Aloha, Suz and lln pups…! A very fitting tune… Tears in Heaven…

aloha tut — my half-sister played that song at her daughter’s funeral… i can’t hear it without bursting into tears… how’s paradise tonight?

A whole bunch of much needed rain has been falling for a spell now…! Rainbow Falls is roaring again…! I’m trying to get over a nagging cough that’s being mighty stubborn tho…!

we have our first chance of snow tomorrow morning…. between 7am and 10am and it won’t stick… don’t know if i will see it or not but know that my joints will sure feel it

Suz, since you know about such things? Is it really necessary for the cops in Newtown to do a thorough crime scene investigation? It just seems unnecessary to me to allow the deceased children to, there is no way to put this lightly, further decompose prior to their parents identifying them. It has to be hard enough to ID a dead child, without said child having undergone a couple days of decomposing.

I wonder when we will realize we bring this on ourselves.

*heh* So it’s sure to be long gone by the time ya wake up, eh…? ;-)

hey tuez — yes it is necessary to do a complete crime scene investigation. where did he go first. who were his first victims. everything and everybody has to be documented. and they have to arrange for those poor babies to be taken out without the glare of the media lights filming. it has to be done to learn what lessons can be learned and try to find answers to the questions. not all questions are going to have answers tho.

tis my guess… i rarely wake up early but i did wake up that first december morning on the coast… the silence of the snowfall woke me up :) i ran out to the window, looked for a bit and then ran back to bed

Why does it matter who his first victims were? They are still dead. He is dead and there will be no trial.

I understand the police response to Columbine has been turned on it’s head and reassessed but, seriously, no two, hell I don’t even know what to call them, situations like this are ever going to be the same, because no two people ever have the exact same set of experiences.

the parents of the victims are going to have questions about those kind of things.

tis currently 36 outside *brrr* and my metallic lime green car roof has a frosty shimmer to it.

looks like sun/mon is going to bring a variety of weather hazards

It is about 37 out here in Sonoma.

cold for here.

And they will never get answers, because there are none.

I’m just saying, if I were a parent, my last remembrance of my kid I’d want to be as close to “normal” as possible. Not 3 days of decomposition and bloat.

I also wonder if anyone lost more than one child. Too sad.

hey senator — that is cold for sonoma…. how ya doing tonight?

they will get them out and to the coroner’s office as soon as possible… possibly even the state lab since there are so many victims. measurements have to be taken etc. they will do that which has to be done witht he victims on scene and get them removed as soon as possible. they are trying to be sensitive to the parents too… its likely that these officers know these children, know the families, and it is possible that officers responding had children at that school themselves. tis a small town. the county and state are gonna have to step in and help

Trying to make sense out of the unthinkable. I have been watching my grandson all day and holding him extra close.

tis a one two punch up here with our mall shooting just tuesday afternoon.

Suz, here is my question – do you expect the usual “get all the guns” hysteria to die down and cooler heads prevail?

I agree, assault weapons have no business in the hands of law-abiding citizens (I know a LOT of liberal gun owners who have AR15s) but the definition of an assault weapon has to be more than semi-auto.

My two Ruger 10/22 pea shooters are not “assault” weapons but I have a number of grandfathered, high-cap mags. Do I “need” them? Define need. I have never pointed the gun at a human and never will except in self-defense, but honestly, if the bad guys have theirs, I want mine. End of conversation. I don’t believe the law abiding should be punished for the actions of a few.

What we need is to close the loopholes, like gun buys at gun shows, which are largely unregulated. I’ve only fired at cans, bottles, fruit and steel plates. Should I be punished?

i sure love the swedish chef’s bits in this… and that it was the first to have the whole gang involved… muppets, fraggles, sesame street and the muppet babies

We need to start caring for our mentally ill in this country. We shut down the hospitals and forgot to open the clinics. Since putting the gun tooth paste back in the tube can’t happen, this seems to be the only thing left to do.

hey thatguy — how ya doing tonight? i don’t have the answers to those questions… wish i did. should all guns be kept under lock and key until taken out? today’s shooter used him mom’s guns against her and his other victims? is ammo regulation the solution? limit how much ammo folks can buy? i don’t know the answer but i know answers have to be found.

saw a thing on facebook earlier to the effect of:

america – the only place where gun ownership is a right and health care is a privilege

do you really need to fire at cans, bottles, fruit and steel plates? Particularly in light of the ultimate cost? Do you really expect to have to defend yourself against hoards of gun toters? How many people eventually use their guns in self defense?

One of the first things we need to do is get of rid Fox news. They are responsible for a lot of the gun driven paranoia in this culture.

the first thing we need is to get folks to discuss the issue… and not just us peons.

Suz: I agree, this is as much a health-care issue as it is a gun issue. As far as disarming the nation? I think that horse done left the barn and given the way most law enforcement operates these days (“we can do nothing until someone DOES something”), I believe people have a right to defend themselves.

I don’t live in a great ‘hood. There is a heavy (relatively speaking) population of registered sex offenders in the ‘hood (I checked), as well as a plethora of young thugs. My worst fear is to be awakened by one of them either pounding on the door, trying to get in to escape law enforcement or just breaking in, going after the valuables (such as they are), and I’ll tell you this: once they’re inside, their ass is mine. I’m not going to hold a fucking seminar to find about their problems, if they break in be force, I’m going to assume they’re armed, dangerous, and I will deal with the threat, by any means necessary.

Having said that, I believe pre-purchase background checks are appropriate, including mental health checks, and so forth. However, such regulation will bump up against HIPAA laws, and that’s going to be a sticky wicket, no matter how you slice it.

But even if HIPAA is suspended in the context of gun-buying, that won’t stop every depraved idiot. Given the current number of guns in this country, as I said, if the bad guys have theirs, I want mine. I won’t even hypothetically sacrifice my family because some hysteric who doesn’t know a trigger from a peep sight wants to disarm the law-abiding.

That’s mah story and I’m stickin’ to it.

The people in charge are too afraid to take up the issue. And the NRA is going to keep it this way by holding the monetary gun to the politicians’ tiny heads.

Yup, written after the tragic death of EC’s own little boy Conor.

So how are you, CTut?

Make sure your guns are locked up where your kids can’t get to them, is all I can say.

everything is so fucked up… i just don’t know where to start… but first we gotta get those that matter agree to start fucking talking. enough already with politics as usual. fuck that shit

hey pw — how ya doing tonight?

The horror they all must be feeling right now — twenty-four hours ago their kids were alive and happy and now this.

Mary, it is recreational, no different than archery, fishing or any outdoor sport.

Are you going to confiscate every archer’s gear? Where does it stop? Are the people whose weapons are to be confiscated, going top be compensated in any way for their sacrifice? I do it for fun, and it IS fun. I don’t see why I, a law-abiding citizen, should be deprived. The ultimate cost is NOT a function of guns, it’s a function of 45 years of right-wing cuts in health care, starting with Reagan closing the California State mental hospitals in 1968. You’re looking for a quick and easy scapegoat but you’re looking in the wrong place. I am NOT an NRA member, nor will I ever be, but shooting sports are fun, relaxing and destroy nothing, and I will NOT allow myself to be blamed for the acts of madmen. It was the act of a madman. You cannot predict that.

You can point at people like me and say we’re BAAAAD, and you might even get a sense of emotional satisfaction in doing so, but you won’t solve a thing because people who are determined will get the weapon of their choice, one way or another. And as long as they have ‘em, you cannot have mine.

heartbreaking

I’m doing fine, Suz. Aside from seeing yet another shooter commit yet another set of atrocities. How are you?

hanging in and hanging on…. same ole same ole. do have our first snow forecast for tomorrow morning… its not gonna stick where i am and its gonna fall during prime sleeping time for me so i may miss it entirely…

How do you feel about this?

To those that love their guns. . .

Please don’t resort to screaming about how I want to take away your guns. . . I don’t. Just tell me why you oppose:

Gun registration,
Better background checks,
Additional licensing procedures for concealed weapons,
Mandatory waiting periods,
Restrictions on assault-style weapons, Saturday night specials, and extended clips,
Mandatory safety training and periodic recertification,
Closing so-called gun-show loopholes,
Legal liability for gun manufacturers commensurate with other consumer product liability,
And limits on the number of guns and rounds of ammo you can purchase at any given time and over the course of a year.

If you can address those points, we can have a discussion. . . or you can just scream that I want to take away your gun again if that makes you feel better.

We’re actually going to get rain this time — the snow was last weekend and it was not plowed all that well, as decades of budget cuts have forced plowing cutbacks.

didn’t say you were bad, don’t think it. and I don’t see many mass murders using a bow.

See my comment 21. I addressed the mental health issue there.

the most recent newsletter from the city had the snow plow routes.. i’m not on them and the closest is a couple blocks away. not that i plan on driving on snow or ice yanno.

Aloha, PW…! Mahalo for a great late nite entree…! *g*

No parent should have to bury their own kin…! 8-(

I have no problem with any of that. But all these things must be far-more defined than what you’ve proposed here. Get into the specifics and we can have a discussion. I still believe you’re chasing the wrong thing, as I outlined.

This is a health-care issue more than a gun issue. Please keep in mind, Tim McVeigh did his deed with a rental truck, some farm chemicals and diesel fuel. Do you believe in restricting the amount of anhydrous ammonia and diesel fuel an individual can purchase? The analog is valid and unless you have a similar answer, your argument is a strawman.

McVeigh was a veteran, yet the fucking republicans want to cut veterans benefits, too, esp health care.

It’s easy to point at the obvious, but without drilling down into the root causes of things, all you’re offering is a band-aid, and a very ineffective one at that.

evening, Suzzzz, CT

hey ppd — how was your day?

busy day + big Chanukah celebration dinner tonight

who all was at the dinner tonight? was it at your house?

Aloha, PPD…!

Mazel Tov, PPD…! ;-)

how’s paradise tonight?

On a MUCH lighter topic, what’s everyone cooking for Holiday dinners?

We’re smoking a turkey, with cauliflower faux-mashed potatoes, fresh cranberry relish (OMG, they make their own sauce and the pectin in the berries is more than adequate to thicken it – just add splenda. Yumm-EEEEEE). Spinach salad, with home-made, sugar-free pecan pie.

I tell ya what, diabetes forces you to learn to cook.

Oh, and for those of you who give a shit™, I’m now down 75 pounds. 75 to go. Halfway to being half the man I was. >:-D

yay — well done dood! i think i’m going to jen’s but not sure if its christmas eve or christmas day. she makes the most scrumptious cranberry ice

it’s an eight day marathon, CT

What kind of wood are ya using to smoke the Turkey with, and, what is cauliflower faux spuds…? Sounds delish…! ;-)

I said m’piece about the gun issue and I LOVE cooking, so I thought I’d see what folks are doing.

I made my best-ever batch of barbecue sauce today. Don’t ask me for a specific recipe because I use a recipe as a starting point, after that I’m the mad scientist, experimenting with different spices and quantities thereof. I never make it quite the same way twice. That’s the fun of it, for me, standing over the saucepan saying “bubble bubble toil and trouble,” cackling as I add ingredients and blend again. I have to learn to make it a little thinner so the blender will blend more easily, and then thicken it up with a little Xanthan gum before I bottle it.

And this. You need one, Suz.

And YES, I DO say “Bubble bubble, toil and trouble” and I cackle.

is every batch your best ever batch?

Hell no, my last one was barely ok. I bought a new tin of paprika and that helped. Once I get the recipe quantities in the blender,. I go back to spices and just add…I also use a little habanero hot sauce to kick the sauce into a register for me, but I cut some out before I do that because J can’t take the heat the way I can. I’ve never met ANYBODY who can take it like I can.

Heh heh heh…

*heh* After cooking the entire holiday meals for the past three major holidays(or more), I was told that I was to sit on the sidelines, while the ‘In Laws’ do this Xmas…! I’ll be providing the 20lb whole shank, but, they’re cooking it…! Seriously, I’m gonna be lost at sea, floundering about even…! ;-)

maybe nahant… he makes a mighty spicy chili

Tut, I use cherry for most everything but fish, and then I use alder, unless it’s salmon, which gets cherry.

you can still make a little something for your personal family celebration… do ya bake at all?

I’ll be baking a fresh apple pie, Suz…! ;-)

sweet. my mom makes a ‘crummy apple pie’ (a dutch apple with a crumbly top) each year. gotta have apple pie at christmas :) what kind are you making?

Hey Suz, I think I made folks mad, they stopped posting. Sorry bout dat.

tis is the place to talk about what ya wanna talk about that guy… we gotta figure out how to have these discussions

I made a dutch apple for Turkey day, for Xmas I’m planning on a two crust traditional pie…!

my stepdad, a professional baker (now retired) would make pies and never understood why mom’s always was eaten before the others. crummy apple pie is comfort food to us at the holidays, no matter how good his pies are. so now he makes cakes and homemade miniature meringue kisses and cookies, lotsa cookies.

tis about time to let poor token go save a tree… brrrrr… thanks for letting me hang out with ya tonight.

hope to see ya tomorrow night for cartoons

g’nite all

Sweet dreams, Suz…!

Good morning, pups. Today we have Blow, Nocera and Collins. In “A Tragedy of Silence” Mr. Blow has a question: When will our elected officials and lawmakers finally confront the gun lobby? When pigs fly, Charles, when pigs fly. Mr. Nocera also has a question: “Should Kids Play Football?” He says with brain researchers continuing to study the effect of concussions, the answer to parents is … maybe. In “Looking for America” Ms. Collins says we have to make ourselves better. Otherwise, the story from Connecticut is too unspeakable to bear.

Here they are.

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got blueberry pancakes this morning. I slept late this morning. The kittens actually let me sleep in until 8:00! Of course, this means I’m behind on everything I had planned for today, so I’m off to get started. With a really well-rested feeling, however! Have a great day.