Good Tuesday and hope yours is a good one.  Ours is a better one since the colds are abating somewhat.  Thankfully we can do what the experts say we should do--rest, drink plenty of fluids, eat lightly and let it run its course.  Later in the week we have a gardening class scheduled and we should be physically capable of attending.  The cold came at as convenient time as such things could come--we had nothing planned for nearly two weeks.  The only activity it interrupted was our mile at the Y.  We think that can resume next Monday though we might cut back on distance for a bit.  Now let's see if there is anything on the 'net.

Is it just me or is our media focused on whether an American will become Pope?  That seems to be the lead question on any segment on the Papal election followed quickly by thumbnails of the leading American candidates with briefer nods to a couple of other non-European Cardinals that may have a chance.  Somehow the whole question is....inconsequential.  I thought one comment was rather illuminating and appeared in several stories all of which could have been written by the same person.  The reporter noted that a lot of people (Europeans and Italians in particular) aren't comfortable with the notion of an American in the Papacy.  Evidently they fear such a Pope would be controlled by the American Government.  Isn't this the mirror image of the argument leveled against Kennedy seventy years ago?  My own feeling on this issue--any American politician who would hope to dictate to a Pope who happened to be born American should read the history of Henry II of England and his picked Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett.

Well, evidently a judge has decided that Nanny Bloomberg's ban on large size drinks is unfair.  Basically it disadvantages some commercial establishments over others who don't have to comply.  That's ok as far as it goes.  What I wish is for some judge to uphold a person's right to make stupid decisions.  Or validate another person's right to make a smart decision for what ever reasons s/he might wish.  I remember the point where I realized that I really didn't want to supersize my lunch.  And yes, at the time I didn't mind eating at McDonalds and its ilk.  Things have changed.  As usual the clerk asked if I wanted it super sized.  I hesitated because I didn't really want all that food and I certainly did not intend to take any part of it home--and I also knew, sure as hell, I would stuff all that food down my gullet.  After all, my parent's generation had encouraged my generation to clean their plates while thinking about the poor starving children in other countries.  And as I hesitated the clerk did as she was trained to do--reminded me that the larger size was actually 'more economical' and I would get more for 'less' money.  That is when something went click and I told the clerk (politely I hope because I was a bit irritated by the whole thing) that her (and her company's) argument was spurious because I would be leaving half of the meal in the trash so I would actually be paying more for what I really wanted in the first place.  Since that time I have had no trouble at all applying the same argument to similar offers or to two for one sales for things I don't really want at all (Sorry, I'll increase my saving by not buying anything.)  If a slow learner like me, thoroughly indoctrinated from birth in the American commercial myths, can make that imaginative leap, I don't see why others should be denied the chance to do the same.  I won't even start on a rant about the so-called nutritional 'experts.'

I saw a brief mention of this story on the morning broadcast.  I gather there are more questions than answers at this stage--including the question of veracity.  They don't really know if the data released is real or simply made up.  The reporter this morning claimed that one of the celebrity phone numbers was actually for an east coast business. Then they don't really know who is behind this.  I love the comment in the article about the tweet from the alleged hacker being in 'bad Russian.'  I am neither a technophile nor a technophobe but I do recognize that all technologies have negatives that come with them and, the more you depend on them, the more the negatives have disastrous potential.

And this was also featured for a brief line on our evening news yesterday.  I wondered how much fun people might have with it.  What the hell would ancient peoples have done to cause atherosclerosis?  Of course, they had to have done something.  So which kind of diet works?  Actually--none of them.  All of the mummies showed atherosclerosis no matter what area they were found and no matter what the typical diet might have been.  As I said above--I won't go off on a rant about nutritional 'experts.'  We assume that by studying ancient artifacts like mummies we can discover some kind of natural diet which will allow us to defy old age.  Now how many of these assumptions will bite us in the ass?  The one about discovering a natural diet (as though in our artificial modern world who would we even know) or the one about defying old age or the one that assumes the results from mummies are applicable to their general society much less to ours.

Good Sunday to you all.  For me it is marginally better.  The cold is still dragging me down.  I am so thankful that I don't have to go out.  I remember all too well the times I had to go to work no matter how I felt because I couldn't afford to lose the pay and had no sick days.  Isn't it wonderful how our economy works--you get to choose between not being able to pay your bills or doing a marginal job while infecting everyone you come in contact but not losing the money you need to live.  I shudder to think how many co-workers caught colds from me shortly after I caught my cold from one of them.

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Definitely better today (Monday) than recently.  I am actually contemplating doing a couple of chores today after nearly a week of doing nothing except sleeping, grumbling and hacking.  Mom is recovering steadily also.  Let's see what I find on the 'net.

What does this story and this one have in common?  They are both tales of crime in which the perpetrators get off without penalty and the victims are victims twice over: first by the banks (or their representatives) and then again by the (anti)-legal system.

I would say 'Good Morning' but I am not at all sure that is a good description.  I hope your Saturday is shaping up well.  We had a bad night with colds last night after a deceptive day when we were lulled into the notion that we were getting off more easily this time.  I guess we should still consider ourselves lucky.  It has been a couple of years since the last bout.  I had intended to get some seedlings transplanted but I simply don't have the energy.

Every now and then I find an article that confirms suspicions I have entertained with increasing frequency over the last few years.  Even if we have had infrequent and short interruptions in various electrical services we have seen accounts of more frequent and longer disruptions in surrounding areas. And we know the bills have gotten bigger over that same time.  Worse, the statistics don't include the outages due to the various storms, like Sandy, that have left millions without power for weeks at a time.

This is good.  I just wish that labeling were mandatory by law and not dependent on a single store's (or any number of stores') individual policies.  I don't know whether there is anything dangerous about GMOs but I do know I don't trust Monsanto, et al., and I want the information to make a choice about what I eat.

Hello, all.  I don't know how much I will read or write today.  The cold hit hard yesterday afternoon and all I want to do is sleep.

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As you can see I didn't get very far yesterday.  Still tired today (Friday).  Just coming downstairs and starting the coffee exhausted me.  Mom felt the same about pouring the coffee and combing her hair.  I will say I feel better than I did yesterday.  But I don't think we will be doing much till Monday at the earliest.

I did check my second seed starts.  Saw stevia, lettuce, and spinach poking their little leaves up.

I think Elizabeth Warren is absolutely right on.  We need a 'death penalty' for corporations.  They shouldn't get off simply because of their size.  Every bit of money they laundered and every bit of profits they made by laundering that money (or by violating sanctions) should be forfeit and the people at the top should be jailed.  Yves Smith puts the situation very well--Treasury and Fed officials who are supposed to regulate banks 'prevaricate' during testimony.  That is a polite way to say they lie.  So the Justice Department is unwilling to prosecute and the Treasury and Fed are unwilling to regulate.  Can anybody else spell 'free pass?'

The good news on this issue--the bacteria haven't spread beyond hospital setting.  The bad news, beyond the fact that it is 50% fatal , can transfer the resistance to other more common and unrelated bacteria, and are resistant to just about every antibiotic out there--how long do you think it will remain within hospitals?

Good Tuesday, All.  The snow hasn't really moved in here yet.  We have a mere dusting but more is on the way though not so much as was expected this time yesterday.  I find it interesting how many schools are closed and how many flights at Chicago airports are cancelled in anticipation.  We aren't going anywhere--not with Mom still definitely under the weather and me feeling a bit off as well.  I hope it won't progress to a full on cold.  We'll see.

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It is now Wednesday after a very snowy Tuesday.  The heavy snow started about 10 or 11am and continued through the rest of the day.  The crew our landlord has to clear the snow has already been out and the sidewalks are shoveled.  I will get a path to the gate cleared a bit later and a little bit at a time.

We just had a thought we have had with increasing frequency lately.  We actually got more real news forty years ago when the evening news was half an hour long split between local and national stories.  It was similar in the morning and by 7am the programming shifted to cartoons.  Today we had news from 5:30am when I turned on the cable to a little after 8 when I turned it off in total irritated disgust.  Three quarters of the stories were repeated every half hour with nothing new added.  Among the repeats: Kate's slip which might indicate England's next monarch might be a queen, the Vatican has imposed a gag on the Cardinals--no more interviews, Hugo Chavez's death--which was covered well last night, the new record level on the Dow and how long it might be sustained, and a whole bunch of crap that was so important I can't remember what the hell it was.

Just finished shoveling that path I mentioned above.  I would say the minimum snow level was 8 inches.  It was already starting to melt underneath but I found about four inches of hard ice between the gate and my large container.  It really limits how far we can open that gate.  I hope we do get some of those warmer temperatures and melting we have been promised.  I really don't want to chisel out that ice.

We just had a brief interruption in our internet.  I don't know what happened but suddenly we couldn't do anything or go anywhere on the net.  Glad it was brief.

I saw this some while ago but simply filed it away because it didn't involve one of Indiana's senators and no charges had been filed.  Now it looks like it maybe another nasty example of political dirty tricks.  If someone did bribe women to make these claims I would dearly love to see that someone charged in court.

We finally got our internet back a little bit ago for the second time today.  First time we have had that kind of an interruption for a long time.  I am always surprised to realize how much we depend on our electronic communications connections.  And always a little uneasy with it.  Google has also been a pain in the butt.

Good Sunday, Everyone.  We have blue skies at least for now.  Whether we will see the sun depends on if it comes up before the next batch of clouds comes in.  We got a dusting of snow yesterday most of which has blown off the pavements.  I may have to sweep some of the patio but I may just wait to see what comes in.  The weather people say we should get a bit more snow tomorrow night and tuesday.  Just to remind us that Spring isn't here yet.

I can't say this any more bluntly.  This is totally bullshit.  Our own workers get furloughed, our own long term unemployed get their benefits cut, and these bastards want the funds going to Israel excepted from the sequester???
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Hello, all, on what looks like a transitional Monday.  We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday.  But very late tonight we should start getting snow and will all day tomorrow--at least as it stands now.  I have my starter trays ready to put seeds in.  Will do that later.  The first starts are about ready to transplant.  We are still about 9 weeks away from being able to put plants in outside.  But I was surprised yesterday when I saw the morning sun reflecting off the fence.  It only happens in the morning because our building is on a corner and the street provides enough space that the next building's shadow doesn't shade the corner of the fence.  In three weeks, about the spring equinox, the house shadow should fall just at the top of the fence all day and, thereafter, the patio will get increasing amounts of light.  I am so looking forward to that.

We recently talked about the Walgreens program, which we rejected several times, for a customer card because they are moving to exclusive sales for their 'preferred customers.'  However, this story and this one, make us talk more and reconsider any notion of signing up.  I am getting very sick of the nanny mentality.

An observation on irritating politics and more irritating media:  I am sick of hearing the Repthuglicans complaining that Obama won't give them anything after they so generously agreed to 'raise' taxes.  All they did was agree to make the Bush tax cuts permanent for most Americans (those making less than $400k approximately).  That was a fraud to begin with.  Bush wanted tax cuts and agreed to a sunset provision which ended the cuts in 2011 because he wanted to pretend to deal with the deficits those cuts would generate.  That worked like a charm because the Repthuglicans could argue that the restoration of the tax rates to the previous level were a draconian tax increase and got two one year extensions on the strength of that argument.  Let me call this whole mess exactly what it is: bullshit.  Obama gave them 90% of what they wanted and they are whining because they didn't get 100%.  What also pisses me off is Obama placing Social Security and Medicare on the table and getting nothing substantial for it.  Craptastic!!!  Maha has basically the same analysis of the situation, though more politely stated.

Just got my second set of seeds started.  Baby leaf spinach, petite rouge lettuce, stevia, beard tongue foxglove, wild bergamot and purple hyssop.  Now to see what comes up!

Happy Friday to you all.  We have another overcast day with intermittent light snow.  Nothing much on the agenda for today.  Let's see if there is anything worth noting on the 'net.

This isn't good considering that Easter isn't that far off.

I remember an old quip from workers in the old Soviet Union: We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.  This is half of that.  I do so wish we could get the other half and pretend to pay these clowns for their pretend work.

This chart makes me wonder why our politicians are arguing about so-called entitlements in the same breath as 'deficit.'
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I could have posted this yesterday but was lazy.  Mom is fighting a cold so we aren't doing anything.

How often over the last few years, especially when George II was in office, were we told that we should rely on private giving and aid instead of government?  I know I have lost count.  Is this what happens when we do??

The TINA (There Is No Alternative) argument seems to dominate government and has since Maggie Thatcher and Ronnie Reagan were kissing each other's butts three decades ago.  Here it is again.  The argument (if you really want to call it that) is fallacious.  It assumes the end result is agreed by everyone to be desirable and necessary, that the proposed means of achieving that result are the best available and that the benefits of the result outweigh the costs.  I say the assumptions are bogus all the way around. It is obvious to anyone not totally blind that the ends are not agreed on.  I don't see the necessity.  From what I have read, the oil that reaches the Gulf from the tar sands will be sold to overseas buyers so it won't help the U.S. oil supply and it may even take product from parts of my area raising the cost here. And they tell us that the U.S. energy production is ramping up to make us 'energy independent' in relatively short time.  Either way someone is lying to us.  Just north of us a couple of years ago a similar pipeline leaked.  They are still dealing with the results and the company has been fighting the local landowners to increase the size of the pipe.  Which means appropriating more of the land and paying the owners pittances for the damage and the land.  The court case against BP for its Macos blow out almost three years ago is just now going to court.  Over that time the public has been fed a steady diet of pablum from the company and from the government on just what the consequences of the contamination are and will be.  The only beneficiaries I can see are the Koch brothers whose company is a major player in the project.  So farmers lose, the land loses, consumers lose but the billionaires win. Unfortunately this isn't baseball--they have had their three strikes and should be out but they are poised to win.

I am increasingly disgusted with the news coverage.  I just watched the segment on the sequester impasse and Obama's comments on it.  Does it really matter that Obama merged Star Wars and Star Trek in his comment about not being able to use a 'jedi mind meld' on the Repthuglicans?

Chris in Paris has it totally right: the political trolls out there suffer nothing from the political impasse.  It occurs to me that we have two classes of parasites who disproves the old notion that people are paid for good results: the politicians and the bankers.  They get paid handsomely no matter what.  I am sure this won't go far but I applaud it.

This is hilarious.  In Iceland authorities tested 'meat' pies for horse meat and found not only no horse meat but no meat of any kind.  Thanks to Undernews for the link.