Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

In after Baud. Damn.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

I also would like a pony to improve my balloon juice experience.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

You are here: Home / Music / Sunday Morning Open Thread: New Year’s Eve

Sunday Morning Open Thread: New Year’s Eve

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Sunday Morning Open Thread: New Year's Eve

On the other hand, a ‘Dancing Bears for the New Year Festival’ sounds kinda fun… [worth clicking for the photos!]

Centuries ago, people in what is now northeastern Romania donned bear skins and danced to fend off evil spirits. That custom is today known as the Dancing Bears Festival, drawing crowds of tourists every December.

Hundreds of people of all ages, clad in bear costumes, dance every year around Christmas to the deafening beat of drums and roam villages and towns. The highlight of this year’s festival falls on Dec. 30, with bear-clad dancers descending on the town of Comanesti, in eastern Romania, for the finale.

Visitors come from as far as Japan to see the spectacle, featuring lines of people in costumes with gaping bear jaws and claws marching and dancing. Giant red pompom decorations are usually added to the furs. Some of the “bears” jokingly growl or pretend to attack the spectators.

Locals say the custom dates back to the pre-Christianity era when people believed that wild animals staved off misfortune or danger. Dancing “bears” visited people’s homes and knocked on their doors to wish them good luck and a Happy New Year.

“The bear runs through our veins, it is the spirit animal for those in our area,” said Costel Dascalu, who started taking part in the festival when he was 8. At the time, Romania was still under communist rule and the festival was relatively low-key.

“I want to keep the tradition alive,” the 46-year-old added. When the holiday season approaches, he joked, “our breath smells like bears, and we get goose bumps when we hear the sound of drums.”…

 
Evening plans for our house, and I suspect a lot of other Jackal abodes:


 
Been listening to some Taylor Swift, because why not, and this seemed appropriate somehow…

Reader Interactions

176Comments

  2. 2.

    JMG

    Not with our pets, but ourselves, and the odds of us making 10 pm Eastern are low. I will make a nice dinner (butterflied leg of lamb with rosemary), and in realization of our ages, champagne before dinner.

  3. 3.

    zhena gogolia

    Happy New Year, everyone!

    The only time I saw a bear in the wild, it was in Romania. It was climbing over a fence behind a restaurant.

    I was reminded yesterday that Prof. Stephanie Burt of Harvard is teaching a course on Taylor Swift’s lyrics.

  4. 4.

    arrieve

    Happy New Year’s Eve everyone from the Suez Canal. We will exit into the Red Sea later this evening. So far all is uneventful–fingers crossed that it stays that way.

    The Greece portion of the cruise was almost worth all the pre-trip agita. I will note, however, that I believe I am the only person on this ship who wears a mask (out of approximately 300 passengers plus crew.)

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Here’s to all the people who will spend NY’s eve at home, in their PJs with their pets. And fast asleep.

  6. 6.

    Suzanne

    We have our puppy this year, and this is her first New Years. Our neighborhood is full of firework assholes, so I will be working on keeping her chill. Might take her to the park this afternoon for some fantastic tennis ball so that she can get he zooms out.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @zhena gogolia: I have seen a number of bears over the years. When I was working on my Aunt and Uncle’s hunting and fishing camp in Canada there was one bear I could almost set my watch by as it made it’s rounds on Fish Island across from Betty and Tony’s place. Once every 2 weeks at around about 10 AM I could see it ambling along the shore.

    My closest encounter was wandering around a campground at night without a flashlight (I’ve always had excellent night vision). I heard somebody getting into the CG trash barrels and was within 10′ feet of them before I realized it was bear scrounging around.

  9. 9.

    geg6

    I will miss midnight because we will be at home with our pets after some Chinese (Amazing Chicken— delicious!) and a bottle of Prosecco.  As for Ms. Swift, we are trying to decide whether to stream her concert film or Barbie.  I’ve already seen both but my John hasn’t seen either and is curious enough now to agree to either.  I’ll be happy to enjoy either a second time.

  10. 10.

    PAM Dirac

    I’ve never been a fan of New Year’s hoopla and I married someone who feels the same way. It came up a while back when I had problems with my Apple account and I had mistyped the backup email address. The typo was obvious, but they couldn’t change it without going through the answer the following questions routine. I was stuck on “where were you when the year 2000 arrived?”. I knew I didn’t go to any parties or anything interesting but listing where i lived didn’t work. I finally said, well, where ever I was I was asleep in bed. Correct answer, account restored.

  11. 11.

    lowtechcyclist

    Good morning, y’all!

    Yeah, I don’t think either my wife or I will still be awake at 10pm, let alone midnight. We do have the usual types around here who will set off fireworks, but they aren’t usually close enough or loud enough to wake me up once I’m already asleep.

    My last day of work was more than two weeks ago, but I’ve been officially on annual leave since then. But as of midnight tonight, I will officially no longer be a Federal employee.

  12. 12.

    Jeffg166

    I hope to sleep through the noise. Probably won’t. May get up and go sit in the front porch to watch the kids pretend something is happening.

  13. 13.

    Scout211

    @OzarkHillbilly: My closest encounter was wandering around a campground at night without a flashlight (I’ve always had excellent night vision). I heard somebody getting into the CG trash barrels and was within 10′ feet of them before I realized it was bear scrounging around.

    We’ve seen many bears over the years in campgrounds here in California.  We were camping at Tahoe one year with a group of family members. The campers next to us were already drinking beer and laughing at those of us who were struggling with setting up camp.  (Some had never camped before).

    The signs were everywhere to lock up and hide your coolers in your vehicles due to the bears but the neighbors were too tired drunk to bother to do that. I woke up in the middle of the night and shined my flashlight on two bears feasting on everything in their two coolers, not 10 feet from our tent trailer.

    When the neighbors finally woke up the next morning their food was gone and debris was scattered all over their campsite.

    Karma is real.

    Oh, and Happy New Years Eve day jackals!

  16. 16.

    Tom Levenson

    We’ll be exactly as described, home w. Tikka and Champ. We’re staying in the small coastal town to which we may (probably will) retire in a few years. There will be a some fun in the village between 6 and 8, then back to the cottage, a bottle of champagne, and laying bets on whether we make it to midnight.

    This Dec. 31 is the 32nd anniversary of the day (night, really) my wife and I met, at a party in Watertown, MA, neither of us had any real reason to attend. Weird how that stuff works.n ;-)

  20. 20.

    moops

    I just can’t enjoy seeing the evidence of so many murdered bears.  Cultural, whatever.  Those people don’t really believe in evil spirits any more.  Perhaps a little superstitious, but nothing like the people centuries ago that literally were certain many bad things that happened to them were because of evil spirits and this was a grave matter that required protection.

     

    Now it is just nostalgia and tourism.

  22. 22.

    PAM Dirac

    @lowtechcyclist:

    But as of midnight tonight, I will officially no longer be a Federal employee.

    Congrats. It’s exactly 5.5 years for me. A great career, but it was time and I’ve never missed it. It was weird some of the things that took a long time to adjust to. After decades of getting up at 5am and going to work it was a very ingrained habit. When our dog decided 4am was the correct time for breakfast I’d be grumpy because it was too late to go back to bed. It took an embarrassingly long time to realize that now I could sleep til whenever I wanted and could even take naps in the middle of the day. I’d say it took me 2-3 years to get rid of all the engrained work habits and attitudes. It’s full retirement mode for me now and I love it.

  24. 24.

    JoyceH

    When I was stationed in Maine, one of the things to do was to go to the dump to watch the bears. It was a very small town.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Scout211: My little brother was actually “attacked” by a bear at Philmont Scout Ranch. He woke up in the middle of the night because one was tearing into his backpack (he’d forgotten his toothpaste in a side pocket). He sat up to look out the window and see what was going on. The bear heard the rustling and turned around to look at the tent.

    Little Bro said, “Oh shit!” and dove for the door.

    The bear said, “Oh BOY! A playmate!” and jumped on the tent, before taking off. Bro had some red welts on his back from the bear’s claws (he has pictures as proof) but not a drop of blood. Super lucky.

    The bear, not so much. He was a young male with a history of human contact so they decided better to put him down before somebody got seriously hurt.

  27. 27.

    TBone

    Starting the year with a bang, as usual.  Bought a different brand of fiber supplement and got an allergic reaction where my lips chapped, then swelled up and the skin burned off so now I’m on steroids AND the plumber broke through a copper pipe in the basement trying to snake the kitchen sink drain. He replaced the pipe but says our main gray water drain is clogged so best not to use any water till they can get back out to us (within a week, maybe?) with the special roto rooter truck, don’t wanna flood the basement!  So, no kitchen sink, dishwasher, or laundry.    Thankful that we can use the shower and toilets at least…YAY 2024 steroids and cold cuts and yesterday’s clothes!

  28. 28.

    prostratedragon

    “Rumania, Rumania,” Cantor Pavel Roytman with Maxwell Street Klezmer Band
    Lyrics:

    Oh! Rumania, Rumania, Rumania …
    Once there was a land, sweet and lovely.
    Oh! Rumania, Rumania, Rumania …
    Once there was a land, sweet and fine.
    To live there is a pleasure;
    What your heart desires you can get;
    A mamalige, a pastrami, a karnatzl,
    And a glass of wine, aha … !

    Ay, in Rumania life is so good;
    No one knows of care;
    Everywhere they’re drinking wine –
    And having a bite of kashtaval.
    Hay, digadi dam … [etc.]

  29. 29.

    MagdaInBlack

    @JoyceH: Where my parents had our little cabin in Ontario, going to the dump to see the bears was also a “thing to do.” All the local fishing camps dumped their fish offal there, so you can imagine the attraction to the bears.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @PAM Dirac: ​
     

    I’d say it took me 2-3 years to get rid of all the engrained work habits and attitudes. It’s full retirement mode for me now and I love it.

    6 years and I still get up early, but I do take a nap most days.

  31. 31.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    We’ll be partying with Quakers, which is not likely to be a wild time. They joke about “Quaker midnight” as often New Year’s Eve gatherings start breaking up about 11.

    But we plan to stick it out to the silent worship at the end, and welcome in 2024. Quietly. And with luck, still awake.

  32. 32.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    I’m isolating with my significant other for New Year’s, because she caught a breakthrough case of COVID and I’m an asymptomatic positive despite the booster. But on the bright side, we’re together.

  33. 33.

    peter

    @lowtechcyclist: Congratulations! Me, too: last day was December 30th (end of pay period 26, as they say). Remote working since March 2020 has made the transition more gradual than it might have been. Enjoy being a retiree!

  34. 34.

    Phylllis

    @PAM Dirac: Midday naps rock. The Price is Right at 11 am, local news to get the weather, then a snooze. Sometimes 30 minutes or so, sometimes an hour +.

  37. 37.

    Josie

    The summer after my first year of teaching, my younger brother and I went on a month long tour of the western states, camping out along the way. We were in Yellowstone Park when it defied reason by snowing on us in our tent. The ground was cold and hard, but I had a choice of sleeping in the tent or the car. The choice was made easy by the sounds of bears scrounging for food outside and trying to open the bear proof trash cans. It stands out as the most miserable night of my life.​
     ETA: Happy New Year to all. I’ll be going to bed early with my trusty corgi to keep me warm and safe.

  38. 38.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Nukular Biskits: A couple of years ago some old colleagues tracked me down and asked me to help with something. I thought sure, great, easy way to pick up a little cash.

    I gave them about a week’s work spread over two months and hated every minute.

    Just before Christmas this year another colleague reached out with an invitation for full time work. I agreed to a Zoom call which frankly I think will be all they need. Aside from the fact that this guy is a MAGA who I really don’t like, I wouldn’t work for the people I DO like.

    Maybe I’ll bill for the Zoom.

  41. 41.

    Geminid

    @arrieve: Happy New Year! I hope your passage through the Red Sea is pleasant and uneventful. Maybe you’ll see some dolphins along the way.

  42. 42.

    Karen S.

    It’s snowing in Chicago right now. It looks like some of it will stick. My wife is the more socially outgoing of the two of us so she’s VERY excited about the party we’re going to tonight. My excitement is more subdued. We’ll be out late and I’ll probably be yawning a lot, but I like the party’s hosts so I’ve decided I’m going to enjoy myself. Fortunately, they live where we can take the CTA there and back home.

    Happy New Year, everyone!

  44. 44.

    Baud

    @arrieve:

    That’s an awesome cruise. The Red Sea is wonderful.  When you cross into the Indian Ocean, the ship will take on mercenaries and turn down the lights at night because of pirates!

  45. 45.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I’m listening to the Jack podcast with Andy McCabe talking about Trump, and there was just a funny moment. Their guest is Judge Luttig and he said he saw a ridiculously uninformed tweet by Ari Fleischer. The funny thing was Luttig spent some time talking about how he’d never heard of Fleischer but he was supposedly a public figure, and if that was true, the tweet was doubly shocking.

  46. 46.

    Leto

    @lowtechcyclist: as a former Federal employee (both military and GS), welcome to the club! Glad yours was more planned than mine ;)

    Regarding New Years festivities: there’s a benefit to owning a deaf dog at this time of year. Definite change from our two previous companions, who would (understandably) tremble with fear.

  50. 50.

    grumbles

    That fireworks video is the equivalent of “Under no circumstances eat any of these delicious desserts.”

    Finally back home on my coast, and my family on the other one. Just how I like it.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    I hope this puts an end to the debate.

    Fact Check: Flat Earth map depicting Antarctic ice wall stems from art forum

    By Reuters Fact Check

    ETA: The Biden administration has really caused fact checkers to struggle for things to check. They’ll be voting for Trump.

  53. 53.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Having turned 59 a couple of months ago, I still have a few more years before I can retire and draw full benefits.  The problem is that I’m mentally and emotionally ready to retire now – politics, not technical/engineering considerations, are now the predominate driving force in the program I’ve supported for over 36 years.  I suppose they always were but it seems far worse now.  Or maybe I just have less tolerance for it. Or both.

    I think I may have mentioned this previously but I have a very dear friend up in VA who found her soulmate about 10 years ago.  They got married and they both retired early (She was a federal employee who qualified under the old retirement program.  Something about “years of service” + “age” equaling some special number).

    During a late night of lotsa wine and conversation, they both told me  they wanted to retire, travel and enjoy life before they started encountering health issues and then couldn’t.

    That was a very wise choice.  Her husband died this past September of cancer.

    I want to be like them.

  54. 54.

    laura

    Spouse and I will hope to make it to East Coast New Year and sleep through the illegal fireworks hullabaloo. Last night we saw X open for Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew Remain in Light tour. Two drums two saxophones, two bass guitars, two backup singers and three keyboards- it was “A Whole Lot” and I shook my groove thang so hard I’m stiff and sore this morning.

    This was a very tough year and I’m ready for a fresh new one.

  55. 55.

    WaterGirl

    @TBone: Betther that this all happened in the year the is being ushered out.  All that shit happening at the beginning of a new year might spook a person!

    P.S. The allergic reaction sounds frightening!

  56. 56.

    Gin & Tonic

    Speaking of Red Sea, it seems that Houthi militants/pirates in small boats decided to fire at a couple of US Navy helicopters. The results were more one-sided than the Georgia game yesterday.

  57. 57.

    Another Scott

    Nice TS song.

    I’m reminded of her Tiny Desk Concert (28:59) where she talks about how she writes her songs, etc. She jokes about her worries about not being able to write anything but sad breakup songs. (roughly) “OMG, what will I do if I ever have a happy, long-lasting, relationship??!!”

    It’s fun to see and hear all the young girls singing along with her.

    Happy NYE, everyone. Here’s hoping 2024 is much better and that we have a lot to celebrate this time next year.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  61. 61.

    Delk

    On Boxing Day 2005 my husband and I decided to take a spur of the moment road trip to Toronto . Pre smartphone and no gps or maps we just set off on the ten hour drive. We get to Toronto, exhausted and bleary eyed with no hotel reservations. We finally spot a Marriott’s and all of a sudden squad cars, ambulances, and motorcycle cops come racing from every direction. We had driven right into a murder scene. Anyway, NYE arrives and we spent the day sightseeing and were back at the hotel by 10 or so. It gets closer to midnight and I see their version of the Times Square Countdown on TV. It looks really familiar, like right across the street. We pull open the drapes and look out the window and there is a massive crowd scene. We went out at around 11:50 stayed the ten minutes and were back in the hotel by 12:10.
    A couple days ago I checked and Marriott’s had a room with the same view available so here we are, almost 20 years later, about to relive 10 minutes of craziness.
    Happy New Years everybody!

  62. 62.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Nukular Biskits:

    You retired now?

    Yeppers. Unofficially, for the next 13 hours and ~45 minutes, but officially so after that.

    Already it’s starting to sink in that I’ve got time. I’m not going back to work on Tuesday, so I don’t need to prioritize the use of my time nearly so much; there’s time now for all the shit I need to get done sometime.  There will always be a certain amount of time-sensitive stuff, but a lot less of that now than there has been.  It’s a very different mind-set.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: Lots of good stuff on Deviant Art gets stolen and presented as real. I remember when, a decade or so ago?, this was presented as a real picture of a solar eclipse from the space station…

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    “They don’t want you to know the Truth! But I, some anonymous weirdo who hangs out in a tiny dark corner of the Internet, know the TRUTH!!11ONE!”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  67. 67.

    Phylllis

    @Nukular Biskits: That was my and hubby’s thinking regarding traveling and enjoying life. I can relate as well to being done with a job. My workplace really wanted me to stay full-time for one more year, which, if I had, would have eliminated the earnings cap I’m under. I just couldn’t physically or mentally continue with going to work every day.

  68. 68.

    satby

    @Nukular Biskits: Exactly why I’m closing down my online business tonight and the hobby business at the farmers market when the sale of my booth closes in April. Shit to do, people to see, places to go: all while I still can. I know too many people who waited too long.

  69. 69.

    Another Scott

    @Josie: After HS, my best friend and I did a mini-loop of the country – OH, MO (where he had cousins), OK, TX, LA, MS (where HS friends were stuck in Biloxi), GA (step-mom and dad’s place), OH.  We ended up arriving in TX? at a KOA to camp after dark, set up the tent, and woke up screaming in pain because we set it up on top of a fire ant mound.  OUCH!!  We jumped up and slept in the car.

    I think I would have preferred bears stomping around outside.

    ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    Barbara

    @OzarkHillbilly: My husband’s troop lost their food supply the first night they camped at Philmont because they didn’t place the bear bag high enough or far enough from the other branches of the tree they chose.  They had to hike back to the base and get new supplies.  Which is why whenever and wherever we camp my husband is incredibly fastidious about how he places the pack of food, no matter whether it is dark or raining or we are exhausted.

    We’ve seen bears multiple times in the Shenandoah National Park, and we also saw a whole family at Yellowstone (you know wildlife is nearby when you run into a traffic jam at Yellowstone).

  76. 76.

    Nukular Biskits

    @lowtechcyclist:

    One of my coworkers, a good friend, retired several years ago.  We, along with other former and semi-retired coworkers, get together on occasion, something called the ROMEO Club (Retired Old Men Eating Out).

    On one such occasion, I mentioned that the previous week we had to get underway on a ship.  He told me how he woke up the morning of that underway, thought about us, smiled that he no longer had to do that, rolled over and went back to sleep.

    Asshole. LOL!

  77. 77.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Delk: Great story! When we lived in Detroit, we used to go take our kid to Toronto to see the science center and other tourist stuff. We stayed at a B&B, where the old guy save the funny papers for months for our son. No murders ever happened as far as I know.

  78. 78.

    frosty

    @Nukular Biskits: Oh, retirement isn’t all fun and games … and naps. You know all the stuff you want to do but don’t have time for? Guess what, it’s at the top of the to-do list now!

    The curse is that for a retiree, there’s always tomorrow. (Decluttering and throwing stuff out hasn’t happened yet in the last four years)

  80. 80.

    Barbara

    @Delk: What a great story!  I liked Toronto a lot when I visited but I haven’t been in a long time.  It’s about a 10 hour drive (at least) for us as well, but it’s not in our current plans.

  81. 81.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    Happy New Year from Japan!

    For jackals far and wide, may 2024 be eons brighter than 2023!

  82. 82.

    frosty

    @Nukular Biskits: They made the right choice. Our financial advisor told us there are three phases of retirement: Go-go, Slow-go, and No-go. We’re doing the traveling now during Go-go, but I’ve got to get the other stuff done while I can. I don’t want to clear out everything all at once if we find out we have to move to a smaller one-story place.

    Good luck hanging in there for a couple more years!​

    @lowtechcyclist: See above. Fair warning about “tomorrow”!

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    Congruent with my wild and crazy lifestyle, two tasks get performed every New Year.

    1) Change the wall calendar (received free annually from an alma mater).

    2) Wipe down the plastic ice cube trays with cooking spray so the cubes more easily pop out.

    Other than those, schedule is wide open. If can muster the gumption thinking of making an Instant Pot 8-spice feijoada to sup on for the week.

    ;)

  84. 84.

    Scout211

    @Josie: We were in Yellowstone Park when it defied reason by snowing on us in our tent.

    We camped at Yellowstone in a tent one summer in July and overnight it rained then hailed then snowed. The park had about 3 inches and took most of the day to melt. It was odd to see the tourists who spent the night in nearby hotels (much lower in elevation) come into the park in shorts and no jackets.  They had a tough day. We were told that it has snowed in Yellowstone every single day of the year so it wasn’t seen as unusual at all by the park employees.

    The bison roaming in herds through the campground through the snow was more of a concern for us than the bears, though.  They are scary and huge.

  86. 86.

    MazeDancer

    The UK preparing to kill large bully dogs, by law, starting tonight, is so depressing.

    Midnight, means if a bully is in rescue, it will be slaughtered. Law says no way out. If the dog is privately owned there are extensive restrictions including a muzzle, and no more play times on the beaches.

    Homeless people will have their dogs confiscated, most of them will be killed.

    People have been talking pups on rescue runs to Scotland.

    Should all bully dogs be spayed/neutered? Absolutely. Should someone’s beloved pup be slaughtered because of its size and breed? Of course, not.

    American shelters are full. Between pet food price gouging, insane vet bills, and rental restrictions, pets are not affordable.

    Between pets, Ukraine failure, anti-semitism, and Bibi, having trouble finding my usual optimism. Working on change.

  90. 90.

    frosty

    @Nukular Biskits: As far as traveling, my last three or four years I took a month off without pay in February for the Snowbird trips. Prior to that Ms F put me on a plane and stayed longer than two weeks.

    I had to sign a form saying my job might not be there when I got back. My boss said “Don’t worry about it.” Ms F said “That would be great!”

    See if you can do the same and start on your post-retirement travels!

  92. 92.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … TeriKanefield.com:

    Timothy Snyder, in his book The Road to Unfreedom, explains that creating crisis and spectacle is the way modern oligarchs gain and maintain power. They do outrageous things to keep everyone spinning and lurching from one drama to another. The public is kept off balance, facts get lost in the noise, and eventually people wear out and stop paying attention.

    Democratic leaders, when they go to work, try to implement policies that help their constituents. Oligarchs and would-be oligarchs can’t do that because the policies they implement benefit the oligarchs and hurt the common people. So instead of promising to improve the lives of the people, they promise to protect them from enemies.

    Snyder calls it sadopopulism and it goes like this:

    * Enact policies that create pain in their own supporters
    * Identify an “enemy”
    * Blame the pain on the “enemies”
    * Present themselves as the strongman who can defeat the enemies.

    Modern oligarchs figured out that the safest enemies are invented ones. Real enemies might drop bombs on them. But if the enemy is a poor migrant immigrant, they’re safe.

    Lots of wisdom there. Worth a few clicks.

    (via https://mastodon.social/explore )

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  93. 93.

    TBone

    @WaterGirl: thank you for that!  I’m currently trying not to bite my hubby who wants to use the bathtub to wash dishes (I bought a washtub that fits kitchen sink DUH) but roids make tolerance an effort.  Then, while reading a totally unrelated blog I came across this in the comments (plumber took out copper pipes he ruined and put in PVC):

    While PVC has taken the building and construction industry by storm, this material may pose health problems. The abundant use of PVC, especially in heating and cooling applications, has given rise to a new environmental concern called “outgassing.” Over time, PVC releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air.

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that VOCs are a potential cause of health problems ranging from eye, nose, and throat irritations to nausea, fatigue, dizziness, and memory impairments, among others. Long-term exposure to low levels of VOCs in water and air are linked to permanent neurological, liver, and kidney damage and may play a role in reproductive disorders.

    Even with these risk factors, however, PVC products aren’t regulated by the EPA. In fact, the Center for Biological Diversity recently sued the EPA for its lack of regulation on PVC products in the hopes of categorizing PVC as hazardous waste—a move that our Canadian neighbors made at the beginning of 2021.

    How Does PVC Outgassing Happen?
    At room temperatures, PVCs are stable, but the chemicals used to manufacture PVC products have a low boiling point. When heated, the release of VOCs into the air increases significantly. This is because the very same method of melting thermoplastic polymers into set shapes leaves the end products equally susceptible to heat.

    PVC furnace exhaust ports, hot water plumbing systems, house fires, and sun exposure can deteriorate PVC, leading to the release of VOCs.

    WTF 😆 I didn’t need to see that today

  94. 94.

    Scout211

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: What counts as a bully dog?

    I had the same question and did a search. Link

    What is an XL bully?
    An American bully XL, known as an XL bully, is the largest of the American bully types. They are not a registered breed with the Kennel Club in the UK and are a type of dog that has been bred from several different dog breeds.
    Will my dog be ‘typed’ as an XL bully?
    XL bullies are crossbreeds and Kennel Club breed standards do not exist. There are currently no exact specifications for this type of dog. The government has therefore created its own specifications for the breed, which includes the size of their head and muzzle, their build, and the height and length of their body. Breed name, genetics and parentage are not considered.

    The government has confirmed that the minimum height specified is a necessary requirement to meet the XL bully type specifications. The height should be measured from the ground to your dog’s withers (the top of the shoulders). For adult males this is from 20 inches, and females from 19 inches. If your dog does not meet this height requirement, they will not be typed as an XL bully. If they do, assess them against the rest of the specifications.

    I thought it meant “bully” dogs with attacks on record or something. But no, it’s a particular mixed breed of dog and a particular size.  ☹️

  98. 98.

    Brachiator

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Having turned 59 a couple of months ago, I still have a few more years before I can retire and draw full benefits.  The problem is that I’m mentally and emotionally ready to retire now

    Maybe there are some things you can do to prepare for and maybe accelerate your retirement, or to make sure that things are in place to be comfortable when you do retire.

    Don’t have any specifics to offer. But I have had friends and coworkers who were lucky enough to be able to think about what they wanted, including a few who chose early retirement. I guess the main thing was being able to plan to some degree.

    Everybody in my company got laid off a few years ago, and I was a few years short of retiring. Fortunately I landed some lucrative part time work and am still working post retirement. Most of my former coworkers were tremendously talented and have done okay. I honestly wasn’t that prepared, but got lucky.

    Good luck to you.

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    I have COVID (was hoping I’d shrugged off my wife’s infection but yesterday I actually tested positive) so I’m staying in. So far, just feels like a cold, much milder than last time.

  101. 101.

    Another Scott

    @TBone: That reads like scaremongering to me.

    Everything outgasses – it’s physics and chemistry.  What matters is the rate of outgassing.

    Metal water piping systems can have issues too.

    If you want something to worry about, that actually might be worth worrying about (IMHO), depending on where you live, etc., etc., consider radon:

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that radon causes 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Radon is the leading environmental cause of any cancer. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer, after smoking. People who smoke and are exposed to radon have a 10 times greater risk of developing lung cancer from radon exposure compared with people who do not smoke and are exposed to the same radon levels.

    (Emphasis added.)

    Hang in there, and don’t worry about the small stuff. The dangers of PVC are in the very, very small stuff category, IMHO.

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  103. 103.

    NotMax

    @TBone

    What is the run of piping replaced? A few feet? Wouldn’t give it a second thought.

    house fires

    Plumbing degradation way down on the list of worries aprres blaze.

    (PVC conduit piping is banned in NYC subway stations due to hazardous emissions in case of fire in such an enclosed environment.)

  105. 105.

    Barbara

    @MazeDancer: ​That is depressing. I got my dog (a little dog) from a couple who ran a sanctuary for dogs most of whom where there because they couldn’t be controlled or socialized at home. They adopted dogs out when they felt like they had trained them well enough, but they had a problem when one of their adoptees attacked and killed the owner. They stopped taking severely afflicted dogs after that. I wish there were enough sanctuary spaces for dogs like this to live out their lives with some measure of peace.

  107. 107.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

    @NotMax: OT. Don’t know if you will see this but have wanted to thank you for the longest time for introducing me to MHz. It was on a thread a long time ago in which you talked about the Montalbano mysteries and recipes. I am on break from school for the holidays and have been bingeing on French, German and Italian mysteries. I now know the German word for dead. I’m sure it will come in useful if I ever travel there!

  108. 108.

    dr. luba

    I don’t know that I’ve ever listened to a Taylor Swift song before on purpose; one day the Alexa at my PT office went on a TS kick for some reason, but otherwise, no. Just like I haven’t watched any Hallmark Xmas movies on purpose; my nieces love them, so I have been exposed.  But that song reminds me of the plot of many of them.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    @Another Scott

    Everything outgasses

    Ever wonder how and why the inside of the windshield gets so yucky? Outgassing from the dashboard and interior upholstery material.

  110. 110.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: I started having symptoms almost a week ago, which came and went and I was hoping I might be out of the woods despite having an obvious COVID patient in the house, but I didn’t test positive on a fast antigen test until yesterday.

  113. 113.

    lowtechcyclist

    @HinTN: ​

    Enjoy the six months of getting your financials stabilized. 🙄 Also too, congratulations 🎉

    Yeah, there’s some complex decisions ahead, and also just figuring out what our income really looks like now. (My wife retired at the end of April.) I’ll start taking Social Security in March when I turn 70, gotta get that last nice bump.
    @PAM Dirac: ​

    Congrats. It’s exactly 5.5 years for me. A great career, but it was time and I’ve never missed it.

    As I tell people, my job has been really great – on the scale of work. But like you say, there comes a time. It’s already nice to know I won’t have to deal with 200 emails in my in-box on Tuesday morning.
    I’ve already frequently been taking short naps during my lunch hour, and afternoon naps on weekends are already a regular thing with me. Which helps balance out my early a.m. insomnia. I don’t wake up early because of the alarm; I’ve usually been awake for at least an hour when it goes off, so that’s not gonna change. But not having to log in to work at 7am will still be very, very sweet.

    @peter: ​

    Congratulations! Me, too: last day was December 30th (end of pay period 26, as they say). Remote working since March 2020 has made the transition more gradual than it might have been. Enjoy being a retiree!

    Congrats back atcha, then! And my agency (Census Bureau) has also been entirely remote since March 2020 (they’re finally going back into the office this spring, but I get to miss out on that!), so like you say, the transition to home life has already happened, but now my desk here at home will no longer have all that work crap overwhelming it. I cleared that all off a couple weeks ago, and it’s so pleasant to have my space be my own again.

  116. 116.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @geg6: We just streamed Barbie for our fourth(?) viewing.  It is a truly amazing film and we are still finding cool stuff that we missed the first three times.

  117. 117.

    dr. luba

    Malanka, i.e. New Years Eve, has always been a wild type of celebration in Romania and parts of Ukraine (Bukovyna). NG and the WaPo had articles on the celebration in 2016 and 2015, respectively.  They both wrote about it as Ukrainian tradition, but actually showed the traditions of an ethnic Romanian village, Krasnoilsk.

    In Ukraine, we have interesting Malanka traditions, but without bears and more cross-dressing.

    National Geographic

    Washington Post  (gift link)

  118. 118.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Josie: ​
     

    The summer after my first year of teaching, my younger brother and I went on a month long tour of the western states, camping out along the way. We were in Yellowstone Park when it defied reason by snowing on us in our tent.

    The last time my wife and I were in Glacier NP, it was August, but one day was cold, rainy, and miserable outside our tiny cabin down by Lake MacDonald. Then a thought occurred to me: if it’s cold and wet down here, maybe it’s snowing up on the mountain! And indeed it was! So we’ve got photos of each other standing in the snow next to the Highline Trail sign at the Continental Divide. In August.

  120. 120.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Baud: Ugh.  Sorry to hear it.  I’m on day three of symptoms.  Started Paxlovid last night and it definitely helps a bunch.  Doesn’t magically make symptoms vanish, but attenuates them significantly making it easier to rest.  Hopefully today will be the day I start really feeling improvement.  Hang in there.

  121. 121.

    Barbara

    @OzarkHillbilly: We’ve been there twice.  Hubby’s cousins go every year and they issue a standing invitation for family to join.  They use a complex double pulley system for the bear bag because of course they do, plus they go every year and they aren’t young anymore.

  124. 124.

    UncleEbeneezer

    We almost never stay up ’til midnight on NYE.  The last time was 2012 and that was only because it was our last chance to see a good friend before she moved to Boston.  I’m still in the throws of Covid and my wife will be cat/house-sitting for a friend so I’d be surprised if I even make it to 9 pm, tonight.

  126. 126.

    Jackie

    Hopping through the Sun morning news shows ie first 10 mins or so and I’m happy to see Nikki Haley front and center on every one! 😂

    We’re off to a much happier NY than she is🤭

  127. 127.

    Kristine

    @Baud:

    That’s an awesome cruise. The Red Sea is wonderful. When you cross into the Indian Ocean, the ship will take on mercenaries and turn down the lights at night because of pirates!

    Um…wow

  128. 128.

    Nukular Biskits

    @frosty:

    See if you can do the same and start on your post-retirement travels!

    Technically, I probably could do something like that currently with respect to leave.  My company changed our leave policy from PTO to FTO (flex time off), which is not an earned benefit like PTO (i.e., “vacation”) but its technically not limited.

  129. 129.

    Nukular Biskits

    @TBone:

    I assume you mean the supply lines were replaced, not the drain lines.

    Been working with PVC for years (family has been in plumbing and plumbing supply businesses for over 50 years) and, while I was aware of the hazardous emissions when burned, this is the first time I’ve seen this.

    Having said that, though, I have to agree with @Another Scott that this really shouldn’t be a concern.

    I am puzzled, however, why your plumber didn’t use PEX, which is a lot easier to run and connect.  It’s what is being used in most, if not all, the new construction down here.

  130. 130.

    Kristine

    @Karen S.: Snow showers expected here north of the city. Less than 1″ expected. Temp’s around 32F so most of the very light stuff that’s falling is melting immediately.

    Happy New Year, Jackals!

  131. 131.

    mrmoshpotato

    Evening plans for our house, and I suspect a lot of other Jackal abodes

    No pets, but go Bears!  And ready for tomorrow’s bowl games.

  132. 132.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Staying in and celebrating the end of the end of the year holidays.

    Even a close friend who’s a glass not only half full but overflowing cheery person and who loves the holidays admitted to me yesterday she’s relieved they’re over. Many people I chatted up shopping the last couple of weeks expressed the wish that the holidays had come and gone. It seems a fairly common sentiment.

    Off to the store to buy seafood for cioppino and some other goodies to eat. Happy New Year!

  134. 134.

    Matt McIrvin

    @UncleEbeneezer: I finally saw Barbie the other day, after a glowing recommendation from my daughter–it’s an extremely clever film with a surprising amount to say, and Mattel took a big risk just putting this thing in the hands of a filmmaker of stature and letting her do what she wanted, even if it was directly lampooning them.

    All the complicated ambiguity in the messages conveyed by Barbie the toy is examined right there on the screen. And it’s also got the role of Ryan Gosling’s career.

  135. 135.

    gene108

    @TBone:

    plumber took out copper pipes he ruined and put in PVC)

    And sold the copper to a scrap metal dealer, thus making some extra money from the job.

  138. 138.

    Oclarkiclarki

    @lowtechcyclist: Congrats and good luck with NFC and OPM.  It took over 6 months for my first FERS pension check to be deposited, and that likely was due to intervention of the staff of one of my senators.

  146. 146.

    Miss Bianca

    New Year’s Eve tradition for the last umpty-ump number of years has been trying to stay awake long enough to watch the AdAmAn Club’s fireworks display on Pikes Peak (yeah, I can see Pike’s Peak from my upstairs windows!)

    This bunch of nutters has been scaling Pike’s Peak in the dead of winter to set off fireworks on NYE for over a hundred years now. I figure the least I can do to honor such effort is to stay up long enough to watch the results!

    @Denali5: Me too! Been listening to TS all morning, thanks to everyone’s suggestions from last night!

  148. 148.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Matt McIrvin: Agreed.  And I can’t think of a better film for boys/men to watch to help understand how Patriarchy ultimately screws us over, too.  I knew this before watching, but I never saw a movie really go there in such a pointed way that showed Ken being happy to be free of his own restrictive box.  Did you catch the fact that it even did so with direct references to Fight Club?

    Tyler Durden (Fight Club)- “You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis.”

    Barbie– “You’re not your girlfriend. You’re not your house. You’re not your mink. You’re not even beach. Maybe all the things you thought made you you, aren’t really you.”

    The fact that Fight Club is a film that is misinterpreted and beloved by Incels and other toxic, misogynist dudes in the Manosphere, makes Gerwig’s choice to reference it, all the more perfect.  Especially since so many boys/men really do grow up believing that these things (our GF, job, bank account etc.) are what define us.  I spent decades believing that bullshit and if I could do it all over, I wish I would’ve learned Gerwig’s lesson twenty years ago, instead of in my 40’s.

  151. 151.

    Hungry Joe

    @Baud: Last week I had what I thought was a cold, tested negative … and two days later got slammed by a killer sore throat and fatigue that turned me to mush. Tested positive. Same for Ms. Joe, one day behind me. We’re recovering, but s-l-o-w-l-y.

    This will be out lab-mix pup’s first New Years Eve. The rescue folks thought she was born around the first of the year, so we declared her birthday to be Jan. 1. We plan to celebrate by being asleep — all of us — by 11pm. She’s pretty chill ( except when she’s Zoomie-not), so we’ll see about the fireworks.

  153. 153.

    realbtl

    Happy NY from Montana.  Contra OH living in the country doesn’t protect you from fireworks when the whole state is an open  market for them.  Luckily there’s enough snow that I will sleep through them easily.

  154. 154.

    Miss Bianca

    @Baud: Has anyone heard from JR in WV lately? Seems like he’s been gone a long time too, and I seem to recall his saying that he was dealing with cancer treatments. :(

  158. 158.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @BlueGuitarist: Thanks. I just watched it. I wouldn’t want to be a boyfriend who got crosswise with Taylor Swift. Travis better step carefully.

    As it happens, right this minute Mr DAW is watching a bio about Swift called Miss Americana on Netflix.

  159. 159.

    Jackie

    @Baud:

    Don’t know. He has a habit of popping in and out.

    He hasn’t popped in at least a couple of months. I worry about him, too.

  162. 162.

    FelonyGovt

    Morning everyone! Husband and I are thinking it’s not worth it trying to stay up until midnight. (Lots of old folks here on the West Coast celebrate “New York New Year’s” and watch the ball drop at 9 PM- midnight in NY.) Hope to see a bunch of you on the Zoom this evening.

  164. 164.

    sab

    @NotMax: My late father in law used to bring in a big rock to be in the house all year. Next New Years Eve he would take take the old rock out and bring in a new one.

    No one ever knew why he did this.

  166. 166.

    Kelly

    I’ve encountered black bears a couple dozen times various place in the left coast states. Only one scared me. I was camped beside a wilderness lake at about 9,500 feet along the John Muir Trail (Sierra Nevada). Perhaps the best star gazing night of my life. First week of September clear and cold. I walked out on a skinny peninsula to get a better view. I heard a bit of snuffling in the brush then out popped a pair of bear cubs.

    WHERE IS THE MOMMA BEAR!!! THERE ARE NO TREES TO CLIMB!! I’M SURROUNDED BY DARK ICE WATER!!

    Never saw the mamma bear. Did my usually shouting, coat flapping, and rock throwing. I never throw rocks at bears. I throw rocks to one side to make more noise. Bears ran away.

  167. 167.

    CaseyL

    A very happy NYE to everyone!

    I haven’t been in person to the NYE fireworks in a very long time.  Some years I’d go to a friend’s house to watch NYE celebrations around the world, time zone by time zone, ending with the Space Needle fireworks broadcast by a local news station.  Other years I’d be asleep well before it was midnight here.

    Not sure what my plans are for tonight, though going out to a bar or party is definitely not on the list.  It’s many years since I realized that being in a crowd of drunken revelers wasn’t fun anymore.

    But today, for the first time in years, I feel a very tiny desire to go to the Center to watch the fireworks in person.  I doubt I will – like I said, I’m normally asleep well before midnight – but the desire to do so, however faint, feels like a gentle re-awakening of a Social Event Self that has been dormant in me at least since the pandemic and possibly longer.  Feels strange but hopeful.

  168. 168.

    mrmoshpotato

    @NotMax:

    If can muster the gumption thinking of making an Instant Pot 8-spice feijoada to sup on for the week. 

    Didn’t you make that last year too?

  173. 173.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: I was thinking about how Mattel spent years and years trying to sue Aqua’s ridiculous, vaguely lewd dance hit “Barbie Girl” out of existence until judges slapped them down, and this movie just straight-up uses a remake of it.

  174. 174.

    Barbara

    @OzarkHillbilly: A little late, but according to the cousins, the first thing is to make sure you get a permit for the desired time frame.  We used an outfitter because we are flying from halfway across the country and their gear is a lot better than anything we have.  There are a lot of rules about campsites and permitted equipment, but the quiet and isolation are spectacular.

    Also, both times we tried to force ourselves to stay up late enough to have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights, and found that it is not possible to stay up that late after a full day of canoeing when daylight endures well beyond 9:30 pm, in Northern Minnesota in the summer.  It’s easy peasy to see the Milky Way, however.

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