Snowflake's Forum

  Magazines.  Seems they are going away.  Aside from home subscriptions / deliveries, National Geographic has stopped sales of actual printed magazines.   Bunny loves his magazines, used to have eight monthly subscriptions.  Now down to two.  Boo. Are you unhappy with less magazines being available on the shelves?  Happy with the on-line ones?  Do you have any subscriptions? J. P.  Bunny

https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/   Smoke from prairie wildfires triggers air quality alert in Ontario Canadian wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have prompted air quality alerts in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday and Thursday as residents are advised to "limit prolonged or heavy exertion." (Surprised that the smoke we are sending to the U.S. isn't subject to tariffs)  Earlier in July: In a  letter  sent to Canada’s ambassador to the US, six Republican members of Congress wrote that wildfire smoke from Canada had been an issue for several years and recently their voters “have had to deal with  suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke  filling the air to begin the summer”. SO, I have to stay INDOORS, can't go for my long walks or hikes. DAMN! I think it is a conspiracy by the Weather Gods to give me more time to spend on this forum - whatchathink? Kinda reminds me of when people don't know what to talk about, they can always fall back on...

 Realized this morning we haven't talked about our summer plans. Let me start: Taking off this morning to take Geri to see her ailing daughter back in MN. She will be staying for about 5 weeks, so after dropping her off, I will be back home to batch it for the rest of the summer.  Those of you who have followed my adventures might remember I had a road trip planned for this summer.  Well, except for delivering my better half to her destination and returning home, that is off.  My niece who I haven't seen since Covid is coming in August for two weeks. Originally she said she was coming for just a week, but I gave her a piece of my mind (what is left of it) and told her a week wasn't enough. She agreed. So, all in all, a quiet summer. No big plans. As for the road trip, we are getting on in years and I have vowed to make the road trip before it becomes too late to do one. Here is the rub: I really would love to include parts of the States, but except necessary family r...

  Bunny brought his car in for inspection, so needed to rent another one for the two days.  Needed to be shown how to start the thing.  No key, just some magic fob.  Start button won’t work unless pedals are pushed.  Radio?  Someplace on the screen.  Some weird little shifter lever on the dashboard that requires you full attention to get it in gear. The land line phone…no problem.  Smart phone?  Forget it. How goes it with you and technology? J. P. Bunny

As we all know, the universe will come to an end sometime. Maybe. It will take billions of years. To prepare, some of us are trying to make sure the human species is gonna actually be there (1) when the fun happens, (2) when we have slipped away to another universe before the fun happens, or (3) we find out it isn't gonna happen and our universe will not come to an end sometime. We live in exciting times.  Our friends at Space.com report release of a new database. The article , Largest-ever supernova catalog ever provides further evidence dark energy is weakening , discusses Union 3, a database of 2,087 detonating vampire stars, otherwise called standardized Type 1a supernovas. The original 1998 database cataloged 50 vampires. That data was just enough to barely hint that dark energy was weakening. The Union 2 database had data from 557 vampires and that more strongly hinted that dark energy was weakening. Now, analysis of Union 3 data still indicates that dark energy is weakening...

  I’m stealing, well borrowing, an idea that I saw  was recommended  by someone on the Disqus Home Page.  I think this might be an interesting concept to discuss.  Let’s kick off the weekend with it: Q: How would you describe God? Monumental task, you say.  Well, yeah, it’s asking one of those deep questions.  But I do think many people have a concept of this entity humanity collectively identifies as God.  The concept is likely tainted by the culture (fishbowl) you swim in.  And that’s understandable and is to be expected.  Thinking outside your comfortable niche is a rarity, especially if you have no ideas of your own.  Maybe you just “go along to get along.”  Again, I get it.  Whaterya gonna do? 😉 So, there’s your task.  If you have such a vision, describe it to the rest of us.  If you don’t have such a vision, how do you think others, especially the religious, see God? (by PrimalSoup)

  Bullwinkle was fun as a child.  Then, when you became an adult, you realize it was chock full of humour for adults.  Puns, bad jokes, social commentary, double entendres…. Even more fun to watch as an adult. What entertainment that is aimed at the kiddies, but also for the adults that catch on?  Which ones did / do you enjoy? J.P. Bunny

As we can guess from what's in the picture; I've spent a bit of time reading J.R.R. Tolkien, and I don't think it was time wasted.  But how about the rest of our little group?  Which top-selling writers do you read, and why?  Or, as the case may be, do you tend to avoid the best-sellers for small-mag writers or the classics?  

 In honor of the late Ozzy Osbourne and his headless pet bat, I propose that we all suggest line-ups for our favorite Bands Of Dead Musicians.  My suggested line-up: Lead singer:  Freddy (gosh, he's deadie!) Mercury!  The queen of the hop!  Singing along with his shambling corpse is his hot date, Janis Joplin! Lead guitarist:  direct from his eclectic ladyland, Jimi Hendrix! Rhythm guitarist: Celebrating the Fifth of November, it's John Lennon, who used to be in a popular, but forgotten, band in the sixties.  Anyway, that's what I heard. Bass: John Entwistle, accompanied by his pal, Boris the Spider!  Boris plays a different instrument with each leg! And on drums, sucking sustenance from a can of Diet Pepsi, it's Karen Carpenter! Okay, friends:  now it's your turn! AlextheKay is shameless sometimes

  "diversity, not assimilation". Generally there is a concept that Americans prefer immigrants to assimilate into American culture, while Canadians are more likely to celebrate diversity. Outside of the Trump era (I mean, not EVERYTHING has to be Trump related), are the beliefs that one country goes one way and the other a different way really real, or just perception? I have heard a lot of grumbling here in Canada about immigrants NOT assimilating enough, diversity is all fine and dandy, but many immigrants tend to stick with their own, slow to learn the language, and in extreme cases, bring their bigotry with them from abroad. Adversely, there IS a lot of diversity in the US. Whether Hispanic or Chinese cultures, they thrive in pockets. Except for what is happening right now in the U.S. wasn't diversity celebrated as much south of the border as north of the border in past years? So, historically, has it JUST been our perception that one country prefers assimilation and ...

 So, my dear friends, I haven't forgotten about you. Lately our town has been invaded by immigrants (legal ones) from India and Pakistan (mostly). Now they are everywhere. Every fast food take out, every restaurant, every grocery store, most retail outlets, and NOW I see them everywhere as security guards. They have even started up some of their own businesses, like home cleaning, personal care services, landscaping. I got to wonder where oh where Canadian white people are working. I mean they still run banks, they are still doctors, engineers, and a few still work in construction. But now even our newest dentists have Indian names.  One answer might be: Canada does offer wage subsidies to employers who hire individuals from under-represented groups, including newcomers (which would include immigrants from India), through programs like the Student Work Placement program.  Additionally, Canada provides settlement services to help immigrants find employment and integrate in...

  What one thing irks you the most about people? What one thing moves you the most about people? (by PrimalSoup)

  Bunny’s home does not have much space around it.  Just enough for the trees and hanging flowers.  Bunny would love to have some skeletons peeking out from the trees onto the street, or some gnomes doing the same, but Mrs. Bunny says no. In the U.S. houses have a few figures out front, but Bunny likes it when people go overboard.  What say you about such.  Public horrors or bursts of creativity? J. P.  Bunny

Hey, sin (aka evil) happens.  It’s in the nature of us beasts.  Greed, selfishness, revenge, lust (you know… all the usual suspects), they’re part of who we are as humans; our modus operandi.  Once we have grown enough to reach the age of reasoning, there’s not a person alive, or dead, who has not experienced some or all of those negative afflictions.  That’s a given.  So, what could be done about that?  A solution was needed.  And, a pretty crafty solution, a way out, was indeed found.  And that’s something that’s always bugged me about the only religion I have some experience with, Christianity.  That is to say… Q: Who came up with the ingenious idea of scapegoating Jesus for humanity’s shortcomings?  Was there any one person who gets credit for that stroke of genius?  Or, was it some collective effort on the movers and shakers of the time? So being the curious sort, in the flavor of our Germaine, I used Perplexity to ask ...

Well, it's heatwave season again.  Up where I am, in southern New England, it can be a disappointing 41 degree overnight low in the middle of June, then switch to 102 degrees for a daytime high only three weeks later.  I know there are people on this board who live in North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, California, and Ontario, with the different expectations that would go with all these different areas. So, how has it been in your various home provinces and towns?  Unusually hot, or just "normal" (whatever that means) for your neck of the woods? Posted by Jennifer A. Nolan  

 Apparently Donald is a big fan of cane sugar. He wants Coca Cola to switch from corn syrup to cane sugar in their drinks. Maybe he just wants to make Coca Cola great again? But will Coca Cola follow his directions? https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2025/07/17/coca-cola-cane-sugar-trump/85262827007/ There might be a few issues with switching too: If consumed in excess, both cane and high-fructose corn syrup, like all sugars, can carry negative health effects including  weight gain, diabetes and heart disease . Coca-Cola switching from cane sugar to  high-fructose corn syrup  would pose changes to cost and product labeling,  Reuters  reported, citing industry analysts. The company would have to significantly adjust its supply chains as the two sweeteners primarily come from different producers. Then there are those diet drinks. Maybe less calories, but........... Additionally, some diet sodas contain aspartame, an artificial sweetener that while cons...

  We are products of our times.  Some things we say or do shout “old fart”, especially to the young creatures.    Bunny still uses the words phonograph and tape player when referring to musical devices.  If an address or number needed, dig out the address book.  Tell some to turn the knob clockwise…blank stares. What marks you as an ancient of days? J.P. Bunny

 Admit it -- somewhere in your youth, you heard a piece of music that changed you.  That impacted your life unto this very day. For me, it's a piece by Charles Mingus called "The Clown."  A friend of mine, Ted White (editor of Amazing Stories at the time, later to be the editor of Heavy Metal magazine) wrote a little essay about Mingus.  I was 16 or 17.  I knew nothing about jazz.  Jazz was the stuff my parents listened to.  Smarmy, boring horn charts. So, seeing an essay by Ted, I figured, "Hey, I'll check it out."  And not only did the music challenge me -- the story did.  Because Mingus got the great Jean Shepherd to improvise a narration to go with the music.  A marvelously dark little tale about a clown. I had no idea it was the same guy who wrote the stories A Christmas Story is based on.  I'd read those in Playboy years earlier. So, here's MY mind-warper song.  Now share yours! AlextheKay loves "It," too

Most of us here are what you call seniors.  Sure, we have some young blood here and there, but most of us have been around the block several times.  That path is well-worn and we’ve seen pl-enty.  Learned from it too. As a result of our longevity, life has had its way of beating us down over the years, and any idealism we may have once had is not only worn around the edges, but has major cracks running in it.  Such is life.   I know I was very idealistic thinking as a gullible young thing.  My principles could be taken to the bank.  If I made some claim, you could bet the farm on it.  I didn’t know how to bend, I was that confident.  Kind of funny, in hindsight. Okay, now for some questions: As a senior, have you lost the idealism you once lived by?  Or, was idealism never really your thing? On a scale of 1-10, how ideal did you used to be?  How ideal are you now? Other than living life, what kinds of things happened that cause...

⚡️Thunder Here's one, but it does have a political slant to it though. Do you miss the person you were before Trump entered politics? Not sure why Thunder should care, being a Canadian and all, I mean, why can't Canadians worry about  their own politics and mind their business about ours? Ok ok, just kidding. I have actually read that argument from some Trumpers when confronted by a Canadian. So, Germaine, Susan, anyone else who has had emotional breakdowns since Trump............ Do you miss the person you were before Trump entered politics? As for Snowflake, being removed from the direct line of fire, I am less anxious than others, so I don't miss  the person I was before Trump, but I do miss the person I was before I took an interest in politics. There was a time when politics were ho-hum to me. I really didn't take much of an interest until the Obama administration. And I never cared much for Canadian politics, but I do like how Carney has behaved  at the federal le...

 When it finally hits you - you are old.  For some, it is waking up one morning and seeing themselves in the mirror. For others, it is doing a task they have always done but suddenly can't do anymore and think "Damn, I finally have to admit, I've gotten old." I am asking if YOU remember a moment when it hit you that, by golly, you are old.  It happened to me this weekend. I finally had to accept that I have gotten old. Was it the challenge in the bedroom, no. Doing chores, no. Looking in the mirror, hell no, I am still a good looking and youngish looking guy. So, what was it? It was THE MOUNTAIN. The one I had refused to defeat me. This weekend it defeated me, and did so decisively.  Elevation , 489 m (1,604 ft) How to get to the top: When you finally get there you can claim that you............................................... I didn't make it, first time it has defeated me, I only got about two-thirds of the way and I couldn't get any further.  So NOW, I h...

  Just got a call threatening an "enforcement action" by the Social Security Administration. When they clicked me through to an agent, I cut her off, asking for her name. "Kayla." "Is it true that you copulate for a nickel, Kayla?" CLICK! (Okay, I didn't use the word "copulate.") I guess I'll never know what the enforcement action would be. Probably more calls. The older I get, the more spam calls infest my phone, cell and VOIP alike. "The incoming Trump administration is offering you..." "You are eligible for a new state benefit, all your funeral expenses paid... " "I'm calling from your electric company..." Usually, I hang up, of course. When I'm feeling feisty, I stay on long enough to tell the "agent" about his mother's illicit activities with goats. My favorites are the ones "from Microsoft." "Hey, my daughter works there! Do you know her?...

An article electrek published, Elon Musk says Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles just after it went full Hitler , elicited some insightful commentary . Grok going Hitler refers to Musk's Grok artificial intelligence "fixes" that flushed out "liberal bias" and somehow inserted Hitler and Nazi sympathy. Tesla cars will soon be running Grok to help them do whatever people driving Teslas do. Peanut 1: If you ask it for directions to a Mexican restaurant it locks the doors and contacts ICE. Peanut 2:  Yeah? Watch what happens when you ask for directions to a good bagel and lox. Peanut 3:  Grok will start sending Tesler drivers child porn to have them arrested, cuz an AI bot can't be charged for sending it. But the feds will charge the owner of the car for possessing it. That's some black mirror shit there ...."framed by AI". Peanut 4:  Version 1: close windows, lock doors, burst in to flames  Version 2: autopilot to nearest concentration camp.  Peanu...

  A few weeks ago–while I was still a working man–Susan asked me if I’d do a post on Daoism once I became a man of leisure. Now that I am enjoying my (partial–I’ve stayed on as a contractor) retirement, I’m here to honor that request. ‘Cause I totally dig Susan and appreciate all she has contributed to this forum. I “converted” to Daoism at the ripe young age of 20 or 21. I struggled to answer when people would ask, “What’s a Daoist believe.” By the time I came up with a decent answer, people had stopped asking. So thanks Susan for the opportunity to give my answer: A Daoist believes it doesn’t matter what you believe; what matters is how you live.  OK then, so how shall we live according to Daoism? A sampling: Pay attention to how things work. Don’t force square pegs into round holes. Don’t be too impressed with yourself, your beliefs, your opinions. Don’t force your way on others. Accept everything. Hang back; learn what matters. A quick linguistic note: “Taoism” and “Daoism...