I know we are having some trouble with a Cloudflare outage, which seems, for now, to have fixed itself, but I thought I’d post a not-too-important open thread while things settle down.
Some news makes my entire day brighter, this was a story that did just that:
“camp AMP” is the story of Eric Czaja and his family’s quest to bring regenerative grazing to U.S. Department of Defense bases around the country. The pilot program is at Camp Luis Obispo (on the California coast) – where the current grazing lease holder, Mark Simonin, has agreed to let Eric change the way his cattle are being grazed, adopting regenerative methods. Even in the first year, the base’s land is more resilient to drought and flood, both wildfire risk & cost of land maintenance are greatly reduced, and of highest priority to the base, there is an increase of warfighter readiness – the regeneratively grazed land is cleared and ready for training. As the base commander Col. Brian Wintzer says, “It’s a win, win, win, win.”
I posted some Thanksgiving recipes here (including the popular Cranberry Upside-Down Cake)
A little musical interlude (Anne Laurie might have posted this originally a while ago) that makes me super happy
Now that the government is back in action, NASA will be doing a live broadcast on 3I/Atlas and sharing the photos they have compiled. It’s an interesting object, for sure. Here’s the video link, it may or may not start on time later today: tomorrow.
The dogs were living their best life with the estate sale this weekend – so many people, soooo many children, so many pets and scritches. Note the sign in the upper right.
Totally open thread, but would love to hear any good news you may have.
TaMara
Sigh, I can really see in that photo how gray Scout is getting. She still acts like a puppy, though. Jasper came pre-gray, LOL. Time does fly by…
Mcat
@TaMara: Always great to hear from you, TaMara. And your doggies always cheer me up. So sweet. I’m so sorry about your father’s death. I hope you’ll have a great Thanksgiving anyway.
thruppence
@TaMara: We’re all getting pretty gray.
dc
Looks like a group mug shot! The giant puppy gang.
TaMara
@Mcat: Thank you. The weekend kind of sucked, but each day gets a bit easier. I’m so glad I took the pups with me.
@thruppence: Truth
ruckus
@thruppence:
Some of us seem to pass the gray stage. Maybe it’s because almost all my hair has fallen from the top of my head down to my face.
Oh well, as long as I get old…. oh wait
TaMara. It is good to hear from you. Remember that life is what it is. Often great, sometimes not even close. To me it isn’t what we experience because there will always be not good parts but how we deal with it, how we move on, how we understand how it works for all of us as human beings.
Jackie
Scout, Trixie and Jasper!
That’s an adorable pic! You definitely needed the sign!
CaseyL
How many offers did you get for the pups before you put up that sign? :D
In the scheme of things, this isn’t much, but it’s my Good News of the morning: I have been trying to drain my waterbed mattress preparatory to replacing it with a regular mattress. The waterbed pump I rented didn’t come with a fitting at the end of the hose that would allow for a vacuum seal to the mattress, so it drained out the loose water, let in a lot of air, and made draining the rest seem like an impossible task – constantly babysitting the pump to make sure there’s water in the works so it doesn’t burn out, and the water only coming in dribs and spurts. I spent yesterday trying to figure things out and came up with:
1. Squeeze as much air out of the mattress as I can
2. Tape the pump hose in place so the end stays below the fluid line
These worked! The pump is now buzzing merrily along.
Gin & Tonic
I mentioned this downstairs, but in the good news department, it looks like finally, 6+ years after marrying my son and 3.5 years after getting her “green card” my daughter-in-law has passed her US citizenship test/interview.
Scout211
@Gin & Tonic: That’s fantastic.
My son-in-law was able to get his citizenship by joining the military during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Dubya was good for one thing, at least.
But your DIL getting her citizenship in this climate is just wonderful.
ruckus
@Gin & Tonic:
Always nice to hear
goodgreat news.MattF
Paid off my mortgage last week. Could have done it sooner, but chose to be rational about it.
Miss Bianca
Somehow the duck stuffie in Jasper’s mouth just makes the whole photo for me. (That and the hand-lettered sign, natch.)
Scout211
In case you missed it from TaMara’s late night respite thread a few days ago. This video is so sweet.
Baby sea otter is reunited with mother in central California after dramatic rescue
TL:DR: A pup was separated from its mama and the Marine Mammal Center did a recording of the pup’s cry. They scoured the area that the pup was found and used a bluetooth speaker to see if the mama could be found. Eventually, after a long search, she was found and they were reunited.
TaMara
I have to go walk the dogs, but while I was working, I watched Josh Johnson’s great set on the $20K robot. He always makes me happy.
Miss Bianca
@Scout211: Ooh…so sweet. Happy/teary sigh.
Kristine
@Scout211: Thanks for the link.
The cry really does sound human.
Old School
Not sure if the NASA stream has postponed, but it tells me it’ll start in 26 hours, so it won’t be today.
Hopefully tomorrow!
TaMara
@Old School: Yup, that was postponed or I’m not sure what day of the week it is. Could be either. I’ve edited it in OP
Layer8Problem
@Scout211: That is the nicest thing I’ve seen in a while. Thank you.
ETA And thank you TaMara!
jackmac
The pups are adorable!!
Something that makes me smile is that I’m currently on a flight from chilly and rainy Chicago enroute to California for the next 11days! Swapping one great blue state for another.
Mike E
Dogs not for sale : D
A Man for All Seasonings (formerly Geeno)
Aww – baby puppies. I’d just be hanging out with the dogs while my wife browsed the goods.
ArchTeryx
From the dead thread below:
Tony Jay, calling that a “wrinkle-branch?” Isn’t the proper term “Willy?” What sort of a Brit ARE you? Lol!
( Now let’s see if the wild Tony Jay takes the bait for the trail camera. )
thruppence
@ruckus: The more hair I lose from my head, the more grows out of my ears. Ick.
Eural Joiner
@TaMara: My wife and son just went to his show in Augusta, GA…loved it! :)
Paul in KY
@MattF: Great news!!!
Jeffro
@Gin & Tonic: congrats to her!
Jeffro
@MattF: congrats! that’s quite something
Ramalama
That Camp AMP video was brilliant. Who knew animal husbandry for wildfire prevention, troop integration (in foreign lands), working ‘left of bang.’ Wow.
TaMara, glad your canine chorus members took the edge off for the estate sale.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@TaMara: We were having this conversation just a week or two ago.
My wife: Sammy (our 8-year-old beagle mix) isn’t going gray, right?
Me: No, I think he looks pretty much the same as when he was 18 months.
(I pull up photos from when we adopted him).
Both of us after a silence: Oh.
He does a lot of laying around, but he definitely still has plenty of speed and strength when trying to get at: (a) a fox, (b) a crow, (c) another dog, (d) something he wants to eat in the grass
RevRick
I just got back from my Tuesday morning Pericope group. I’m the lone Calvinist in a bunch of Lutheran pastors. We talked about the coming Sunday’s scriptures for Christ the King Sunday from Jeremiah 31, Colossians 1 and Luke 23. The first has the prophet condemning leaders who cause the people to be scattered (hmmm, Trump?). The second declares that Jesus, who images God, has rescued us from the power of darkness and transformed us. And the third has Jesus dying on the cross, forgiving those who don’t know what they are doing and offering Paradise to the repentant thief.
My poor Lutheran colleagues seemed to be stuck in a whine-fest about budgets and struggling to find people willing to serve on their governing bodies and all the confusion about the role of the pastor, which all adds up to the captivity to the American ideology of success, certainly a power of darkness that troubles all our hearts and all our institutions.
Of course, the American ideology is one of the latest iterations of imperialism, which is all about domination and control and conquest, and thus divides humanity along the lines of race, class, and gender. None of us escapes this brokenness. We only kid ourselves if we think we have. But we aren’t hopeless.
The hopefulness of the message of Jesus’ death at the hands of empire met with a resurrection to new life is that we are not fated to be stuck where we are. And what we steal from the world and ourselves— our dearest, truest selves— can break through all ideologies. This is true even for weary pastors trying to figure out how to serve in this broken world.
I think back to my own wake-up call in the mid 90s when, as a result of a congregational conflict, I spiraled into a deep depression and in therapy finally started to deal with the dysfunction of my childhood which led into a futile codependency. It was painful. It was hard. I’m still learning. I realize that I became a pastor, because I was trying to fix my darkness, but also because I knew for me the Jesus story was also a beacon of light.
I understand that for many of you what I have to say is utter nonsense… or worse. And that’s okay. I’m not out to convert. I just deeply appreciate this community for allowing me to share.
Mathguy
That dog photo made my day. Thank you for that.
Geminid
Yesterday evening the UN Security Council passed a resolution regarding the Gaza ceasefire. The resolution does not itself resolve many difficult issues around the ceasefire and the “Day After,” but it provides a more definite basis from which to proceed. So I’d say this could be good news.
Barak Ravid wrote an article about the resolution for Axios last night, but for some reason I cannot get past their sign in wall. I expect the BBC, Agencè France-Press and others are covering the resolution though, because it really is a big story.
Ravid did repost this today, from former US diplomat and current Middle East scholar Aaron David Miller:
Gin & Tonic
@RevRick: Whether I agree or disagree with the faith you profess is beside the point – your comments here are always thoughtful and thought-provoking, which I, for one (despite my agnosticism) appreciate.
TheronWare
I send out three BOOPS! to your hounds.
WereBear
Thank you for the share. Booked on on my social media this afternoon.
Nothing could please me more than getting people to understand that we HAVE to bring our fertile soil back. We HAVE to support eating in an omnivore fashion.*
Monocrop agriculture is the kind of “stewardship” that… well… kinda reeks of Patriarchy.
Conquer it and leave an ugly corpse.
*Vegans have the best of intentions, but since it’s a belief system, not science, they ignore anything they don’t like, and make up their own facts.
Old School
Something that makes me smile (and makes me wonder where the time went): Calvin and Hobbes made its debut 40 years ago today.
Anonymous At Work
Tamara,
Trying to figure out if a mango cobbler is practical to make right now. Or am I busting chops and breaking wallet on a cobbler that apples and mango juice/puree could do?
sixthdoctor
This made me smile:
BREAKING: In a 2-1 decision, the three-judge panel in Texas has blocked the state’s new congressional map and ordered the state to use the 2021 map for next’s year’s midterms.
And the kicker, the deciding vote to block it was a Trump judge.
bsky.app/profile/mcpli.bsky.social/post/3m5weibjoi22m
Kelly
The hair on my scalp is thin and gray but it’s been replaced by luxuriant dark hair coming out of my ears
FastEdD
@sixthdoctor: That makes this Californian smile, if it holds up to appeal.
MattF
@sixthdoctor: Some additional details.
@Paul in KY: @Jeffro: Thanks. I’m mildly curious about whether it will count as positive or negative for my credit rating. We shall see.
prostratedragon
That is awesome!! Freddie Mercury and the gang would [have] swooned.
prostratedragon
@Gin & Tonic: Yay! Glad to hear it.
crshark
Loved the Ndlovu video. Never mind the amazing vocals. How stunning are their wardrobe and face decorations?
HopefullyNotCassandra
Your dogs are wonderful!
FastEdD
This is a good news/bad news. I work with JPL/NASA running engineering contests for HS kids. The Grim Reaper fired most of the NASA engineers who run it. I’m a retired teacher and volunteer, so they can’t fire me. We are going ahead with the Finals anyway even though it is ten times harder than before. We’ve been doing this for 26 years and we are not going to stop now. Don’t like it, Russell Vought? Take it up with my boss. I don’t have one.
Kirklin
@sixthdoctor:
The decision / order can be read at gov.uscourts.txwd.1150387.1437.0_1.pdf
Paul in KY
@MattF: It has to count as a positive!
TaMara
@RevRick: I’m always happy when you share. I always remember your astute comment on the Beatitudes and how it resonated with me.
lowtechcyclist
@Old School:
@RevRick:
I never could’ve been a Calvinist, what the stuffed tiger had to say always made more sense to me. ;-)
MattF
@Paul in KY: You’d think. But the scoring algorithms just do what they do— rational or not.
TaMara
@Anonymous At Work: Apples tend to soak up and take on flavors easily, so maybe try that approach first? Or…frozen mango slices might be a less labor-intensive alternative.
TaMara
@Gin & Tonic: This is great news!
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: Congratulations!
prostratedragon
It is a journey. 🚲
Belafon
@Old School: Nice. The day before my 16th birthday.
Ohio Mom
@Gin & Tonic: Whew! Congrats!
TaMara
We seem to be in and out again. Still going to post this because Elle Cordova is brilliant.
CaseyL
@Kristine:
It’s amazing how many baby animals “sound human,” like bears and porcupines.
I think it’s not that they sound human, but that baby animals of many mammalian species (including humans) make similar sounds, probably triggering the same instinctive protect/nurture response.
WaterGirl
@Mathguy: Pretty clear from the photo who’s the baby of the dog family!
WereBear
In good news, Bud Abbott is doing well on his anxiety medicine (Gabapentin) which is also anti-convulsive. I think that might be the real problem, because he did that “Bud’s brain went to Mars, but we expect him back at any moment” as a teen cat. He grew out of it, but I wonder if it might be back.
But he’d be on the medicine in any case, for what looked like panic attacks (his tail would puff like he was a jet taking off) where he would desperately seek help from his fellow cats, and scare them. At six, having grown up with them, there’s no good explanation, so off to the vet.
He gave them a stellar metabolic panel, so it’s not thyroid or adrenals.
Animal Hospital text: “Bud Abbott is very normal.”
Me: “Thanks! He likes to be very everything.”
Anything more they do MRI or CT scan of the brain, spinal fluid analysis, and other things I’d rather not and so would he. But he’s gained back the lost weight, sleeping well, and cuddling more. No longer upsetting everyone.
Even the cat who screamed at him (there was never aggression, she is just a patroller of boundaries, but obviously upset, fair enough) is tolerating him again. At my arm’s distance, but she’ll forgive him all the way.
Dear Pammy, When Should I Put a Cat on Psychiatric Medicine?
Also, birthday present, new Kindle, old one flaky after eight years. So it’s definitely cost effective. And it’s good for me. Charges fast, lasts all day, even when I enforce a day of rest, and read with music, instead of errands and chores and writing which does wear me out in my current state.
Which is better than my previous one, so it’s a Feel Good Two-Fer!
WereBear
@TaMara: The ol’ cycle of life.
Partner: “Sometimes I wish they would stay kittens.”
Me: “But then they would never learn anything, grow in confidence, become awesome seniors.”
The wisdom is what gets me, when my pets age like wine. We can look into their eyes and feel it, too.
stinger
@RevRick:
You write from the heart, and I value all your comments.
WereBear
@TaMara: Deepest sympathies, been there. Pace yourself. <3
WereBear
@Jackie: And we can tell which one is the youngest.
WaterGirl
@RevRick: I nearly skipped by your comment because it seemed so dense, but after multiple people replied I went back to it. So I fixed your spacing issues to make it more approachable.
Because it’s an interesting comment that deserves to be read!
WaterGirl
@WereBear: See me at #62.
Yes we can!
JWR
O/T The Epstein thing passed 427-1.
Tony Jay
@ArchTeryx:
‘Willy’ has become a term used only by maiden aunts in reference to dancers on the TV (“Do you think he’s comfortable in those shorts? Having such a big – whispers – willy?”) or to elderly sausage dogs named after Wordsworth.
In the 21st century we will accept:
Mr Ding-Dong
The Tossed Caber
Awesome Swells
Patrick Duffy (always a surprise coming out of the shower)
Mu’ad Dib’s Pony
Bushtucker Challenge
Hardly exhaustive. The list, I mean.
WaterGirl
@Tony Jay: hahaha
ArchTeryx
@Tony Jay: Oh I bet not. My Aussie friend uses the term still, it’s popular there, but wasn’t as sure about the UK. (Have British friends, but can’t keep up with all the slang!)
Jackie
@JWR:
Who voted NO?
WTFGhost
@CaseyL: Good to hear it. I was starting to imagine things like “remove the foot of the bed, roll the mattress so the valve is below the waterline…” which have home disaster written all over them.
RevRick
@Gin & Tonic: @TaMara: @lowtechcyclist:@stinger: @WaterGirl:
Thank you all for your kind responses and help. I don’t want anyone feeling like I’m just swooping in, then disappearing, but I had Zoom meeting for our Racial Justice Task Force to attend to. Again, thank you.
Jeffro
@JWR: had to look it up…good ol’ Clay Higgins (R-nutcase) was the lone holdout
Joey Maloney
@Jackie: Would it surprise you that the answer is Clay Higgins?
WereBear
Clay Higgins, lone holdout on the Epstein vote, from Wiki:
The rest have been assured the Senate won’t allow it, I’m sure. Then again, two GOOD points:
The present Bonfire of the Red Hats would NOT be happening without the smart Democrats who leveraged what got released a few days ago. I believe that an actual murder would have fallen into QANON lore, blamed on Michelle Obama, and not moved the needle on the cultists.
But this is something QANON already projected enormously on Democratic Party leaders. That dog is now too tired to hunt.
WereBear
@Gin & Tonic: Congratulations to the happy couple!
We should make Republicans go through it.
Pass, and you get to be a citizen again. They got off light in 1865.
I’d love to not make the same mistake.
Jackie
@Joey Maloney: At least he’s an honest asshole. He said he’d vote no and he did.
I’m sure he’ll be promptly rewarded by FFOTUS.
WereBear
@A Man for All Seasonings (formerly Geeno): This is actually a help, giving non-enthusiasts something special, too.
JWR
Deleted
lowtechcyclist
@RevRick:
A loud Amen! to the Colossians passage, for we are transformed indeed. And it is through Jesus’ sacrifice that we have been and continue to be transformed.
(Trivial nitpick: I think the Jeremiah passage is in the 23rd chapter.)
Obviously I don’t know the situations these particular Lutheran pastors’ churches are in. But not knowing that, my first thought is that their talk of budgets and governing bodies might have less to do with any ideology of success than it has to do with the continual decline of mainline churches and the ongoing struggle to keep the doors open so their congregants have a Lutheran church to go to that isn’t an hour or more away. And from personal experience, I know it can be a challenge to get people to volunteer to be on a governing board of a local organization.
As Paul said, “a stumbling-block to Jews and folly to Greeks.” :D
lowtechcyclist
@JWR:
Who was the 1 – Squeaker Johnson? It’s good to see his reward for having fought so hard to prevent this vote from happening. (ETA – I see it’s been answered.)
Now on to the Senate!
WereBear
@RevRick: Gentle man, with respect, from the perspective of this escapee from the Southern Baptists: Calvinist is not a good path to mental health.
I hope this does not put you off sharing, because, hand-to-heart, I would tell you the same thing in person. With a caring smile and a puckered brow.
I will also share my own story. A decade after deconverting and five years after studying Tao, I had 24 hours of near mental breakdown from the fear of hell, appearing like an obsessive thought. I kept it together by giving myself a tour of all I’d learned, and I wound up in Huckleberry Finn:
Immediate relief from the torment, and that night I slept well, and discovered the next morning that it had gone away completely.
May whatever is holding you back be as well dealt with, and access to as much help.
Jackie
OT: I’d LOVE to hear Abbott and FFOTUS’s private reactions to this!
Hopefully NC and MI are next! It would be ironic if the only state redistricting congressional boundaries holds is CA, as it was democratically voted for!!!
Jackie
@lowtechcyclist: Clay Higgins.
RevRick
@WereBear: The Southern Baptist Church is the result you get when Calvinism makes a deal with the devil: slavery. And then it turns hellish. But that’s true whenever any belief system makes a bargain with power, control and domination.
WereBear
@FastEdD: Thank you! Resist!
laura
@TaMara: Elle Cordova, come for the word play, stay for the cheese pocket.
kalakal
@Gin & Tonic: Congrats! I found the interview really easy and the ceremony was great. So many happy people. I’m sure you’ll all enjoy it.
First thing I did after was get a passport ( and a passport card)
WereBear
@Tony Jay: You made me think of the women’s version and I made myself laugh so hard but I can’t share any of them, I started out Methodist.
Shana
Probably a dead thread but my good news is that our older daughter, married Labor Day weekend, is pregnant, due mid-May, a boy. The first grandchild. We’re thrilled, as are they.
Gloria DryGarden
@Anonymous At Work: I found this mango ginger sauce recipe in “cook right for your type”. I suspect one could freeze the extra. When I make this, and put it on chicken or another food, I feel like I’m eating at a 5star restaurant.
in the blender: mango chunks, a chunk of fresh ginger, olive oil, a dash of salt, some mint.
blend, pour on your main dish. I like it on chicken, or fish.
variations and options: I use cilantro instead of mint, personal preference. One time instead of ginger, I used sliced daikon for the sharp bite, when I was out of ginger. One time I just cut the items into a bowl, using daikon instead of ginger, and had it as a sort of salsa/ salad/ relish dish. It was still lovely.
Gloria DryGarden
@Shana: sweet news. It’s good to have something joyous to look forward to. May it go well, these next 7 months.
TaMara, I love all the stories of regenerative grazing. I was recently at fox ranch, a nature conservancy ranch near Yuma, co, and the caretaker there does it. It’s a beautiful tract of land. Native prairie, endemic species, a patch of tallgrass prairie, interesting rock formations, riparian areas, birds that come through. Someone made a three day recording in various spots, of the birds and other creatures there.
Paul in KY
@MattF: If a lender doesn’t want to lend to you because ‘he pays his loans off!’, then that’s definitely a lender you shouldn’t work with at all.
Paul in KY
@Shana: Yippie! Best wishes on safe and uneventful pregnancy!