I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Alyson

Kam, yes they are looking for a schooner which has vanished.

Just quick note. We have Labour and National parties here in politics but our National - conservative  - is probably left of your Democrats in many policies and Labour is slightly further left again. The Greens , not sure where they are and neither are they. We do have an ultra conservative party Act with one seat in the parliament as well as other small parties which span the left/right divide. Our National government backs such things as healthcare and free schooling - we are quite a social welfare country.

Suzie, I think your Liberals might be a bit more conservative than ours.

Must fly

gardengumby

I like New Zealand!!! 

suzieq60

Now I heard something even funnier - they said that Rudd (the newPM) was the same old hardware with a new operating system - LOL

pupmom

Suzie, I will have to loook into Australian politics more. Right now, I am SOOOOOO happy that Australia is finally confronting Japan in the International Court about whaling in the Southern Sanctuary! Hoping and praying that the whales get a break!

pupmom

Hahaha, I relate to this kitty!

QuinnCat

Alyson - maybe they reported the missing schooner, here, as they were almost all Americans onboard.  When I was in NZ, we'd quite often hear the story of the hikers/tourists who had been standing on a platform in the forest...14 of them?, a good number anyway, and then the platform collapsed above what I imagine was the abyss below.  That was never news in America, to my knowledge.  Ofcourse, that sort of story is just grist for the mill in the US and would be reported for days, even months if it had happened here.  I can say I didn't remember hearing of it, as we were in NZ a couple of years after the event and my memory was passable back then.  (I looked it up:  The Cave Creek disaster)

GatorGal

Dropping in to say hi. Still traveling. Will catch up when u get home next week! Miss you all.

Alyson

Kam yes Cave Creek was terrible and they were students on a course who died. Gosh that was awhile ago. We do hear of the major tragedies in the US and if we want it wall to wall can go to CNN or to hear it a different way there's Fox but for straight down the middle reporting there is the BBC.

Suzie love the latest description of your new PM, very funny.

suzieq60

It is funny Aly seeing I'm in IT - makes me laugh. Hey, if the idiot wins the election I might become a neighbour - we are definitely leaving the country if Labor get back in.

Well, I've spent 3 weekends mulling over buying a new freezer and I finally did it. The door doesn't open the right way but after much measuring I think it will be ok. I guess I'll find out on Tuesday. A new kitchen would be better but whatever. I've spent the last 30 odd years defrosting the stupid chest freezer and I deserve a new one. It's only a small upright but has a 5 year warranty and is frost free - wow imagine never having to defrost again.

IllinoisLady

Dog not spoiled:

crazy4carrots

Scandals?  What scandals?  From the article:

Why did we think the agency was targeting only conservatives? Because apparently Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, ordered the agency to audit its treatment of tea-party groups, and only tea-party groups. The IRS dutifully reported it was indeed targeting tea-party groups; everybody assumed it was doing no such thing to liberal groups. The IRS inspector general is defending its probe, but the IRS's flagging of conservative groups seems, at worst, to be marginally stricter than its flagging of liberal groups, not the one-sided political witch hunt potrayed by early reports.

What about the rest of the scandals? Well, there aren’t any, and there never were. Benghazi is a case of a bunch of confused agencies caught up in a fast-moving story trying to coordinate talking points. The ever-shifting third leg of the Obama scandal trifecta — Obama’s prosecution of leaks, or use of the National Security Agency — is not a scandal at all. It’s a policy controversy. One can argue that Obama’s policy stance is wrong, or dangerous, or a threat to democracy. But when the president is carrying out duly passed laws and acting at every stage with judicial approval, then the issue is the laws themselves, not misconduct.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/obama-scandals-used-to-be-a-thing.html?mid=rss

IllinoisLady

QuinnCat

C4C - kind of like what WMDs?  They've lost their credibility.

pupmom

IllinoisLady

If you have seem that commercial a jillion times like I have -- you might get a kick of of this:

IllinoisLady

yorkie...absolutely love the picture. 

pupmom

Jackie, I loved it too, although the little guy is more my speed! 

QuinnCat

Do you know what breed that little dog is?  I don't think it is a puppy?

suzieq60

Kitchen all ready for the new freezer - we moved the old one out to the front verandah and I've swept and washed the kitchen floor - lots of nasty dust bunnies and filth underneath. Also washed the walls and end of the cupboard where it was. Our stupid trolley seems to have flat tyres, so Steve ended up using a golf buggy to move it ( I helped hold it on to the buggy) - I emptied the freezer first, but I'm surprised it didn't break the buggy. I will be SO glad to see the back of that old thing. The guy next door says he'll have it - he seems to collect junk like that. So depending on when they deliver the new one on Tuesday, I'll be using it 4 or 5 hours later.

juliaanna

Kam,

The little dog looks like a Jack Russell terrier.  

Love the pictures and the political analysis, just haven't had much time to post.

Blue, your pictures always make my day better.  Thank you.

pupmom

Just got up and signed on. Well, had breakfast first and gave doggie and me our meds. Anyway, I agree that he is probably a Jack Russell, although aren't they brown? Could be that the camera made him look mainly white though.

alexandria58

Waving hi from Vermont and hoping it will stop raining soon.

pupmom

Morning alexandria! Wow, from monsoons to record breaking tornados and heat, the weather across this country has run amok! But, global warming is just a silly tree hugger myth, doncha know. 

alexandria58

Global warming is just a commie conspiracy, doncha know?  Meanwhile, all sorts of information about how "clean" natural gas actually is seems to be coming out.

bluedahlia

bluedahlia

IllinoisLady

I too thought Jack Russell the minute I saw the dog....they can be white and often have some color ( spots ) here and there.....but definitely in the terrier family. 

Yes -- huge conspiracy this weather.  Last yr. this time we had absolutely nothing but triple digit temps. that never let up......now this yr. temps. are not so bad, but rain, rain, and more rain.  Have been dry times in-between so flooding has only been a problem for some ( sigh !! ) It is still....though easier to take than the heat... strange and un-predictable and a bit of a problem to plan. 

Suzie...glad you survived the strange things that lurk under the fridge.  We move ours now and then ( quite a heavy project....even with the wheels under it ) and always a surprize to see how much dust,and grime and the things we dropped and forgot about because they rolled under and we thought they disappeared in a vortex somewhere.

Jackie

bluedahlia

QuinnCat

Ah, that pic makes me miss Athena even more.  Athena - I hope you are getting your pain under control and have you heard about your MRI yet?

Juliaanna - thank you.  Thought maybe Jack Russell or some kind of terrier.  I've been intrigued by the Rat Terriers of late as they have a milder personality than a Jack, supposedly, and still dreaming of getting a dog knowing it's best I don't go there.

Well, the heat wave not quite as hot as originally forecasted.  For example, Death Valley will be 125, instead of 129.  We will be 99, instead of 100.  I'll say this, everything is a week early this year...my flowers, my cherries, this heat.  This is NOT the norm and very much the exception in last 30 years.  I always pick my cherries starting July 4th and they are almost done now.

ananda8

Kam,

Last year my area had a heat wave that lasted 3 months.  Although I didn't think 100`F was a big deal because the air was bone dry, as the days past, even the wood of the trees became warm.  It was then, after the heat had saturated everything, it became truly hot.  The whole time and to this day I pity poor west Texas in their 3rd (4th?) year of severe drought and summer heat.