Open Thread – Rain
It’s been a very rainy couple of days here in Anchorage, and frankly… I love it! Why? Because it’s precipitation that isn’t white! Yes, it’s May 6th, but I’ve seen it snow far later in the year than this. A couple years ago we even got feet of snow on May 1st.
Regardless of what kind of precipitation we have here, it does share something in common. It looks lovely on trees. I thought this picture of a young spruce tree taken today was sort of funny because even though it is covered with rain droplets, it still manages somehow to remind me of a Christmas tree covered with tiny silver ornaments.
Leenie17 be sure and let us know the outcome. We have had so much rain this spring in SW Washington–but it does give me a good reason to spend time reading instead of rushing off to do something else.
I just posted this piece because it proves just how smart Oxford students really are:
http://politico-junkie.blogspot.com/2011/05/uk-entertainment-potential-of-president.html
I just saw a story on Think Progress about the race in NY 26th Congressional District, where Chris “sending my nekkid pictures sent to transvestite hookers” Lee is being replaced in a special election. It’s my district and, although I will certainly vote on May 24th, I had very little hope that this very red district would have any chance of turning blue.
However…
According to the article, the Republican candidate, Jane Corwin, is enthusiastically defending Ryan’s budget plan and the local reaction is NOT positive. Various new polls show that Corwin and her opponent, Kathy Hochul, are essentially in a dead heat. Now THAT’S a bit of good news on this lovely Friday afternoon!
I’d advocate Hochul (and even Jack Davis) over Corwin.
My knee jerk reaction to Corwin was negative and then I recently heard from a friend with a direct connection that Corwin is a rather unpleasant person.
Rooting for the blue !
I will admit, the rain looks much prettier dangling off the needles of that tree than it did coming through the ceiling of my kitchen or up out of the drain in the floor at work where it brought lots of mud and nasty storm sewer ‘stuff’ with it!
“Pre-debate Tea Party gathering in Greenville: Chock full o’ nuts!”
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/pre-debate-tea-party-gathering-green
osage’s comment nails it
Cripes! wish we could grind them nuts up and make coffee. or chop them into small pieces and add to brown sugar, butter and cream that has been simmered for pecan pralines.
they must be good for something.
I ♥ pecan pralines. ty ((((Bubs))))
PIctures of bin Laden’s compound
http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Bin-Laden-s-compound
What Would You Say to the Koch Brothers if You Had the Chance?
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/580182/what_would_you_say_to_the_koch_brothers_if_you_had_the_chance/
boycott Koch products:
Angel Soft toilet paper
ANTRON® Carpet Fiber
Brawny paper towels
COMFOREL® fiberfill
COOLMAX® fabric
CORDURA® fabric
DACRON® fiber
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Georgia-Pacific (All Products such as DensArmor Plus® High-Performance Interior
Panel, GP Plytanium & GP ToughRock® gypsum boards, etc.)
LYCRA® fiber
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
PHENREZ® resin
POLARGUARD® fiber
POLYSHIELD® resin
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
SOLARMAX® fabric
SOMERELLE® bedding products
Sparkle napkins
STAINMASTER® carpet
SUPPLEX® fabric
TACTEL® fiber
TACTESSE® carpet fiber
TERATE® polyols
TERATHANE® polyether glycol
THERMOLITE® fabric
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins
I can do without most of those things, but I sure will miss my TERATHANE® polyether glycol.
😉
Guess I’ll have to figure out something else for dinner tonight!
Oy! I just looked it up and it’s the main ingredient in the stuff they use to clean you out to prep you for colonoscopies. Now I REALLY don’t want any for dinner!
Useful list, Thanx
Oh, no…not my Quilted Northern! [could I justify purchase of it by telling myself I’m wiping my adz with the Koch brothers?] beth.
How comprehensive is this list? I’ve been snubbing Coke. Is that not owned by them? I wouldn’t know how to avoid fabrics and fibers. Any suggestions?
Keeping in mind that there is a substantial sector that will tell you that boycotts do little to nothing… These corporations are so massive that it’s nearly impossible to search out the seemingly ever-expanding reach of their tentacles. Buddy Inc here, Buddy corp. there, here a partner, there a subsidiary, everywhere a hidden tax shelter……. Honestly, I don’t know how complete this list is. Fabrics – check tags is all I know: example: SOLARMAX® fabric: outdoor fabric used in tents, personal flotation devices (lifejackets), parachutes, flags, decorative banners, and hot air balloons (canceling my order for a hot air balloon ~ lol)
spectacular find Scout. i suppose i woke today somehow in the same mind as yourself.
i found this i think the people who went to their homes are wonderful. you are going to enjoy the video i think.
http://kochbrothersexposed.com/kochmansions/
Koch Bros ~ their opulence entitles them to your Grandmother’s Social Security COLA. (cost of living adjustment)
Republicans say so.
I say no.
**AHEM**
Don’t you mean “holiday tree,” or “Pagan Ritual tree,” or “winter solstice tree,” or “all inclusive, nobody’s left out all religions and no religion tree?” 🙂
Did Pakistan know bin Laden was there?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0505/Exclusive-Pakistan-had-to-know-bin-Laden-was-there-most-Americans-say
OTOH, we have Ted Smith, the over-the-road salesman, with his wife and family of 4 in New Jersey and Ted Smith with his wife and family of 3 in Maine…and no one has a clue that he’s leading a double life. We also have ‘Men of the Cloth’ and Judges who regularly take liberties with parishioners and plaintiffs, and no one has a clue. And don’t forget Susan Adams who ‘visits with her sister’ every other weekend, and no one has a clue. Those’re just for starters. Hiding in plain sight: no one suspects a thing, because, why would they? beth.
Not the same thing, though, is it?
The people who want to know about these petty ne’er do wells actually do find out. Most people don’t want to bother.
Bin Laden, OTOH, was wanted. People knew he was a bad guy. Pakistan knew this compound existed. This is tantamount to saying that people living near concentration camps didn’t know what went on there.
They may have been willfully ignorant, but they weren’t actually that stupid.
We live outside of town – 10 miles out, on a long road cut through the tops of hills, in some places — in effect, creating ‘draws’ and flats along its length. There are houses scattered about on both sides of the road…including three directly across from us in our ‘draw’. [Well, if we stand at the end of our drive, we can see the road-end of the driveways of three places.] A dozen or so years ago, we walked all the way across the two-lane road to introduce ourselves to the folks just moving into one of the houses. They have since moved. We’ve not a clue as to who lives in the other houses or who lives, now, in that house. For all we know, Ayman Al Zawahiri could be holed up in one of them…hiding in plain sight.
What was the bounty on bin Ladin? $50M (July 2007), or something like that? Tax-friggin’-free, cold, hard, cash? If more than a handful of very close, very loyal, (and/or extremely wealthy) folks did know where he was, I’d be surprised. beth.
“Rush Limbaugh’s Sarcasm on Bin Laden Death – Is This Really Entertainment?”
“This is not entertainment – and I think the time has come to stop giving this man a ‘pass’ by accepting it as such.
Rush Limbaugh is a man who has something profoundly wrong with him. I don’t know if it was the drugs or whether he was locked in a closet one time too many as a child.” snip
snip “Rush Limbaugh can no longer pass as an entertainer.
In fact, he can no longer even pass for an American who cares his country – he only cares about Rush.”
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/05/02/rush-limbaughs-sarcasm-on-bin-laden-death-is-this-really-entertainment/
The back and forth comments on the article are quite a sobbering education Thanks for the post.
oops…sobering
That the article appears on Forbes is telling.
Please read this excellent article by Eric Schlosser on what’s happening to our food:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-being-a-foodie-isnt-elitist/2011/04/27/AFeWsnFF_story.html
“The answer is that they don’t want people to think about what they’re eating. The survival of the current food system depends upon widespread ignorance of how it really operates. A Florida state senator recently introduced a bill making it a first-degree felony to take a photograph of any farm or processing plant — even from a public road — without the owner’s permission. Similar bills have been introduced in Minnesota and Iowa, with support from Monsanto.”
For those unfamiliar with the name, Eric Schlosser is the author of “Fast Food Nation,” which was made into a good movie by the same name; the book tells much more than the movie. See if your local library has it.
Zyomma-
It is an excellant read!! We have a MAJOR issue in the country when it comes to food from the way it is grown, to how we support it from our government to how it is on the shelves in the grocery store.
Being ‘foodie’ is anything but being an elitist!!! It is a basic right, to feed yourself, family and neighbors with good healthy food. This is up and above the impact it makes on the ‘health industry’ and those costs!!
It is a HUGE industry and a BIG employer…I hope we can wake up before it is too late.
Thanks for posting this!!!
Beautiful photo, and the water does look like decorations on a Christmas tree.
OTOH, read it and weep for our country:
http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/ashcroft-to-head-ethics-at-blackwater/
Tikkun Olam Shalom.
Oh my. Rain.
Yesterday I was at my sisters in Wasilla. A fantastic hail storm blew thru. And the tunder, so loud and everywhere.
Now everybody needs to sing to the rain gods. This is the time of year rain is super, dooper important to the mighty blueberry bush. You see, in order for lots of blueberries to grace our beautiful earth, spring rain is the most important.
Now everybody, all at once: “Rain, rain, come this way. Make the blueberry bush blue again…”
I needed that reminder as we just finished a record cool, and almost record wet April here in western Washington. May 1st was glorious, and now, rain. This morning it is what I call green rain. The light is just right that the misty rain reflects the green of the trees and the air turns green.
Legendary folksinger, Tom Paxton has a new song about the Tuscon shootings. Listen here: http://www.tompaxton.com/
Called “What If, No Matter …”
I just love a good steady rainy day. Our month of April, with the exception of six or so inches of snow, included lots of rain and we loved it. We ended up with over five inches of precipitation, most of it rain, in one month and reduced our year-to-date deficit to just under two inches. (Retirees get to look at the weather page in the newspaper every day. One of the joys!) I’ve also noted that in the past week we’ve had lower high temperatures than either Anchorage or Fairbanks! That seems to be changing though but not by much. It’s been a cool spring here in northwest lower Michigan. I keep putting off the shifting of winter clothes for summer clothes. Turtlenecks seem just right now but no more winter coats or boot! Hooray!
That is beautiful…I must remember to appreciate the beauty of rain as we face yet another day of it.
This may have been posted on another thread but I thought I’d post it here just in case you missed it. It is a wonderfully astute take on Palin’s “pussy-foot” tweet that is a “snapshot” on who she really is:
http://robdelaney.tumblr.com/post/5222749157/its-not-surprising-that-a-photo-of-a-terrorist
i saw that! that Rob Delaney blog is a keeper.
“…her tweet is bloodthirsty, purposefully dishonest, willfully ignorant, xenophobic and rude. It’s a fantastic snapshot of who she is.”
Thanx for the link.
Beautiful!