Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Hallo October's Bright Blue Weather!


16 comments:

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    1. I don't know what Dean would do or would or could have done. What I do know is that this has been a bad month since I got back from San Antonio. First my computer died, then my cat died, and now my government is very sick. I'm sure the government will recover, but meanwhile the situation is quite depressing.

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    2. I agree, as far as it goes. But Obamacare is up and running. Republican attempts to defund it were clearly doomed from the start. And as Obama has emphasized, the government shutdown doesn't affect it at all. But at the end of the day, all the Republicans were asking was for the individual mandate to be delayed a year. The insurance companies would have hated that, but I don't see that it would have seriously hurt Obamacare. It might have helped in a backhand way, because it would have given people a chance to see that the program is working before the clueless were forced to sign up.

      Incidentally, I've been checking to see whether Marcus is now eligible for Medicaid, as a representative of the Illinois department involved told me a couple of months ago he would be. But no, as long as we claim him as a dependent he is part of our household for income calculations. What is not clear is whether this would change if we simply didn't claim him. I'll have to get an official determination on this at some point.

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    3. Oops. That was supposed to be a reply to puddle.

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    4. You really have had a lot of loss, Bill. Be gentle with yourself.

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  2. Alan, here's a song for you about winter in Montreal. It was written by Jesse Winchester and sung here by Anne Murray:
    http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ykJO7fbguM0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DykJO7fbguM0

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  3. Very nice song, once you get past the commercial. The only time I've been in Montreal was for the 2009 Worldcon. That was in August, of course. They're also bidding against Japan for the 2017 Worldcon.

    On a more general level, I've lived in Arkansas. southern California, and Chicago, and I prefer seasons. (Arkansas has seasons.)

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  4. right now I am doing a little experiment to see if I can actually comments using dictation. I'm taking Perkins for a walk and then need to go home and make dinner

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  5. Seems to me that this is all about what the rePublicans hope/pray for vis a vis the 2014 elections: as long as the ACA isn't functioning, they get to run on it (again); if it's up and running, the wide dim electorate is going to like it, and they've clearly got nothing else to run on.

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  6. I despise the Rethuglicans in Congress, souless, heartless, selfish monsters. And 7 Democrats (so-called) voted with them - which is exactly why I refuse to donate to the DCCC (in spite of their frequent begging). I refuse to donate money to Democrats who will not stand up for the people. If you want to cave you're not doing it with any financial assistance from me!

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    1. I'm not sending money either, Susan...not to anyone I don't know and trust.

      I have appreciated hearing President Obama standing his ground lately. It sure feels better than when he was trying to make nice with mean, greedy politicians. I do not see that they have earned the right to have a year's delay. The only reason they want a delay is to get their own way. IMNSHO, they aren't doing it for the good of the people.

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  7. Oh, and listener, that building is gorgeous.

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    1. Thanks, Susan! It's at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.

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  8. After dinner I took Winnie for a bit of a walk. Walking my 13 1/2 golden mix doesn't even remotely seem like it could count as exercise for me--unless standing still somehow counts as exercise. But it makes Winnie happy to be able to go out and smell all the smells that my pathetic excuse for a nose could never possibly register. ;)

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    1. Dictation seems to be working fine. And walking, even slowly with frequent stops, does count as a mild sort of exercise. Better than sitting down all the time.

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  9. Bill, I prefer seasons too...four of them. Couldn't possibly live without them. :-)

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