WTF-Beta

@CHAS said in Thoughts on portable electric heaters: Put a sweater on!! Lol.

CBP shot and wounded two people in Portland, OR today, in a medical clinic parking lot. Developing story here.

L'etat, c'est moi comes to pass.

In West Virginia: Miracle escape artist dog found; shelter staff react to his impressive breakout https://www.wsaz.com/2026/01/07/shelter-staff-react-dogs-impressive-escape/

More than a dozen House Republicans broke ranks with their party Thursday and voted for a Democratic bill to extend expired Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years without any restrictions. Why it matters: It's a rare instance of Republican lawmakers defying President Trump — though the phenomenon has become less and less taboo in recent months. Seventeen House Republicans voted with Democrats to extend the subsidies despite opposition from Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). The bill, which passed 230-196, now heads to the Senate, where Senate Majority John Thune (R-S.D.) has signaled he has no plans to bring it up for a vote. https://www.axios.com/2026/01/08/trump-mike-johnson-aca-subsidies-republican

@wtg said in On them for life. Or else...: four times faster Yikes!!!

@Steve-Miller said in I bought myself a Christmas present: What will be your inaugural recipe? I’m hoping for cornbread! No cornbread yet. I started with some sauteed vegetables, and then some breaded pork cutlets. The pan is really non-stick and the food cooks up beautifully. It is pretty heavy, however, especially when I hold it with one hand, tipping it, and scraping the contents into a bowl. Definitely a weight lifting exercise, at least for me. A 12 inch skillet would probably be too heavy.

@AndyD I've seen most Fred and Ginger movies (pretty big fan here) but not Follow the Fleet, so that routine was new to me. And yes, great dress. And music. And dancing. Watching White Christmas is an holiday tradition in our household. My mom loved the movie and now that she's gone it feels like a little way to preserve a tradition. There are many great dance scenes. This is one of my faves: Link to video

Love the location, to live by the sea like that. The house is not my style but it is special and probably built to take advantage of 270 degree views

@Jodi said in This house is a blank slate: i Blogs! Lol.

Caramba

I recently finished Divinity 36 and am now on the second book in the trilogy. It is sci-fi, though definitely not typical sci-fi. It took me a bit to decide I liked it but I fell in love with the characters and now I am completely hooked. I’m also reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I just started book 2. It is definitely targeted at folks who are gamers - specifically dungeon crawlers. I don’t know that it would be of interest to anyone here but I am loving them!

"You may have heard that Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves — 300 billion barrels. You probably don’t know that Venezuela’s reported oil reserves tripled while Hugo Chavez was president. This increase, from roughly 100 billion to 300 billion barrels, didn’t reflect major new discoveries or exploration. Instead, it reflected the Chavez government’s decision to reclassify the country’s Orinoco Belt heavy oil as “proved” — oil that can be recovered with reasonable certainty under existing economic and operating conditions:" P. Krugman This was followed by a graph showing the sudden jump in the numbers.

Yeah, I am under the impression that Greenland has lots of ice. On to branding: Rename "Greenland" to "Trumpland," create a new chapter for "The Trump Purchase" in the history books -- bigger than the Louisiana Purchase at 828,000 sq. miles, Greenland has 836,000 sq. miles.