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

Sunny -- I learned "Red sky in morning, sailors' warning; red sky at night, sailors' delight"!

Checked the thermometer here at it's -18C, or 2F, with a stiff wind.  Interesting that the meteorologists had to come up with a brand new term called "polar vortex".  Well, it's a moveable force, and will be shifting towards the northeast and out to sea   in a day or two, and then maybe we'll get a nice (short term) January thaw -- keeping digits crossed about that!

A letter to the editor in our paper was written by a gal who had moved from temperate Vancouver to cold, cold Ottawa in winter and kept hearing about the "Winchell" factor (like, who's this Winchell person who has such a negative effect on temperatures?!!)  Ahhh, finally someone explained "wind chill"!

Bren -- I know you're thinking carefully about the marriage thing.  We're in your bag, whatever you decide, sweetie!

I love you guys.

Bren - Objectively speaking (not romantically), I think pulling a tooth has it's implications.  Don't you need a placeholder to prevent the surrounding teeth from moving and some other method to stimulate the underlying bone to prevent recession - such as a transplant (is that the correct medical term?)?  Given all other factors, I vote for marriage - romance aside.

Blue - all that cuteness surrounding you!

Blue ... I can't believe how big Philip is getting.  How old is he?  About 7 months?  He is really cute.

Wendell cracks me up. He didn't even let Lilah get in the picture!

Kam ... You bring up a good point about the teeth spreading out.  So far I've had three molars pulled and my teeth haven't spread out.  But when I lose this one on the bottom, I will probably need a bridge after it heals.  Tim brought that up as well.  It's one of those things that could happen if I was on his dental insurance. 

hugs to all,

Bren

Hi all.  It's cold out.   Ventured out briefly this morning, the sun;s shining, but, damn, it's cold.

Bren - just tuned in on Mr. Tim's marriage proposal.  There are lots of really practical reasons to get married - health insurance and tax deductions are in there.  Personally, I think you should go for it.  Wishing you the best in any case.

Watching Downton Abbey tonight.  Yippe!

I swear Sunnyflowers ... I am getting such a kick out of you today!  You make me smile.

hugs and love,

Bren

Well, of course I have a Yes vote on the marriage matter.  I have been married for very close to 50 years so see little that is wrong with it....mostly "rights". 

I will have to say though that some men have little annoying things about them.  Just today had to drive Dh to his medical appt. 22 miles from here.  Artic air at 7 degrees with a wind.  Said.....take the interstate.  It will be in perfect shape.  I said no it won't.  And he said...well, you get the picture.  We drove 22 miles at about 35 mph. and saw countless vehicles off in the median.  I said "see", you are just like the Tehadists....and make things up when you don't know them.  You and your Republican family and I only drove the interstate to prove it to you.  Well, he had to admit it. 

Bren, really, it is just the little things.....and you know, after 50 years, it all pretty much little things --- so I say go for it.  It used to be years ago if you lived with someone for 7 yrs. it was considered a common-law marriage......so in a lot of ways, your already there.  You just don't have the paper.

Jackie

And beating my head against the wall again. 

Out
In The Cold?

Jan
7, 2014 | By CAP Action War Room

Extend
Emergency Unemployment Insurance

Before leaving for the holidays in December,
Congress turned its back on the long-term unemployed by refusing to extend
emergency unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for over a million Americans.
Unemployment compensation is an insurance program people pay into for their
entire working lives and cutting people off in their time of need with little
notice is not only cruel, but also unfair.

The Senate took the first, temporary step to
right that wrong today, when the 60 Senators necessary voted to start debating a three-month restoration of UI
benefits. (6 of the 60 in support of taking up the bill were Republicans, while
37 senators, all Republicans, voted against even allowing the Senate to discuss
this vital measure.)

Unfortunately, Speaker John Boehner and even
some of the Senate Republicans who voted to start debating the bill are insisting that any plan to extend UI benefits be offset with
spending cuts. Historically, including multiple times under President George W.
Bush, these emergency benefits have been considered emergency spending and not
offset with spending cuts. As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said today, it’s a “new religion” for Republicans to insist on
spending cuts to pay for emergency benefits.

Extending unemployment benefits, to be clear,
didn’t used to be controversial to Republicans. In fact,
Republicans supported the program because a person must continue looking for
work in order to receive emergency compensation. Now, of course, it is a
different story. They offer a rationale for their position that simply doesn’t make sense.

All of this from the same party that doesn’t even have a credible antipoverty program fully 50
years after we launched the War on Poverty.

To be clear, there should be no need to pay for
an extension of UI, but instead of more painful austerity spending cuts, we’ve
identified just a few of the many wasteful and unproductive corporate tax
giveaways that could easily be abolished to achieve the necessary savings:

• Eliminate tax giveaways for corporate jets. Savings: $2.702
  billion over 10 years.
  
• Stop allowing corporations to write-off payments for their own
  wrongdoing. Savings: $372 million over 10 years.
  
• End the golf course giveaway. Savings: $619 million over 10
  years.
  
• End the billion-dollar booze boondoggle. Savings: $1.093
  billion over 10 years.
  
• Abolish tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.
  Savings: $172 million over 10 years.
  
• Make sure oil companies pay to clean up their own messes.
  Savings: $1.058 billion over 10 years.

Total savings: $6.016 billion over 10
years, almost exactly the cost of extending unemployed Americans a
lifeline for the next three months.

While today’s Senate action was a positive
sign, the bill still faces a very difficult path ahead in the Senate, to say
nothing of the House. Here are a few numbers to know on the impact of failing to
extend UI benefits:

• 1,300,000: Number of unemployed Americans that lost their benefits starting
  in January.This number stands to climb up to 4.9 million individuals by the
  end of 2014 if Congress fails to extend UI benefits.
  
• $400 million: Amount that state economies lost in one week. The negative
  impacts of cutting UI benefits spiral out beyond the job seekers who rely on
  unemployment and also hurt the businesses for which this income is an important
  source of revenue.
  
• 240,000: Estimated number of job losses due to reduced consumer demand.
  The ripple effect of millions of people losing an important income source would
  continue outward to thousands of job losses as well.
  
• 600,000: Children who were kept out of poverty in 2012 because of UI.
  Unemployment insurance doesn’t just help job seekers, it also supports their
  children. A failure to extend UI benefits in 2014 would undoubtedly hurt these
  children for no reason at all.
  
• $1.55: Amount each dollar of unemployment insurance generates in new
  economic activity in the first year. That is according to the chief
  economist of Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi.

BOTTOM LINE: It is
unconscionable that Republicans chose to leave 1.3 million Americans struggling
to find work out in the cold before leaving for the holidays. Today’s Senate
vote was a step in the right direction, and we can’t afford to wait any
longer—if Republicans really insist on offsetting the cost, there are plenty of
outrageous tax loopholes that could be used instead of more damaging cuts other
important programs. Now is not the time to deal another blow to our economy and
struggling families.

Kay - tee, hee.  :-)))  takes a very stubborn person to really "know" another....I'm gonna whisper this, so bren won't hear it, but she is already married to wonderful Mr. Tim, just not getting the financial/medical advantages this particular society allows those with a certain piece of paper. 

Thinking of all my sisters, brothers, friends, mothers, fathers, who for generations and in some places still, can't be "legal" with the person they love because of "restrictions" imposed on them for characteristics of their birth/race. Thanks be to god that is all changing, or as The Bard once wrote "the answer is blowin' in the wind."

Our last day of temps near 0.  Chuckling cuz supposed to be near 50 by weekend.  Icy ponds, literally, in the fields around me, wonder if they'll be swimmable soon?

Smiling with bren....ain't life fun?  Again, a tip of the hat to kay, who is so right again, "follow your heart" & in the process  get out of your own way.

Anyone heard from E?  Hoping what ever the Trial is, isn't too much of a trial!!!!

Jackie - I'm giggling with your "heat wave" - almost feels like that here, with temp going UP to 12 today.

Gonna be very strange when it reaches into the high 40s by the weekend.  I don't know if someone who hasn't experienced these extremes, can imagine how strange it feels.  The sun is shining, and not a spot of ice on my car has moved.  There isn't even an icicle on the eaves of the roof. And it's only the first week of January. Wonderful fuschia colored ivy leaf geranium I cut back and over winter on a south facing window sill is IN BLOOM.  That's how sunny it's been.

Sending good thoughts to (((((E))))

Bren - I expect E has her "people" with her , but plz remind her I'm only about 2 1/2 hours from Dana Farber and my car knows how to drive it by itself...if there is ANYTHING, ANYTHING she wants needs: chocolate, marshmallow fluff ( she's in New England)

and yes, I am an EXPERT at "Blockhead" - full disclosure, I have an Advance Degree, even beeeyond PHD in being DUMB about certain things.

Many, many , too many years ago, recovering from major back surgery, a neighbor saw me trying to put something VERY heavy into the boot (oops, I was in London!) of my car - and noted it by saying to me: "Help is not a four letter word."

Tee, hee...ain't blockhead "independence" da best!  Even when it hoits ( daz hurts to you non Bawstonians) ourselves.

BTW - it's delicious, the new mayor of Bawstan, is from DoorChestah  ( Dorchester) and  LOVE LOVE listening to him.