Open Thread 9-20-15
Good morning 99percenters!
Morning news dump and music by Poco.
U.N.: Paris Climate Summit Pledges Won’t Avoid Warming
The greenhouse gas emission cuts being pledged by the world’s nations will fall short of restricting global warming to 2°C, the U.N.’s climate chief and UK government sources have warned.
A rise beyond 2°C, the internationally agreed safety limit, may push the climate beyond tipping points and into dangerous instability. The expected pledges are likely to limit temperature rises to about 3°C.
But those negotiating towards a global agreement due to be settled in Paris in December remain upbeat. The current pledges would avoid a catastrophic rise of 5°C that would ensue if no emissions cuts were made, and the agreement is expected to contain measures to ratchet up emissions cuts in future years.
Nonetheless, significant disagreements remain to be overcome, including how much money poor nations will receive to cope with warming and how any deal is policed.
This is a climate-change nightmare: Droughts rage and fires burn, while evil ALEC and hapless Democrats dither
No one is being serious enough and history will judge us harshly -- especially since a green economy lifts us allWhen President Obama flew to Alaska to talk about climate change, I was in Owls Head, Maine, a beautiful harbor village on Penobscot Bay. I go there each year to visit with nature and myself, and always bring Henry David Thoreau along to help with the introductions. Thoreau hated politics. Not me. Reading his ruminations side by side with Obama’s got me thinking of our gorgeous, vulnerable planet and what it would really take to save it. I’m grateful for Obama’s heightened interest in the topic, but the crisis demands far more than he currently has on offer.
Obama says he chose Alaska to talk about climate change because its effects are so visible there. With temperatures warming and sea levels rising faster than in most other places, the visuals are indeed dramatic: shrunken glaciers, polar bears on ice floes, a whole village sinking into the sea. But in a way it was a poor choice. To many Americans, climate change seems remote. So does Alaska. Obama could have gone anywhere, the effects of climate change being visible everywhere.
He could have come to Owls Head, where the ocean’s warming even faster than it is in Alaska. It’s why Maine scrapped this year’s shrimping season. There may not be another; in the last five years 95 percent of Maine shrimp have gone missing. News is better for Maine lobstermen hauling in record catches, including lobsters newly arrived from overheated fisheries to the south. The hitch is the lobsters are still in transit; in seven years their population center has moved 12 miles north, from mid-coast Rockland to down east Stonington. The last stop on that line is Canada.
Will Naomi Klein's Film on Global Warming Change Everything?
The adaptation of her book, 'This Changes Everything,' had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.Sometimes I have a sinking feeling that all of the films, books, essays and performances that we in the arts carefully write about, think about, worry endlessly about, don't actually change very much. Maybe the effect is cumulative, or maybe that is just what we tell ourselves, so that we can keep going.
This thought occurred to me the other day while watching the film adaptation of Naomi Klein's book This Changes Everything, directed by Klein's partner Avi Lewis. The film will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. After that, prepare for additional festival screenings (the film plays at Vancouver's International Film Festival on Oct. 7) before a major commercial release.
If you're curious about how the film adapts the book's exhaustive research into 90-odd minutes, you will have to wait and make your own assessment in a few weeks' time. It is a challenging, perhaps almost impossible undertaking. The book is impressive for the scale of its ambition (nothing less than saving the world, y'all). I had to reread many sections, simply to make certain I had gotten it all in.
The Global Warming ‘Slowdown’ Is an Illusion
LONDON—Global warming has not slowed. The so-called hiatus remains just that—so-called. The world is warming as predicted and any apparent evidence that it is not doing so is a statistical illusion, according to US scientists.
They report in the journal Climatic Change that they applied “rigorous, comprehensive, statistical analysis” to the global temperature data and came up with this unequivocal conclusion.
And although normally scientists like to spell out the caveats, the margins of error and the uncertainties in their conclusions, the team get to the point with unprecedented firmness.
“We find compelling evidence that recent claims of a ‘hiatus’ in global warming lack sound scientific basis. Our analysis reveals that there is no hiatus in the increase in the global mean temperature, no statistically significant difference in trends, no stalling of the global mean temperature, and no change in year-to-year temperature increases,” they write.
Poco - Let's Dance Tonight
Poco - Rose of Cimarron
Poco - Crazy Eyes
Poco - Magnolia
Poco - Here We Go Again
Poco - Brass Buttons
Comments
Morning folks...
I finally have a day off, well half a day anyway! How's your weather?
You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows.--BD
Good Morning JtC and 99%'ers!
I know that weather is not climate change, but what I do know is it seems to be getting warmer and warmer later in the year every year. Here we are starting into fall and the predicted high is going to be 81 here in western NC.
We have almost finished laying the wood floor and now I have to get ready for back to back company this coming week. It is going to be very busy for me through the weekend.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Morning gg...
I wish the Pres. candidates would speak more on climate change. I know it's unrealistic to think that the Republicans would do that, except to deny the existence, but we need to hear more from the Democrats.
I love real wood floors, most wood flooring nowadays are laminates because of the ease of installation and the costs, but IMHO, nothing beats the natural beauty of a real wood floor, especially a full 3/4 inch product, although they are very expensive. If you want a real challenge try a variable plank flooring system sometime, any width over 6 inches has to be not only blind nailed but must also be glued to the subfloor, very laborious and time consuming, but variable width planks are a great way to break up the continuous patterns of fixed width flooring. Did your hubby use a pneumatic nailer or a manual? Did he mess up any edges with the gun, it's easy to do?
Our floors
We installed pre-finished red oak hardwood strips (2 1/4") over wood decking subfloor. I did the layouts and Mr. Handyman nailed it using a pneumatic floor nailer. He has ever tool imaginable to man kind. LOL The process goes fairly quickly. I usually lay out about five runs at a time and then he nails them down. He only damaged one board so his batting average is pretty good. The key in the layout is to be sure to stagger the joints and sometimes I have messed up in the past when we did flooring. I also try to stagger the darker and lighter boards. I think we did well on this one. It is the bending while doing the layouts is what gets to me.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Nancy, you know you should consider yourself lucky--
Mr M is a wonderful, and a very smart and capable man, who has a 'master carpenter' and builder in his family back a couple of generations. Unfortunately, he never picked up any handyman skills.
So, if you ever tire of Mr N's projects, please, send him our way.
(We begin renovating a house next Spring, and are shocked at the rising cost of remodeling.)
Hope you enjoy your guests, and get to rest your back.
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
I know
He does beautiful work, but we are always living in a construction zone. That is why I wish he would find an old house to work on, I mean one we are not living in.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
it could be
lots worse. I knew a woman who lived with a guy who ripped up the floors in the house until only the joists were exposed. He had planned to refloor, but then liquor took him. He just laid on the couch and drank and watched TV. For months. To navigate around the house required highwiring along the joists. Why no one tripped and snapped some leg-bone—especially with the mass quantities of alcohol involved—is beyond my powers to understand or explain.
We have the orginal
hardwood floors throughout the house. The kitchen was layer after layer of linoleum which I took off with linseed oil wood soap and a large linoleum hand scraping tool on a pole. I was aware of the toxicity of taking up old linoleum and vinyl tile. I used water and undiluted floor soap to loosen the glue as then the toxins were not air borne. I painted the soft wood floor and even hand painted a boarder pattern around the edges. When we had out kitchen redone they sanded off my paint job and screened the wood and used nontoxic sealer. The guy who did the floor was a green environmental floor restorer. The floor looks good as the wood is old fir? but not shiny new that's for sure. He told me to think of the dark spots, groves and imperfections as desirable interesting patina. All my floors although beautiful old wood have lots of patina.
We did tile the bathroom floor and walls ourselves years ago. I laid it out on the adjacent dining room and we put on the new sub-floor we had installed. It was a back killer and I was relatively young when we did it. The grout and mud failed about ten years ago and our honorary 'nephew' a tile setter put in a new sub floor and used gorgeous stone 6x6 tiles. He was really young at the time and has always had back problems as well as knee damage from setting floors. So don't let it make you feel old as it flooring is just a back and knee biter.
I used to love the demo part of the process but that too has lost it's charm and therapeutic appeal. It's amazing when you start to peel off layers and get down to studs what archaeological treasures you find. When we took out the lower cabinets in the kitchen we found newspapers from 1926 that had been shoved into the studs for insulation and a rubber toy 40's car. Today my husband is going to repair an old kitchen light as the pull chain switch on the newer reproduction fixture is messed up the wiring is okay so it's gotta be the switch. He's pretty good with wires as musician's all deal with wires and cords. Sounds like your going to be stiff and sore for a while as cleaning up after construction is almost as hard as the job itself. A good hot soak sounds in order. Off to clean my dirty house as company is coming on Tues. which is a great motivator for cleaning.
it is
supposed to be 91 today, which should be illegal in late September, so I am making barley vegetable soup, as a sort of rain dance to convince it to move more towards winter.
Uncle Ben Carson has decreed that it is against the Constitution for a Mooslem to be president. He should talk to his fellow constitutional scholar Mike Huckabee, who has determined it is against the Constitution for a black man to be president.
The woman who, like Uncle Ben and Huckleberry, will not be president, says the US should take in 65,000 people from Syria. That's big of her. She and her Clenis can certainly afford to support those 65,000 all on their own, even though they are "dead broke."
Next Sunday will be the last time you will ever have to post one of these, JtC. Because starting the next day the world will commence to end. At least that's what the people in the magic underpants say.
Ha!
You made me laugh out loud!
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
good ; ) n/t
Morning h...
yummm, barley vegetable soup sounds good.
We get the government we deserve. It's no surprise to me really, that income inequality has risen so, when positions of high power are dominated mostly by millionaires and billionaires. I mean, why would such people do anything to lessen their economic advantage, Democrat or Republican? A lot of talk is talked, but at the end of the day, the serf is up. Greed is good to these folks.
Wow, only one more week until the end, should I do a GBCW OT next Sunday?
yes
You can literally say goodbye to the entire world. It will be a stunner of epic proportions. Too bad it won't have much of a shelf life. : /
I better get going...
on that bucket list then, if the Matrix is to be rebooted.
they will just reset the date
like the other worlds end predictors fear/panic driven religions do. The Mormon's occasionally canvas our street. They weird me out they look like they are are either from the IRS or the FBI keeping tabs on the troublemakers. The Christian evangelicals always carry bibles and pamphlets and are mainly women, only the Mormons, men dressed in g-man suits with severe haircuts, carry briefcases. We get a lot of religious postulater's as this is heathen territory.
The magic underpants people
seem to really be into stocking up shit including guns in their temples. Their is a huge Mormon temple? church in our neighborhood which seems to have a sparse congregation. We always wonder what they've got stored in there when we walk past it. When we had TV/cable I got into Big Love I found it much scarier then True Blood which it followed. True Blood with it's southern vampires just made me snicker and quickly got boring but Big Love was properly chilling.
In the run up to the election of 2012 this liberal, 85% Democratic voting, tree hugging, neighborhood was thoroughly disgusted with the Democrat's and the Obama administration. No national yard signs at all that election. A diverse group of about 8 women were chatting in a local natural fiber dress store down the street right before the election. We were all griping about what a bummer Obomba and the Dems. had turned out to be. Nobody wanted to vote for him but a Native American woman from Utah stopped the conversation dead when she said 'Better then the Mormon'. If it becomes HRC's better then 'The Hairball' this time around I'm going to go for Jill Stein again. Spoilers at this point are a valid choice. Spoiling this farce of a electoral system is civic.
hoarding
is godly among the magic-drawers people. The basic mindset is that an Emergency could occur at any moment, and so it's best to be Prepared. Probably this derives from the experiences of the early years of the cult, when they were recurrently run out of here and there by those who considered them Not Normal. Finally they were driven into the deserts of Utah, where today is their happy home. Bristling with foodstuffs, guns, and holy underwear.
91 in Castro Valley, CA today & no rain in sight
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Do you live in these states?
You'll soon need a passport to fly domestic
your papers, please
our country now resembles the fascist states shown in movies made during World War 2.
as for
that alternet woman with the "sinking feeling that all of the films, books, essays and performances that we in the arts carefully write about, think about, worry endlessly about, don't actually change very much," it is ofttimes hard to quantify, but the things can and do make a difference.
Jerry Brown, for instance, once said he learned more from the song "Fire and Rain" than from four years at Yale. Nixon used to crank Mantovani and then watch Patton to gin himself up for more bombing raids over North Vietnam. And the entire insane "Star Wars" program was born of Ronald Reagan's befuddled remembrance of a couple of B movies that he thought were actually documentaries.
Another Reagan story that makes one need Medicine:
And:
Visual media does change everything
Here's a mundane example:
The tv show "Love Boat" (I never watched it) is responsible for the creation of the massive $bn Cruise Ship industry.
Here's heartbreaking examples:
The photograph of the little girl running away from her napalm bombed home in Viet Nam.
The recent one of the tiny refugee boy face down in the sand.
I could go on with music, plays, movies, books, paintings but you get my meaning.
To thine own self be true.
Weather's gorgeous in Southern AZ.
Fall is the best time of year down here. S'posed to rain today and tomorrow with high temps below 90. Here's some local color: http://ex-press.ca/blow-kiss-fire-gun-bonding-neighbor-can-blast/ and a Poco song.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Morning Az...
glad the weather is gorgeous for ya'. It's monsoon season there, no? I've got a friend that just bought a house in Tucson and is moving there from Chicago, gotta' warn him about the neighbors!
Great tune, man, thanks.
Monsoons are winding down, but yeah,
I think this rain is coming up from Mexico. In the winter the winds change and we get our weather from CA, we usually get whatever weather L.A. had yesterday. In el niño years, which this is, we sometimes get yuge rains in October. Is your friend political at all ? We don't much appreciate you guys sending us your right-wing whackos, they'll feel more at home in Phoenix.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Nope...
he's a solid liberal, lots of them still left in Chicago, if it wasn't for Chicago Illinois would be a red state, purple at the best. Get a little south of Chicago and things get wingnut fast, wingnuttier the further south you go. Got another friend from Chicago, a retired stock broker, he's in Phoenix, and yeah, that's the place for him.
Tell him Luke's for the best Italian beef.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Hey, Azazello--agree. Fall is the best season everywhere! NT
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Greetings, JTC & All! Wanted to leave you with "Good News,
and Bad News."
Good News:
After almost an entire week tussling with an ISP carrier, struggling to restore my main Wi-Fi connection, I finally got a rep who would simply create a brand new account for me (IOW, new MDN/MSID). Yeah! It now works like a champ.
(When the techs were from India, I had a very sharp tech support Guy do this--said when there's a software 'glitch,' sometimes, this is the only solution. I've been suggesting it all week, but no one would listen--until last evening.)
Bad News:
Some would consider this piece to be 'good news.' I'm not sure which it is. Certainly, it would seem that he could only draw from FSC's support. I've got a couple of pieces to post next week on her loss of support (bleeding, really) from moderate/conservative Dems, particularly women. This meme is picking up a lot of steam in the MSM. Apparently, the Dem Elites believe that Biden's entrance will 'stem the bleeding' from this cohort (delusional, I know).
(Gag--just heard more of the 'endearing' narrative about Biden, on C-Span.)
So, the only thing that concerns me about this story, would be that it would confirm that the Dem Party Elites are determined to put "one of theirs" (corporatist neoliberals, that is) in the White House, at any cost.
I hope that Bernie's campaign is ready for what I figure will be 'dirty' tactics, if he continues his rise in polls/support. I know that he says that he won't run a negative campaign--which is admirable. However, I don't believe for a minute that FSC will follow suit. As the old saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
Hey, just heard Jamie Dimon on MTP. I may be wrong, but I think this is significant--He's been a FSC supporter for years, but just refused to endorse her (when asked by Todd). Have to wonder if Dimon's waiting to see what Biden does--it could be that many of the Dem 'Big Money Donors' think she is radioactive. This will really be an interesting Primary race!
Newsflash: FSC is going to appear on a Sunday political show (Face The Nation) today. We plan to catch it--I'll try to post any highlights--if there are any. I expect it to amount to a bunch of double talk, and therefore, 'nothing there.'
Also, just heard a tape of Wasserman-Schultz 'lecturing' Dems to unite, and only fight Repubs. She really is tone deaf!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Morning Mollie...
glad to hear you got your wifi fixed. tech support is a joy, innit.
The political kabuki goes on, as if anything will really change when a new CEO of the U.S. of Incorporated American is seated.
Talk about delusional
Go Bernie! WTF is MTV doing having Jaime Dimon on? Is he part of their drive to get out the youth vote? Do young people even watch MTV these days? The fact that the Dems. are trotting out notorious bankster's to hustle the Dems. is seriously out of touch with the mood of the population and insulting to boot. About as clueless as naming HRC's fake listening tour bus Scooby Doo.
MTP is referring to Meet The Press
not MTV.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Oh well that's different ....
Lol. Even still Jamie Dimon? We haven't had a TV for a few years and it sounds like MTP is even worse then it was back in our TV watching days. Still clueless as far the rising populist backlash against economic disparity and austerity goes.
Five and a half years
since we cut the cord and I like it so much better than when the tv was on all the time. It is amazing what you do not miss once it is gone.
I am sure Jamie Dimon wants either Clinton or Biden but is hedging his bets right now since it appears that Clinton might be imploding. Joe is Plan B for the banksters and money men.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Hey, we only have 'C-Span'
(or the lowest) Cable TV tier, at one place. At another, I listen (like today) to news on satellite radio, or stream the C-Span Channel for the Sunday Talk Shows.
So, I agree with you Guys about "TV"--the only shows that we've missed, have been the Home Design Shows --the ones where designers help homeowners redecorate, etc.
I realize that many folks consider listening to political programs, to be a waste of time. Admittedly, I believe that it is helpful to know the 'frames' or 'narratives' that are being spun by the MSM on behalf of the One Percent. Which is why we bother to watch/listen to them. Obviously, I am rarely in agreement with most of what the Network, or the Cable TV, news 'shills' have to say. But I do care what the politicians say 'on the record.' (Like FSC, today.)
That's why we 'love' much more unscripted satellite radio news and political programs.
Also, I pretty much agree with the theory that 'to get the truth in print media,' you need to read what the big investors read. Media intended for the One Percent is usually fairly accurate. (Thom Hartmann is a proponent of this theory, too.) So, when fiscal fights get down to the nitty-gritty soon, I'll try to post excerpts from The Financial Times. Our subscription gives us E-Access to their five regional editions--US, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and Middle East. I gave up on trying to get by on the limited free articles that FT.com provides. I'll drop the paper when the year runs out--I only need it for the fiscal fights through 2016.
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
This is rich -- FSC Says She's A "Political Outsider." Here's
an excerpt of a summary of her interview, coming up--I listen to replays on C-Span Radio.
Now, that takes moxie, since she's been on the national political scene since her days on the Watergate prosecution team (40 years ago?) .
I have a theory [as of today], having just heard that Fiorina is in second place among the Repub nominees in the polls: I believe that one reason the Dem Elites are beginning to jump ship on FSC, is that they are afraid of her female competition on the Republican side, Carly Fiorina.
Now, in NO WAY do I agree with Fiorina's 'political stances, ideology.' But, objectively, Presidents and Vice Presidents (all politicians, really) are judged somewhat on their appearance and speaking skills. And, IMO, Fiorina outpaces FSC in this area (public speaking). FSC's speaking style is either shrill, or droning--in an attempt to hold down the shrillness, I suspect.
Also, another pitfall for FSC if Fiorina were to survive the primary, and become the VP nominee--Fiorina would be able to take on (attack) FSC in ways that the male Republican candidates could never do. IOW, Carly would be able to inflict damage to FSC that the other male candidates couldn't.
And, I believe that either Rubio or Kasich or Bush (longshot) will become the Republican Presidential nominee.
Here's a link to the "Face The Nation" transcript of FSC's interview. She only dug herself a deeper hole regarding the email debacle. I really think that after this interview, they will pull back once again (or should, at least until she testifies in October). Undoubtedly, some of the misstatements she made today will be trotted out in the hearings.
Here's what FSC said about the 'healthcare plan' that she is going to introduce in a few days.
I'm all ears regarding her 'tweaks' to the ACA.
Before the 2014 midterms, FSC was on board with several very conservative solutions--including implementing a "Copper" Plan. Several conservative Dem Senators (Landrieu, Begich, Pryor, etc.) also proposed these changes. With these changes, a plan that provides even less coverage than the High Deductible "Bronze" Plans, would be offered in the Health Exchanges.
Whew!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
She should not emphasize her gender
If she is claiming equality with men, why would she want to go there: "I'm the First Woman President?"
To thine own self be true.
fiorina
is indeed scary, in that she is Madame Defarge come to life, and is allowed to run around loose. But I don't think she's any real threat to become president, any more than is Uncle Ben Carson, another current favorite on the Republicans' cockeyed wheel of fortune.
"She" meaning HRC, I don't keep track of the others
the Repubs are so far out there, it's as if they came from outer space, Planet Stupid
To thine own self be true.
I agree with you both (Marilyn and hecate)--FSC was correct
when she ran the first time--not to run on her gender.
OTOH, I think that the Dem Party Establishment/Leadership has finally realized that, at least some of their Party Base, has figured out that many of the Dem corporatist politicians (mostly) serve the One Percent.
So, what has she got left? The one trick that she didn't pull out of her hat last time--running on her gender. (Mark Penn and others advised her to run on competency, IIRC. They thought that running on gender would be divisive.)
hecate, I agree that Fiorina won't be the Repub Presidential nominee, but she's their (current) 'rising star' after the last debate. Considering the fact that Repubs are worried about appearing to be "anti-woman," I think that there is (today) a decent chance that she could be their Repub VP nominee. She just might be able to neutralize some of the uniqueness or appeal of FSC's run--for some (right-leaning) women who would care about that issue.
As for me, I think that it's not only ludicrous, but it's downright insulting to women, in general, to imply that they would even consider voting for someone primarily on the basis of gender. But that appears to be one of FSC's major campaign themes. IMO, the polls already reflect that it is backfiring on her.
Weather Report: Overcast, but very nice temps--low 70's!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Good Evening, busy all day, couldn't read earlier, I just
read on the other orange site a diary by an American Expat living in France that got the expected response I have heard so many times in years back. It was during the morning hours and my comment is of course way too late to get an outrage response.
But I just couldn't hear it anymore. If anyone wants to give me one good beating over the head for even going against MB's responses, so be it. It's time for me to say what I think.
Have all a good night.
Good Afternoon, 18 degrees C here & cloudy
It's been rainy for a week. I read today that it will take our trees 4 years to make up for the dry spring & summer, that's forest trees and city trees.
I've been busy painting for my course Abstraction & Representation given by Barrie Szekely It's hard being out of my element. Geometric Abstraction painting was a piece of cake compared with this. But I'm loving it.
Here's some town gossip. Our Mayor, who wrote her Master's Thesis on Homelessness called a huge conference on the subject. She invited 350 homeless to attend the conference and paid them $20. each for their consultation. The City Council has voted for the city to borrow $50m to help solve the homeless problem of the City. As long as she doesn't insist on those tiny homes being erected in all our parks, I'm hoping she can mitigate the problem. It's actually a Federal issue but from our right wing Federal government we haven't seen any action. It's a national crisis that the Feds pretend does not exist.
To thine own self be true.
Sometimes I have a sinking
I feel the same way. Does that make me a 'denier' or 'end-of-worlder'. I truly hope not.
[video:http://youtu.be/B08uSViJFqQ]
No, it makes you an honest person n/t
To thine own self be true.
Your reply brought tears.
Thank you, it honestly helps.
Afternoon JtC, all,
Hope everyone is having a good day.
I don't look for too much to change on the environmental front until enough people are being directly affected in such a negative way that they are moved to pressure their own pols. Think NIMBY, but on a world wide scale.
But for the sake my own sanity I'm choosing to push that gloomy fact to the back of my mind on this beautiful fall day here in Missouri. Fall, I love it for many reasons. For birders like myself it's an exciting time. So many species of migrant birds that we only get to see if we're lucky enough to catch them working their way through the state on their annual southward journey. Chasing them around, trying to photograph the different species in the short time they're around gets me out of the house and gives me something to think about besides all the crap that's going on in the world today.
All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon
Go for it burnt out
while you can, for all of us!
Have to Janis, if for no other reason,
it serves as my escape mechanism. And these days, who doesn't need one of those?
All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon
I love looking for the migrants too
If only at my backyard bird feeders. We have had a ton of ruby throat hummingbirds passing through recently. How do I know they are not the regulars? Because they do not automatically know where the feeder is and most now are females who migrate later than the males.
I am so looking forward to seeing some rose breasted grosbeaks and purple finches stop by. Got my fingers crossed for that.
Burnt out, aren't you located on a major north south migratory flyway? Hopefully we will see some of your photos of the migrants.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Second that request! (to see more photos) ;-) Below is a
pretty stock photo of a "Jay" that I've put in a cell phone camera roll.
Hope to have a final 'count' of our Cardinal and Jay families soon.
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Hey Mollie, that's a great photo of a bluejay. It's not easy to
capture the various subtle shades of blue on them but your photo does that quite well. And I have a special fondness for pics of birds in the snow. Very nice.
All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon
Thanks, bo. I thought the snowy branches provided a nice
backdrop for the little fella, too.
(Too bad I can't claim to be the photographer.)
"M"
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Birds in snow
One of the most spectacular things I have ever seen, but did not get a picture of it, was more than a dozen cardinals sitting in a small, leafless tree outside my window one December morning. It had snowed that night and some of the snow had covered the branches of that tree. The contrast between the brilliant colors of the cardinals (and yes, I think females cardinals are gorgeous too) was breath taking. I happened to be on the phone with my mother at the time and I told her that it was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
We don't get very many R-B Grosbeaks here,
but Purple finches are regular visitors to our feeders during the winter.
Yes, we're on the western edge of the Mississippi flyway so that's where most of our migrants come from. But we also get some birds that start out in the Central Flyway but then break off around Kansas City and swing eastward to follow the Missouri River all the way across the state to the Mississippi River, where they turn south again.
All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon
Evening bo...
I live between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, close to the Illinois, smack dab in the middle of the Mississippi Flyway. There is a constant flow of water fowl holding over on the backwaters, giving great pleasure to those seeking them out in the various parks in the area. I live out in the sticks and see many migratory song birds also, our bird feeders get some uncommon visitors from time to time. I love it.
LOL, JtC
You answered my question to burnt out above.
Fall is such an exciting time for us bird watchers, both amateur and not so amateur. 
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Evening JtC
You live in a great area for birding! I'm envious. We bird as far east as St. Louis fairly often but so far haven't ventured much into Illinois. There's a wildlife refuge that sits between the Illinois river and the Mississippi just above the confluence that we've been thinking about visiting for awhile but haven't made it there yet. It requires a ferry crossing so that might be kind of interesting in itself. Probably go for it sometime this fall.
All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon
ah, Poco
Richie Furay is from Yellow Springs, Ohio. He came back to his hometown to play an outdoor show back when I was going to college there. We greatly appreciated it!
One of the most...
under appreciated bands of the 70s, with some big stars, IMHO.