Monday, January 25, 2021

A few of our favourite things...



by Vermonter Delene Darcel. $30

               Schooner Columbia               Whale Tail by my marine biologist niece Dianna
 







35 comments:

  1. Catreona, notes for you on the last thread. I left Tuesday open for you. Go for it!

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  2. ‘Fight for Trump’ [Click] Just Security published a collection of videos from the Capitol siege on January 6, which were scraped from Parler. The collection contains footage that has not been widely seen before (including the audience’s immediate reactions to President Trump’s most potent remarks at the Ellipse; Trump supporters’ statements about Vice President Pence during the unfolding events).

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  3. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) told the Cincinnati Enquirer he will not seek a third term in the U.S. Senate in 2022, a move that will unsettle politics in both Greater Cincinnati and Washington D.C.

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  4. Replies
    1. I could not be happier! Roberts was useless last year.

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  5. OHIO; COVID cases 868,656 and 10,768 deaths.

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  6. Boy, it's cold outside (for Fresno), with a breeze; NOT a good day for gardening. I checked webcams at a resort area up in the mountains, and as expected there is fresh snow on the ground. The weatherpersons say the rain we are getting is from the first atmospheric river of the season.

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    1. It's cold here too. But it warmed up to 19ºF today with little wind, so I was able to hike up the hill out back and clear the 15" of snow off the little Hemlock tree, and the Lilacs. We lost a Lilac limb, but the bush will recover.

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  7. VT cases: 11,165-11,033=132
    3518active cases
    171deaths
    Recovered 7476 (67%)
    Hospital 50(+3) ICU:6(-2)
    Tests 296,925 (+1300)

    Positivity Rate down to 2.3%
    Death rate down to 1.5%

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  8. Replies
    1. Not that they care. Today the House Impeachment Team walked the Article of Impeachment over to the Senate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DS1DpkxP0U
      and there are still not enough GOP votes to find DT guilty in the Senate.

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  9. Replies
    1. If I were a GOP Senator, and I wanted to vote to convict, I might want to announce my retirement first. Ha. But I don't see these guys as voting to convict.

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  10. Snow has closed The Grapevine, the principal connection between Northern and Southern California. The alternative route is by way of the coast, and I don't think it can handle the traffic.

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    1. How much snow does it take to close the Grapevine? Is that typical for this time of year the way it's typical here for Lake Champlain to freeze over? BTW, the Lake has not frozen over yet this year, and today a car fell through the too thin ice on the bay where we sail. (Everyone escaped okay.)

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    2. I don't think there is enough snowfall to halt traffic every year, but they have snow removal equipment permanently stationed there. Some years it happens repeatedly. Considering that almost none of the drivers are accustomed to driving in snow, it doesn't take much; maybe two to four inches. Probably many of the drivers don't have chains. I have heard of the Highway Patrol escorting convoys on one side as the snow is cleared on the other, then vice-versa. As memory serves me it is four lanes, or maybe five, in each direction. It isn't anything even remotely like Tioga Pass (google images). Here and there you can see bits of the old highway from which it gets its name--two lanes, narrow and contorted. I remember my father (who was a truck driver for a few years) telling of one truck driver who lost his brakes near the top and managed to get all the way down the grade alive. That was long before the days of automatic transmissions or power steering.

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  11. COVID Vaccine Distribution Plagued By Lack Of Clarity About Even Basic Facts [Click] The Trump administration left behind an absolutely incredible mess—no one can even tell how many doses are out there or where they are.

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  12. Senate Democrats Have a Choice [Click] Kill the filibuster NOW or leave the GOP in control and kiss off any substantive actions. A clear explanation of what is going on--the first I have read.

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    1. “Senator Mitch McConnell on Monday dropped his demand that the new Democratic Senate majority promise to preserve the filibuster — which Republicans could use to obstruct President Biden’s agenda — ending an impasse that had prevented Democrats from assuming full power even after their election wins,” the New York Times reports.

      “In his negotiations with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the new majority leader, Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, had refused to agree to a plan for organizing the chamber without a pledge from Democrats to protect the filibuster, a condition that Mr. Schumer had rejected.”

      “But late Monday, as the stalemate persisted, Mr. McConnell found a way out by pointing to statements by two centrist Democrats, Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, that said they opposed getting rid of the procedural tool — a position they had held for months — as enough of a guarantee to move forward without a formal promise from Mr. Schumer.”

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    2. So, now all they have to do is send Manchin, Sinema, and two Republicans off on a joint fact-finding mission to Pago-Pago or some such place, and vote away the filibuster before they can return.

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    3. To be quite frank, I am less afraid of Republican obstructionism now than of a unstoppable right-wing steamroller at some future point. We need the filibuster as a check against the tyranny of some temporary majority. But we need to go back to requiring the minority to actually filibuster if they want to stop something.

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    4. Yes, a speaking filibuster rather than just a virtual filibuster would be good enough.

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  13. “Google will not make contributions from its political action committee this cycle to any member of Congress who voted against certifying the results of the presidential election, following the deadly Capitol riot,” Axios reports.

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  14. Bill Thomasson 1/25/2021 01:41:00 AM
    Wantted to see if browser made a difference. This is Internet Explorer; I usually use SeaMonkey.

    Bill Thomasson 1/25/2021 01:43:00 AM
    So that's two browsers where I can sign in with my Google account. And Chrome works for listener, so that's three. Doesn't sound like a browser issue.

    listener 1/25/2021 11:56:00 PM
    Well, it's not quite that way for me. I can sign in on Safari, but when I do it shunts me off to the page where new posts are created. And I can read the blog. It just won't let me comment. Think of that: It lets me into the guts of this site, but won't let me comment.

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    Replies
    1. Even stranger, I can comment on Chrome on my computer, but I cannot comment on Chrome on my iPhone.

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    2. Must be different versions of the browser.

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  15. Catreona, since you didn't come by today, I went ahead and made a post for tomorrow. If you want to make a post for Wednesday (or whenever), feel free. Just be sure to reschedule the post for that next day off to the next available date. Thanks!

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  16. Bernie's Much Memed Mittens are inspiring Vermont crafters and the proceeds are going to charities, like Meals on Wheels!
    https://www.wcax.com/2021/01/25/vt-crafters-create-products-featuring-bernie-sanders-much-memed-mittens/

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