many really excellent Italian Chefs in upstate NY?

    Like everywhere else it seems, it is cold here. Gonna put a blazer in the fireplace and make my Mexican recipe fave: Chili con Carne, EstiloTejas. Merry happy to all of you, all Jackals, and those sweet polar bears.*

    *Fun fact learned in Miami of all places, the skin of polar bears is black, their hairs are hollow/transparent, not white. Nature, what a trip!

  29. 29.

    Ken

    December 24, 2022 at 8:36 am

    On the bright side, the map at weather.gov is colorful. And I had not realized there were so many ways to say “it is very cold”.

  30. 30.

    Spanky

    December 24, 2022 at 8:37 am

    @lowtechcyclist:

    11° F. and sunny here in northern Calvert County, MD.

    And here I thought we were balmy at 9° F over here on the west side.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 8:37 am

    Spooky.

    Took the last three ice cubes from the tray, put them in a glass, refilled tray and returned it to freezer. When I turned around again there was only one cube in the glass.

    No idea what happened to the other two. Looked everywhere plausible. Just … vanished.

  32. 32.

    the pale scot @ gmail

    December 24, 2022 at 8:40 am

    Is there a pet shelter that BJ is supporting now?

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 8:41 am

    @Immanentize

    How is it that there are so many really excellent Italian Chefs in upstate NY?

    New place is just outside Rome, silly.

    :)

  34. 34.

    Immanentize

    December 24, 2022 at 8:41 am

    @NotMax: Ran away with the mustard.

  35. 35.

    JMG

    December 24, 2022 at 8:43 am

    Temperature yesterday am: 55. Today: 11. A tiny bit of snow fell last night as the storm pulled out. I should go brush it off the cars, but I don’t have the caffeine nor the willpower quite yet. Otherwise, all is well. Daughter is here for Christmas. Son and his wife are on Maui, where wife’s family lives and where her sister got married yesterday.

  36. 36.

    Immanentize

    December 24, 2022 at 8:43 am

    @NotMax: HA! Tru dat.

    And Cicero and Syracuse. Duh!

  37. 37.

    PAM Dirac

    December 24, 2022 at 8:49 am

    @lowtechcyclist: Got down to 3.5F in Frederick. All the way up to 6.1 now. Went below freezing at 9:30am yesterday and isn’t predicted to get back above freezing until ~11am Tues. At least the grape vines should be OK. Usually no damage until about -5.

  38. 38.

    Glory b

    December 24, 2022 at 8:50 am

    Pittsburgh,  0 degrees. Wind chill, -22. Yesterday wind gusts, 58 mph.

    Brrrrr.

  39. 39.

    kalakal

    December 24, 2022 at 8:51 am

    @NotMax: Nice to see Keith Emerson enjoying himself. I wore out my copy of Pictures at an Exhibition

  40. 40.

    Nelle

    December 24, 2022 at 8:52 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thank you for this!  Tge photos are rich and haunting.  I find myself thinkjng of the earth after the extinction of humans.  We’ll be leaving quite a debris field.

    In the Alaskan village (off the northeast coast of Alaska) that I spent summers in for eight years, after the thaw in June,  polar bears would come in to nose around the bowhead whale carcass from the previous autumn’s whale hunt, often close to midnight when the sun was low  above the northern horizon.  I tell my daughter that she was only four months old when she saw her first wild polar bear,  but it was wasted on her.   We were in a truck so she wasn’t in danger.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 24, 2022 at 8:53 am

    @NotMax: Damned mini black holes.

  42. 42.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 8:56 am

    @Immanentize

    Did someone say Syracuse?

    :)

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 24, 2022 at 8:56 am

    @Nelle: Pretty cool. Someday I’d like to make my way to Alaska.

  44. 44.

    Sure Lurkalot

    December 24, 2022 at 8:59 am

    18 in Denver now, warmer than all day yesterday. Going up to the mid 40s, suitable for actually opening the door and stepping outside. Yea!

  45. 45.

    Spanky

    December 24, 2022 at 9:00 am

    The 10-day forecast says next Saturday will be showery with an overnight low of 52. Daily and nightly temps easing upward all week long until then.

    We’ve had years with killer Decembers followed by really mild Januarys and Februarys. Can’t we have something in between where I can see some snow without having to scrape the frost off the insides of the windows?

  46. 46.

    Spanky

    December 24, 2022 at 9:06 am

    @NotMax: That (perhaps inevitably) reminded me of this.

  47. 47.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    December 24, 2022 at 9:12 am

    The benefits of big-city Democratic infrastructure: It’s fucking 8° F outside, but it’s 77° here in my cozy, comfortable, messy, book-ridden NYC studio apt. hovel, where the heat is covered by my stabilized rent — which, living on disability in my late 50’s, is the only way I’d be able to afford it here.

    There are benefits sometimes to living in a city largely governed by commie libtard woke social democrats.​
    ​
    ​

  48. 48.

    Ohio Mom

    December 24, 2022 at 9:20 am

    @Immanentize: Glad to see you pop up. Missed you and was hoping you were busy doing happy things. Which it appears you are. Carry on!

  49. 49.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 9:20 am

    Thing I learned this week.

    Actress Zasu Pitts (no mean hand in the kitchen, apparently) published a book of her candy recipes. The one included at the link really couldn’t be much simpler.

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2022 at 9:21 am

    @NotMax: She was best friends with Shirley Temple’s mother.

  51. 51.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2022 at 9:23 am

    Was interested to read (on p. A18) the NYT’s version of the story about Cassidy Hutchinson and her lawyer. While the BIG aspect of the story on the internet was how her TFG-siding attorney told her that Maggie Haberman was considered by the Trump camp to be on their side, somehow that tidbit did not appear anywhere in the NYT version of the story. Maggie Haberman was not mentioned. I know I should know better, but I was kind of shocked.

  52. 52.

    Ohio Mom

    December 24, 2022 at 9:29 am

    @NotMax: Simpler? Something tells me you have a much easier time getting your hands on “three large fresh coconuts” than we Ohioans. I can’t remember the last time I saw a fresh coconut for sale.

    (The bagged, dried-out shredded stuff, sure, I can buy that).

  53. 53.

    Aussie Sheila

    December 24, 2022 at 9:32 am

    @zhena gogolia: They really are as terrible as one suspects they are, aren’t they.

  54. 54.

    Quiltingfool

    December 24, 2022 at 9:34 am

    @Ruckus!  If you are here, would you go check your email?  I sent you a photo and am not sure you got it…I need your input on the block.

  55. 55.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 9:38 am

    @Ohio Mom

    Climate change will result in hectares upon hectares of Ohio coconut farms.

    //

  56. 56.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2022 at 9:38 am

    @Geminid:

    We have 9° in Atlanta!

  57. 57.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 24, 2022 at 9:39 am

    An even 0 here in my part of Chicagoland.

    We’ve been grocery shopping already. Unsurprisingly, the store was nearly empty at 7am.

  58. 58.

    SFAW

    December 24, 2022 at 9:39 am

    I saw some news-feed headline where they quoted Andrew KEVIN McQarthy calling the Omnibus bill the most “shameful” thing EVAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in DC, because apparently there’s something therein renaming some building for Speaker Pelosi.
    When The Only Speaker Who Matters heard about that, she said something like “has he forgotten January 6th?”
    Fuck Andrew McQarthy, and the rest of his minions-to-be. [Just kidding; they won’t be HIS minions.]

    edited

  59. 59.

    SFAW

    December 24, 2022 at 9:40 am

    @Aussie Sheila:

    They really are as terrible as one suspects they are, aren’t they.

    No, they’re worse.

  60. 60.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 9:42 am

    @SFAW

    Sure you didn’t mean Kevin?

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 9:42 am

    @SFAW: I like the $65 million to restore salmon habitat out West. As Nancy Peltola would say, “Fish, Family, Freedom!”

  62. 62.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2022 at 9:44 am

    @NotMax: Yeah, or maybe the Brat Pack has taken over the House!

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 9:46 am

    It was 8° in Threadkill Lane when I got up an hour and a half ago, now 10°. Faucets still drizzling. Yay. I do not want to be looking for a plumber at Christmas.

    High of 23° today. 🐻‍❄

  64. 64.

    WereBear

    December 24, 2022 at 9:47 am

    We are +6 F. Sun visible behind the clouds. When sunset is 4:31 pm, like last night, these little things mean a lot :)

    I am set to pick up our holiday dinners from the local deli, five minutes away. Make their own pies. Mr WayofCats loves their stuffing.

    It’s always my favorite option when we have family for the holidays. When it’s just the two of us, we like to get dressed up and pick a holiday brunch or early dinner at a hotel.

    Not this year.

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 9:51 am

    @Steeplejack

    Still hark back to a winter in St. Paul (1977?) when the highest temperature for the entire month of January was zero.

  66. 66.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2022 at 9:53 am

    I am going to brave the cold, wind, and ice to go to hot yoga and the store. Then I am going to make a ricotta cheesecake. Yum!

    Maybe I’ll make a NY crumb cake, too. I’ve been enjoying baking a bunch of cakes this holiday season. But as I am not a big chocolate person, I have to say that I am on #teampumpkinspice.

  67. 67.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    December 24, 2022 at 9:54 am

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Now we’re back to typical Denver weather where it gets warm the next day and melts everything.  Okay, not 60 but I’ll take it.

    Might hafta do a rare run in daylight for my usual two laps around City Park (6 miles total).

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 9:55 am

    @NotMax:

    It’s all relative. My family lived in North Dakota when I was in college. Going home at Christmas (from Missouri) was a trip (in every sense).

  69. 69.

    WereBear

    December 24, 2022 at 9:58 am

    @Suzanne: Pumpkin cheesecake IS one of the delights of the season.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 9:58 am

    @Suzanne

    It’s Pittsburgh. Isn’t it a law that cheesecake be adorned with French fries?

    /Primanti’s.

    :)

  71. 71.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2022 at 10:00 am

    @NotMax: Primanti’s is gross. #sorrynotsorry

    The bakeries around here are good, though.

  72. 72.

    WereBear

    December 24, 2022 at 10:00 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Beats Buffalo that way.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 10:01 am

    @Steeplejack

    Second worst pizza encountered back in the day was when in Fargo.

  74. 74.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2022 at 10:03 am

    @WereBear: Agreed on the pumpkin cheesecake. I also have a recipe for a lemon cheesecake that I want to try.

    The ricotta cheesecake’s crust is made with amaretti cookies. So I decided that it pairs well with amaretto sours. So I have some lemons and limes to squeeze today, too!

  75. 75.

    Anyway

    December 24, 2022 at 10:04 am

    Stayed home in the crummy weather yesterday and baked a ton of cookies. Now to pack and deliver to my peeps.

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 10:06 am

    @Suzanne

    Bizarre but true. A healthy splash of amaretto in a can of beer makes it taste 99.9% just like cream soda.

  77. 77.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    December 24, 2022 at 10:06 am

    @WereBear: ​
     

    Transplants (which is practically everybody now) who first get here bitch constantly about “why aren’t the streets plowed?” not realizing that the vast majority of time, wait a day and the streets are cleared.

    It’s one thing the City can avoid doing so that they can pretend to be doing something else.

  78. 78.

    MattF

    December 24, 2022 at 10:07 am

    From Post. Maybe worth poking around there, despite edgelord funding.

  79. 79.

    raven

    December 24, 2022 at 10:10 am

    It’s still 12 here and I just got through searching for an old pup that wandered out my neighbor’s dog door sometime during the night. She is a really old pitty mix named “Cookie” and I was pretty pessimistic about her. I came home to warm up for a minute and they posted on FB that they found her in the kudzu field behind out house!!!! Yay for Cookie!

  80. 80.

    raven

    December 24, 2022 at 10:12 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Is it the park with the cobblestones? Years ago I ran in that park with a golden that belonged to a friend. The pup never flinched but, when we got back, we discovered that all four of his pads we rubbed raw. It was awful.

  81. 81.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 24, 2022 at 10:14 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: “why aren’t the streets plowed?”

    In STL city the answer is, “Because they don’t.” Except for snow routes, those they plow. And if you make the mistake of parking on one before they have cleared it, be prepared for a very expensive visit to the city impound lot.

  82. 82.

    geg6

    December 24, 2022 at 10:15 am

    @Glory b:

    Out here in Beaver County, it’s warmed all the way up to 3 degrees with -14 windchill. We had a short window of sun, so not sure how long the warm weather will last now that the clouds have moved in again.//

  83. 83.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 24, 2022 at 10:18 am

    @NotMax: Cripes. No wonder you fled to Hawaii

  84. 84.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    December 24, 2022 at 10:20 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Detroit didn’t plow neighborhood streets either. Our block club paid to plow ours.

  85. 85.

    MattF

    December 24, 2022 at 10:21 am

    Looks like the radicals are in control in Afghanistan.

  86. 86.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2022 at 10:21 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Dude. The whiners in my neighborhood are the long-timers. I swear to FSM, three flakes in, and they’re on my neighborhood Facebook group sharing the contact information for our councilman.

    I have to remind myself that people here have culturally grown up with an expectation of service from government, and that is not a thing I grew up with.

  87. 87.

    SFAW

    December 24, 2022 at 10:21 am

    @NotMax: ​
     
    Shit. Yes. I knew I’d screw that up someday.
    Thanks for the correction.

  88. 88.

    Mike in NC

    December 24, 2022 at 10:22 am

    Twelve degrees in Boston but at least the rain stopped after two days.

  89. 89.

    geg6

    December 24, 2022 at 10:22 am

    @Suzanne:

    I beg to differ on the Primanti’s.  The original store is the best though.

    Oakmont Bakery is my favorite, with Kretchmar’s here in the county seat (Beaver) a very close second.

  90. 90.

    WereBear

    December 24, 2022 at 10:22 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Not what I expect in a city. I don’t expect it to be done well, mind you, but I guess I’ve been spoiled.

    Though if Florida were in Quebec, it would be all private, all the time…

  91. 91.

    WereBear

    December 24, 2022 at 10:24 am

    @Suzanne: That explains some of the difference between blue states and red?

    How can people vote for something they don’t think they can get?

  92. 92.

    indycat32

    December 24, 2022 at 10:25 am

    It’s a balmy 3 degrees here with sunshine.  I gave kittens some wet food this morning but it froze before they finished it.  Trying multiple things to provide water, but without much success.

  93. 93.

    Kathleen

    December 24, 2022 at 10:25 am

    @NotMax: I recall a similar period in the 60’s. I finally made it to Tampa where it is in the balmy 30’s (compared to the various minuses in Cincinnati).

    I am missing my granddog Scruffy, who had to be put to sleep a few weeks ago.

    Happy Holiday (or Whatever Kind Of Holiday You Feel Like Having) to all!

  94. 94.

    geg6

    December 24, 2022 at 10:26 am

    @Suzanne:

    Nobody bitches about road maintenance regardless of the season or weather conditions like Yinzers.  It should be a competitive sport.

  95. 95.

    Tom Levenson

    December 24, 2022 at 10:29 am

    Boston/environs went from ~60 yesterday around 2 p.m. to about ~22 now. Which ain’t nuthin compared to what most are experiencing.

    The tide yesterday, though!

  96. 96.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2022 at 10:30 am

    @WereBear: Yeah, I think so. For much of the country, government doesn’t really visibly work well, it isn’t responsive to local challenges, and so there’s this vicious cycle of expectations. Of course, it could work better if it was adequately funded. So it feels — to many people, I’m sure — that they put tax dollars in, and don’t get much out. It would be an improvement, from that standpoint to put in nothing and get nothing.

  97. 97.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 24, 2022 at 10:35 am

    Here in the sunny northwestern Chicago suburbs it was 9 below when I got to work yesterday, heat not working in the shop, paint booth would not ignite and all the paint in paint room was jello as the room was 40 degrees. Preventative maintenance, what does it mean? (corp management)

    On the upside, after work my Hyundai started, my techs b.f. Dodge Ram, would not.

  98. 98.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2022 at 10:39 am

    @geg6: It’s unreal. In Arizona, the roads are the one thing that is absolutely perfect. Every road is huge and wide and perfectly smooth, and most are completely flat and straight. People live there in part because they want to drive huge vehicles and drive fast, and there is nothing that most people want more there than great roads.

    I think the roads in PA are surprisingly good, considering that the conditions are difficult. More hills, softer soils, more freeze-thaw cycles.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 24, 2022 at 10:41 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I remember in ’82 after the big thunder snow (18-22 inches) brought the entire metro area to a screeching halt. After a few days most of the suburbs had returned to a semblance of normalcy. City Mayor Vince Schoemel promised to have every street in the city plowed and about 2 weeks later he got on TV and declared, “Mission accomplished.” My roommate and I looked out our window at our south side street and….
    Nope. Still a foot and a half of snow packed down to about 8″ in the center of the street.​

  100. 100.

    Sure Lurkalot

    December 24, 2022 at 10:44 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m hoping we got good winter storm timing for our trip to the hills later this morning. I don’t like icy driving. Guess I’m not living in my ideal place….

  101. 101.

    Spanky

    December 24, 2022 at 10:51 am

    @Suzanne: The bakeries were one of the things I missed most when I moved to the Maryland suburbs of DC 425 (shit!) years ago. Nothing has really improved, bakery-wise, especially since we moved farther out.

  102. 102.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    December 24, 2022 at 10:52 am

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Main drags, especially highways, are always well cleared, it always throws me when I come out of a snow-packed neighborhood like mine and see that it’s not dire.

    City Park doesn’t have cobblestones.  Now, the “sidewalk” along 17th is broken up flagstone so you can’t run on it in the dark as you’ll trip and maim yourself.

  103. 103.

    Spanky

    December 24, 2022 at 10:56 am

    @NotMax: That was my one winter in Iowa City. There’s nothing stopping the wind between St Paul and IC. There was a stretch of more than a week where my radiator was nothing but slush and it wouldn’t turn over. I walked into town to get to classes.

    I left Iowa after that one year. Never ever looked back.

  104. 104.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 10:57 am

    @Kathleen:

    Sorry to hear about Scruffy. 🌈🐾

  105. 105.

    Spanky

    December 24, 2022 at 11:00 am

    @Suzanne:

    I think the roads in PA are surprisingly good

    I wanted to see this phrase again, because it has never before been formed.

  106. 106.

    Miss Bianca

    December 24, 2022 at 11:01 am

    @Immanentize: A blazer in the fireplace? What, you’re burning all your “casual Friday” work clothes? That’s a serious step indeed!

  107. 107.

    eclare

    December 24, 2022 at 11:02 am

    Ugh.  TVA, from which our local utility in Memphis buys its power, has instituted rolling blackouts.  TVA is a federal agency, it’s not some wild west capitalist mashup like in Texas, how did this happen?

  108. 108.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 24, 2022 at 11:03 am

    @Tom Levenson: My friend up in Lowell texted me her power went out at 4 pm.  Blessedly it was back on by 9-ish.

  109. 109.

    Sure Lurkalot

    December 24, 2022 at 11:07 am

    @Suzanne: I live in the blue city of Denver and its government doesn’t work well (even my city councilperson would agree). Too many fiefdoms and now short staffed as well. Both my spouse and I were in the building business (architecture, development) and it was often difficult to keep projects on track.

  110. 110.

    Spanky

    December 24, 2022 at 11:10 am

    Well, Mrs. Spanky feels like crap, and reluctantly cancelled dinner at our friends. I think we did them a favor, because their power has been going off and on all morning. No electric stove for them!

    Likely a cold, but there’s a covid test in her near future.

  111. 111.

    twbrandt (formerly tom)

    December 24, 2022 at 11:10 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I remember when someone asked Mayor Young what his plan for plowing the streets was, he replied “July”.

  112. 112.

    raven

    December 24, 2022 at 11:10 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: This was over 20 years ago so I’m not sure where it was.

  113. 113.

    MattF

    December 24, 2022 at 11:15 am

    @NotMax: I think I was in Minneapolis for that winter. It was cold. I couldn’t keep my keys in my pants pocket because the keys would scrape off the skin on my leg.

  114. 114.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 11:18 am

    @Suzanne

    Quickgrifter Messenger Service?

    //

  115. 115.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 11:19 am

     

     

    @eclare: Sounds like there is an exceptional load because of this weather event. It could be a real hardship on some people.

    Hopefully the TVA’s infrastucture is adequately protected from freezing and this is just a capacity problem. Texans lost power for so many days because weather protection that is standard up north was neglected and that affected different types of electrical generation in various ways. I think in at least one case a natural gas pipe froze and the power plant it supplied had to shut down. That rarely happens up north.

  116. 116.

    Another Scott

    December 24, 2022 at 11:25 am

    @Geminid: Agreed that it’s probably related to heavy power draw because of the low temperatures.  Much of the East is affected.

    PowerOutage.US has a map and lots of detailed numbers available.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  117. 117.

    Heidi Mom

    December 24, 2022 at 11:28 am

    @geg6: Kretchmar’s still exists??!!!!!  I’m so happy to hear that.  We left Beaver in 1995, I went back for a funeral in 2004 and was relieved to see it then, but just thought the odds were against its continued existence.  I should have trusted in its excellence.

  118. 118.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2022 at 11:34 am

    Greetings from the balmy Owens Valley(it was 14℉ on Monday morning when I shot this).  This was shot with my new Sony A7iv and at 17-28mm Tamron lens at 17mm.  The startrails are 2 hours worth of exposure time, the foreground is 4 minutes + additional frames for light painting.

  119. 119.

    frosty

    December 24, 2022 at 11:36 am

    @Steeplejack: ​
     Balmy! Six degrees here in South PA when I woke up at 8:30 this morning. Up to nine now, with a forecast high of 16. Take the sweater off!

    I put the plastic sheet “insulation” on one window yesterday and killed the cold drafts. I’ll do two or three more today.

  120. 120.

    Soprano2

    December 24, 2022 at 11:39 am

    It’s 6 degrees here and sunny; I can hear the melting snow dripping on top of the air conditioner. We have to go on our weekly Walmart/Aldi run because we’re out of dry cat food (shh he’s sleeping on my lap, don’t tell him!) and we need stuff so hubby can bake pies for tomorrow. Supposed to be 50º by Tuesday, hurry up Tuesday!

    They never plow the side streets here because a) it would cost too much and b) it usually melts before they could get to it. People have no idea how many miles of paved streets are in a city, or what it would cost to plow them all.

  121. 121.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2022 at 11:42 am

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: I saw that yesterday in the Patreon — amazing!

  122. 122.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 11:42 am

    @Another Scott: There are probably a lot of people in that region who are running their electric cook stoves for heat. Heat pumps are a common source for heating in the mid-south and even though they have been improved, heat pumps can really struggle once temperatures get below 20°.

  123. 123.

    BC in Illinois

    December 24, 2022 at 11:44 am

    Daughter #1 and her family are on the road to visit Daughter #4 and her family.

    St Louis to the Outer Banks of N Carolina.

    They made it through the elements so far, had breakfast near Knoxville and are on their way to Asheville. Six or so hours left to go.

    A couple of hours ago she sent this:

    You know what’s appropriate listening while driving through snow-dusted NC mountains?

    Lord of the Rings, battle of Helm’s Deep.

  124. 124.

    Glory b

    December 24, 2022 at 11:44 am

    @Suzanne: What? Blasphemy!

  125. 125.

    Tom Levenson

    December 24, 2022 at 11:50 am

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Fabulous.

  126. 126.

    MattF

    December 24, 2022 at 11:52 am

    @Geminid:

    …even though they have been improved, heat pumps can really struggle once temperatures get below 20°

    Yeah. My very advanced heat pump is sometimes going to ‘electrical’ heating, which, an expert has remarked, is more efficient than burning your house down.

  127. 127.

    Miss Bianca

    December 24, 2022 at 11:52 am

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Whoa. That’s mind-blowing.

  128. 128.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 11:53 am

    Last night Alex Wagner and Stephanie Ruhle stayed up late on MSNBC to process the latest tranche of January 6 committee interview transcripts that were released. (Links on that page go to PDF files.) They emphasized how many “witnesses,” notably including Mike Pompeo and Ivanka Trump, repeatedly replied, “I don’t recall,” when asked about the events of January 6 and their actions.

    In light of the news about Cassidy Hutchinson being coached/​badgered by her Trump lawyer about using “I don’t recall” as a free pass, I would love to see some investigative entity—hopefully the DOJ—delve a little deeper and press these weasels on their faulty memories. It strikes me that “I don’t recall” is an all too convenient, face-saving alternative to pleading the Fifth Amendment. And you can’t compel someone’s testimony if they can’t remember anything, amirite? Grr.

  129. 129.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2022 at 11:53 am

    @zhena gogolia: Thanks, this is version 2, I did some cleanup on the sky.

    @Miss Bianca: 

    @Tom Levenson: Thanks much.

  130. 130.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 11:56 am

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:

    There’s a stargate at Owens Valley?! Wonder where it goes.

  131. 131.

    Chetan Murthy

    December 24, 2022 at 11:57 am

    @Miss Bianca: As someone wrote in a book about the Keplerian revolution, all you have to do is look up and track the positions of the stars over a few hours, and you’ll see that the Earth rotates (and that it’s round).

  132. 132.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 11:57 am

    @BC in Illinois: Sounds like they took I-40 over the mountains. That was the last stretch of I-40 to be completed. I want to drive it sometime.

    Asheville looks like a nice place. I had a bus layover there one evening and walked around. There were a lot of houses with really nice woodwork and it seemed like every other one had wind chimes. The city is in the Southern Highlands and it’s full of azaleas and rhododendrons.

    Mt. Pisgah campground is about 30 miles southwest of Asheville, on the Blue Ridge Parkway. That’s one of the nicest places I’ve ever camped.

  133. 133.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 11:59 am

    @frosty:

    Stay warm! (Despite your nym, I guess.)

    Huh. FYWP or somebody changed my polar bear emoji to a brown bear plus a snowflake. WTF. Hmm, looks like Windows doesn’t have a polar bear emoji. (Earlier comment sent from my phone.)

  134. 134.

    Another Scott

    December 24, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: Hah!  That’s what the RoundEarthers want you to think.

    SpaceCentre.NZ:

    At a glance the flat-earth model looks workable, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. However, there are problems.

    For starters, the stars rotate anti-clockwise when you are north of the equator, but rotate clockwise when you are south of the equator. Flat-earthers have proposed various explanations such as the example below. This image is from a video by YouTuber Everything Flat Earth, that illustrates how the visibility and rotation of the stars could be explained on a flat Earth.

    [Flat Earth Star Map]

    This is an example of how the sky could work, but is it how the sky does work? Well, no. In this video, the stars are moving in a way that doesn’t match what we see. For example, people in high northern latitudes would see stars rotating in different directions. If you know the night sky well, you’ll see other things in this model that don’t match observation.

    The flat-earth model works best at the North Pole, but as you get farther south, the problems increase. Perhaps the most glaring issue is the location of Southern Hemisphere stars like Sigma Octantis that always appear directly south. In the flat-earth model, south isn’t a single direction—it’s a 360° circle pointing away from the North Pole. In this scenario there is no way to explain how Sigma Octantis is always due south from any location in the Southern Hemisphere.

    This brings us to the crux of the matter: The fact that there is no flat-earth star map.

    It’s being suppressed by the gigantic RoundEarthers conspiracy.

    ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  135. 135.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2022 at 12:10 pm

    We have a prediction for a warm Christmas and then it starts raining for the rest of the year(this is a good thing).

  136. 136.

    kalakal

    December 24, 2022 at 12:11 pm

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: That’s superb

  137. 137.

    WaterGirl

    December 24, 2022 at 12:16 pm

    @SFAW: I took the liberty of editing your comment.  I can undo that if you want.

  138. 138.

    WaterGirl

    December 24, 2022 at 12:18 pm

    @Kathleen: tears for Scruffy.  that’s so hard.

  139. 139.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 12:20 pm

    Tonight, Jim Jordan will be haunted by three spirits. Kanye. Elon. Trump.

    — Schooley (@Rschooley) December 24, 2022

  140. 140.

    WaterGirl

    December 24, 2022 at 12:21 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yes.  Give them a chance to answer those questions again, surely recent events will help them dust off their cobwebs.

  141. 141.

    HumboldtBlue

    December 24, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    @Geminid:

    I’ll be frying up some potatoes and onions in a bit. And I’ve soaked some beans so I’ve got them to cook later.

    Are you sure you’re not in my apartment?

  142. 142.

    CaseyL

    December 24, 2022 at 12:27 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: What a wonderful story and photos!

  143. 143.

    Kelly

    December 24, 2022 at 12:31 pm

    45f here in the western Cascade foothills. We only caught the edge of the arctic blast. Woke up to a thin coat of ice yesterday that was gone by afternoon. The Columbia River Gorge is the main conduit for frigid air draining from eastern PNW plateaus. The land east of the Cascades is several thousand feet higher than the western valleys. The Portland metro is at the outlet to the Columbia River Gorge. First to freeze, last to thaw. Some seeps thru the passes. Eugene is around a hundred miles south of the Columbia but got hammered anyway. Local topography swirls the cold air leaving warmer spots like us. The Coast Range sends warm wet air from the Pacific up over the cold pools in the western valleys which sets up the super cooling of the rain which freezes on contact.

  144. 144.

    Burnspbesq

    December 24, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    @Immanentize:

    How is it that there are so many really excellent Italian Chefs in upstate NY?

    Once upon a time, there were lots of decent-paying manufacturing jobs in all those towns up the Hudson River valley and along the Erie Canal, that drew a lot of immigrants who entered through Ellis Island. Where there were large Italian immigrant communities, the service infrastructure—Catholic churches and schools, restaurants, groceries, etc.—naturally followed.

  145. 145.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    @Steeplejack

    “I don’t recall” was given quite the workout during Iran-Contra, as I recall.

  146. 146.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I don’t know. Maybe that earthquake created some sort of wormhole.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 12:38 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Good thread on Mike Pompeo’s amnesia.

    J6 comm. staffer: Once you learned of the unrest, what did you do?

    Pompeo: I don’t recall. I watched it for a while. I was disturbed that there was rioting at the Capitol, a place that I had worked for 6 yrs. I don’t recall. I am confident that I went on with the rest of my day. 👀
    pic.twitter.com/1OMgcfjE2e

    — Laura Rozen (@lrozen) December 24, 2022

  148. 148.

    Ohio Mom

    December 24, 2022 at 12:38 pm

    @Geminid: Tell me about it,
    Sign me,
    Proud owner of a heat pump

  149. 149.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 24, 2022 at 12:41 pm

    @NotMax: I think that’s how Walsh indicted the soon-to-be-pardoned (by Poppy Bush) Cap Weinberger, who kept a diary that contradicted his own, and Poppy’s, claims of  “I think I don’t remember” (as Art Buchwald summed it up in1988)

  150. 150.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2022 at 12:42 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Amazing photos of the bears. I liked this little detail.

    It was too dangerous to land on the island that day, so I took pictures from a drone equipped with special low-noise propellers. I also used certain tricks of the trade that allowed me to shoot the animals without disturbing them. After a while, the bears practically ignored the unusual buzzing.

  151. 151.

    HumboldtBlue

    December 24, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    @Geminid: ​ 

    I put beans on the soak last night and gonna have eggs and fried potatoes and onions for lunch.

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack

    December 24, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    LOL.

    How does someone that doesn’t recall anything about a major event intend to write a book? 🤥

    — 🇺🇦Persist Resist 🌻 I Stand With Ukraine🇺🇦 (@45isalier) December 24, 2022

  153. 153.

    StringOnAStick

    December 24, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: I love how you can see all the different colors of the stars!

  154. 154.

    CaseyL

    December 24, 2022 at 12:46 pm

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: ​

    I saw that, and instantly imagined going outside and seeing it for reals, and how awe-inspiring/terrifying it would be.

    @Steeplejack: ​A stargate! Exactly!

    Here in Seattle, the thaw is in full swing. Temp in the 40s, snow and ice melting: it is the day of the Big Drip. I shoveled off my deck a bit, getting pelted by huge raindrops. But it’s all beautiful to me, because the last few days of Deep Freeze exceeded even my cold tolerance. (I will now re-think ever moving to Vermont or Maine!)

  155. 155.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    @HumboldtBlue

    Have wondered for years why Febreze doesn’t offer a frying onions scent.

  156. 156.

    James E Powell

    December 24, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    @kalakal:

    Nice to see Keith Emerson enjoying himself. I wore out my copy of Pictures at an Exhibition

    I was never really into prog rock, but I saw EL&P twice & both times they just blew me away.

  157. 157.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    December 24, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    One week post-quad/knee surgery, sick of this bed, sick of this room. I’m getting bitchy at wife, wife definitely over dealing with me. I think the water line to dishwasher froze (low was about -6F yesterday, not much better today). I’m along that dread I71 corridor between Louisville and Cincy, we’re telling Cincy daughter to stay home and encouraging the others not to come.

    I’m arguing on FB with truckers, the trucker-adjacent and MAGAts on the I71 incident group. I had the audacity to think that trucking firms and shippers failed drivers, their own companies and the public by insisting on deliveries through this event, and that there need to be hearings and regs springing from this. Of course, what I’m suggesting is woke communism. At the same time, I also was reserved in sympathy for motorists who chose to put themselves in harm’s way by traveling despite the ample warnings (also known as “you ain’t the boss of me and muh cherished freedums”). I’m supposed to offer thotsnprayrs and hope! And it’s the governor’s fault!

    I shouldn’t post when I’m cranky.

  158. 158.

    Ohio Mom

    December 24, 2022 at 12:50 pm

    @Geminid: My niece lived in Asheville for a while and we visited once. Lots of hipsters and farm-to-table restaurants. Pretty scenery, some interesting old buildings to look at.

    We skipped the Biltmore Estate because I am not interested in spending that much money to see how people that rich lived (tickets start around $70).

    Also not interested in Asheville’s other draw, outdoor activities like hiking and camping. But if that’s your thing, Asheville is probably worth a visit.

  159. 159.

    Burnspbesq

    December 24, 2022 at 12:53 pm

    We’re at 32 now in suburban Austin, going up a bit more before falling back into the 20s overnight. 40s forecast for tomorrow, and 50s on Monday.

  160. 160.

    Ohio Mom

    December 24, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: The people we bought this house from insisted on driving their new pickup truck in an ice storm, that was their last drive.

  161. 161.

    Burnspbesq

    December 24, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    Spouse’s family has relocated to Asheville and Black Mountain. I can imagine doing the same.

  162. 162.

    NotMax

    December 24, 2022 at 12:57 pm

    @James E Powell

    Scored free tix to see them at the Spectrum in Philly very early in the 1970s. Opening act was an unknown group at the time — Yes. Heckuva concert.

  163. 163.

    StringOnAStick

    December 24, 2022 at 12:57 pm

    @Kelly: Greetings from the Great Meltout in Bend.  We got our single digits over with early, and by yesterday afternoon it was in the 40’s and the trees were raining on us. The last bit of snow that fell overnight had a slight rain crust from the warm air showing up at around 3am.  I took the chance to gently explain to the new young couple on the corner (from the LA area) that city code requires them to shovel their sidewalks, and since the cluster of mailboxes is on their side yard area, it’s really important as far as their home insurance goes.  He didn’t realize this and was thankful, then asked if all this snow was normal; I guess they didn’t realize they were moving to an area that has an actual winter, diminished though it may be.  I told him how it had been an inversion and warmer in the mountains, and he asked what an inversion was so I explained cold air and how it drains north along the Deschutes river to the Columbia gorge; he found that rather amazing.  It made me realize how growing up in a very mild climate like Southern CA means there’s a lot of stuff about weather that you just don’t know.

    There’s also stuff like having not pulled all the Ponderosa needles off their roof, so their front steps and walkway are a sheet of ice.  I offered a ladder and we’ll help him out tomorrow since the big warm up means we can actually do that.  They’re just a young couple who moved to a much rougher climate than they’ve ever experienced and are grateful for the help.

    Now I need to go refill the bird feeders.  A rather rare (for here) red breasted sap sucker dropped by yesterday!

  164. 164.

    Kathleen

    December 24, 2022 at 12:58 pm

    @WaterGirl: Thank you, Water Girl! I appreciate it.

  165. 165.

    StringOnAStick

    December 24, 2022 at 1:00 pm

    @Brachiator: I wish all drones had “special low noise propellers”; the standard ones sound like a snowmobile rapidly approaching and are annoying when out hiking.

  166. 166.

    scav

    December 24, 2022 at 1:01 pm

    @CaseyL: Ah, we had about the perfect snow experience.  It was the light floofy stuff that was easy to get a full scoop-full and fling it about when shoveling — granted, with the downside that the wind would just pick it up and redeposit it behind you.  Got enough of the really cold crunch of it underfoot but not the clear tone it reaches at 10°.  Pretty, Pretty, Pretty and then, boom, gone overnight, no weeks of slushy grimed puddles and black-capped alps in every parking lot.

  167. 167.

    Another Scott

    December 24, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    @Ohio Mom: We stayed in a nice B&B and did the giant house thing.  It was interesting and worth doing once.

    The highlight for me was having what was probably the best burger I’ve ever had in my entire life in a restaurant that was a converted gas station.  It was long enough ago in the Before Times that I don’t recall the name or location.

    It’s a pleasant town, but one could see even then that it was growing a lot and traffic and gentrification and sprawl was going to take away a lot of its charm in the not too distant future.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  168. 168.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    There sure was a lot of news last week! I finally circled back to the Trump tax return story through a Politico article from Thursday titled “Five red flags in Trump’s taxes.”

    I learned that there is a Joint Commitee on Taxation:

         Though not well known outside tax circles the Joint Commitee on Taxation is Congress’ brain on tax issues, and the House Ways and Means Commitee turned to the nonpartisan agency for help deciphering Trump’s exceedingly complicated filings.

    Outside experts reviewing the Joint Commitee’s report identified five salient issues in the returns (the “red flags”):

    1) Mammoth Business Losses. “It’s the elephant in the room” said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

    2) Mingling Expenses?

    3) Loans to His Kids.

    4) Land Conservation. “Analysts question the $21 million deduction Trump took in 2015 for a conservation easement at his Seven Springs estate in Westchester County, New York.”

    5) Foreign Taxes. Large deductions for foreign taxes paid. But how ’bout some receipts?

    Link (I hope):

    https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/22/red-flags-trump-taxes-00075198

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    December 24, 2022 at 1:06 pm

    @Suzanne:

    It’s unreal. In Arizona, the roads are the one thing that is absolutely perfect.

    In the big cities, and more urban areas, quite true. But in Cochise county and other very rural counties, not so much. Subsidence cracking in places, dirt roads in other places, low tax base also too.

  170. 170.

    Kathleen

    December 24, 2022 at 1:07 pm

    @Steeplejack: Thank you, Steeplejack!

  171. 171.

    HumboldtBlue

    December 24, 2022 at 1:07 pm

    @NotMax:

    I am never not amazed at how the simplest of dishes, onions, potatoes, some salt and pepper can end up making one of the all-time most delicious dishes.

    This time last week, overnight temps were dropping into the high 20s. The past four days have been in the 60s, and we are currently enjoying classic Humboldt weather — the sun is shining bright, and it’s raining. I’ve had the kitchen window open all week. Weird weather.

  172. 172.

    smedley the uncertain

    December 24, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    @David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch:   Spike Jones and The Nutcracker Site.

    One of his best.

  173. 173.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    @Ohio Mom: The North Carolina Arboretum is a nice spot to visit in Asheville. It’s on the Blue Ridge Parkway, at the western edge of town. The Parkway runs through two cities, Asheville and Roanoke, Virginia (although it really just skirts the eastern edge of Roanoke).

    Asheville is also a big center for outdoor recreation. There’s all kinds of biking, kayaking, and hiking (of the up and down type) nearby. The French Broad River runs through town and in the summertime it stays full of kayakers. There’s probably good fishing too.

  174. 174.

    smedley the uncertain

    December 24, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    @David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch:

    ETA:    Jones Nutcracker

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skxs6xKjCOI

  175. 175.

    Kelly

    December 24, 2022 at 1:41 pm

    @StringOnAStick: I upgraded my rain gutter cleaning this year with a new 6.5 hp Ridgid shop vac and a gutter cleaning kit from Home Depot. No more ladders or climbing on the roof. Anything too big to suck into the vacuum sticks to the end where I can easily swing it down and pull free. I think the high power vac is necessary for the thing to work.

  176. 176.

    The Moar You Know

    December 24, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    The legislative power trio that’s going to be written about for decades is going to be Pelosi/Schumer/Biden.   How they got so much done with what no sane person could term anything like a reliable majority is astounding.

    I read Caro’s “Master of the Senate” a few years back and you get a real insight into that process, and what it takes to be successful at it.  LBJ was extremely good at it, often with thin majorities, but sometimes even from the minority position he got wins.  Rayburn always delivered, but he always had a majority.  That will be Jeffries’ challenge, as he doesn’t.  He’s damage control.  It isn’t easy and I’m not going blame him for any losses because those are baked in to his position.

  177. 177.

    Poe Larity

    December 24, 2022 at 1:52 pm

    Take delivery of a new Model 3 or Model Y between December 21 and 31, 2022 for a $7,500 credit and 10,000 miles of free Supercharging.

    When will liberals tire of getting owned so hard?

  178. 178.

    BC in Illinois

    December 24, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    While people are still talking about visits to North Carolina, my daughter, SIL, and four kids are still driving across the state. Four or five hours remain, from High Point to Nags Head.

    Long car rides means audiobooks for the whole family, some geared for the kids, some have names like “decluttering at the speed of life.” Two of the four children have devices with their own personal audiobooks because life is not fair.

    6 year old – I don’t want to listen to Mom’s torture book.
    Mom – I think she’s funny!
    8 year old – she’s not funny, she’s a torture person.
    8 – What’s in the activity bag you packed.
    6 – Boring stuff and nothing that will block the torture sounds.

    8 – You can tell yourself your own story.
    6 – If I tell myself a story, I’ll already know what happens because it’s my story.
    8 – how do you think stories are written, someone has to come up with them.
    6- but I don’t want to write a story!
    8 – you could tell a story about the electricity going out in a hotel [true story from earlier in the day] and then the zombie apocalypse coming [true things said when electricity went out ] and a little boy.
    6 – the boy would get eaten by the zombie, the end.
    8 -maybe he finds a cure for zombies.
    6 – no!
    8 – … the cure is love!
    6 – Noooo!

  179. 179.

    Ruckus

    December 24, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    The world grows up slowly. But that growing up includes recognizing a person who not only does good but is great at doing so. And growing up is also recognizing extremely selfish people, like the one he fights against. Life is not a staged contest to see who can dress best but to recognize humans for actually being better, being far less selfish and a very valuable part of the bigger picture. We have the leaders of 2 countries, one in a shooting war and one in a war of overcoming stupid, both of whom are, from most vantages, not the people that would be chosen, but both of whom have shown that they are actual leaders of human beings by actually leading rather than pontificating BS. Slava Ukraine!, Go America!

  180. 180.

    Mimi haha

    December 24, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    I sincerely hope no one thought I was going to attend the Bears game today. I just thought it off the news person on the local NPR station had to explain open fire would not be allowed in the parking lot.

  181. 181.

    Geminid

    December 24, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Hopefully Senate Democrats can do the damage control Jeffries is unable to.

    But Jeffries will also be inflicting damage. The legislative battles are important, but there is also a political battle that will be fought, basically over: who is more capable of delivering for the American people in the next Congress?

    January, 2025 seems like a long way away, but the next Congress will be shaped by how the  public perceives this one. Hakeem Jeffries is a very good public communicator who seems especially good on the attack, and I think he will do damage to this reactionary Republican caucus.

  182. 182.

    Ruckus

    December 24, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @Quiltingfool:

    Check your inbox, just sent the email.

    I am west coast time – and I am retired so I often sleep in, because I can. Block looks amazing! Thank you.

  183. 183.

    Origuy

    December 24, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    @MomSense:

    WTF did people think would happen with climate change?

     

    They thought Michigan would be like Hawaii.

  184. 184.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: That was the best moment! out of many.

  185. 185.

    Ruckus

    December 24, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @MomSense:

    Not to be too crude but I’d bet it is difficult to think reasonably when one’s head is firmly stuffed up where the sun don’t shine, which seems to be a place a lot of people seem to store their’s and then make obvious by wondering what is going on around them.

  186. 186.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 24, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    @Spanky: ​
     

    We’ve had years with killer Decembers followed by really mild Januarys and Februarys.

    And if you were here for the 2009-10 winter, we had 18 inches in December, followed by Snowmageddon in February.

  187. 187.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 24, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    @Spanky:

    Well, Mrs. Spanky feels like crap, and reluctantly cancelled dinner at our friends. I think we did them a favor, because their power has been going off and on all morning. No electric stove for them!

    Likely a cold, but there’s a covid test in her near future.

    Good luck – hope she doesn’t have Covid.  My wife and I both have it – I hardly notice that I’m supposedly sick, but she’s been sick as a dog for a week and a half now.

    If she’s got it, tell your wife to go for the Paxlovid. My wife passed that up because she was afraid the rebound effect would hit when we were in Florida for Christmas; instead, she’s been way too sick to travel, and we’re right here at home.

    Speaking of power loss, are you in the BGE part of the county? We lost power, along with thousands of others around here, one night a couple weeks ago.  Wondering if it got you too!

  188. 188.

    El Muneco

    December 24, 2022 at 8:17 pm

    @NotMax: Upon reflection this year, I unironically think that the Dropkick Murphys “The Season’s Upon Us” should be on the shortlist. About loving your family and the people you’re with even as you recognize they’re far from perfect. TVTropes would call it a “decon/recon” where it’s not a true deconstruction, it just uses the same techniques to reconstruct something that is in the tradition of standard Christmas fare, but not truly _of_ it.

  189. 189.

    SFAW

    December 25, 2022 at 12:34 am

    @WaterGirl: ​
     
    Thanks!

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