A Blog for the People...
Three bylines on every article today; I don't think they're even trying to pretend this is journalism anymore...
It is not clear if the search, which was done with the cooperation of Mr. Biden’s legal team, uncovered any additional classified files.
In 1982, Williams became pregnant and wanted her working hours curtailed. When her demands weren’t met, she walked off the set, and filed a lawsuit against its production company. She appeared infrequently during the final season.
Williams was married to singer Bill Hudson of musical group the Hudson Brothers from 1982 until 2000. Hudson was father to her two children. He was previously married to Goldie Hawn and is also the father of actor Kate Hudson.
All in the family...
Gov. Tim Walz is recommending authorization of what are known as blackout plates — license plates with a dark or black background and white lettering...
Colorado, Iowa and Mississippi are among the states with blackout plates, and they’re a popular choice for drivers there. Iowa issued nearly a half-million of them in the first three years they were available.
In Iowa, the transportation department said feedback it got from vehicle owners was that the simplicity of the plates made them a hot item. The Des Moines Register reported that they were created after drivers began making ad hoc versions to customize a specialized university plate; law enforcement made some traffic stops after growing concerned about the coverings and some motorists turned to lawmakers for help.
Minnesota officials expect demand of 120,000 to 160,000 per year in the first few years. That would make the blackout plates the most popular specialty option after collector plates and the suite of critical habitat plates.
because their employer wants to force them to work Sundays to help prepare package deliveries for Amazon.
Why is that so upsetting to some? Can't people just wait an extra day for delivery? If observant Christians refuse to work, surely others will? Pay them more, perhaps?* Or tone down your delivery expectations?
"The Latest Crusade to Place Religion Over the Rest of Civil Society"
Poor Linda Greenhouse in today's NYT is just dumbfounded that our current Court is going to respect religious accommodations for Christian workers who refuse to work on Sunday at the U.S. Post Office because they are religiously observant and it is a day for rest, family and fellowship as deemed by a higher power than Amazon and consumer "needs"...
Boy, is she in the minority on this one, I suspect. Not everybody worships consumerism over God, Linda. You can't force that in this country either. Just order a day or two in advance, and plan for realistic package delivery time, understanding logistics and that in America, workers are people with rights too.
And many Christian workers want to practice their religious beliefs and keep their jobs too. How dare they? "Don't they know who they are?!?" (They simply worship the Lord, not their employer's beliefs that Amazon customers must be accommodated at all costs...)
According to his attorneys, Groff v. DeJoy could have significant implications for the religious rights of employees across the country.
Groff began working for the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 2012 but did not experience problems until 2013, when USPS started requiring him to work Sunday shifts as part of the service’s contract with Amazon.
Because he believes that working on Sundays would violate the Third Commandment’s obligation to “keep holy the sabbath,” Groff requested a religious accommodation to not be scheduled for work on Sundays...
[H]is request was granted, allowing him to work extra shifts during the week instead of on Sunday. But in 2016 the postal service rescinded its agreement with Groff and began scheduling him to work Sundays again.
Groff was made to look for replacements for every Sunday shift, resulting in his missing several shifts.
Rather than waiting to be fired, Groff resigned from his position with the postal service in 2019 and sued, saying his right to practice his religion had been violated.
The Third U.S. District Circuit Court ruled against Groff in May 2022, siding with the postal service’s claim that Groff’s religious accommodation request placed an “undue hardship” on the employer.
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* The argument is, "If we give this man Sundays off so he can continue his faith traditions (here: evangelical Protestant) and follow the commandment to Respect the Sabbath and gather in fellowship and communion with others on Sunday, then... workplace morale will fall! NObody will want to come in and cover these "emergency" shifts! We cannot accommodate his practices! Work must come before God! If you don't like it... find another job, man! We must all work Sundays here!"
Lol. The Church of Consumerism where dollars are determinant and we all worship convenience at the expense of respecting worker's religious freedoms and those who follow God's Law are coming to an end.
It's EndTimes! in the world according to Greenhouse... Commerce and civil society will crumble if Americans are permitted to worship freely!! Doh.
(*I thought she retired. Maybe a new take, from a Christian, could be considered in 2023? The Court assembled is more representative of America's take than the folks publishing the NYT, I suspect... Give the guy the day off and let the chips fall where they may... It's like when retail workers are scheduled to work Christmas. And told by the bosses they MUST. You know what happens? The people who do agree to come in simply carry the load for others, because people just ... call off "sick". Maybe, retail stores just need to close if they can't find enough workers? Not so many "Black Friday" sales starting on Thanksgiving this year, I noticed...) #WorkersArePeopleWithRights why is that so hard for some?
Wait a few extra days, Amazon consumers. Come back when the store is open, shoppers. In America, workers have religious rights too.
Now it's -5, heading to a low of -10 around 3am, they say...
Amazing. No wind chill, it was sunny but you just feel that cold. DON'T SCREW UP, and get caught outside. It's okay when it's light, and you're just going from here to there, in and out, with the car well warmed up and running...
It's when you get caught, even for a few minutes -- like with a car breakdown, or locking yourself out, or getting drunk and stumbling... The cold messes with your head, you can get confused, and die of exposure. That's what's scary. People with no coats, exposing skin... they don't realize how they could fall and... that's it for them. Too many stories, too many to think of. Just glad we are safe, indoors, where you just don't feel it, and don't think of what could happen...
#BeSmart. #KeepYourAnimalsInside #Don'tMessWithTheCold #RespectNature'sExtremes
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When you heard those words being joyously sung from the television in the 1970s (if your homework was done), you knew you were in for a good show! RIP Shirley, the Felix to Laverne's Oscar! Funny thing is, I can still hear their unique voices now. Just two funny-as-heck working girls in Milwaukee, with wacky neighbors waaaayyy before Kramer ("Hello" = Lenny and Squiggy)! RIP Cindy Williams. Shirl was a great, straightman.... She joins Penny Marshall now in the afterworld and they surely are showing those re-runs across the globe.
I'm sure somewhere, Carmine is in tears... (*lifting a milk and Pepsi -- Laverne's drink -- in her memory)
We're Gonna Make It! (our way, yes, our way! Make all our dreams come true, for me and you!)
Give us any chance we'll take it
*the photo is from October: why was I keeping a cooler in the bathroom?? I don't recall... #Dixxon
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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* Earlier:
"One part cornmeal two parts flour mix water as I desire for texture Caribbean dumplings little salt sometimes made with coconut milk I rolled it nice cut them with scissors rest for 20 minutes now I'm going to the meat shop for veggies and some pork love you"
If you know the Windy City, you know the song...
Naperville,Illinois-raised Candace Parker, however, is singing a new song, heading south to the Las Vegas Aces, two years after returning "home" to play -- and win a championship with -- the Chicago Sky.
Best wishes to her -- they're assembling quite a competitive team down there:
Candace Parker chose to leave the Chicago Sky for the same reason she joined the team in 2021 — to go home. Parker will sign a one-year contract with the Las Vegas Aces when free agents are cleared to sign beginning Wednesday, according to ESPN.
The Naperville native and two-time WNBA champion on Saturday announced her decision in an Instagram post. She cited her family as her primary decision for returning closer to the West Coast. “My family is my reason and my purpose,” Parker, 36, wrote. “They have given me the greatest joys I’ve ever experienced and continue to show me new levels of love and devotion I never knew existed. … While Chicago will always be my home, my family’s home is on the west coast.”
Meanwhile, back in Chicago, Lake Forest(Illinois)-native Nadia Rawlinson is the Sky's new operating chairman and co-owner:
‘I believe in the future. This isn’t just a passion thing.’ Rawlinson, 43, aims to establish a stronger base for the business aspects of the team as the WNBA continues to grow on and off the court. “For so long, many WNBA teams have been just trying to survive,” Rawlinson said. “Especially from an operational standpoint, they were just trying to get through and make it. And now it’s time to thrive.” ... Rawlinson will oversee the development of the Sky’s strategic business initiatives, which includes establishing and growing corporate partnerships and increasing the organization’s civic engagement throughout the community. Rawlinson and co-owner Michael Alter highlighted two areas for immediate growth. The first is sports betting, which recently became a viable revenue outlet because of laws enacted in March. The second is the establishment of a media rights deal in 2025, which Alter believes is “way undervalued” under the current agreement with the WNBA.
Best of luck to both women, and all the WNBA franchises. The growth will come; everybody finds -- or makes -- their own home in the end; and when women work together as teammates, the country wins. This I believe.
Do you need to fear trans people, or rapists? Don't punch down, or attack the most vulnerable to abuse, harassment and violence... The Scottish Prime Minister understands what the children's fantasy book author, and so many persons holding "authority" positions in America, still do not:
Nicola Sturgeon has doubled down in her row with JK Rowling over trans rights, telling an interview that 'abusive men are the risk to women, not trans women'.
Sadly too, gender-non-conforming women are also caught in the backlash. Too bad if you don't like masculine-ish women sharing your public bathrooms. Too bad if you "fear" people who don't look like what you think a woman should be. They're not going to hurt you. Mostly people want to be left to simply go in peace in life...
Direct your anger at the individual rapists. Don't try to be all "told ya so!" against all trans people or non-binary people (enby's) because you think one bad example represents the whole. Start seeing individuals. That's what it's all about...
I don't care, pretty baby
JANESVILLE, Wis. — A former University of Wisconsin football player was convicted of two counts of first-degree homicide and other charges Tuesday in the February 2020 shooting deaths of two women. Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding Marcus Randle El guilty in the slayings of 27-year-old Brittany McAdory and 30-year-old Seairaha Winchester. Randle El, from Homewood, attended Thornton Township High School in Harvey before going to Wisconsin, where he was a wide receiver for the Badgers from 2004 to 2007.
The violence comes as Israel’s new far-right government has signaled even tougher actions against Palestinians. So far this year, 30 Palestinians have already been killed.
Biden Administration Sets a Mining Ban in Boundary Waters Wilderness
A 20-year moratorium on new mining activity for more than 225,000 acres of federal land in Minnesota could deal a fatal blow to a proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine.
Do not follow these "leaders". Trust in God:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants the Florida Legislature to change a state law that requires a unanimous jury vote to impose a death sentence.
Speaking at the Florida Sheriffs Association Winter Conference in St. Johns County on Jan. 23, DeSantis called upon Florida’s legislators to reconsider the state’s requirement that a jury must vote unanimously to recommend the death sentence before a judge can consider imposing a death penalty sentence.
His Banner over Me is Love:
“We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity,” Pope Francis said during an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Associated Press.
“Being homosexual isn’t a crime.”
Pope Francis’ remarks come ahead of a trip to Africa, where such laws are common as they are in the Middle East. Many date from British colonial times or are inspired by Islamic law. Some Catholic bishops have strongly upheld them as consistent with Vatican teaching, while others have called for them to be overturned as a violation of basic human dignity.
Declaring such laws “unjust,” Pope Francis said the Catholic Church can and should work to put an end to them. “It must do this. It must do this,” he said, speaking to the AP in the Vatican hotel where he lives. He quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying gay people must be welcomed and respected, and should not be marginalized or discriminated against.
Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community. But he attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
“These bishops have to have a process of conversion,” he said, adding that they should apply “tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.”
His Banner, Over Me, Is Love...
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* Translate his words to Latin. if you must -- American conservative male pundits and politicians -- to understand: this Church is changing. This Church is international. You might want to throw things in reverse, but this Church is not going backwards...
(I remember back in the early years of this century, when news of the pedophile scandal first broke in the American media, worshipping with my parents during a Catholic Mass in their community center while visiting them on Nettles Island/Hutchinson Island. "Don't commit spiritual suicide," the priest advised. No matter how dark it gets, don't commit spiritual suicide and give up on God. He Loves Us. Believe.)
That. Can't. Happen. Here.
COPENHAGEN – Denmark plans compulsory military conscription for women, as the Nordic country seeks to significantly boost the size of its armed forces.
The move can help Denmark meet its requirements under its Nato membership.
It would also be “beneficial” for the military if it had more women employed, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, the country’s defence minister and deputy prime minister, said in an interview with broadcaster TV2. Currently, women can join on a voluntary basis while men generally are required to serve if they are called on under a lottery system.
The new measure has the backing of several women’s organisations and comes as Denmark, like the rest of Europe, provides increasing levels of support to Ukraine in the war to oust Russia from the country.
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - Flags in North Dakota and Minnesota are flying at half-staff, to honor the lives lost in the Monterey Park, California mass shooting on Saturday. The orders cover flags at all government buildings to fly half staff until sunset on Thursday, January 26th. Both Governors are encouraging all individuals, businesses, and other organizations to join in lowering their flags.
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| Lord, there's got to be a better way... |
Put your faith in people, don't worship weapons, America. It will come back to us 10 times over.
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Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s Defense secretary, told The Hill that he was optimistic about receiving Western fighter jets such as the American F-16s, which Ukrainians have sought since early last year when Russia first invaded.
“Every type of weapon we request, we needed yesterday,” Sak said. “We will do everything possible to ensure Ukraine gets fourth-generation fighter jets as soon as possible.”
Reuters first reported the news that Ukraine was setting its sights on fighter jets.
Ukraine scored a major win on Wednesday with the announcement from President Biden that the U.S. will donate 31 American-made M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Kyiv.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday also said he would supply Ukraine with the country’s Leopard 2 tanks and approve the transfer of other Leopards from European allies.
The tanks were the latest hurdle for Western allies, who have cautiously approved more and more advanced weaponry for Kyiv, from HIMARS launchers to the Western battle tanks.
Western fighter jets and longer-range artillery units, which would allow Ukraine to strike Russian forces deeper in occupied territory, will likely be the next debate for NATO.
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Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. –
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| Lord, there's got to be a better way... |
Food, liquids, shelter, skin products... Uall ready for this?
A fleeting glimpse of sun Thursday will be followed by another burst of snow Thursday night into Friday morning. An inch or two are expected.
The brief appearance of the sun is rare this week after 71% of the month of January has been shrouded in clouds in the Twin Cities.
Despite the gray skies, temperatures in January will seem downright balmy compared with the cold heading our way this weekend, bringing with it subzero wind chills.
After highs around freezing this week, an arctic blast will descend on the region. In the Twin Cities, expect highs dropping into the single digits Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Lows will fall as low as 10 below — the first subzero readings so far this month in the metro area.
Wind chills will plunge to 30 below zero across much of Minnesota on Sunday and Monday.
The cold should stick around into at least the first week of February, the weather service says.
Best book about Naples I ever read...
War time stories, but you really got a feel for the place, in that time. Great writing can really capture a place and time. (They should have assigned us that one in high school, over social tropes like 'The Great Gatsby' because I think more younger people at that age could relate, and the history is shared by more than just the upper classes in America. Nothing against Fitzgerald -- he captured his times too, but Burns really understood more about life than Fitzgerald, I think...)
If you haven't read it yet? Oh, enjoy!
He's gonna want Soldiers and Nukes, soon...
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| Flags for America's Fallen... |
Mr. "I'm so cute with my hand out..." is going to trigger the next world war. Don't you kinda wish he would have left Ukraine a year ago and let the people there work this out for themselves?
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* Isn't this kinda a way of putting all these weapons on the free market, without America having to accept responsibility for where they end up? Talk about selling out our future. You only cheer this is you don't know History, and don't understand Man.
There's a better way, people, really... Don't let the war-mongers take power and cost us our freedoms, again. Use those voices to say, Nope! Kill with what you got, or make your own... (He's not really that cute: the face is too round and fat. Comedian, people. No training for winning a war, or pursuing diplomacy. Wife likes to shop. Don't worship the little man... 5'7". Do you want your grandsons to die for this guy? Hm.)
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| girls, girls, girls... |
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| He's gonna leave Ukraine like Afghanistan... Anybody remember? Hello?? |
"Nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can write that can't be run..."
