On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog

Yes, it’s the time of year when the Sun dies and must be re-born through an elaborate ceremony that involves some form or type of sacrifice, such as finding gifts for people you can’t stand and smiling brightly as you receive yet another gift based on an urban legend that you actually like truly stomach-wrenching color combinations.

Of course there was a time when the Solstice sacrifices were more visceral and the evergreen was covered in things that pleased only ravens and such, but we have put all that behind us by opting for the possibility of electrocuting one another and causing chaos on the power grid.

What a brilliant idea: moving a large supply of pre-kindling soaked with highly flammable resins into your house, loading it down with petrochemical-based ornaments, lacing it with heat-producing electrical devices, and surrounding the base with cardboard boxes and tissue paper. You just can’t have a traditional celebration without a proto-bonfire in your living room.

I do think that followers of Mithras might want to curtail their typical birthday service in light of Mad-Cow Disease, but global warming will certainly make the services in the oak wood in traditional druidic robes more comfortable.

When you put up your stocking on the mantel and put out the turnips for Gouger, Rooter, Tusker, and Snouter as well as the pork pie and sherry for the Hogfather, you can rest assured the Sun will come up, because it just slipped around back to return the lager it rented.

Enjoy! You have nothing to fear, except that sniveling little creep with the camera/phone at the office party or the eggnog that was put out rather early causing you to suspect that the bits on top aren’t nutmeg. [The pictures probably won’t appear on the ‘Net and the brandy will surely take care of the salmonella.]

A Calendar of Coming Events

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If your celebration involved the death of a turkey, thank you.

People have more freedom to gather in person this year than under the misrule of the TFG so emergency rooms will see injuries involving serving forks and carving knives again. The price of fuel has been dropping and even in my outpost of minimum civilization the only noticeable shortages are breakfast cookies in one grocery store and sports drinks in another.

As is traditional the WKRP Turkey Drop and/or the original recording of Alice’s Restaurant.

It was afternoon and I was on my way to a chemistry class. I had stopped for a drink of water when the news came over the speakers in the classrooms.

For those who weren’t alive at the time: remember what you felt on September 11, 2001 for a taste of November 22, 1963. It was a massive change for the worldview of my generation and it marked the beginning of a period of disruption and decline in the civility of American society. Arthur had died and Camelot fell.

At his inauguration John Kennedy made the point: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”

The colors of my world will never be as bright as they were on November 21, 1963. Now we have COVID-19 and the Trump MAGAts…

Since “commerce” demands it, “one symbol to celebrate them all” to be posted on or after the Summer Solstice.

((Thank you Karen of Peripetia))

I started doing this 19 years ago after the American electorate committed an act of supreme self destruction and gave the Shrubbery a second 4 years to screw things up. It would appear that people are becoming aware that Republicans just can’t help themselves and attempt to destroy the nation every time they are given a chance to sit in the Oval Office.

Clinton left the Shrubbery with budget surpluses and the Shrubbery left Obama with the Global Financial Crisis. Obama left Trump with a growing economy and Trump left Biden with a crippled economy and over a quarter million dead Americans.

As long as I can I will respond to the important things: the World Cup, the Iditarod & Yukon Quest, Tour de France, and tropical storms.

Politics are the static on life’s radio, so you have to deal with them. You try to ignore them until you can no longer hear the music.

Position: 20.0N 76.5W [ 9:00PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [045°] near 22 mph [35 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb ↑.

Currently about 140 miles [ 220 km] Northeast of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

All Watches and Warnings have been cancelled. This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on this system.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 15.9N 81.1W [ 9:00PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northeast [015°] near 8 mph [13 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [ 55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1004 mb.

Currently about 320 miles [ 515 km] West-Southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Jamaica; Haiti; Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, Granma, and Las Tunas; Southeastern Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

One hundred and five years ago at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the guns fell silent. The Great War, The War to End All Wars, was over…for a couple of decades.

The red poppies of Flanders fields became a symbol of that war and the veterans that returned from it. Known as Remembrance Day in much of the world, the poppies will be in evidence. Remembrance Day observances have more in common with the American Memorial Day as a day to honor those who have died in war.

First called Armistice Day in the United States, the name was changed to Veterans Day, and its purpose changed to honoring those who are serving, or have served in the military. The change was made to avoid a conflict with the existing Memorial Day observance that goes back to the Civil War era.

A heart felt salute to everyone who managed to survive basic training. We can hope that sooner, rather than later, there will be no need for another generation to put on uniforms.

Daylight Savings Time will end in the US Sunday morning, November 5^th at 2AM. It will become 1AM and you get an extra hour of sleep, unless you work the “graveyard shift” or forget.

“Fall back – Spring ahead”

Whether you celebrated Celtic New Year’s Eve [Samhain], the evening before All Saints Day [Halloween], or the anniversary of the posting of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 [Reformation Day], I hope you had a happy one.

Wikipedia does its normally thorough job of covering all of the bases on the holidays that share October 31^st.

These are my remembrances of a traditional American Halloween.

The ‘Autumn Festival’ across the street was held last night with a half dozen Sheriff vehicles to control the parking. Kind of back to normal after the Covid problems.

Position: 32.4N 53.3W [ 4:00AM CDT 0900 UTC].
Movement: East [100°] near 18 mph [38 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles (150 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1002 mb ↑.

Currently about 670 miles [1080 km] East of Bermuda.

Tammy has again gone Post-Tropical, so, for the second time the National Hurricane Center announces this is the final advisory.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 32.6N 55.2W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: East-Southeast [105°] near 17 mph [28 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles (150 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb ↑.

Currently about 560 miles [ 900 km] East of Bermuda.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 32.7N 61.3W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North-Northwest [335°] near 5 mph [ 7 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Wind Gusts: 70 mph [110 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 140 miles (220 km].
Minimum central pressure: 991 mb ↑.

Currently about 205 miles [ 330 km] East of Bermuda.

She’s back! Tammy has regained tropical characteristics.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 30.5N 58.4W [ 4:00AM CDT 0900 UTC].
Movement: North [355°] near 19 mph [19 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 85 mph [140 kph].
Wind Gusts: 100 mph [160 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 195 miles (315 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 30 miles [ 45 km].
Minimum central pressure: 973 mb.

Currently about 395 miles [ 640 km] East-Southeast of Bermuda.

The National Hurricane Center has issued its last public advisory on this system.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]