The Shortest and *SAD-est Day of the Year

Attribution: Winter solstice shortest day-inauguration longest by Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe, MA

*Seasonal Affective Disorder

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29 thoughts on “The Shortest and *SAD-est Day of the Year”

  1. got that lowdown feeling bad blues?  might not be the sorry state of politics or climate change or that the world has gone mad.  might just be you’re suffering from SAD according to Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) – Symptoms & causes – Mayo Clinic

    Symptoms
    In most cases, seasonal affective disorder symptoms appear during late fall or early winter and go away during the sunnier days of spring and summer. Less commonly, people with the opposite pattern have symptoms that begin in spring or summer. In either case, symptoms may start out mild and become more severe as the season progresses.

    Signs and symptoms of SAD may include:

    Feeling listless, sad or down most of the day, nearly every day
    Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
    Having low energy and feeling sluggish
    Having problems with sleeping too much
    Experiencing carbohydrate cravings, overeating and weight gain
    Having difficulty concentrating
    Feeling hopeless, worthless or guilty
    Having thoughts of not wanting to live
    Fall and winter SAD
    Symptoms specific to winter-onset SAD, sometimes called winter depression, may include:

    Oversleeping
    Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates
    Weight gain
    Tiredness or low energy
    Spring and summer SAD
    Symptoms specific to summer-onset seasonal affective disorder, sometimes called summer depression, may include:

    Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
    Poor appetite
    Weight loss
    Agitation or anxiety
    Increased irritability
    Seasonal changes and bipolar disorder
    People who have bipolar disorder are at increased risk of seasonal affective disorder. In some people with bipolar disorder, episodes of mania may be linked to a specific season. For example, spring and summer can bring on symptoms of mania or a less intense form of mania (hypomania), anxiety, agitation and irritability. They may also experience depression during the fall and winter months.

  2. yesterday afternoon Trail friend WhskyJack noted: “There is a tendency for you all to enjoy anything that slams Trump and now Musk. You click on it and pass it around. “

    Well, Jack, we’re just continuing the proud patriotic perversion of making fun of whomever is the man-in-chief, celebrating a very long history of it at that.  for example:

    6 years ago
    WATCH: SUNDAY at 6pm & 10pm ET on C-SPAN3’s American Artifacts. Co-Author Michael Alexander Kahn discusses his book “What Fools These Mortals Be! The Story of Puck” an influential political satire magazine read by millions of Americans between 1876-1918. 
     

    for that whole CSPAN program click here:

    American Artifacts Puck Magazine Cartoons on the Presidency : CSPAN3 : May 12, 2018 9:45am-10:15am EDT : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive

  3. Something got my dog up and barking about 01:30ish this morning.  Enough noise to wake me up.  I sleep with a radio on and it WTOP informing me that the Senate passed the CR, fine with me. I started dozing off when I hear “breaking news”, which my ever hopeful being hoped was a death announcement.  Nope, not lucky this time.  It was something interesting though, at 01:15 the Senate passed the legislation for Washington, D.C., to own the land where the old RFK stadium sits.  A relic of many decades ago that the District wants to rebuild to lure the Washington Commanders football team with back to D.C.  That was stripped out for president muskie’s pleasure.
     
    There was also good news for many people, the CR includes federal funding backing for the replacement Francis Scott Key Bridge.  That is the bridge the Dali knocked down earlier this year.  In terms of real money it is not much, about two billion or so dollars. It is critical for Mid-Atlantic travel and commerce.  In terms of owning the libs, it was said to have been removed from the CR, but apparently not.  Happiness for millions of people.

  4. BTW the country’s back in business

    from the Hill Senate sends stopgap spending deal to avert government shutdown to Biden’s desk
    and
    https://rollcall.com/2024/12/20/latest-stopgap-funding-bill-sans-debt-limit-passes-house/

    … While final passage technically exceeded the deadline, no shutdown is ordered if a bill is on its way to completion.
    The measure, which President Joe Biden plans to sign, would extend current funding through March 14 and provide about $110 billion in disaster and farm aid.
    The 85-11 Senate vote came hours after the House passed the measure on a 366-34 vote, well above the two-thirds majority threshold required under that chamber’s suspension of the rules procedure. GOP leaders’ decision to drop a two-year suspension of the statutory debt ceiling that was in a version rejected Thursday night was the catalyst for Friday’s dramatic turn of events.
    “Though this bill does not include everything Democrats fought for, there are major victories in this bill for American families — provide emergency aid for communities battered by natural disasters, no debt ceiling, and it will keep the government open with no draconian cuts,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in a statement before the final vote.

  5. Well if the Musk, Trump (Vance) administration is going to primary each Republican who voted to keep government open without extending or eliminating the debt ceiling, they better be breaking out their debit cards. There are about 186 MOCs in the House and 35 in the Senate who neglected to follow their directives.

  7. Craig – that is great news, and for more than the immediate defeat of that drool dream of magats.  That margin is somewhat reassuring that in the immediate future other attacks on Social Security will face similar failure.
     
    Today shall bring us more news about what all is in the CR, along with all that the Senate passed, such as the children’s cancer research bill.

  8. Pat, I prefer intelligent analysis to click bait but to each his own. But you are not alone a majority of the maga crowd love getting high on click bait too.
    So after all the hoorah yesterday about Trump/Musk , Johnson went ahead and submitted the compromise bill. I thought he would at least be polite enough to give Trump a bit of what he wanted and move the next debt ceiling into the future. But nope didn’t happen.  A major loss for Trump. Looks like now we have 2 lame duck presidents.  As to Johnson and the house, it looks like the ruling coalition is the Democrats and a more moderate wing of Republicans.
    Jack
     

  12. Rand Paul’s amendment last night to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 failed by a vote of 3-93.

     
    this is why you don’t use Rand Paul as a source for your internet click bait rumor. It makes you look as non serious as Rand.
    Jack

  14. jack, bet there are some germans and some russians who lived thru 1939 wish they’d ridiculed and shared with others stupid gaffes of the respective leaders a bit more back then instead of quietly assimilating.  

    If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.

  18. A Social Security bill was offered in 2023, which would’ve expanded benefits and made Social Security solvent for 75 years.  It wouldn’t have cost anyone making less than a quarter of a million dollars a year a penny more than they already pay.   It would’ve made those making more (and sometimes millions more) a bit more.  What happened? 

  19. Pat
    But you don’t counter lies with other lies, the opposite of Hitler isn’t Stalin.
    Yesterday’s clickbait was screaming about Musk’s dominating power over the Republican party. How long did Milbank and his fellow clickbait artist’s predictions last?  Less than 12 hours. A vote by the House of 366 to 34 against Trump/Musk wishes looks like a solid rejection to me.    Not a person of unlimited power. 
    Jack

  22. I see this Trump tussle with House GOP another way. It is just going to make him more of a dictator by stretching every presidential power to its limits and beyond, do what he wants whether or not Congress is on board, then ignore the courts if they try to stop him.

  26. I’m really fortunate in that I never get depressed without a darn good reason (death of a loved one etc.) and get over that rapidly with fond memories.  So, I’m sympathetic to those who do which I understand intellectually but don’t have a clue about how it feels.  

     

  27. “Don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous.” – Rumi

    Happy Solstice

     

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