what jodi said.

The overhaul needed previously (Reagan/ Monyhan) and I believe all previous major overhauls before that, went through the entire legislative process of relevant committees, etc. Social Security was changed, "saved," and we have a surplus as of today. It worries me that Congress today doesn't seem very interested in doing its job of legislating.

But they need to find a feather to figure it out for sure.

I like the idea of watching butterflies feed but around here we mostly watch the neighbors. And mostly in taverns.

A strange thing happened! My carrier told me to put my SIM in my new unlocked phone. I did and my service wasn't interrupted but now my phone is telling me I have a new carrier! I contacted the new carrier today and gave them the details and answered their questions. The human chat person basically said you don't have an account with us! I haven't checked the original carrier's app yet. I'd like to hear if this sounds familiar to anyone and ask for advice please. The original carrier is pay as you go and set up for automatic payments. WTF?

Well, the previous administration wasn't fond of free speech, either, with all their "disinformation" and "misinformation" carp. Actually, I think Biden, or his robotic pen (* snort *), signed a law that was something to do with making it illegal to criticize Israel. I don't know the details and I could be wrong. But I don't think so. I posted about this topic on at least a weekly basis for a year and a half. I'm still following it as much as I possibly can but at some point you have to know when to say when. My point is that Amendment has been under intensive attack since at least the Obama administration.

That was a good one, Bernard. A mother's love is infinite. Best Christmas gift ever. Big Al

Fun and interesting... Link to video

@Nina said in Canada’s new PM: I like Carney. He's showing more spine than the US Congress. Check out his interview with Jon Stewart. I’m not sure whether I like him or not but he’s probably the right PM for the moment.

Interesting - thanks for sharing the links! I'll give them a try. My "new" thing has been Pilates. I saw videos of an instructor on TikTok - and after ogling appreciating her fitness, I thought it might be a good counterpoint to my weightlifting routine inasmuch as it's focus is on bodyweight and hand weights. It's part of an online program called Ladder, and the benefit of that is that should I desire, I can switch to a whole other universe of fitness activities should I find Pilates not to be my thing. I thought I'd only do 3-4 programs a week - but now I've upped it to 6 days a week. Still, after a few weeks, I'm finding it does precisely what I was looking for - exercising muscles I wasn't working on, enhanced flexibility, and a great warm-up for my heavy lifting. On the cycling front, I'm thinking of getting rid of my bicycles - and now is the time of the year to do that. I'm thinking of that for 2 reasons - one is a fall at my age - no longer desirable and secondly, I really don't want my wife to ride - as it is even more undesirable for her to have an injury - where risk of crippling is much higher due to her bone density issues. If I abandon cycling, it is very unlikely that she'd go out on her own.

I loathe golf courses. It's a fine idea in theory but a pesticide hell in practice.

Tangentially related… I have been fascinated by the words for various animals in Ojibwe. Some are related to the sounds the animals make. Baakaakwenh is chicken. (aa is a broad a sound, the “enh” syllable is kind of a nasal short e sound.) When I have heard it spoken, the second syllable is stressed and held for an extra moment. In fact, in some dialects they spell it Baaka’aakwenh. Owl is Kookookoo (oo is somewhere between oo and long o) It is sometimes spelled Gookooko’oo, depending on dialect. Chickadee is Gijigijigaaneshiinh (ii spells the long e sound, e says long a). I am not an Ojibwe speaker but a friend taught me some words several years back and my students and I learn some through the year. But any errors in spelling or pronunciation descriptions are on me.

The UK is practically a vassal state of the US. Why wouldn't they?

Bernard, I'd like to hear more about the Granger movement. This is the first time I'm hearing about it. It sounds interesting.

Omg. He was actually raised as an apartheid fascist by apartheid fascist parents.