@enhydra lutris That Alfredo kicked your ass, huh? Are you finding yourself lactose intolerant? It can happen out of nowhere, so I hear.
George, a/k/a Shrub, was a dumb ass. Still is. No telling who was running things in his tenure. Likely Cheney.
How is an agreement with Zelenski of any force or effect? He is not a constitutionally elected president. That issue looms large in negotiation for an end to the conflict.
Yellen, a black mailer? Man, I am shocked! s/ Of course, she has no problem holding working people's earned benefits. Wall Streeters are hungry and want more! They will get it, one way or another.
I had a tour of Colonial Mexico when COVID caused all tours to be cancelled. One of these days I might take a cruise. The ships depart from Galveston, which is very close. But what happens next, 2 days of sailing without pause, is discouraging. Lots of opportunity for sea sickness right off the tour bat.
I wish we were somewhere, anywhere, and could avoid being in the freeze next week.
Well, friend, I know you are all excited about the inauguration, amirite? Lol!
Have a fun weekend!

indeed. The fact that GWB was able to rise to prominence is a cause for hilarity, sadness and shame. He was not, like Biden, in cognitive decline but simply cognitively deficient. The reason nobody suspecyed him of tryng to provide cover for Enron's criminality is the certainty that he was not remotely capable of comprehending it, or much else.

Down in the thirties here again and still dry. We, of late, get these fits of torrential deluge for just long enough to seem like forever preceded and followed by long spells of dry cold (California cold, that is). Will be glad to get away for a bit.

Celebrated yesterday's infusion with a large serving of alfredo at a slightly upscale Italian place last evening and regretted it all night - can't eat like I used to.

Gnus- courtesy of Sputnik:

On Thursday, Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed a "One Hundred Year Partnership Agreement," pledging to enhance maritime cooperation in the Baltic, Black and Azov seas.

and Russia's response?

"Neither Ukraine nor the UK has any room for cooperation in the Azov Sea. After the Donetsk People's Republic and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions joined Russia in September 2022, the Azov Sea became Russia's internal sea. Any claims to its waters are gross interference in the internal affairs of our country and will be severely suppressed," Zakharova said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20250118/russia-warns-against-uk-ukraine-claims...
Heh

Meanwhile, Yellen is proposing to reneg on and violate the US' contracts with all existing and retired civil service employees, the kind of shit that the Dems constantly accuse the GOP of contemplating:

To avoid this possibility, Yellen said the Treasury Department will use a number of accounting tricks, including pausing payments into civil service retirement accounts until Congress and the president agree to raise the debt ceiling again. Yellen did not say for how long her measures will forestall a default.

https://www.rt.com/news/611142-us-treasury-debt-ceiling/

And so it goes, as they say.

be well and have a good one

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg about Assange, so more of the same silence and compliance is to be expected.
Shame on them. Free press? What's that? How quaint.
So, correctly identifying a person as an Israel lobbyist is anti-Semetic?
I am sure you have seen the proposed bill coming for debate in NY that makes it a crime to damage any poster, flag, or public display that is pro-Israel. No other country was afforded in this "protection". Pretty soon, the way things are going, we will call for a new official definition of genocide which excludes Israel as a perpetrator.
Have some fun today with my client!

Note Matt Miller was also present acting like the super snitchy school prefect calling in the security team.

— jay (@jcb4Peace) January 17, 2025

“You too, Matt. You smirked your way through a genocide.” - Max

@fire with fire No wonder you are glad to have escaped!
To me, that city doesn't really fit in with the rest of the state.
My shabby treatment with a shitty boss happened while I was working on my Master's degree.
I was a receptionist. I answered phones, made appointments, gave information. A manager would come by for an hour every few weeks. I didn't mind using my car to pick them up at the airport. I drew the line at making and serving the bastards coffee. I made it clear that was not in my job description.
I was fired.
To be a proper boss, being a prick is necessary.
Thank the Spaghetti Thing that I am my own boss!
Enjoy your environs this weekend and or all days to come. Don't have flashbacks when you wash your windows, friend!

and I moved away for good 25 years ago.

Texas looks great in your rear-view mirror.

My favorite Texas story demonstrating the mindset there:

I was a sophomore in high school when I got my first job working at a shoe store after school and on Saturdays. I got paid by commission -- I can't recall the exact percentage but it was an overt inducement to push the extras: handbags, hosiery and shoe polish. A boss told me that the extras were how they evaluated us sales clerks. I learned how to blush and seem nervous about selling hosiery and handbags -- the ladies ate it up.

I was the youngest employee of the store -- the other two sales clerks were college age young adults who liked to show the young kid how the world really works. One Saturday, a bigger boss from "corporate" spent the day at our store -- to tighten up the ship. He had me wash the windows, then he told thw other guy working that day and me to go to the back of the store to run inventory.

Coming from a union family, I was already pissed off about washing the windows for free and I let my elder statesman co-worker know that running inventory for free was against the law.

The young man chuckled, and in a voice dripping with condescension said, "You'll learn. Haw haw haw. You'll learn."

About 35 years later, the internet came along and made it plausible to apply for jobs thousands of miles away -- and I escaped the land of Boss Worship.