A Stroll Though Memory, Time and Politics With Stops Along The Way
My guess is that tonight’s last Democratic debate of the year will be anti-climatic. The Hillary team will still love Hillary. The Bernie folks will still love Bernie. The O’Malley people will continue to be invisible. Everyone will then adjourn to Egg Nog for Christmas to be followed by hopes for a New Year that improves on the old one. In that vein, shall we dance?
Retired great grandmother living in the Northwest US. Former radio Public Service Director and National Accounts Manager.
I’m a hair-dishevelled heilan’ coo,
Hamish McKay be ma name;
Welcome tae this dreichet glen
I’m cursed tae ca’ ma hame.
Depending on the mood I’m in
I’ll raise ma horns on high,
An’ if I like the look o’ ye
I’ll likely let ye by.
But should I dinnae like the look
O’ ye, then tak great care,
I’ll raise ma horns on high again,
Go on, get oot o’there!
So whether welcome yae or nae,
I’ll raise these horns sae mean,
Then ye shall ken ma meaning
By the twinkle o’ ma een.
Courtesy of
MARION GRAY Wollaton Road Wollaton Park Nottingham
47 responses to “Tonight’s The Night”
Jamie…
the Democratic debate is tomorrow night. Me thinks having a debate on the Saturday night before Christmas is stoopid… guess they don’t really care who watches. My eyeballs will likely be on the Jets/Cowboys game.
“… In that vein, shall we dance?” Jamie, if you can get rid of your cold by foisting it off to some member of the press masquerading as a dance partner, go for it.
A guide to watching the Democratic debate on Saturday night, if that’s your thing http://mashable.com/2015/12/18/democratic-debate-watch/#M5BpFA2kzmqf
and from http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/12/18/democratic-debate-preview-can-hillary-keep-it-controversy-free.html
Such is the way to score Saturday’s debate:
1) Given that the unstated purpose behind Saturday’s scheduling is to keep the frontrunner off the radar and out of trouble, does Clinton succeed in making the night controversy-free?
2) Does Sanders disrupt that coronation by giving a fickle electorate something new to ponder (in 2008’s New Hampshire Democratic primary, nearly one-third of voters made up their minds in the final week)?
3) Is there an opening, a vulnerability or a faux pas that, while not denying Clinton the nomination, comes back to haunt her next year?
On this day — December 18
1892
‘The Nutcracker Suite’ premieres in St. Petersburg, Russia
The new two-act ballet, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky gets an ambivalent reaction from critics. But the score will become one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous compositions and many ballet companies will rely on ‘Nutcracker’ ticket sales each Christmas season.
https://youtu.be/jt3oAyK_IG8
and another version
https://youtu.be/QdoTdG_VNV4
Jamie – Hope you are on the mend.
RR – Go, Jets! (My street/The Cowboys HQ and practice field is a mess right now. I think things aren’t much better inside of the compound.)
Mak Cuban (Dallas Mavs owner) did a local interview and was glowing over some app called Dust (at least that’s what he called it). Its like Twitter, but as soon as you read someone’s message, it disappears. Your followers can reply, but only the originator of the first message can see it. I’m not sure if this is good or bad (both, I suppose), but I can’t imagine what social media will look like in 3 years, at this rate.
I suppose Bernie will have a bone to pick tonight, since the DNC seems to be in bed with Hillary. I haven’t read news since lunch, so not sure if Bernie is going to take it to court or not.
My bell peppers (planted from the guts of one I bought for a salad) are ready for picking. Tiny, like jalapeños, but are turning red.
Clinton team accuses Sanders of theft
‘They stole data as a reason to raise money,’ Clinton aide Mook says.
By Gabriel Debenedetti
“Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook on Friday lashed out at Bernie Sanders’ campaign over a data breach he characterized as a multi-million-dollar theft aimed at making money off the front-runner’s voter files.
“This was not an inadvertent glimpse into our data, it was not as the Sanders campaign has described it, as a mistake,” Mook said on a conference call with reporters hours after the news broke.
Story Continued Below
“They have in fact stored the data that they found on the file, data that belonged to us,” he said. “The Sanders campaign has tried to downplay what this means so I want to be very, very clear: This was data that took millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer dollars to build.”
Sanders’ campaign admitted its staffers had inappropriately reviewed and saved Clinton campaign data made available as a result of a software error. In response, the Democratic National Committee suspended Sanders’ access to the database, effectively crippling the underdog’s ground game — and leading Sanders to sue the party in federal court on Friday night for breach of contract.
Bernie Sanders campaign: The DNC is attempting to ‘undermine’ us
Bernie Sanders’ campaign sues DNC
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI and ANNIE KARNI
But Mook rejected the Sanders’ team efforts to make itself look like the victim of a DNC effort to help Clinton win. He said Sanders now has access to the “fundamental keys of our campaign” and the “strategic roadmap.”
“They stole data as a reason to raise money for their campaign,” he said.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/clinton-campaign-mook-blasts-sanders-216958#ixzz3uifu77A4
politico:
“Sanders’ campaign admitted its staffers had inappropriately reviewed and saved Clinton campaign data made available as a result of a software error.”
and media blames hillary? bernie campaign uses “the devil made me do it” excuse.
remember when jimmy carter’s special notebook was purloined? ronnie’s peeps made good use of it and did in jimmy’s re-election.
I am shocked… absolutely SCHOCKED I tell ya… that 2 political campaigns will play politics!… WTF are they thinkin’….
Blue… as long as Jerry Jones owns the Cowboys, the team will continue to be a bucket of poo…
believe it or not, I’ll be rooting for the Jets too (they have a pretty good team this year).
Lol, so true, shocked!
Carly Fiorina is a liar: And everyone should finally just say it — loudly
There’s really no need to dance around the unquestioned truth that Carly Fiorina lies about stuff
SIMON MALOY
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/17/carly_fiorina_is_a_liar_and_everyone_should_finally_just_say_it_loudly/
We actually had a dusting of snow last night. It put Rick and I in the mood for Xmas…. finally!
We just put up our Christmas tree and decorations. Of course… it’ll all be gone by Monday when the temps are supposed to rise into the high 50s once again.
Tony… HP didn’t know what they were doing when they hired Carly… but they sure did when they fired her.
We don’t need these kinds of Christmas trees:
http://www.dontdrillsc.com/img/logo.jpg
see http://www.dontdrillsc.com/
Yep, they need to leave that stuff in the ground. How much better would the world be if they had done a hard 180 and thrown money at R&D into better collection and battery/storage of wind, water & solar power 40 years ago?
If Earth wanted it to be used, it would be easily available…like wind, water and sun.
Or 70 years ago all those returning servicemen hadn’t created the “Boomers” as their generation became the last one where women regularly had more than three children with the end result that global population has tripled in my lifetime as medicine and technology applied the one/two punch of cures for once fatal diseases for people who threw away more and more non biodegradable garbage while seeing their once necessary jobs eliminated by their machines and computers. So much for 20/20 hindsight about when zero population growth should have started.
Of course none of the above will be mentioned during tonight’s debate.
Ha! O’Malley is a passionate, little scrapper!
This is turning out to be a really interesting debate.
https://youtu.be/JvSiH1eAF3s
and more at
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3367562/Look-s-Tina-Fey-Amy-Poehler-reprise-roles-Sarah-Palin-Hillary-Clinton-SNL-Jeb-Bush-Republican-candidates-roasting-too.html
https://youtu.be/ECAoloWRobE
Sunday Serendipity.
A wonderful work by Ralph Vaughn Williams. Beautiful visuals and music. Candles are lighted on a perfectly peaceful morning.
Enjoy the music and enjoy the day!
Thank you Jace. That is truly beautiful.
Jamie,
Glad you liked it. Hoping that cold is much better.
Indeed (to both Jamie and Jace) 🙂
a tribute to my favorite christmas goodie… fruitcake!
https://youtu.be/eGoqOv-4URA
I got my annual Harry & David fruitcake. My son finally wrested it from my hands long enough to get the last quarter. Call me crazy, but I LOVE fruitcake.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/bernie-sanders-apologizes-hillary-clinton-data-breach-35865927
Still wheezing and hacking, but at least don’t feel ill. Thank you for all the kind wishes.
Fired Sanders Staffer: We Saved Clinton Voter Data To Prove Breach
By ALLEGRA KIRKLAND
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/josh-uretsky-clinton-data-breach
lol, And the dog ate their homework. WOW what lame excuses. Anyone who hires someone who can’t cover their ass better than that deserves to go down.
Bye Bye Bernie. Ya ain’t ready for primetime.
Jack
https://youtu.be/Bf0Tc9FeMYQ
and more
https://youtu.be/YbuD-uHBlpw
Ha! My first thought about Bernie’s staffer breaching the system was that he was actually working for Hillary, trying to undermine the Sanders campaign. 🙂
Bernie did what he needed to do. Fired the guy, investigating to see if more are involved and publicly apologizing.
Polling shows voters think he won the debate (I thought they all had a decent night), and, Bernie is raising money like gangbusters.
How is O’Malley hanging in there? He’s passionate, though.
ahh yes, brings to mind that age old question: does a bear sh*t in the woods?
from http://www.theage.com.au/world/us-election/hillary-clintons-missing-moments-during-democratic-debate-20151220-gls66i.html
Rather than waiting, moderator David Muir moved forward, asking Mr Sanders a question. Mrs Clinton came walking in, and said “sorry” into the microphone. The reason why she was late hasn’t been disclosed, but her calm apology was received with laughter and cheers by the audience.
It was likely just a matter of timing. She had exactly one minute and 45 seconds to walk out of the gymnasium at St Anselm College to the ladies’ restroom and one minute and 45 seconds to return to her place on stage.
With the men’s room significantly closer to the debate stage, Mrs Clinton’s male opponents, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, made it back more quickly.
Aides said they had been concerned during the walk through before the debate that the ladies room was such a schlep. The campaign’s vice chairwoman, Huma Abedin, had timed the distance to and from the podium and expressed concerns to organisers, but the gymnasium setting meant there were no closer options. She relayed to Mrs Clinton that she would have to be speedy, said several aides involved in debate planning.
In the end, the moment became one of the most talked about of what seemed an otherwise low-impact debate. The momentarily empty podium prompted jokes that Mrs Clinton, so focused on defeating the Republicans, had, perhaps, decided to watch the primary debate from a Manchester bar, with a row of glistening ladies’ rooms nearby.
I gave the remote a workout the other night…. watching some football game and some debate. I thought both were good… the Jets won… the Dem candidates actually answered questions like reasonable adults instead of like idiot bullies. I really do like all 3 of the Dem candidates and would proudly vote for anyone of them. My vote is still going to Clinton. I suspect that Bernie will do quite well here in NH with Vermont being a neighboring state.
…. and yes… I did happen to catch the moment the stage was empty in the middle. My first thought… the bathroom for women is always further away. Thanks patd for confirming my suspicion.
I agree. I would gladly vote for all three of them.. Democrats are the adults…
Bernie Sanders Falls Behind in a Race Centered on Security
By PATRICK HEALY
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/us/politics/bernie-sanders-falls-behind-in-a-race-centered-on-security.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=politics&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Politics&pgtype=article
“GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — In his opening remarks at the Democratic presidential debate on Saturday, Senator Bernie Sanders railed against “establishment politics and establishment economics” and then the nation’s “rigged economy.” He moved on to the “corrupt” campaign finance system, then the “planetary crisis of climate change.” Only after that did he say he wanted to destroy the Islamic State.
It was a litany of priorities that made good sense when Mr. Sanders announced his presidential bid in April. But after the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., he made fighting terrorism sound like an afterthought.”
Sanders’s Campaign Says It’s Outpacing Obama’s Record for Donations
Maggie Haberman
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/20/sanderss-campaign-says-its-outpacing-obamas-record-for-donations/
The Donald and the Decider
Paul Krugman
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/opinion/the-donald-and-the-decider.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=politics&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Politics&pgtype=Blogs
“In other words, Mr. Bush wasn’t articulating a notably different policy than what we’re now hearing from Trump et al; all he offered was belligerence with a thin veneer of respectability. Marco Rubio, who has succeeded him as the establishment favorite, is much the same, with a few added evasions. Why should anyone be surprised to see this posturing, er, trumped by the unapologetic belligerence offered by nonestablishment candidates?
In case you’re wondering, nothing like this process has happened on the Democratic side. When Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debate, say, financial regulation, it’s a real discussion, with both candidates evidently well informed about the issues. American political discourse as a whole hasn’t been dumbed down, just its conservative wing.”
I didn’t see the debate, but Krugman’s statement could not be more true. Conservatives do dumb down the discourse, and they have been at it for quite some time. This is not a case of both sides ‘do it’, but rather a case of a party that is mostly out of ideas; and the few ideas that they do have are uniformly bad.
Democrats embrace modern America as Republicans reject it
E J Dionne
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/which-party-loves-the-usa/2015/12/20/9e44c83a-a745-11e5-8058-480b572b4aae_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-d%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Why isn’t it ‘terrorism’ when the perpetrators aren’t Muslim?
By Frank Vyan Walton
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/12/20/1461076/-Why-isn-t-it-terrorism-when-the-perpetrators-aren-t-Muslim
“the bathroom for women is always further away”
renee, you’d think the campaign might have provided her with some nasa diapers for – excuse the expression – back up
am not surprised that the “little girl’s room” was outside the gym. many a law school and colleges of engineering had their protest movements (no pun intended) on just such crap.
What? They never heard of port-a-potties?
Jamie,
Have you or anyone heard a peep from Craig? Do we know what he is up to?
I just thought the delay was caused by the Nehru outfit she has taken to wearing. And I agree totally with the inequity in the availability of facilities for all.
new thread
Jace…
Craig and I did exchange Holiday greetings… but not a peep from him on any upcoming blog.
Oh well… what will be will be…