Good morning, 99%'ers! I am going to be traveling today, so I will not be covering this in real time. Please feel free to talk about whatever you wish.

My husband's 98 year old aunt died one week ago. She had been ready to go for about two years and died peacefully in her sleep early Wednesday morning. We all should be so lucky.

Happy Solstice! (December 21, at 20:48 PST)

There are only 10 days left in 2015

21 is 3 x 7 (uh huh)
21 is the sum of the first 6 natural numbers. 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21
21 is a fibonnacci number 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21

Good morning 99percenters!
Morning news dump and music by blues artist Karen Carroll

The United States is scarier than the Islamic State
Even our closest allies fear that we are a menace militarily and environmentally. The threat is lethal and real

‘War on Christmas’: House Republicans introduce bill to protect holiday

It’s the most uncomfortable time of the year.

After last week's weightier Open Thread topic, I thought I would lighten things up a bit with a diary on chipmunks. Being from Florida, we never saw chipmunks in our yard but I always thought they were such cute little critters. I mean, I remember Alvin and the Chipmunks from my youth.

It's Monkey Day!
and
There are but 17 days remaining until the end of the year, and
There are only 7 days until the December (Winter) Solstice on December 21, at 20:48 PST

14 is 2 x 7; I'll get back to that.
14 is the sum of the first 3 square numbers (1+4+9)
14 is Silicon

Good morning 99percenters!
Sunday morning news dump and music by one of the bands I cut my bluegrass teeth on, Country Gazette.

Historic Climate Deal Reached, But Campaigners say the Work is Just Beginning
'This deal puts the fossil fuel industry on the wrong side of history.'—Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light.

~ Norman B. Rice ~

Here is a big surprise.

For today's Open Thread, I thought I would republish an updated version of something I wrote in a personal blog over eleven years ago It seems more important than ever in today's dog eat dog world.