Yesterday, Christmas Dinner went well, but I was so pooped afterwards, that I slept for eleven hours. The down-side is that, today, the mess awaits. Christmas is such a slow news day, that I had to struggle to find material for the short takes. I’m current with replies. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:43 (average 5:16). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From NY Times: President Obama is planning to cut his Christmas vacation short and return to Washington to make a last-ditch push for a compromise on a tax and spending dispute that remains stubbornly unresolved.
The White House said Tuesday that the president would leave Wednesday night.
I applaud the President for demonstrating his resolve. It is shameful that Congress apparently has no such intent.
From The Hill: The Washington Metropolitan Police Department is investigating “Meet the Press” host David Gregory for a potential violation of the District of Columbia’s gun laws, a spokesman for the department confirmed to The Hill.
While interviewing National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre on Sunday, Gregory held up what appeared to be a 30-round magazine to ask if it should be banned. The cartridge is illegal in Washington, D.C., where “Meet the Press” is filmed.
How absurd! While he did violate the letter of the law, his action could not have been more supportive of the intent and spirit of the law.
From RobertReich.org: The path of least resistance is for Obama and the Democrats to offer to keep everything as is, through 2013 – extend all the Bush tax cuts and continue all current spending (lifting the debt limit along the way) – unless or until a “grand bargain” on the budget is agreed to before the end of the next year.
This is likely to satisfy enough Republican fanatics to gain a majority in the House. And it would avoid the fiscal cliff, kicking the can down the road and giving everyone more time.
Deficit hawks in both parties won’t like it, but that’s okay. Unemployment is still way too high and growth too meager to justify trimming the deficit any time soon.
The real problem with this gambit is it doesn’t change the game. Even down the road, Boehner’s hands will still be tied and the fanatics will remain in charge — which will give Republicans the stronger position in negotiations leading to a “grand bargain.” Compromise would have to be almost entirely on the Democrats’ side.
That’s why I’d recommend going over the cliff and forcing the Republicans’ hand. It’s a risky strategy but it would at least expose the Republican tactic and put public pressure squarely on rank-and-file Republicans, where it belongs.
I’m sure he does not know it, but Robert Reich is restating what I have been arguing for months. It’s great to be in good company.
Cartoon:
30 Responses to “Open Thread–12/26/2012”
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3:52 Roar!
4:09 Meow!
Jerry?
3:34 And that's not lion!
Great time, Jerry. You're the king of the jigsaw!
Tomorrow is a new day, and I am at the bottom of the puzzle as often, if not more, than I am at the top…but thanks!
NY Times ~ It is almost noon on Wednesday, the day after Christmas and Agent Orange has not yet given the 48 hour notice required to call Congress back into session. He knows he cannot control his caucus to get them to vote on anything. He, with the huge gavel is a very "impotent" Weeper of the House.
The Hill ~ Was it a loaded magazine? I was watching and it appeared to be empty. I might be wrong though.
Robert Reich.org ~ I think we should all fasten our seatbelts. We are probably going over the cliff like Thelma and Louise. The ending will not be as drastic though. We actually might fall into a safety net of sorts. I'm all for letting the Bush tax cuts expire and that is the main purpose.
Please, Pres. Obama, do not give in to the thugs at all this time. Hold your ground!
Cartoon ~ I'm glad Santa didn't get shot out of the sky by some gun-totin' fanatic who doesn't like red suits because they look gay.
He shoulf change his name to Ulysses, so we can call him Useless for short.
It was empty, but even an empty one is illegal there.
The parts that need immediate action are extending both Unemployment and the Doc-Fix.
With the red suit, they would have thought he was a communist.
Thanks Tom,
NYT.. Good for the President.
The Hill…I'm with Patty on this. The magazine looked empty to me.
RobertReich.org…My seat belt is fastened and I'm ready, hit the gas.
Wonderful cartoon. A speed trap would be the last thing I'd be worried about when flying over Texas.
Thanks John. See my reply to Patty.
I think that if the republicans won't play ball, it is time to pick up the can and jump over the cliff, not kick the can down the road. All kicking the can does is hand the teabaggers a victory while accomplishing nothing.
Exactly!
Puzzle — 4:09 This big cat stood me up just like my little girl did yesterday! I was ready to go to my mother's yesterday but Annie decided that staying hidden was in her best interest. She wasn't even in her usual hidding places. But she sure was visible when I got home, craving some dinner.
NY Times — The president is ready, but where is Congress? Boehner will probably claim he was caught in an ice storm — the one created by the shaved ice in his drink! No more bear scat! In my mind, Boehner needs to call Congress back and take a vote. Assuming his caucus will vote down the settlement, they will look like the one's throwing the country over the fiscal cliff. But by not calling Congress back into session, he avoids the vote but shows the Republican/Teabaggers as obstructionsists willing to throw the country over the fiscal cliff, AND he shows himself as a chicken shit leader, afraid of his own 'cluckus'. A no win situation for Boehner. I think he's going to get "hammered"! Talk about the perverbial 'rock and a hard place'! And read this from The Hill — a Gallup Poll that shows public support far higher for Mr Obama and the Democrats compared to Boehner and the Republican/Teabaggers. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/274519-gallup-poll-publics-fears-of-falling-over-fiscal-cliff-grow
The Hill — What absurdity! Loaded or not, the police should be spending the time going after real criminals like Wayne LaPierre! RobertReich.org — As I started reading, I wondered about Reich's sanity — it didn't appear to be the Reich I knew. I was relieved to see that it was a 'what if'.
The Gallup Poll I previously mentioned would appear to support this tactic. Then come 2014 midterms, the voters will remember that Republican/Teabaggers threw them under the bus in favour of ideological purity. Democrats made modest increases in 2012 in the House, and potential increases await them I think if they hold firm. And in no way should Social Security or Medicare be on the table. Cartoon — No kidding Patty. Not quite sure about the Texas speed trap reference, but when I googled it, there was a reference to small town Texas speed traps raking in millions in fines. Knowing that Texas is Republican/Teabagger territory, in an effort to do away with freebies and non Christian rituals like The Clause, I'd bet that Texas would triple the normal fine at least, if not 10 times more!
2ns so far. We never get found, unless we want to.
I agree.
Amen!
That is my hope.
That's why Santa has no shoes. 😉
I want to share with you my experience of Christmas this year because it was truly magnificent!
When I awoke, I greeted my 3 cats with a 'Merry Christmas' and then proceeded to get their breakfast. Hungry as usual, as I put the bowl down, they leapt at it like I had never fed them before. I went into the den and immediately set to my computer going to PP first in hopes that there would be an Open Thread. I sat alone, undisturbed even by my furkids, and anyone who knows me even a little, knows I live for my furkids. Then a sense of the blues came over me.
I did the puzzle, read and commented on the articles, including listening to the beautiful music (well except for Der Bingle!) and then proceeded to get ready to go to mother's. The blues persisted but I didn't know why so I just put myself on auto pilot. I wanted to take my little Annie with me but she was nowhere to be found. Maybe she saw the Santa hat in my hand and decided that wearing it was too embarassing. So off I went across town.
My mother lives in a dementia care centre and I had no idea where she would be on the floor, so I headed to her room. She was in the opposite direction, but seeing me, she started trying to move her wheelchair around the corner and along the hall. A staff member helped her and we sat in her room for a few minutes opening her Christmas present — a bright red long sleeved nightgown that is soft and cozy with 'diamonds' on the front in the patterned snowflakes. Then it was dinner time.
That was the beginning of the magic! Settling my mother, I found myself a chair so that I could feed my mother. She can no longer feed herself and needs some help at every meal. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, squash and cranberry with nice turkey gravy! One of her table mates was late to the table and had missed the beverage trolley, so I got her settled too. One of nurses asked me if I would like some dinner which is not something that would normally happen, but with people away with family, there was much more than needed. As I fed mother, I took bites of my dinner. Grace, one of the care aids, came to the table and took over feeding mother so that I could eat. Both mother and I are very fond of Gracie, as I call her. Gacie, a First Nations woman, has a heart the size of all outdoors and a no nonsense approach. It was from Gracie that I learned that Mother is starting to forget how to chew her food and over the past week, Grace has been mashing much of her food. The dementia certainly takes its toll. As we were finishing, the staff were going to have a potluck in the room behind the nursing station and invited me to join them.
I took mother down to the TV room, and noticing that George was having trouble with his wheelchair, I helped him into his room. At that point, George, who is 83 soon to be 84, started crying. I sat with him, rubbing his shoulders and gave him hugs figuring that he was lonely. George showed me the picture of his sister in Edmonton and you could see that he missed her, so I asked if I could be his 'little sister'. Other than to say hello, I had never talked to George before. Then, off to the nursing station for the potluck.
Well, the potluck was wonderful — a smorgasbord of mostly East Indian food. Having just eaten a turkey dinner, I was not hungry but I did have some rice vermicelli with tumeric and shredded veggies and one other dish plus a piece of naan bread. I was truly stuffed!
It was this act of breaking bread together with the nursing staff and the hugs that went all around, helping George, greeting people who had no one else on Christmas day, and seeing my mother and giving her a shoulder and arm massage on what may be her last Christmas (or may not) that created, for me, a truly magnificent Christmas! I think I received more this Christmas than I gave.
In the past, I have spent many Christmases by myself, but I don't think I have ever felt so blue as this year. Maybe it was because I had been working and seeing more people was more than I wanted so I didn't feel the blues. I have many times gone to visit hospital patients on Christmas day, the first time to visit my customer Jean Joyce. Jean has long since passed as that was about 1978 and she was 84 at the time. But there is something about visiting with the elderly and sick, seeing the smile on their faces as you greet them.
If you have the chance, drop into your local hospital to see how you can make a difference. Not all are the same so check before hand. And it need not be restricted to Christmas, New Years or Easter. Doing this all year round makes a big difference. I see my mother at least once a week so I am visiting with others at the same time. You can make a difference.
Kudos.
It also sounds like they really care about your mom there.
They do! They love her because she is always smiling. She can't say thank you but she is quick to kiss a hand or cheek and returns hugs, sometimes forgetting to let go!
I have seen the staff in action over the past 10 months. They call everyone by name or 'momma' or 'uncle', and they are quick to touch a cheek or rub a shoulder. One lady, Mrs Iyagi (spelling is questionable) is strapped in a wheelchair bigger than she is. She speaks English quite well when she speaks, but that isn't often. A tender hand on a cheek elicits big smiles. When I see Mrs Iyagi, I say hello and bow, Japanese style. She smiles and bows her head to me.
I would say that the big word is "respect" and of course compassion. They are truly wonderful people. Angels every one, all year round!
Excellent. If only they were the norm for elder care.
You are truly a Christmas angel, Lynn.
Thank you Patty. I think my wings are singed though.
Amen!
I forgot to say "Thank you" to all the doctors and nurses and technicians, the firefighters, police, prison workers and others, like gas station attendants and convenience store clerks that work on the holiday to keep us safe or keep us moving if we've overlooked something like filling the gas tank or forgetting to buy milk.
And thank you TC for your generosity and caring for people in your building.
This is Christ in Christmas.
Amen on that.
Living alone, doing for others gives the holiday meaning that I would otherwise miss.
What a wonderful world this would be if there were more people like you two, Lynn and TomCat!
Thanks, Jerry.
Thanks Bud!
PS … and your guys at the prison too!
They probably inspire me at least as much as I inspire them.
I believe that! But isn't that partly what fuels us to keep going? From Meditation XVII by John Donne, 1642 English writer
A agree, and I always have loved that passage.