Flashback

Molly Ivins knows George Bush well, and she reminds us all why we should be reminded of Richard Nixon these days:

This could scarcely be clearer. Either the president of the United States is going to have to understand and admit he has done something very wrong, or he will have to be impeached. The first time this happened, the institutional response was magnificent. The courts, the press, the Congress all functioned superbly. Anyone think we're up to that again? Then whom do we blame when we lose the republic?

Get the knack of Hanukkah

My very best wishes to all my friends and, yes, family who are celebrating the "Festival of Lights"; here's a webimation just for you!

A dip into the political pool: hope for liberals

A couple of good big-picture analyses of conservatism have popped up lately; today it's Digby's turn:

How can Norquist's "leave us alone" coalition exist in a party that supports the government spying on its citizens and supports intrusion into a family's most difficult medical decisions? How can a "leave us alone" coalition support a president who acts like a king? How can decent people who believe in moral values continue to work hard and support a party that is corrupt to its core?

They can't.

To-do list when I win the lottery

• Fix hole in upstairs bathroom floor, replace walls in downstairs bathroom
• Service transmission in "old" car, replace speakers in "new" one
• Tune piano
• Upgrade grown-ups' computer, replace kids' computer with one that works
• Go away for a long time. Actually, do this first and I wouldn't have to do the others...

Saddest Christmas Eve Sight

A UPS van, broken down on the freeway shoulder and being hooked up to a big-rig tow truck. (My sister says, that's second-saddest; saddest would be a large red sleigh broken down etc.)

You know it's the holidays when...

...you have both an eggnog latte and a bottle of red wine on your desk. (I'm very fortunate that my friends are terrific gift-ers.)

Great reviewing of great writing

Robert Fisk is probably the best living war correspondent and probably the most experienced and knowledgeable Middle East journalist, and therefore also a highly controversial figure. He has written a huge book, and Salon has written a review of it. You probably have to click through an ad to read the review; but if you care about world politics and particularly about Mesopotamia, that ad will be a trivial price to pay for some excellent insight.

Puzzled

I guess everyone else was on vacation too... I come back from two weeks away, and the puzzle in the breakroom is still the same one, less than half finished!

Enforcing vacation

We got back from vacation on Thursday, and we checked e-mail briefly that evening. But since then our service has been offline. So no further posting, and no opportunity to try to start getting caught up on work -- I'm being forced to continue to "vacate" until Monday morning! (This post is courtesy of Jill's laptop--thank goodness for friends who let you eat their food, watch their bigscreen, and occupy their web browser!) I guess I'll just have to do nonwork things like put up a Christmas tree and get photos developed today... darn...