If it makes you feel any better John, It's only 29 degrees here in North West Florida....bbbrrrrrr
Indigo
· 11 months ago
You walked through the blowing snow to the school bus. Could you hear the wolves howling in the distance and see the silvery moon glinting off the driven snow? O Pioneer!
KarenMrsLloydRichards
· 11 months ago
Haiku for the Obama Administration (#19):
Time for school, First Girls! Heads shoved in broke-ass lockers? Them's Section 8 kids
KarenMrsLloydRichards
· 11 months ago
Haiku for the Obama Administration (#20):
North Portico chill--- Nicotine patch can't cut it Has to sneak a smoke
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
Greetings, John! Hope you're having a great time!
I remember walking to school like that back in the late 40s to mid 50s, when we lived in Buffalo. People down here in the south don't believe the depth of the snow, either...although usually the sidewalks had been scraped. Everyone had snow shovels (no blowers back then!), Still, we wore wool "leggings", heavy jackets or coats, lined galoshes, hats, scarves, mittens. Sort of like the little guy in "A Christmas Story" (which may be why that's my favorite xmas movie).
We had to take off our snow-laden or wet outerware outside the classroom and hang them on hooks, not in the "cloakroom", though, the nuns didn't want that to get wet.
And as kids, we exhilarated in the snow and cold! Truly, even to the point of putting our tongues on a chain link fence in a parking lot that was frozen over solid, providing us with an instant skating rink. Good times!
(It was 20 degrees here near Charlotte this am, and will be below that tomorrow morning, so we're getting a taste of that front, too, although later in the week we'll return to the 60s again, like we had the last several days). Up at Boone in the mountains, it was -34 with the windchill factor...brrrrr.
LeeFromHamburgNY
· 11 months ago
Buffalo, huh? We're up to a$$es in snow this morning. 17 degrees and over 2 ft. with drifts up to 4 ft. Got to go out and snow blow my driveway. Could be worse. At least we have power...
Palolo lolo
· 11 months ago
I used to live in Chicago. And Boston. And Bethesda. And Minneapolis. Now I live in Honolulu. I don't miss that winter stuff at all.
jurassicpork
· 11 months ago
I blame Congress for the black hole that the bailout's turned into.
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
The financial sector should never have been bailed out, IMHO. And Obama could still have had his works program (which seems to be increasing in cost, to 3 million jobs), and the CEOs could have taken their losses, instead of continuing to steal our money. But the foxes were in the henhouse...
Ginger_FL
· 11 months ago
Oh boy, just dropped to 28 degrees. Sun is starting to rise so hopefully we'll make our high of 48 today.
. It's freakin' GREAT to be da king! It's always warm & sunny when you're rich! .
samiinh
· 11 months ago
Another point of view:
Obama's rainbow may not be your rainbow but it looks good to me Created 12/19/2008 - 12:22pm In my hometown of Middleboro, Massachusetts some local bloggers [1] consider me a liberal, a moonbat [2] in the vernacular. This is as opposed to a conservative, or a wingnut [3]. If I was, I'd be enraged at Obama. I'm not. The latest furor among progressives (moonbats) is over Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren to preachify at his inauguration. Other progressives are critical of some of his cabinet choices and other executive positions because they aren't liberal enough. Meanwhile all the wingnuts can come up with is to attack Obama because of the non-existent Blago-taint. I find this all one guffaw short of side-splitting hysterical. Obama was portrayed by John McCain and Sarah Palin as a secret socialist and who knows, a "true patriot" who might be a card carrying communist meeting secretly with Bill Ayers plotting to cede the United States to Cuba. How often did we hear about Obama's "most liberal voting record" during the campaign? We were supposed to believe he'd populate the Executive Branch with members of nefarious radical groups like ACORN, the ACLU, and the Harvard faculty. Instead we are getting a rainbow of Republicans and moderate Democrats and slightly liberal Democrats. Those who proudly fly the rainbow flag in support of gay rights have reacted with disappointment to rage over Obama putting the national spotlight on Rev. Warren by giving the opening prayer. I understand this, and would have preferred he'd have conducted a national online search for a people's choice minister and had the speaker selected by lottery of the top 50 candidates. But I think there is method in what may seem like madness on the Warren choice. I don't know what the method is, but I think Obama plays politics like Boris Spassky plays chess, thinking about his check mate move before the game has barely started. My hunch is that Obama didnt tell the truth about his position on gay marriage, knowing it would be political suicide to do so. I think he believes it is right, but wants to let it become more socially acceptable as more states legalize it. Obama needs two terms to accomplish his goals. He knows that to win in 2012 he has to make good on the majority of his promises. He has to get us out of Iraq and stabilize the economy. He has to restore trust in the presidency. He also knows that he has to assure that the Republican Party implodes on itself by becoming the Party of the Palin wingnuts. Getting a very popular conservative pastor to praise him is a good start. Not only will this make them easily beatable when he runs again, but will make it more likely for his successor in 2016 to be a Democrat. Check. Check mate.
Indigo
· 11 months ago
What a clever strategy. First you kick the s***t out of the gay community, then pretend to make nice later. No excuses, he's already a one term wonder. Now for Project Alpha: find the girlfriend.
dula
· 11 months ago
Obama: Let's be inclusive by pandering to an extremist who's divisive. Then everyone can justify it by saying he has some reverse psychological strategy to provide Equality to all, many years in the future if only the victims agree to enter into a co-dependent relationship with the Democratic Party. Very funny.
triple7s
· 11 months ago
I was in school in Berwyn, and Cicero back in the late 50's. My god, the snow. It was kinda' fun though.
I still think Obama is USING the fundies as Bush did. After all is said and done the chosen one is just ANOTHER politician trying to cover ALL his bases. Oh well. Could be worse, we could be getting ready for V.P. Palin.
TomJoad
· 11 months ago
John, do we ever have different memories of Chicago. I lived in a northern suburb and also had to walk to school and back, but from first grade on up to sophmore year in high school.
I now live in Oslo, Norway and it is a LOT warmer in winter than Chicago. I had to spend a lot of time outdoors, and can remember the cold being so biting that it actually hurt to breath in, hurt in the lungs. Numbness in the face and any exposed skin was painful when you got indoors again. I was born in '56. Worked for a time in the parks department, and was given the job of shoveling a sidewalk path through a park, where the townships' parks deparment headquarters was in the park. I was about halfway, and the snow was so cold and granular with wind whisping it around, it was like being in a sandstorm, sandblasting the face. I heard someone yell to me, and on the upper balcony of the parks building it was the director yelling something...finally heard him clear enough "WHY DID YOU START IN THE MIDDLE???" I looked behind me and sure enough, it looked untouched. It looked like a helicopter must have dropped me in the middle as there was no path even though I had shoveled all the way, and I had about two feet behind me of cleared sidewalk... the rest was virgin snow.
What years were you walking to school?
Older_Wiser
· 11 months ago
Joseph Lowery has much more stature than Warren when you look at his indefatigable work for civil rights; so why isn't he giving the invocation? No, Obama puts the reactionary Warren up front, giving him a measure of gravitas that he doesn't deserve, a slap in the face of all progressives.
And I don't want to hear any more excuses for him.
grandma
· 11 months ago
Good cold morning...
13 below zero right now in Minneapolis......brrrr
Boy ...do I remember those days....walking to school in snow and sub zero temps.
Quote of the day from Roger Cohen on Bush and the two shoes...at the end of his column today:
Will Carmela get to assist with the cookiemaking tradition this year? Or will she once again be forced to celebrate Christmas with the doggie coal-in-the-stocking waterboarding bath day?
Emily
· 11 months ago
And your walk to and fron school was uphill both ways, no doubt. But even if it wasn't, if you're ever a parent, be sure to tell your kids it was.
kevinbgoode
· 11 months ago
Haha...I used to tell my nephew that we not only had to walk miles to school in a raging blizzard, but were also forced to shovel the sidewalks the whole way. . .
Bush Bites
· 11 months ago
We used to make money on snowy days by hanging around small hills and helping people who needed their car pushed up the hills.
Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas
· 11 months ago
Rick Warren's comment about Jews going to hell, to me as a gay man, is far worse than his position on gay marriage. I am not Jewish but I work in a Jewish organization. My menorah and Xmas tree sit side by side every year...and this year I added the Kwanzza Kinara so as to bring some light into the darkness on all levels and also in honor of Obama's victory. (Yes it could be argued that Kwanzza is bullshit...actually I like the holiday a lot. If you read about it, it's a very lovely idea.) I am sick and tired of these white trash uppity polyester pastors getting all this face time and press. They are nothing more than Elmer Gantry's parading their mythology to ignorant masses who are too willing to send in donations to their Rolls Royce lifestyles. And Ricky Warren is setting off gaydar amongst my friends...girlfriend lose the weight, shave the head, and come out.
Bush Bites
· 11 months ago
Do Jews think Christians will go to hell?
Not trying to defend Warren, I'm just curious.
Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas
· 11 months ago
There is no hell or afterlife for jews...its about right now
Hardy Haberman
· 11 months ago
As a person who was raised in a Jewish and Christian household, My parents never talked about Hell. I am grateful for that and firmly believe that we make our own hells in the present. As an adult, I became a Christian and still carry that belief with me. I think most Christians get it wrong. When Jesus talked about God's kingdom on earth, he was referring to how we, as God's children, can create that kingdom, not some magical "gates of heaven" thinking. Unfortunately, it's a lot easier for people to believe that they just have to know the secret handshake or say the magic words and heaven will be theirs. Somehow I just don't see God as being a vending machine like that. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Joyous Kwanza!
Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas
· 11 months ago
Eloquent and very correct
Hardy Haberman
· 11 months ago
Dallasite here as well!
Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas
· 11 months ago
Well Hardy Haberman...us Yankee librul transplants are takin' over what my Boston mother calls "The town that killed Jack"
Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas
· 11 months ago
Actually I was on my G1 phone when I wrote that reply hastily. Orthodox Jews, of the very far right fundy Ortho, do believe in some kind of plane that we go to after death. It's shaky and vague. Modern Ortho's and Conservative and Reform Jews believe that it is in THIS life that we do our Mitzvot (both commandments and blessings)...giving to charity, helping others, being careful about Mother Earth. Although most of my colleagues keep Shabbat (no work on the Sabbath) and also Kosher, they are very modern in their views on sin. They, too, laugh at Levitican laws...no we do not stone our unruly kids to death. And we believe that one is born gay and should live a full and vibrant and free life. Most of my Jewish friends are amused by fundy wingnut Christians. And they do joke about Chimpy and Warren and their ilk going to Hell for the way they treat me, the fegola. The longer I work with them, the more I am thinking about beginning conversion to Judaism. It's an endlessly fascinating culture and faith.
Bush Bites
· 11 months ago
It's not the cold so much as the wind.
And the wind is worse downtown.
meemers
· 11 months ago
Something just doesn't feel right about the Death of this Man! (Rove did threaten him)
Michael Connell was killed when the Piper Supercub he was piloting crashed three miles short of an Akron-Canton Airport runway. He leaves behind a wife and four children.
Connell, 45, of Bath Township, is considered to be one of the Republican Party's top computer experts. He led the companies that designed websites for the GOP and a virtual who's-who list of republican political leaders including President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, as well as national organizations. Connell developed a host of federal government software and data management systems. Connell is also said to be a close confidant of the Bush family.
Earlier this year Connell was subpoenaed to testify in an Ohio federal court regarding voter fraud just days before the November presidential election. His alleged intimate knowledge of White House and Capitol Hill email systems has been a hot topic of conversation for Washington insiders regarding the Karl Rove/White House email scandal.
Connell founded New Media Communications, based in Cleveland, is the CEO of GovTech Solutions, based in Akron, and is associated with several other successful IT, marketing and advertising enterprises. His companies have won numerous awards for the development of political websites, marketing campaigns, and use of technology. New Media Communications placed third on the prestigious Weatherhead 100, a list compiled by Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management that recognizes Northeast Ohio's fastest growing companies. http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.asp...
Bush Bites
· 11 months ago
Yeah, I've been hearing a little about that.
Not sure what to think, though I wouldn't rule out suicide as well as sabotage.
Has there been any investigation?
LeeFromHamburgNY
· 11 months ago
I spent the first year of my Navy enlistment at Great Lakes, and remember walking from the barracks to the school buidlings. I learned quick why Chicago was called the "windy city!" I got so sick that winter with the flu and strep throat. One minute I thought I was dying and the next I was wishing I would...
Hardy Haberman
· 11 months ago
Hope the cookies come out well! Shivering in the cold way down here in Texas, 24 this morning. Hope it warms up a little before the inauguration there in DC.
woodka
· 11 months ago
Uphill both ways, too, probably...
Demo_Dave
· 11 months ago
Just a thought but why doesn't Bill O"Reilly mention Jehovah Witnesses when it comes to his war on Christmas crusade? I know a few atheists put up signs and some stores will only permit their employees to say Happy Holidays. But if he is really serious spring will be here soon and the Jehovah Witnesses will have their army of believers going door to door to encourage people to join them in not celebrating Christmas. maybe it's not really a war on Christmas but Bill O"Reillys war on rational thinkers.
All Comments
Time for school, First Girls!
Heads shoved in broke-ass lockers?
Them's Section 8 kids
North Portico chill---
Nicotine patch can't cut it
Has to sneak a smoke
I remember walking to school like that back in the late 40s to mid 50s, when we lived in Buffalo. People down here in the south don't believe the depth of the snow, either...although usually the sidewalks had been scraped. Everyone had snow shovels (no blowers back then!), Still, we wore wool "leggings", heavy jackets or coats, lined galoshes, hats, scarves, mittens. Sort of like the little guy in "A Christmas Story" (which may be why that's my favorite xmas movie).
We had to take off our snow-laden or wet outerware outside the classroom and hang them on hooks, not in the "cloakroom", though, the nuns didn't want that to get wet.
And as kids, we exhilarated in the snow and cold! Truly, even to the point of putting our tongues on a chain link fence in a parking lot that was frozen over solid, providing us with an instant skating rink. Good times!
(It was 20 degrees here near Charlotte this am, and will be below that tomorrow morning, so we're getting a taste of that front, too, although later in the week we'll return to the 60s again, like we had the last several days). Up at Boone in the mountains, it was -34 with the windchill factor...brrrrr.
Must
Build
FIRE.....
bbbrrrrrr
Belgium
The conservative guarantee for total disaster, Leterme, comitted a new Ultra-kill. Result: MULTIIIII-Kill. 3rd crisis within a year in Belgium.
Belgium doesn't get out of a crisis: Head of government Leterme has declined to accept new leadership after he offered stepping back. This was stated by a speaker of the prime. Leterme made the injunction on friday. Ahead, the high court declared, there are signs that there were attempts by the government to influence a deceissive verdict concerning the split up of financial company Fortis.
It's freakin' GREAT to be da king! It's always warm & sunny when you're rich!
.
Obama's rainbow may not be your rainbow but it looks good to me
Created 12/19/2008 - 12:22pm
In my hometown of Middleboro, Massachusetts some local bloggers [1] consider me a liberal, a moonbat [2] in the vernacular. This is as opposed to a conservative, or a wingnut [3]. If I was, I'd be enraged at Obama. I'm not. The latest furor among progressives (moonbats) is over Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren to preachify at his inauguration. Other progressives are critical of some of his cabinet choices and other executive positions because they aren't liberal enough. Meanwhile all the wingnuts can come up with is to attack Obama because of the non-existent Blago-taint. I find this all one guffaw short of side-splitting hysterical.
Obama was portrayed by John McCain and Sarah Palin as a secret socialist and who knows, a "true patriot" who might be a card carrying communist meeting secretly with Bill Ayers plotting to cede the United States to Cuba.
How often did we hear about Obama's "most liberal voting record" during the campaign?
We were supposed to believe he'd populate the Executive Branch with members of nefarious radical groups like ACORN, the ACLU, and the Harvard faculty.
Instead we are getting a rainbow of Republicans and moderate Democrats and slightly liberal Democrats.
Those who proudly fly the rainbow flag in support of gay rights have reacted with disappointment to rage over Obama putting the national spotlight on Rev. Warren by giving the opening prayer. I understand this, and would have preferred he'd have conducted a national online search for a people's choice minister and had the speaker selected by lottery of the top 50 candidates.
But I think there is method in what may seem like madness on the Warren choice. I don't know what the method is, but I think Obama plays politics like Boris Spassky plays chess, thinking about his check mate move before the game has barely started.
My hunch is that Obama didnt tell the truth about his position on gay marriage, knowing it would be political suicide to do so. I think he believes it is right, but wants to let it become more socially acceptable as more states legalize it.
Obama needs two terms to accomplish his goals. He knows that to win in 2012 he has to make good on the majority of his promises. He has to get us out of Iraq and stabilize the economy. He has to restore trust in the presidency.
He also knows that he has to assure that the Republican Party implodes on itself by becoming the Party of the Palin wingnuts. Getting a very popular conservative pastor to praise him is a good start.
Not only will this make them easily beatable when he runs again, but will make it more likely for his successor in 2016 to be a Democrat.
Check.
Check mate.
Now for Project Alpha: find the girlfriend.
I still think Obama is USING the fundies as Bush did. After all is said and done the chosen one is just ANOTHER politician trying to cover ALL his bases. Oh well. Could be worse, we could be getting ready for V.P. Palin.
I lived in a northern suburb and also had to walk to school and back, but from first grade on up to sophmore year in high school.
I now live in Oslo, Norway and it is a LOT warmer in winter than Chicago. I had to spend a lot of time outdoors, and can remember the cold being so biting that it actually hurt to breath in, hurt in the lungs. Numbness in the face and any exposed skin was painful when you got indoors again.
I was born in '56. Worked for a time in the parks department, and was given the job of shoveling a sidewalk path through a park, where the townships' parks deparment headquarters was in the park. I was about halfway, and the snow was so cold and granular with wind whisping it around, it was like being in a sandstorm, sandblasting the face. I heard someone yell to me, and on the upper balcony of the parks building it was the director yelling something...finally heard him clear enough "WHY DID YOU START IN THE MIDDLE???" I looked behind me and sure enough, it looked untouched. It looked like a helicopter must have dropped me in the middle as there was no path even though I had shoveled all the way, and I had about two feet behind me of cleared sidewalk... the rest was virgin snow.
What years were you walking to school?
And I don't want to hear any more excuses for him.
13 below zero right now in Minneapolis......brrrr
Boy ...do I remember those days....walking to school in snow and sub zero temps.
Quote of the day from Roger Cohen on Bush and the two shoes...at the end of his column today:
"Bush dodged a shoe; he cannot dodge shame."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/opinion/22coh...
that would make a good title for a book on Bush and his administration
..tho I doubt the arrogant SOB can feel any shame.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/20912/franken-w...
Not trying to defend Warren, I'm just curious.
Boston mother calls "The town that killed Jack"
And the wind is worse downtown.
Mike Connell was warned not to fly before plane crash
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article...
Michael Connell was killed when the Piper Supercub he was piloting crashed three miles short of an Akron-Canton Airport runway. He leaves behind a wife and four children.
Connell, 45, of Bath Township, is considered to be one of the Republican Party's top computer experts. He led the companies that designed websites for the GOP and a virtual who's-who list of republican political leaders including President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, as well as national organizations. Connell developed a host of federal government software and data management systems. Connell is also said to be a close confidant of the Bush family.
Earlier this year Connell was subpoenaed to testify in an Ohio federal court regarding voter fraud just days before the November presidential election. His alleged intimate knowledge of White House and Capitol Hill email systems has been a hot topic of conversation for Washington insiders regarding the Karl Rove/White House email scandal.
Connell founded New Media Communications, based in Cleveland, is the CEO of GovTech Solutions, based in Akron, and is associated with several other successful IT, marketing and advertising enterprises. His companies have won numerous awards for the development of political websites, marketing campaigns, and use of technology. New Media Communications placed third on the prestigious Weatherhead 100, a list compiled by Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management that recognizes Northeast Ohio's fastest growing companies.
http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.asp...
Not sure what to think, though I wouldn't rule out suicide as well as sabotage.
Has there been any investigation?