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

Congratulations to Blue, and Josie, what a delight.  We believe you, MUST be gorgeous!

Thinking of Chickadee, and hoping today is better for her than yesterday, and tomorrow will be even BETTER.

Congrats Blue.   I am very jealous!   We returned home from our Florida trip last night and will soon meet our newest great nephew who was born while we were away.   That is the closest I can get to a grandchild for now.  

I have to say that I am enjoying the snow and the clear blue sky today. I know,  I haven't even been back for 24 hours.  But once we got closer to home  the wide open fields and the sun reflecting off the snow covered lakes was a welcoming sight.  Love our new home!

Hi Everybody,

It's been snowing since this morning.  Damn stuff.  And it's cold and wet out.

Went to the skin doctor today.  Yay for me ... I only had 3 areas burned off today.  The one on my cheek is pretty tender, but it's better than having the usual spots scraped off and getting shots!  I had hoped she'd cut the one off my face and stitch it up, but she said it will heal faster this way.  I didn't want a big scar on my cheek for when I travel to San Diego next month.

I am so excited to be going to see my grandsons in April.  My Isaac will  have his 10th birthday while I'm there.  My mom is going as well and offered to pay my ticket.  I am so fortunate to have the family I have.  My mom and I will be watching the boys during Easter break as Luke and Linds have to work the week the boys have off.  Had a blast when I watched them last October while their parents' worked.  It was a real treat to have them all to myself.

Was hoping there would be some kind of update about Chickadee.  I didn't see anything posted on the Stage IV thread either.  I really hope she improving today and they can get that pneumonia under control.  A friend of  hers from the Stage IV group is collecting cards from all of us and will mail them all to Chickadee.  Glad I got mine out before the snow started coming down today.

PiP .. sounds like you had a great trip to Florida.  It's so wonderful that you love your new home!

hugs,

Bren

Yorkie ... thanks for writing about who to send the cards to for Chickadee.  I forgot to put that in my note.  Hope everyone can participate in the card shower.

hugs,

Bren

StageIV post for chickadee, says she's in the "address book" -what's the address book and how do you get access to it?

Alexandria - meant to say, nice to see you posting - hope you are doing well.

I thought bc scared me, what's happening in the world is scaring me more.  Seriously reminds me of 3rd grade & "duck & cover" -and about as fruitless.

Bren, enjoy your evening out and be safe on the way home!

I want to put out some food for the little guys, but don't want to stomp my way through snow. A lot should be melted by tomorrow. They'll get their treats then. 

Carrots .. I am so encouraged by your note.  I hope this is the last freezing week here too.  It's still only 28F outside and the snow is not melting.  Thinking I will really have to bundle up to walk the dogs.

hugs,

Bren

PS .. My daffodils are up!  I'll take a picture as soon as they bloom.

Lassie .. that is news to me.  I didn't know we were going to have a civil war or that there was going to be a WWIII.  I am aware that Russia is making a move on the Ukraine, but that's all I know.

How can you find your daffy's in all that snow?  I just walked the dogs in the mud and snow.  My floors are a mess.  Just going to leave them that way until all the mud outside dries up.  Tank is so big that he leaves huge mud prints everywhere!

hugs,

Bren

Interesting essay in The Atlantic, by Conor Friedersdorf:  "What if Vladimir Putin Called U.S. Hawks' Bluff in Ukraine?"

(I'd put in the link but my Apple and BCO are still not compatible). 

Thanks bren.

John McCain still can't seem to get over the fact that he wasn't elected, THANK GOD - can you imagine where we'd be if he and his "vice president" had any power....terrifying thought...

Guess you all know Niagara Falls is frozen, again.....bbrrrrrr, we're still below 0 at night...

Remember Eisenhower warning about the military industrial complex?  Instead of "build it and they will come", it turns into "build weapons and start wars (and make loads of money)".

As the world's wealthiest and most heavily armed nation (by a longshot) the U.S. really couldn't help but become the world's policeman.  OTOH, now that saner heads have prevailed since 2008, some of those who still want to be the world's cop can't quite adjust to the new reality.  And Blue is right, of course:  anything Obama does is wrong, in the eyes of the opposition.  "Twas ever thus; 'twill ever be".  Best to ignore the ignorant and the haters.

A very pointed column by David Ignatius about a recent interview with Robert Gates (you know, Republican former SecDef) in the WaPo today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-the-cool-it-response-to-foreign-policy-rhetoric/2014/03/04/38cefa34-a3e6-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html?hpid=z5

Robert Gates tells Republicans to cut back on criticizing Obama’s Ukraine policy

By David Ignatius, Published: March 4

As the Ukraine crisis deepened, Sen. John McCain responded by criticizing President Obama’s “feckless” foreign policy, while Sen. Lindsey Graham called Obama “a weak and indecisive president [who] invites aggression.”

The year was 1980. The Iranian revolution had toppled the shah’s regime, the Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan and the United States’ president, Jimmy Carter, was widely perceived as a weak leader. Looking for a sharp-edged evaluation of the situation, I decided to interview Sen. Henry M. Jackson, a leading hawk.

What Jackson (D-Wash.) said was surprising, even at a distance of nearly 35 years. Rather than demanding tougher statements or more saber-rattling, he said he worried about “overreaction” to events: “We appear to be going from one crisis to another,” with Washington dispensing “red-hot rhetoric at least once a week about the dire consequences of this or that or something else.”

“We need to be prudent,” said Jackson, who was perhaps the most prominent Cold Warrior of his day. “There is a need for the U.S. to make careful decisions, stand by those decisions, and avoid sending false or conflicting signals” to U.S. allies or the Russians.

Jackson’s message, in essence, was “cool it.” The Wall Street Journal, for which I covered the Senate at the time, published the interview on its editorial page under the headline “The World According to Scoop.” Times are different now, certainly on Capitol Hill. But Jackson’s theme is as relevant as ever.

Seeking the kind of perspective that Jackson offered back in 1980, I spoke Tuesday with one of America’s longest-serving national security veterans, former defense secretary Bob Gates. In addition to having run the Pentagon under Republican and Democratic administrations, Gates worked at the CIA for 26 years and was one of its leading Soviet analysts. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Kremlin decision-making.

What does Gates think about the Ukraine crisis? Distilled to its essence, his message would be the same as Jackson’s: Cool it, especially when it comes to public comments.

“I think considerable care needs to be taken in terms of what is said, so that the rhetoric doesn’t threaten what policy can’t deliver,” Gates explained in a telephone interview. Russian President Vladimir Putin “holds most of the high cards” in Crimea and Ukraine as a whole. U.S. policy should work to reinforce the security of neighboring states without fomenting a deeper crisis in which Putin will have the advantage. (emphasis mine)

Specifically, said Gates, the United States should help NATO allies such as Poland and the Baltic states enhance their readiness to resist any future Russian moves. The United States could encourage a rotation of NATO aircraft to beef up defenses on Russia’s border, for example. That’s the kind of power play that can check Putin, because it is realistic and sustainable.

Gates said that Obama is correct to avoid loose talk about military options. “I’d even be cautious about sending warships into the Black Sea,” Gates explained. “It’s a threatening gesture, but if you’re not prepared to do something about it, it’s an empty gesture.” (emphasis mine)

I asked Gates what he thought about the criticism of Obama by McCain and Graham. “They’re egging him on” to take actions that may not be effective, Gates warned. He said he “discounted” their deeper argument that Obama had invited the Ukraine crisis by not taking a firmer stand on Syria or other foreign policy issues. Even if Obama had bombed Syria or kept troops in Iraq or otherwise shown a tougher face, “he still would have the same options in Ukraine. Putin would have the same high cards.”

Gates, a Republican himself, urged the GOP senators to “tone down” their criticism and “try to be supportive of the president rather than natter at the president.” (emphasis mine)

Gates can be an emotional person when he talks about national-security issues, as any reader of his recent memoir, “Duty,” can see. And he showed some of that emotion when he said, near the end of our conversation: “It seems to me that trying to speak with one voice — one American voice — seems to have become a quaint thing of the past. I regret that enormously.”

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IOW, Gates is saying, shut up and support the president.  And in the colloquial language of law enforcement, don't let John McCain's mouth write a check his ass can't cash.