FITZ!

Morning LHP! Just getting the coffee made here this morning…blergh.

Redd,
Check your emai. I sent you a Fitz fix.

So far we have cu out 1/2 a batch of gingerbread (the rest remains wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge, looking forlorn), none decorated yet, and have done a complete batch of eggnog cookies (with butterscotch pieces melted inthe middle to make a glass “windoe and eggnog icing drizlled on and little flecks of edible gold.

I am so damn far behind, sometimes I think I’m first.

I woke up at 3 obsessing about how much I have to get done today. Started laundry at 6.

I will be away from the computer again today. MUST SHOP. Need presents.

Must bake, this is the week to give away the cookies. Need time. Need time. need time.

LHP at 4 — I hear you on the “must bake” part of the equation. This is the week we do presents of cookies, too, and I’m not nearly close to being done. Arrrrgh…

Although I do have some super-potent rum ball batter in the fridge, ready to be formed and shaped and rolled in powdered sugar. They are very easy to make, too…here’s the recipe, if you want it. I use toasted pecans instead of walnuts — I think it adds a richer flavor, but I’ve also left the nuts out altogether as well.

My big problem with the shopping is figuring out what I want to give. I had my final epiphany yesterday, so I hope to finish today.

Littleprop, though only in 7th grade has decided to take the SATs in Jan. She is thinking of going to college this summer. So every Sat and Sun morning I sit for 3-4 hours cooling my heals while she is in an SAT prep course in the city.

No good shopping nearby, and I don’t want to go too far afield and leave her alone. The test prep place is on the Bowery, not the safest part of town. I am however, geting a ton of brief writing, office accounting and other work that is best done awaay from the phone accomplished, so it’s not a toal loss.

Out-Fitz!

(Link is to a pic of a store in Maastricht by that name.)

Hmmm…yeah, see what you mean about not wanting to leave her too alone. Good to have the brief-writing time, though — that sort of concentrated quiet can work wonders. :)

Hope you get to the shopping today. I still have a couple of things to pick up, but they are gift certificates, so no big shakes on that. Other than that, I’m done. But I have NOTHING wrapped. Arrrgh…

RT at 8 — That pix is so fun. :)

Christy Hardin Smith @ 6

Although I do have some super-potent rum ball batter in the fridge, ready to be formed and shaped and rolled in powdered sugar. They are very easy to make, too…here’s the recipe, if you want it. I use toasted pecans instead of walnuts — I think it adds a richer flavor, but I’ve also left the nuts out altogether as well.

Thank you. I always do one “new” cookie a year and that looks very fast.

I do something simliar with little “fruitcake” balls dipped in chocolate.

1 cup suger
1 cup corn syrup
1 stick butter or margarine
cooke to very soft “hardball” stage.

have one box of Graham cracker crumbs one contaier each chopped candied citron and glace cherries ( i cutt them up) pour in some rum, brady or Irish Whiskey (to taste)

Pour hot syrup over the crumb mixture and combine. As sooon as it is cool enough to handle make 3/4 to 1 inch balls. Let sit for a day and come back and dip in dark choclate. these things keep forever and even folks who hate fruitcake, love ‘em

Time to leave for the City.
Have great day all!

Esten! Peanut!

Here’s a poem from the ACLU

An Overdue Visit

> ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the nation
> Friends of Freedom knew it was a special occasion.
> Lady Liberty stood taller just off the shore
> Her torch shining brighter than a few weeks before

> But it wasn’t the flame turning her cheeks all rosy
> It was thoughts of Snowe, Feingold and Nancy Pelosi
> And leaders from every side of the aisle
> Who would soon bring the Bill of Rights back into style.

> The Amendments had all hurried out of their beds -
> Which was no easy task, they were nearly in shreds -
> And they rushed to the window on papery feet
> As a jolly old man flew right over their street.

> “Could it be!?” they inquired as the roof shook and trembled
> And they crept toward the mantle, peaceably assembled,
> Just as someone emerged from the chimney with flair
> In a shiny red suit, with a shock of white hair

> And a top hat, and pants all in red, white and blue -
> “Wait a minute,” the Amendm ents exclaimed, “Who are you?”
> “Don’t be frightened my children,” he said, “it’s no scam.
> “You can’t have forgotten your old Uncle Sam!”

> “Holy crap!” said Free Speech. “Stop right there!” yelled Bear Arms
> And Privacy cried “Who shut off the alarms?!”
> The Fifth remained silent, but Uncle Sam said
> “We’ve been having some trouble, but Freedom’s not dead.”

> The Amendments were cautious. “It’s just been so long
> “We’ve seen Liberty lost, we’ve seen so much go wrong.
> “The President’s trying to mangle and warp us,
> “The Fourth is in tatters, so’s Habeas Corpus!”

> The old man sat down - he had had quite a ride -
> But he told them “Don’t worry, the Law’s on our side,
> “‘Cause the nation’s fed up and more people are crying
> “For Justice and an end to illegal spying,

> “And secret abductions by the CIA,
> “And laws that would take women’s choices away,
> “And Gitmo tribunals and secret detention,
> “And other intrusions too numerous to mention - ”

> “Not so fast,” said a grinchity voice from above
> And Don Rumsfeld pushed past the Fourteenth with a shove.
> He was covered in soot and he looked kind of scary.
> It seemed like his Christmas had not been so merry.

> The Amendments said they weren’t happy to see him:
> “You tried to throw all of us in the museum!
> “You’ve done so much the Constitution forbids!”
> “And I would have gone on, but for you meddling kids!”

> Uncle Sam told him “Rummy, your plans just won’t do,
> “So we’ve got a brand new timetable for you!”
> And as Rumsfeld retired and crept into the night
> The Amendments cried out “Have a good secret flight!”

> From the distance they heard him reply with a snort.
> “Bye-bye, Rummy!” they answered, “we’ll see you in court!”
> Unc le Sam rode the chimney up out of the room
> And, like Frosty, he said “I’ll be back again soon.”

> But they heard him exclaim “Oh, and just one more thing!
> “This year, when the holiday bells start to ring,
> “Try to honor religion. Honest faith can’t be wrong.
> “It’s America, can’t we all just get along?

> “So, on Christian,” he cried, “Muslim, Hindu, and Jew!
> “On Quaker! On Shaker! And Atheist too!
> “On Buddhist! On Taoist! And to show we’re not chickens
> “We’ll file a few lawsuits defending the Wiccans!

> “Your belief is your right, so get out there and savor it.
> “Uncle Sam’s not a preacher, and he doesn’t play favorites!”
> So this holiday season, whatever you do,
> Warmest wishes for Freedom, from the ACLU.
> — http://action.aclu.org

Christy Hardin Smith @ 10

RT at 8 — That pix is so fun. :)

Thanks, Christy - when I saw that sign over a shop in Maastricht on a trip to Europe earlier this year, I immediately thought of FDL!

Morning all,

LHP, this may not solve all the gift problems, but there was a thread about this a few weeks back and I did a synopsis here. Kiva microloans, Heifer Intl etc.

The first concert went quite well, Mr. HotFlash (hpschd) and I (page-turner) acquitted ourselves honourably. The family matinee version is this aft, Messiah’s Mon and Tues, then we’re done and I’ll go do my shopping and cookie baking — well, shopping, anyway. Thank heaven I buy intersting stuff all summer and stash it in the Christmas cupboard, that’ll save me a lot of running around.

RT at 15 — I may have to use that later today…if that’s okay with you. *g* With proper credit, of course. :)

Kathryn @ 14 Thanks for sharing that. I LOVE the ACLU! Definitely one of the things I’m thankful for this holiday season.

I wonder if they were hoping to have the Time “Person of the Year” on today?

Noonan at 19 — hehehe, I don’t know. My question to my husband last night was “Ooooh, do I get to put that on my CV now?” hehehehe

One Christmas wish is to turn on the sunday am talking heads & see Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, Al Gore, Bernie Sanders..just anyone with something real to say. Hard hitting analyses such as dissecting Obama’s attire are so more fun than questioning why some ISG members were so doggone grateful & impressed that bush gave them an entire hour of his time.
I’m not disparaging non-human newts but I was amused to read that some newts are highly toxic, can take several years to reach sexual maturity & have cells (related to tumors) that can regenerate limbs & organs. Newt regenerates: Republican Make-Over Spokesperson.

Morning Everyone. I am looking forward to tuning on the radio/tv (radio with tv sound) at 9 to “see” Sestak. One feel’s a little rush knowing we helped bring this to pass. Yes, Christie, the tree got done, ditto new this year clear lights on a tall push outside our window. And we managed to also get 8 kids (16 year olds) fed and dressed at our house for the school’s winter formal (didn’t we all once dress up alone for the dance?) and transported to same safely (two having arrived first by bus from NH). After the drop off we pushed off for the annual department Christmas party at a colleague’s house on the opposite side of town, to return in time to pick up 3 of the kids (ours and the NH guests), and (nicely) kick them up to bed by 12:15 (the air mattresses having been prepared some time mid way through the tree). Now onto the Christmas letter….

Richmond at 22 — I knew you’d get it done. :) And yes, the Blue America victories still make me grin.

ironranger @ 21

One Christmas wish is to turn on the sunday am talking heads & see Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, Al Gore, Bernie Sanders..just anyone with something real to say. Hard hitting analyses such as dissecting Obama’s attire are so more fun than questioning why some ISG members were so doggone grateful & impressed that bush gave them an entire hour of his time..

Ahh yes that would be wonderful. Rich today by the way is just brilliant (on Mary Cheney’s baby and the homophobic problem for the Rep party).

CHS -
Those rum balls sound like heaven……….is that sweetened or unsweetened cocoa powder? Was afraid there was no hope of making them today b/c no booze on Sunday but toulou toulay, there’s maybe a half cup of Myer’s dark rum hiding in the alcohol stash cabinet ;-)

Kathryn -
Beaucoups tks for the delightful ACLU poem!

Morning witchywoman, hope you and yuor SO zare feeling better. Came across this articile about driving safety and zodiacal sign, and wanted to ask you or spiderpaws if it correlated w/astrological understanding of the signs.

Me, I’m a Gemini :). I want my rates to go down!

OK, first things first. Christy, thanks for putting aside those sugar cookie samples for me. I was wondering whether my order had come through.

You have my Fed Ex overnight-delivery account number, right? But I’ll have to provide you the address in Boise where I’m making a pre-Christmas stop before we head for the Caribbean for a scuba Christmas and a snorkely New Year. I’m not sure that sugar cookies would make it through international Customs if you sent them down there.

Second things second. “the [Emperor] penguin preening there, all by itself, in the snow.” That would be the most boring Talking Head of all, the Prez, right — preening himself, all alone, as the cold snow of reality lies around him, still convinced he is the Emperor, but without clothes.

Third things third. Does anyone remember reading The Making of the President, 1960, by Theodore White? It was either that, or his 1964 book, where White noted the distortion that sets in for the country because of all the evening TV news being anchored from New York and Washington, rather than from Chicago or Los Angeles. Little (OK, nothing) has changed in the past 40 years, and so the Sunday Talking Heads are chosen among those whom the producers and interviewers see as the fonts of wisdom and influence — whether or not they are.

Waccamaw at 25 — that’s unsweetened cocoa. I use Ghirardelli, myself, because I like the deeply chocolate taste. If you use Hershey’s cocoa, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon. And yes, they are amazingly potent — they get better the longer they sit, too. :P

Would it be to much to wish for a Hellmouth to open up at the MTP studios this morning? Ah, Satan probably wouldn’t want the indigestion.

Mornin’ all; this got right to it for me:

It’s turning into an interesting Christmas season for those mothers, fathers, wives, sons and daughters who’ll get to lose a husband, a father, a son in the next few weeks (and of course years) as the American death tally in Iraq ho ho hoses it to 3,000 while our Lord and Savior president and decider decides not to decide what to decide next for Iraq until — maybe to please Jenna and the other one — “after the holidays,” as the phraseology of the corporate cruiser goes. As long as the Dow keeps breaking records, why worry? This is the man about whom Peggy Noonan, the Bush family publicist, once said that “eloquence is in his plainspokenness, in the fact that each word is a simple coin with a definite worth.” What, at this point, is moral bankruptcy worth? But this is the same man who once explained his style to Bob Woodward this way: “I’m the commander—see, I don’t need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel I owe anybody an explanation.” This is a man who values the worthlessness of his silence. Who makes the soldiers he never was die for it. And who still struts, with pride, “in his chesty way, with what seems a jarring peppiness” (Peggy Noonan’s words again, four years too late, like all the other rats bailing from the USS W.) So for the last few days he’s created his own little parade of generals and “experts” to give the appearance of receiving advice without needing to consent to more than what Laura Bush will suggest he should get Barbara and George Sr. for Christmas, no doubt to pacify them.

(snip)

And the irony of all these lines here, these lines you’re reading now, is that they’re focused on an infinitesimally small, almost self-indulgent part of the tragedy. We write about the lives lost, the names, the high school sweethearts, the children left behind, because these are American lives. But what differentiates them from the lives being lost on the other side, the Iraqi side, if not the most puerile and ridiculous difference—a difference of geography, of culture, of nationality, differences that have nothing to do with the human loss, to say nothing of the humanity being lost. Here we are, mourning an American loss or two or three or four every day as if it were the limit of the unbearable. And yet two days ago, in a single bombing in Baghdad —one bomb, one explosion—seventy Iraqis lost their lives. The equivalent of a heavy month’s total losses for the American military. And that bombing was just one of several that day. And those bombings were just a few of the many means by which hundreds of Iraqis found their end that day. What newspapers are telling those stories? What encyclopedias of the dead will tabulate those losses, the effects on those human ecosystems? Who ever speaks of a shared humanity when an Arab dies anymore, the deaths—in Iraq, in Gaza or the West Bank, in Lebanon—being so routine, so disposably forgettable. (And none of this is nearly as bad as the disposability of African lives, which run in the millions.)

But President Bush wants to wait. He wants to delay. He wants to spend his holidays in peace. He wants us not to know what we’ve known all along. It isn’t indecision that’s keeping him from announcing his new strategy. It isn’t infighting among his staff, or figuring out how to navigate an opposition Congress. It is certainly not the possibility that he is incubating a Lincolnesque declaration. (He had his Lincolnesque moment, on the USS Abraham Lincoln, and look where that led us.) No. What we’ve known all along is what he’s been all along, in Iraq as elsewhere. Clueless. Pointless. And now we can safely add, heartless. His best strategy is to run out the clock on his term, to hand Iraq to the next president in the hope of making himself not be the president who lost Iraq, even as he’s been the only president, Saddam included, who managed to wreck Iraq. And the worst of it is to know that as reprehensive as the crimes committed in the name of “freedom” or “democracy” or “security” have been, they’re not nearly as horrific as the crimes being committed at the expense of Iraqis’ and Americans’ humanity, they’re not nearly as unpardonable as the crimes that will go unspoken except in grief’s inexplicable blooms, for years to come, from their little seed in that four-year-old’s eyebrow and that nine-year-old’s newborn emptiness. Here and in Iraq .

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-20.htm

Love, love, love the poem and thank you Kathryn!

What day yesterday was!

Went to get the tree. The frost is coming up through the dirt road, so it’s all mud. We had to park and walk.

On the way out the door, I turned to my wife and said, ‘hey, we always take the dog with us, we almost forgot him!’ (I still haven’t adjusted to having two dogs, but the old one listens and likes to run, so we always take him with.)

After dragging the only suitable tree left to the van and rounding up the kids, I call the dog. He comes and I notice a big gash on his front leg. He ran through something and opened up about a 2″ tear, we could see his tendon. At first, I thought it was a flap of skin hanging down, but after closer exam, it was a rip. Spent a little time getting him to the vet (closed on weekends except for cases like this) and then worked on getting the tree decorated. The dog got to stay a few hours at the vet to get stitched up and recover. About the time the tree was done, it was time to get the dog. The doc is new, but he’s like me - I don’t do billing, so stop by during the week to square up.

The kids listened most of the time, but after hearing “is it time to hang the stockings?” for the gazillionth time, my wife decided she needed to do some shopping with her mom. I decided shortly thereafter that it was bedtime for the kids. (That was an hour ago, I think the boy is out already.)

Now, one of the kittens has discovered the tree. It’s a good 2′ wider than any tree we’ve had before, with plenty of room under it for the ungodly amount of presents my wife probably bought the kids. She calls me a grinch, I call myself a fiscal conservative.

Anyway, about 8:10 my wife called on her cell.to ask me if I was ringing the bell like I had signed up for tonight. Obviously, with the dog, we had forgotten. She can explain that at church tomorrow when she drops off the ‘adopt a ham’ stuff.

Now, this morning, the dog gets up and his stitches are half out. We can’t afford to pay for yesterday’s procedure, and he’s going to need to go in again today.

Packer game today for me, this one better be better than the last one I went to.

HotFlash @ 26

Morning witchywoman, hope you and yuor SO zare feeling better. Came across this articile about driving safety and zodiacal sign, and wanted to ask you or spiderpaws if it correlated w/astrological understanding of the signs.

Me, I’m a Gemini :). I want my rates to go down!

‘Morning HotFlash. Thank you, we’re doing better. Managed to get out and get a tree yesterday.

That article is so funny, because it feels true. And I’m a Gemini, too! Yes! Better insurance rates for Geminis!

Christy Hardin Smith @
17

RT at 15 — I may have to use that later today…if that’s okay with you. *g* With proper credit, of course. :)

Christy@17 - I’d be delighted!

Thanks, Christy - I gained a pound just reading FDL this morning. I better go take my old blind Bluie for his walk (I’m his seeing eye person.)

Prof @ 27 - I do remember those books, both fascinating and may have contributed to my life long political junkiedom. Though I think network news has deteriorated dramatically since Cronkite and Huntley Brinkley. (My grandfather lived next door to Chet Huntley - I thought that was way cool, even saw him one morning coming out his front door. Made my day)

Everyone is running the 2002 Tauscher picture where George Bush feels her up (which she has now scrubbed from her own website), but if you want to go beyond visual voyeurism into thinking voyeurism, Kos points out a website with fascinating tales of how Ellen Tauscher is going to be challenged in the D primary for her seat.

Wait, I mean “ellen”

One cannot really “edit” a post, depite the link that says one can, right?

Prof @ 37

One cannot really “edit” a post, depite the link that says one can, right?

Actually you can, but there is a limited window of time (I forget how long) and people have to refresh to see the edit.

Prof at 37 — I can edit with the regular tools (and not just my souped up write-for-the-blog tools), but I’m using a Microsoft browser. Apparently, there is some sort of glitch for some other browser (I forget which…sorry), but we’re hoping for a patch at some point.

Noonan, So sorry about your doggie! Hope he’s better soon. I know all about dogs and vet bills. 8(

petedownunder at 34 — oh, have a great walk. I used to be the seeing eye person for my old beagle when I was a kid. I still miss my pooch…

Noonan — hope your pooch is doing better today. What a mess! Of course, for your kids this will someday be one of those stories they tell each other years from now…

Prof — I fixed your comment for you — it now says Ellen. :)

On Christmas baking: I have been meaning to write this for a while, but. A couple of thoughts -easy and fun.

Make shortbread dough (any recipe, I like Joy). Then, alone or with kids, press it by hand into a tinfoil lined pie plate. Sprinkle the top heavily with red or green dyed sugar (you can also mix them). I leave this ready to cook in the fridge overnight and bake it to serve with coffee between the stockings and the gifts. When the “pies” are out of the oven, put tin foil on top, flip them over, replace the bottom foil with nice looking plates. Flip back over so the sugar side is on top, and cut with a pizza cutter into pie piece shapes. I do 2 pies, one red, one green if lots of family are coming in. This is what I also do as a gift for neighbors sometime before Xmas. I bring them over hot. With all the butter it can’t be good for you, but it is super easy and good.

I also do “chocolate pizza” for Xmas breakfast. Make your own (or buy) pizza dough (I often make bread dough that rises in the frig over night). Spread the dough out on a pizza or cookie sheet. Sprinkle it liberally with diced chocolate of various kinds/colors (and/or chips like butterscotch), pecans, jam (I like apricot and apricot), dried fruit (I like chopped dates) and colored sugar. Also dot the surface with butter. This is fun kid’s work. Cook like a regular pizza. Serve hot or cold. You can squeeze out little cake-decorator tubes of red/green/white frosting over the top once it is out if you want too. Looks like a mess, but it is great.

This Week (ABC): Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; retired Army Gen. Jack Keane; Rep.-elect Joe Sestak, D-Pa.; actor and activist Isaiah Washington on his work for the eradication of malaria in Africa; and ABC’s George Will, EJ Dionne of the Washington Post, Richard Stengel of Time Magazine and Torie Clarke.

there’s where we can see if the progressives have learned their lesson for framing the discussion

time for some pushback

I want to see democrats start challenging the miliarty resolve of the people that support our national defense and the armed forces that protect this country

they have to put it to the books;

if you are for a prolonged engagement I want you to start proposing methods of manning the armed forces

there are too few soldiers, too little recruitment and if you think we need to be remainng untill “the job is done” then first tell me what “wining” looks like and then tell me where and how you are going to get the men”

“when you tell me those thigs you might be demonstrating some kind of military knowledge, untill you tell us how we accomplish those things you are demonstrating a lack of knowledge that is dangerous to our troops and national security”

see that”

it’s all in how we frame the discussion

On Chocolate Pizza, I meant to say seedless rasberry, but any will do.

Christy Hardin Smith @
39

Prof at 37 — I can edit with the regular tools (and not just my souped up write-for-the-blog tools), but I’m using a Microsoft browser. Apparently, there is some sort of glitch for some other browser (I forget which…sorry), but we’re hoping for a patch at some point.

Editing works fine for me in Firefox (I added the parenthetical @8 on edit, for instance), so maybe it’s Opera that has the problems.

What time does ‘Newt Eye for the GOP Guy‘ come on?

Christy, you were named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year!

Jane, you too!

TRex, Pachacutec, Howie, Kos, all of ya!

FireDogLakeistas, Blue America — all of ya!

You control the media now, and the world will never be the same. Meet the citizens of the new digital democracy

and

On the Web, anyone with a digital camera has the power to change history

Richmond at 46 — oooh, chocolate pizza sounds yummy. I usually buy a bag of those frozen cinnamon rolls — the yeast dough kind that you can find in the freezer section. (I like the Rhodes kind when I can find them.) I put them out in a large baking pan on Christmas Eve, pour half a box of vanilla pudding mix (the instant kind), several sprinkles of a strong Vietnamese cinnamon that I buy from Penzey’s, a little brown sugar here and there, and some melted butter over everything. I cover the baking dish with plastic wrap, and leave it on the top of the stove to thaw and rise overnight. We pop it into the oven first thing to bake (take the saranwrap off first!), and it bakes while The Peanut tears into the presents.

Caught a little vid on lastnites’ local Hartford news. This CT captian’s funeral (Iraq/roadside IED) with Governor Rell and other dignitaries (Joey2Face excepted; he’s fighting them over there so he won’t attend funerals over here:
http://www.courant.com/news/lo.....ines-local

“I’ve never seen this church so crowded before,” said a state police trooper. Volunteers parked cars on the grass and up a hill. Gov. M. Jodi Rell came; she sat with the secretary of the state, the attorney general and the state comptroller. A New London firefighters bagpipe and drum corps played before the service.

“It’s a privilege for us,” said drum major David Paige as corps members warmed up.

The man they were remembering grew up in Salem and graduated from East Lyme High School, where he was probably the most motivated wrestler his coach has seen.

“He always gave 150 percent,” said Hamill’s former coach, Rick Sherman. “That was what made him a lot better than he was. He was a leader. You could always depend on him. That was a quality he took into the service.”

Hamill graduated from East Lyme in 1993.

At the time of his death, Hamill was a company commander of 70 men. He married Karen Nixon in July 2005, and they were remodeling a home near Fort Hood, Texas. Hamill was deployed to Iraq last December, and his job was clearing roads of the kind of bomb that killed him. He was scheduled to come home shortly; an Army spokesman said all of Hamill’s division would be home by Christmas.

Hamill was buried last week at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

At Saturday’s service, Hamill’s mother, Sharon, and wife were given banners and condolence books by the Blue Star Mothers of America, whose members have children serving in the military. The condolence books include messages from around the country from military families.

“I thought we’d have closure after the funeral,” Sharon Hamill had said earlier. “I don’t think we will have closure for a while.”

In his homily, the Rev. Michael T. Donohue, pastor of St. Matthias, asked mourners to think about words they associate with soldiers: Courage, honor, strength.

Those gathered in the church sang “America the Beautiful” and then they spilled out into the sunshine to talk quietly beneath a flag that was flying at half-staff, as ordered by the governor.

Earlier, a line of about 90 motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard Riders - a year-old group that shields family members from protesters - revved down Route 161 to stand outside the church at the request of the family. The group recently escorted donated wreaths from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery.

They were there because of protesters from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose members have demonstrated at military funerals around the country. Church members say the military deaths in Iraq are God’s punishment for America’s tolerance of gays. Eight members stood across the street from St. Matthias shouting and singing. One protester held a sign that said, “Thank God for IEDs” (improvised explosive devices). Another said “Thank God For Dead Soldiers.”

The Riders - their bikes sporting decals like “University of South Vietnam” - revved their engines as they passed the Westboro group, drowning them out. They then parked their bikes and stood holding flags.

“We are here to have respect for the family and to pay no attention to those people,” said Brad Lundberg, who is retired from the Air Force and a member of Star Touring & Riding Chapter 168 of Hartford.

The Westboro protesters were also met by a group of 25 local residents, most of them high school students from Waterford High School’s drama club. The group recently staged “The Laramie Project” - a play that dramatizes the life and death of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was killed in 1998. The students had anticipated protests from the Kansas group.”

——–
Who ARE these ghouls?!
——-
Liberal Lion Teddy on Fox:
“The President is on a ‘listening tour’ - the President ‘will not be rushed’…WHERE has this President BEEN?”

woo-HOO Prof– power to the Rootz, the Internets, and you!

Yay Mr. Sidarth, CT Bob, Spazeboy, Mike Stark, etc!

Prof at 49 — well you, as a “consumer” of the blog, are also the Person of the Year. hehehe I say we all put it on our CVs and resumes. *g* (And yes, I am snarking on Time’s language on this from the CNN special last night…I prefer “community” or Prof’s suggestion of “participant.” Just FYI…)

Prof @ 49

Christy, you were named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year!

And several pages are worth clicking such as this on the guy who outed Mark Foley and helped turn an election.

You all know the story. After helping build the public’s disgust with the corruption of power inside the Beltway, he lost his job at the Human Rights Campaign.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 53

Prof at 49 — well you, as a consumer of the blog, are also the Person of the Year. hehehe I say we all put it on our CVs and resumes. *g*

Consumer? ***GGG***

I’ll go for “participant.” (Consumers just read.)

***GGG***

Back to TIME. There’s also a story there on S.R. Sidharth.

His full name is Shekar Ramanuja Sidarth. He usually goes by just his last name, or even just Sid. But most of the country knows him as “Macaca.”

btw, we are now on our second viewing of “Sword In The Stone” this morning. I suppose there are worse things than being exposed to repeated doses of King Arthur on a Sunday morning. *g*

I got interested in the penguin photographer.

Editor’s note: Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters Environment Correspondent based in Washington, is reporting on Antarctica on a National Science Foundation Grant.

Prof at 55 — Well, I was trying to use the Time language from the CNN special on it last night. *G* They were on and on about users and consumers. It’s funny to hear people who don’t spend a lot of time on blogs or YouTube talking about them…hehehe

Lindy at 57 — oh, fun! Thanks so much for finding that — so it probably was a scientific shot that got picked up by Reuters, do you think?

Christy Hardin Smith @ 59

Lindy at 57 — oh, fun! Thanks so much for finding that — so it probably was a scientific shot that got picked up by Reuters, do you think?

I’m not sure what arrangement she had with Reuters. I know that NASA photos are in the public domain. It may be that this is different.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 56

btw, we are now on our second viewing of “Sword In The Stone” this morning. I suppose there are worse things than being exposed to repeated doses of King Arthur on a Sunday morning. *g*

Love that movie! All things Camelot including two of my favorite actors– Richard Harris (R.I.P.) and Vanessa Redgrave.

I prefer person, participant, part of a community.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 50

Richmond at 46 — oooh, chocolate pizza sounds yummy. I usually buy a bag of those frozen cinnamon rolls — the yeast dough kind that you can find in the freezer section. (I like the Rhodes kind when I can find them.) I put them out in a large baking pan on Christmas Eve, pour half a box of vanilla pudding mix (the instant kind), several sprinkles of a strong Vietnamese cinnamon that I buy from Penzey’s, a little brown sugar here and there, and some melted butter over everything. I cover the baking dish with plastic wrap, and leave it on the top of the stove to thaw and rise overnight. We pop it into the oven first thing to bake (take the saranwrap off first!), and it bakes while The Peanut tears into the presents.

YUMMMMMMmmmmmmm! Thanks Christie

Christy Hardin Smith @ 56

btw, we are now on our second viewing of “Sword In The Stone” this morning. I suppose there are worse things than being exposed to repeated doses of King Arthur on a Sunday morning. *g*

Christy-
I saw this at one of the downtown theatres back in the day. This city had at least 5 real theatres within walking distance of each other. Now just one left (in a sad state; it’s a dance club - no movies. But the majestic architecture!,

Sword in the Stone is STILL one of my favorite animations ever. Would love to see it again.

IMDB says it was released 1963…Camelot!

Every since I have heard the Stephanie Miller radio show with Newt with the Kermit the frog voice, I just cannot talk that man seriously.

When he was the majority leader I called him “Newt the salamander” which sure fit too.

petedownunder @ 34

Prof @ 27 - I do remember those books, both fascinating and may have contributed to my life long political junkiedom. Though I think network news has deteriorated dramatically since Cronkite and Huntley Brinkley. (My grandfather lived next door to Chet Huntley - I thought that was way cool, even saw him one morning coming out his front door. Made my day)

So I’m driving in to work in DC in 1973, come around the Lincoln Monument, and stop at a light on Independence Avenue.

Car dies. Deader ‘n a doornail. In the middle of the intersection. What do do?

Guy behind me honks politely, motions that he’ll push me out of the intersection with his car. (Back before people got so $$%!@# proud of their cars that they became reluctant to give people a push.)

Afterwards, he says he’ll be glad to give me a lift to my job, so I can call a repair guy. (No cell phones back in the Light Ages, remember?) Happy to accept.

“Where do you work” he asks.

“EPA, down to the right.”

“No problem.”

“Where do you work?” I ask, my Dad having trained me to be polite.

“Capitol Hill,” he replies.

“So what do you do up there?” I ask, having spent a few months working for a Senator myself.

“I’m in news,” he replies.

Guess I gotta drag it out of him further.

“So what’s your name?” I ask, guilelessly. I didn’t have a television. Found when I lived with some other guys that TVs addicted me, so I went cold turkey. Spent evenings reading books.

“Mudd.”

Oh, yeah. Roger Mudd. Anchor of CBS Evening News on the weekends, while Uncle Walter handled the weekdays.

Mornin’ Christy and Firedogs,

your pic above made me think of this -

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/produc.....lish-books

couldn’t find the one where this giant of natual history is laughing in wonderment at these incredible creatures. 71 years old slogging around antartica - we were so lucky to have him

Christy Hardin Smith @ 58

Prof at 55 — Well, I was trying to use the Time language from the CNN special on it last night. *G* They were on and on about users and consumers. It’s funny to hear people who don’t spend a lot of time on blogs or YouTube talking about them…hehehe

No problem. All is forgiven.

If I weren’t spending time grading exams, I would have read the whole thing, even last night, before posting, instead of just blundering ahead as if everybody didn’t already know last night that TIME had picked you and us as Person of the Year.

Actually, glad I didn’t know. Now I know that, in TIME’s view, we are just consumers.

So despite giving us the mirror, and noting blogs, TIME doesn’t get it yet.

Learn something old every day.

angie @ 30

Mornin’ all; this got right to it for me:

It’s turning into an interesting Christmas season for those mothers, fathers, wives, sons and daughters who’ll get to lose a husband, a father, a son in the next few weeks (and of course years) as the American death tally in Iraq ho ho hoses it to 3,000 while our Lord and Savior president and decider decides not to decide what to decide next for Iraq until — maybe to please Jenna and the other one — “after the holidays,” as the phraseology of the corporate cruiser goes. As long as the Dow keeps breaking records, why worry? This is the man about whom Peggy Noonan, the Bush family publicist, once said that “eloquence is in his plainspokenness, in the fact that each word is a simple coin with a definite worth.” What, at this point, is moral bankruptcy worth? But this is the same man who once explained his style to Bob Woodward this way: “I’m the commander—see, I don’t need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel I owe anybody an explanation.” This is a man who values the worthlessness of his silence. Who makes the soldiers he never was die for it. And who still struts, with pride, “in his chesty way, with what seems a jarring peppiness” (Peggy Noonan’s words again, four years too late, like all the other rats bailing from the USS W.) So for the last few days he’s created his own little parade of generals and “experts” to give the appearance of receiving advice without needing to consent to more than what Laura Bush will suggest he should get Barbara and George Sr. for Christmas, no doubt to pacify them.

(snip)

And the irony of all these lines here, these lines you’re reading now, is that they’re focused on an infinitesimally small, almost self-indulgent part of the tragedy. We write about the lives lost, the names, the high school sweethearts, the children left behind, because these are American lives. But what differentiates them from the lives being lost on the other side, the Iraqi side, if not the most puerile and ridiculous difference—a difference of geography, of culture, of nationality, differences that have nothing to do with the human loss, to say nothing of the humanity being lost. Here we are, mourning an American loss or two or three or four every day as if it were the limit of the unbearable. And yet two days ago, in a single bombing in Baghdad —one bomb, one explosion—seventy Iraqis lost their lives. The equivalent of a heavy month’s total losses for the American military. And that bombing was just one of several that day. And those bombings were just a few of the many means by which hundreds of Iraqis found their end that day. What newspapers are telling those stories? What encyclopedias of the dead will tabulate those losses, the effects on those human ecosystems? Who ever speaks of a shared humanity when an Arab dies anymore, the deaths—in Iraq, in Gaza or the West Bank, in Lebanon—being so routine, so disposably forgettable. (And none of this is nearly as bad as the disposability of African lives, which run in the millions.)

But President Bush wants to wait. He wants to delay. He wants to spend his holidays in peace. He wants us not to know what we’ve known all along. It isn’t indecision that’s keeping him from announcing his new strategy. It isn’t infighting among his staff, or figuring out how to navigate an opposition Congress. It is certainly not the possibility that he is incubating a Lincolnesque declaration. (He had his Lincolnesque moment, on the USS Abraham Lincoln, and look where that led us.) No. What we’ve known all along is what he’s been all along, in Iraq as elsewhere. Clueless. Pointless. And now we can safely add, heartless. His best strategy is to run out the clock on his term, to hand Iraq to the next president in the hope of making himself not be the president who lost Iraq, even as he’s been the only president, Saddam included, who managed to wreck Iraq. And the worst of it is to know that as reprehensive as the crimes committed in the name of “freedom” or “democracy” or “security” have been, they’re not nearly as horrific as the crimes being committed at the expense of Iraqis’ and Americans’ humanity, they’re not nearly as unpardonable as the crimes that will go unspoken except in grief’s inexplicable blooms, for years to come, from their little seed in that four-year-old’s eyebrow and that nine-year-old’s newborn emptiness. Here and in Iraq .

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-20.htm

Love, love, love the poem and thank you Kathryn!

Angie, thanks for the linky on John Dean’s
impeachment article.

Man of the year: Keith O
Assistant Secretary for Impeachment Activities
John Dean…

Remember Cambodia!

Jack

Christy Hardin Smith @ 39

Prof at 37 — I can edit with the regular tools (and not just my souped up write-for-the-blog tools), but I’m using a Microsoft browser. Apparently, there is some sort of glitch for some other browser (I forget which…sorry), but we’re hoping for a patch at some point.

Thanks for reducing my embarrassment, Christy!

I can answer the penguin question. My cousin has wintered over at the Pole 3 times. People are constantly taking pictures. We have many, many photographs of penguins. You certainly wouldn’t have to pay someone to be stationed there only to take pictures!

http://www.southpolestation.com/

I put the whole link in,
kind of a cool name eh?

This shot was in the last issue of National Geographic. It’s a bunch of Chinstrap penguins on top of a blue iceberg.

Underworld: The South Sandwich Islands, guarded by blue icebergs, millions of penguins, and an unforgiving sea

The photo loses a lot of it’s impact at the small size… but it’s still a great shot.

Morning all.

I had a classic run-in with my step-unit (he’s married to my Mom).

We were talking about how unseasonably warm it’s been in Minnesota this year. Trying to say as little as possible, i offered that climate change sucks.

He immediately responded by explaining that he watches the news, and that Al Gore cherry-picked all of the info for his movie.

I quickly asked him if he was referring to FAUX News.

Well of course, he said.

He likes him his truthiness all right. He ended with the brilliant pearl that in 50 years maybe we’ll find out Gore was right, but that he won’t be around to care.

No, I replied icily (for a Balrog), but your 15 grandchildren will.

Balrog: what was step-unit’s response to your great point about his grandkids?

ironranger @ 74

Balrog: what was step-unit’s response to your great point about his grandkids?

His cell phone moved out of range mysteriously. He hates me and my fuckin’ logic already…

“Meet the Press (NBC): Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, David Brooks and Tom Friedman of the NYTimes.”

Sweet Jesus, Why?

Prof @ 66

“So what’s your name?” I ask, guilelessly. I didn’t have a television. Found when I lived with some other guys that TVs addicted me, so I went cold turkey. Spent evenings reading books.

“Mudd.”

Oh, yeah. Roger Mudd. Anchor of CBS Evening News on the weekends, while Uncle Walter handled the weekdays.

Roger Mudd was a superb reporter. Your story reminds me of true story from my youth. My dad was friends with famous Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale back in the day when he and Sandy Kofax were like winning 20 games each.

One day Drysdale came to the house with a buddy. My dad introduced the buddy to his wife, my step-mom. “I’d like you to meet Sandy Kofax.” My sports clueless step mom: “So nice to meet you Mr Kofax, and what do you do?”

My father-in-law has kept rain (snow) records for decades. NE Minn usually is 28-30″. 2006 it is 16″. We are going to be facing fire danger by March or April, sooner if we don’t get more snow than we have so far.

PeteCO at 76 — well, that was kind of my reaction, too. *g*

Thank God for mail merge, I now have my Christmas letter done, the cards “signed(name printed)” and letters addressed! One down and now I need to get those Christmas presents…..

BTW I woke up to rain here in Phoenix today!

Balrog: what a surprise, a sudden out of range step-unit. Logic does it every time.

gorgeous interview with Jose Feliciano on cbs this morning.

ironranger @ 81

Balrog: what a surprise, a sudden out of range step-unit. Logic does it every time.

Ohhhh, Yaaaahhhhhh.

The IDIOT make-over bull crap artist fruity Newty just said on timmeh, “IF THE DEMOCRATS WANT DEFEAT IN IRAQ WITHDRAW”……Hey Newty….that don’t work anymore, didn’t Miss Piggy Rover tell ya?

Today is Neo-Con day on Meet the friggin press!

Oh, Christy, reading about your cookie endeavors with the Peanut brings back SUCH happy memories of me standing on a chair helping make cookies with my mother! She’ll remember this for the rest of her life.

7:45am - John Mueller, Author, “Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them”

That sounds interesting.

FDL book salon?