User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone!
“What the World Needs Now” Music by Burt Bacharach, Lyrics by Hal David for Virtual Orchestra
26 thoughts on “Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone!”
he’s baaaaack
Stephen recaps the Super Bowl, catches up on unidentified flying objects invading U.S. airspace, and marvels at the latest scandals involving Rep. George Santos.
Ah the dog ownership life. Just helped the vet live a nice life. At least Gale is fat and healthy, and the vet expressed surprise that she lost two pounds. Yup, this year we go for more loss – her and me.
I am a Michigan State University graduate. A very long time ago. For almost three years I was a Student Manager of the Student Union. We ran the building after 4pm and all weekends. Old school building, quite massive at the main entrance to the campus. To have it invaded by a terrorist is very disheartening and more blood on the hands of the republicans and illegal justices on the court formerly known as Supreme. Once again is too much.
Bah! Humbug!
ha ha…
I’ve always found it a bit ironic that we reserve February for lovers.
February is such a brutally honest month. The world is stripped bare to its ugly bones. Your neighbors junk, usually hidden behind shrubs is revealed, as is yours. February is more a kin to the morning after, when you are faced with the reality of your drunken debauchery of the previous night. When you are setting at a kitchen table with your first cup of coffee and wonder WTF were you thinking when you went home with this person across the table from you. It is trying to rain, not the cleansing rain we will get later in the year. It is February, so it is just enough to make you damp and miserable and, also, soften up what the neighbor’s dog did in your yard so it clings nicely to your shoes and you track it through the house. The ground hog understood it, when at the beginning of February he took one look and said “f*** this” then went back in his hole for 6 more weeks, hoping for something better.
Now, April, that is a month where you can believe in love. But we reserve April for fools.
Jack
Spring training begins, tomorrow is report day for pitchers and catchers. So there is hope.
Jack
“At this time of the year, you can hardly get any US-grown roses,” Prinzing says. “They are flown in from Ecuador, Kenya or the Netherlands, packed in cellophane, which is not recyclable, not to mention the pesticides that have been used to grow them. When they are imported, custom officials are only interested in ensuring they don’t bring in any pests, but nobody controls with which chemicals the flowers have been treated. To ensure that the flowers clear US customs, they definitely have been fumigated.”
“But on average, the production of 12,000 roses in greenhouses in the Netherlands, with artificial light and heat, produces roughly 35,000 kg CO2, about 10 times as much as a conventionally grown local bouquet. And according to Greenpeace, roses in Colombia are sprayed with 200 kilos of pesticides per hectare, about five times more than is conventionally used in the US.”
“As the founder of the Slow Flowers Movement, Prinzing and her colleagues want the floral industry and its clients to embrace local, seasonal and sustainable flowers, grown without pesticides and under fair conditions for the workers.”
“The movement is self-policing, and of course, there are instances of greenwashing. Slow Flowers have become popular enough that some farmers promote their crops as US grown despite importing them from Mexico.”
“Americans buy about 10 million cut flowers per day, spending between $6 billion and $7 billion every year, with the vast majority imported from monocultures in Africa, South America or Holland. Unlike with food, there are no restrictions on the quantities and toxicity of the pesticides used for the flowers that are often harvested by underpaid workers under inhumane conditions, packed in plastic and then transported over thousands of miles.”
Uhoh, Right on time, according to the script.
From the White house spokesperson.
” I just wanted to make sure we addressed this from the White House. I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no — again, no — indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns,” Jean-Pierre said. “Again, there is no indication of aliens of terrestrial [sic] activity with these recent takedowns. Wanted to make sure that the American people knew that, all of you know that. It was important for us to say that from here because we’ve been hearing a lot about it. I loved ET the movie, but I’m just going to leave it there ”
We are so screwed.
Jack
jack, your 11:50 was a veritable masterpiece, the perfect paean to a miserable month.
Yeah, February is generally the worst of the months for almost everyone except stout hearted skiers. This isn’t your grandfather’s February though. The only snow in Garrett County, MD is what’s left and almost melted in the ditches beside the road, and what the snowmakers at the Wisp resort have been able to blow and pack down from January and the odd below freezing night this month. Crocus are blooming and daffodils are pushing their leaves up – 6″ at this point in East Bumfuck. (Of course the exposed junk comment is dead on.) Not that I’m complaining. The older I get the more appreciative i am for mild days in mid winter. 65 today, forecast for 73 tomorrow.
Pence is going to fight Jack Smith’s subpoena, Wapo
Former vice president Mike Pence will fight a subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith in his investigation of former president Donald Trump’s push to overturn the 2020 election, a person familiar with the matter said, escalating an unprecedented judicial battle.
Pence’s team is expected to argue that his role as president of the Senate during his time in office means that under the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause,” he does not have to testify, said the person familiar with the matter…
Pence also did not testify before the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, even though he has written a book and publicly discussed his experiences related to that day….
Pence also is likely to let Trump’s legal team assert executive privilege in Smith’s probes of the 2020 election denial and Trump’s handling of classified documents before filing any motion himself, the person familiar with the matter said…
Pence claims the subpoena was a surprise. Right. I bet Smith had just about enough hair splitting by Pence’s “team”. I wonder whether his legal team is familiar with the concept of waiver? I’d suggest they read his book to see what he blabbed about in it. I wonder how that “speech and debate” clause (peculiar to the Congress) will fly with the “executive privilege” assertion (peculiar to the President and his close advisors) since there certainly seemed to be no coordination between Dumbass and Pence on 1/6 and in fact they appeared to be at odds, and as far as his duties that day, he claimed they were purely ministerial – hardly the stuff of speech and debate.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Tuesday announced that she will not seek a sixth term in office and will retire from the Senate at the end of 2024, officially creating an open primary battle to replace the trailblazing senator.
“I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement.
“I campaigned in 2018 on several priorities for California and the nation: preventing and combating wildfires, mitigating the effects of record-setting drought, responding to the homelessness crisis, and ensuring all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality health care. Congress has enacted legislation on all of these topics over the past several years, but more needs to be done – and I will continue these efforts,” she added.
Feinstein, 89, has been subject to critical reports in recent years over her mental acuity, but defended herself against those claims, citing the death of her husband, Richard Blum, last year as a chief distraction.
[…]
Feinstein, the oldest sitting senator, has long been expected to depart at the end of her current term, having rolled back her workload and responsibilities in recent years.
[continues]
BiD, i thought about your posts on the jesus ads when i saw this colbert cold open last night
In the same vein of the McDonalds crispy sign next to the crematorium sign – ” On the day of his death, Von Nukem was facing trial for drug trafficking when he never showed up to court. The cause of death has not been released by the family. Services were held at a local bakery in Missouri.”
The question is how chewy were the donuts?
patd – Senator Feinstein has announced she has announced nothing. This leads to why she is being retired, she may not know it.
Tacoma WA had an overnight snow. Almost all gone at present.
Love seeing the Funny Valentine. My father and I danced to it on my 18th birthday so it is always a reminder of him.
Jack,
The morning after the night before is February 15 or Lupercalia. No wonder the early church tried to switch the celebration to St. Valentine
“Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles has docked in Cape Town, South Africa ahead of joint military drills with South Africa, Russia and China…”
“The long-range weapons travel more than five times the speed of sound and are harder to detect and intercept.”
Gotta protect their (China and Russia) mineral rights on the African continent, right?
“To overcome the shield of attorney-client privilege, prosecutors alleged in writing to the judge that the former president used his attorney in furtherance of a crime or fraud, according to one source.”
“Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian private military company Wagner, admitted on Tuesday to founding the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a notorious troll farm that the US government has sanctioned for interfering in American elections.”
“The IRA also organized and coordinated political rallies during the run-up to the 2016 election, all while hiding its Russian identity. Further, the IRA unlawfully utilized personally identifiable information from US persons to open financial accounts to help fund IRA operations.”
he’s baaaaack
Stephen recaps the Super Bowl, catches up on unidentified flying objects invading U.S. airspace, and marvels at the latest scandals involving Rep. George Santos.
let’s do this?
Ah the dog ownership life. Just helped the vet live a nice life. At least Gale is fat and healthy, and the vet expressed surprise that she lost two pounds. Yup, this year we go for more loss – her and me.
I am a Michigan State University graduate. A very long time ago. For almost three years I was a Student Manager of the Student Union. We ran the building after 4pm and all weekends. Old school building, quite massive at the main entrance to the campus. To have it invaded by a terrorist is very disheartening and more blood on the hands of the republicans and illegal justices on the court formerly known as Supreme. Once again is too much.
Bah! Humbug!
ha ha…
I’ve always found it a bit ironic that we reserve February for lovers.
February is such a brutally honest month. The world is stripped bare to its ugly bones. Your neighbors junk, usually hidden behind shrubs is revealed, as is yours. February is more a kin to the morning after, when you are faced with the reality of your drunken debauchery of the previous night. When you are setting at a kitchen table with your first cup of coffee and wonder WTF were you thinking when you went home with this person across the table from you. It is trying to rain, not the cleansing rain we will get later in the year. It is February, so it is just enough to make you damp and miserable and, also, soften up what the neighbor’s dog did in your yard so it clings nicely to your shoes and you track it through the house. The ground hog understood it, when at the beginning of February he took one look and said “f*** this” then went back in his hole for 6 more weeks, hoping for something better.
Now, April, that is a month where you can believe in love. But we reserve April for fools.
Jack
Spring training begins, tomorrow is report day for pitchers and catchers. So there is hope.
Jack
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/slow-flowers-valentines-day-sustainable-environment/
“At this time of the year, you can hardly get any US-grown roses,” Prinzing says. “They are flown in from Ecuador, Kenya or the Netherlands, packed in cellophane, which is not recyclable, not to mention the pesticides that have been used to grow them. When they are imported, custom officials are only interested in ensuring they don’t bring in any pests, but nobody controls with which chemicals the flowers have been treated. To ensure that the flowers clear US customs, they definitely have been fumigated.”
“But on average, the production of 12,000 roses in greenhouses in the Netherlands, with artificial light and heat, produces roughly 35,000 kg CO2, about 10 times as much as a conventionally grown local bouquet. And according to Greenpeace, roses in Colombia are sprayed with 200 kilos of pesticides per hectare, about five times more than is conventionally used in the US.”
“As the founder of the Slow Flowers Movement, Prinzing and her colleagues want the floral industry and its clients to embrace local, seasonal and sustainable flowers, grown without pesticides and under fair conditions for the workers.”
“The movement is self-policing, and of course, there are instances of greenwashing. Slow Flowers have become popular enough that some farmers promote their crops as US grown despite importing them from Mexico.”
“Americans buy about 10 million cut flowers per day, spending between $6 billion and $7 billion every year, with the vast majority imported from monocultures in Africa, South America or Holland. Unlike with food, there are no restrictions on the quantities and toxicity of the pesticides used for the flowers that are often harvested by underpaid workers under inhumane conditions, packed in plastic and then transported over thousands of miles.”
Uhoh, Right on time, according to the script.
From the White house spokesperson.
” I just wanted to make sure we addressed this from the White House. I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no — again, no — indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns,” Jean-Pierre said. “Again, there is no indication of aliens of terrestrial [sic] activity with these recent takedowns. Wanted to make sure that the American people knew that, all of you know that. It was important for us to say that from here because we’ve been hearing a lot about it. I loved ET the movie, but I’m just going to leave it there ”
We are so screwed.
Jack
jack, your 11:50 was a veritable masterpiece, the perfect paean to a miserable month.
Yeah, February is generally the worst of the months for almost everyone except stout hearted skiers. This isn’t your grandfather’s February though. The only snow in Garrett County, MD is what’s left and almost melted in the ditches beside the road, and what the snowmakers at the Wisp resort have been able to blow and pack down from January and the odd below freezing night this month. Crocus are blooming and daffodils are pushing their leaves up – 6″ at this point in East Bumfuck. (Of course the exposed junk comment is dead on.) Not that I’m complaining. The older I get the more appreciative i am for mild days in mid winter. 65 today, forecast for 73 tomorrow.
Pence is going to fight Jack Smith’s subpoena, Wapo
Pence claims the subpoena was a surprise. Right. I bet Smith had just about enough hair splitting by Pence’s “team”. I wonder whether his legal team is familiar with the concept of waiver? I’d suggest they read his book to see what he blabbed about in it. I wonder how that “speech and debate” clause (peculiar to the Congress) will fly with the “executive privilege” assertion (peculiar to the President and his close advisors) since there certainly seemed to be no coordination between Dumbass and Pence on 1/6 and in fact they appeared to be at odds, and as far as his duties that day, he claimed they were purely ministerial – hardly the stuff of speech and debate.
Dianne Feinstein announces retirement from Senate in 2024 (thehill.com)
BiD, i thought about your posts on the jesus ads when i saw this colbert cold open last night
In the same vein of the McDonalds crispy sign next to the crematorium sign – ”
On the day of his death, Von Nukem was facing trial for drug trafficking when he never showed up to court. The cause of death has not been released by the family.
Services were held at a local bakery in Missouri.”
The question is how chewy were the donuts?
patd – Senator Feinstein has announced she has announced nothing. This leads to why she is being retired, she may not know it.
Tacoma WA had an overnight snow. Almost all gone at present.
Love seeing the Funny Valentine. My father and I danced to it on my 18th birthday so it is always a reminder of him.
Jack,
The morning after the night before is February 15 or Lupercalia. No wonder the early church tried to switch the celebration to St. Valentine
Lupercalia – Wikipedia
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/africa/russian-frigate-south-africa-intl/index.html
“Russia’s Admiral Gorshkov frigate, armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles has docked in Cape Town, South Africa ahead of joint military drills with South Africa, Russia and China…”
“The long-range weapons travel more than five times the speed of sound and are harder to detect and intercept.”
Gotta protect their (China and Russia) mineral rights on the African continent, right?
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/politics/evan-corcoran-trump-attorney-testimony/index.html
“To overcome the shield of attorney-client privilege, prosecutors alleged in writing to the judge that the former president used his attorney in furtherance of a crime or fraud, according to one source.”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/europe/russia-yevgeny-prigozhin-internet-research-agency-intl/index.html
“Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian private military company Wagner, admitted on Tuesday to founding the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a notorious troll farm that the US government has sanctioned for interfering in American elections.”
“The IRA also organized and coordinated political rallies during the run-up to the 2016 election, all while hiding its Russian identity. Further, the IRA unlawfully utilized personally identifiable information from US persons to open financial accounts to help fund IRA operations.”
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