Snowflake's Forum

 Big deal - right? Actually it is odd as I get older I care less about celebrating New Year's Eve, and typically fall asleep before midnight. I have never seen the ball drop live, only on TV. I did, one New Year's Day morning wake up with my ass stuck in a metal garbage can when I was much much younger. Yeah, fell asleep the night before stoned and woke up in a garbage can. This being my first year back in Canada, Geri and I have decided to stay put and just chill, and we probably won't make it to midnight. WILL YOU? Then there is the whole thing about New Year's resolutions. I made a few in my younger years but never kept them, so I gave up making them. What about you? Do you make them, have you ever made them? Do you think they are a lot of nonsense? Actually that is kind of funny because I DO want to start working out more this year. Been packing on the pounds last few years. SO while not exactly a "resolution" I am gonna give it the old college try. So wei...

A look at the craziest New Year’s Eve events where you can ring in 2023 Andrew Wulfeck, FOX Weather Boise's annual potato drop has quickly become one of the quirkiest NYE celebrations in the world. Idaho New Year's Commission A change in the weather pattern across North America will mean a significant temperature shift, with those impacted by  the Christmas arctic blast  seeing incredible warmth to end 2022 and ring in the new year. The FOX Forecast Center is not anticipating a record-breaking warm spell but expects  high temperatures to be 10-20 degrees above average  for areas of the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest. The warmth in the East will not keep precipitation at bay but will ensure most of it falls from the sky in the form of rain versus snow or ice for this holiday weekend. It will be a different story in areas of the West and the Rockies, as a large storm system produces rain and snow and will lead to cooler temperatures, especially in the Golde...

  Canada just lost its title as the best country in the world! Say it isn't so? “The Best Countries rankings are designed to help policymakers and residents identify how perceptions affect their country’s standing among other nations,” said  Kim Castro , editor and chief content officer at US News, in a  statement . While Canada scored well for quality of life, ranking third, it lacked in other subcategories. Its worst ranking is 63rd under the movers category, which measures the fastest growing economies in the world. The country also lagged behind in the heritage category, which measures how much a nation has “shaped history with their culture.” Apparently cultural contributions like   Marvel superheroes   and   Timbiebs   aren’t enough because Canada ranked 28th in that category. https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-best-country-world-2022 I personally blame one American SNOWFLAKE, because it can't be a coincidence that Canada went down in ra...

 What a Christmas!! How many of you got stuck in a snow storm? How many of you had to change your plans? How many are gonna do things differently next year? As you all know by now, Geri and I returned to our home town in Minnesota to visit our families, and it was a hell of a lot of fun but for the wrong reasons. Saw my brother and his family Christmas Eve but then again they live close to the hotel we were staying at. Geri's two daughters on the other hand live a distance away so we had to wait till most of the snow had been cleared off the highways and then we went to see them this past Monday.  The fun part was being stuck at our hotel for all but two days, and with most of the town shut down and few places open, we were pretty much stuck in the lobby reading books and enjoying the fireplace or cooped up in our rooms.  SO, would we rather have been at home and told family we will see you in the summer. YOU BETCHA!  Already told all concerned next Christmas they co...

Keeping it (the holidays) lite and taking a cue from our AlextheKay here, let’s have another installment of your LIST OF PERSONAL TRIVIA! Just whatever pops into your head.   Don’t overthink it.   Have fun wearing your heart on your sleeve! 😮 What is your biggest pet peeve? If you could be any type of dog, what breed would you be and why? Do you see the glass as half-full or half-empty? What was your favorite subject in grade school?  What is the best concert you’ve ever been to? What is your mantra?  What’s the most reckless thing you’ve done as a teenager? If your younger self could meet you as an adult, what would they be most impressed by? What do you think is the most essential life skill? If you could re-live any decade of your life, which one would you re-do?  What’s your favorite family recipe? Do you pray? Name one politician you’d love to sit next to on a six-hour flight. Are you an organ donor on your driver’s license? Do you sing in the shower? ...

 Yes , it's almost a new year, so it's time for ANOTHER INTERMINABLE LIST OF PERSONAL TRIVIA!  Yay! 1. Who are you named after? 2. Last time you cried? 3. Do you like your handwriting? 4. What is your favorite lunch meat? 5. Do you have kids? 6. Do you use sarcasm? 7. Do you still have your tonsils? 8. Would you bungee jump? 9. What is your favorite kind of cereal? 10. Do you untie your shoes when you take your shoe off? 11. Do you think you're strong? 12. What is your favorite ice cream? 13. What is the first thing you notice about someone? 14. Football or Baseball? 15. What is the least favorite thing you like about yourself? 16. What color pants are you wearing? 17. Last thing you ate? 18. What are you listening to? 19. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? 20. Favorite smell? 21. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? 22. Favorite sport to watch on TV? 23. Scary movies or happy? 24. Favorite Holiday? 25. Wine or beer? ...

It's that time of year again when we find out which states contribute federal welfare dollars and which take. The Atlantic discusses an analysis by Wallet Hub , which found these fun things. South Carolina, North Dakota and Florida are the top welfare queen states, with each getting more than $4 back from every $1 they send to Washington. Correlation analysis: Looks like more than a couple of welfare queen red states need to pull harder on their bootstraps. And to avoid hypocrisy, they need to tone down their hate of government rhetoric. Right. Maybe that will happen when pigs fly. By Germaine: The welfare queen watcher

Reflections on Christmas The emotions run high on this day, at least here in Western Civilization.  Its implications have many tentacles, from the suicidal of the forlorn … to the heavily commercialized for the insatiable … to the holiest of holy for others, and everything in between.  Yes, you can find whatever situation you’re looking for, on this day. Anyway, I was thinking about this song this morning:   Do you relate to any of it?  Does any of it resonate?  What message(s) does it speak to you?  Analyze. (by PrimalSoup)

What do you consider the “2022 Story of the Year? Some examples (alphabetically): 1/6 Committee hearings Creating nuclear fusion in the lab Death of Queen Elizabeth II Inflation/Economy JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) successful unfolding November U.S. Midterm (non-landslide) election One of the many mass shootings Overturning of Roe Russia Invades Ukraine  Weather and other natural disasters On the less serious side: A POTUS throws his ketchup-laden lunch at the wall A POTUS grabs his driver’s steering wheel, then the driver’s clavicle The Will Smith “Slap heard ‘round the world” Something sports related Something celebrity related Something social media related Etc. (You can Google "Year in Review 2022" for more suggestions.) Pick your story of the year and say why you personally find it the most important. Thanks for posting and favoriting!   If you celebrate, Happy Holidays!   If not… I get that too!! 😁 (by SoupWoman)

The AP writes on this horror that infests elite Catholic clergy: Pope Francis warned Vatican bureaucrats on Thursday to beware the devil that lurks among them, saying it is an “elegant demon” that works in people who have a rigid, holier-than-thou way of living the Catholic faith. Francis used his annual Christmas greeting to the Roman Curia to again put the cardinals, bishops and priests who work in the Holy See on notice that they are by no means beyond reproach and are, in fact, particularly vulnerable to evil. Francis told them that by living in the heart of the Catholic Church, “we could easily fall into the temptation of thinking we are safe, better than others, no longer in need of conversion.” “Yet we are in greater danger than all others, because we are beset by the ‘elegant demon,’ who does not make a loud entrance, but comes with flowers in his hand,” Francis told the churchmen in the Hall of Blessings of the Apostolic Palace. His most blistering critique came in 2014, when...

The Guardian reports on a fun new trend among billionaires . This one is a total hoot. No one can make this stuff up -- it is real, raw life in America today. Enjoy: The super-rich ‘preppers’ planning to save themselves from the apocalypse Time to bunker down under the ground Tech billionaires are buying up luxurious bunkers and hiring military security to survive a societal collapse they helped create, but like everything they do, it has unintended consequences As a humanist who writes about the impact of digital technology on our lives, I am often mistaken for a futurist. The people most interested in hiring me for my opinions about technology are usually less concerned with building tools that help people live better lives in the present than they are in identifying the Next Big Thing through which to dominate them in the future. I don’t usually respond to their inquiries. Why help these guys ruin what’s left of the internet, much less civilization? Still, sometimes a combination of...

  Okay, so you saw the title and thought, "O, geez, it's Chairman Mao time."  Nope, not from this quarter, it's not.  Let's talk about the subversive literature you loved in your youth.  The stuff that poked a sharp stick into the verities your school, parents and prime-time television was telling you, selling you and demanding you adopt.   Like Gahan Wilson's takedown of Peanuts , simply called Nuts .  Real childhood, replete with the real fears and neurosis that you had to endure.   And remember, nothing is sacred.  Everything should be subject to revolution.  Even the holy Che! So, what did you enjoy that spewed laughter at the targets of your youth?  Hell, what are you enjoying now?  Share!      AlextheKay is looking for new stuff!    

For white collar criminals, most laws are inadequate to nail them. Prosecutors usually cannot prove criminal intent so cases go unprosecuted. My estimate is that about 99.999% of white collar crimes are never even prosecuted for lack of evidence of intent. All the criminals have to do is what Trump has successfully done for decades. Things like talking in code, and making sure that underlings get whacked while the boss is shielded by plausible deniability work very well. Out of desperation in the face of decades of an extremely effective oil and energy sector propaganda Leviathan that has blocked most attempts to regulate pollution and deal with climate change, Puerto Rico is trying a new tactic in court. It is going after big pollute-for-profit corporations using laws designed to nail Mafia crime bosses. The Guardian writes : Big oil is behind conspiracy to deceive public,  first climate racketeering lawsuit says Lawyer in a civil lawsuit launched by towns in hurricane-hit Puerto ...

  H erewith , ten unpopular opinions.  All mine own, and all plainly and unutterably TRUE!  Well, I would think so, would I not? Feel free to argue with any and all. And then add your own! 1) It's not just conservatives who refuse to learn how science works. 2) Star Wars is a bore. So is Lord of the Rings. 3) You're not entitled to your own opinion on everything. You're only entitled to it on matters of opinion, not of fact. 4) The television of the 1960s and 1970s, with damn few exceptions, is worthless crap and always was. 5) Men are not better drivers than women. 6) If your explanation for rejecting something scientific requires a conspiracy theory, it's almost certainly bullshit. 7) Most people are not stupid, and "average" isn't stupid. 8) Most people who complain about "intellectuals," "bubbles" and "ivory towers," however, are stupid. 9) Americans are ill-read and it shows. Movies are not the new...