TBoneTX

Scintillating Saturday repartee, yawn man. ------- Thrilling Saturday report, see man: We did not leave the casa all day, party-animal we man. Mini-B. and we lazed till mid-morning, laze Two Guys man. Lunch was Many (2+2) bags of Costco popcorn while watching football, ingest Two Guys man. This tallies to an even Manyzen for the week, quota achieved man. The Junior Chica (JC) texted & called while the football game was cratering, priority for we man man. Mini-B. saw the ID and said, "Who's 'The JC,' huh man?" nosy wee man man. We didn't squeal, no squeal we man man. The JC has a good heart and is running herself ragged on behalf of others, good but sigh man. Before sunset, played football with Mini-B., good catches wee man man. Din-din was the last of the Costco precooked bacon* + tater tots, ingest Two Guys man. *a wonderful bargain, chief component in Many (2+2+1) meals man All Many (2+2+2) Two Guys din-dins this week were hits, score we man. After din-din, ex-Mrs.-T-B. took Mini-B., end of Two Guys week man. Our new eyeglass lenses are ready at Walmart Optical, probably go on Sunday we man. We are hoping that the JC will call again this evening, hope we man. Party with the rubias later, cavort we man. And that was/is our thrilling Saturday, report we man.

Every cat has its own personality. Cat T-B. is at least as high-maintenance as a demanding wife.

These feel sticky when they climb under the bedclothes with you. People aren't allergic to cats, but to the dander. Strike one. Do not (do NOT!) get any animal! Strike two. Third strike. No cat. No animal. The biggest cruelty would be to bring a cat home and then take it back. Cats need forever homes.

This observation is interesting -- they indeed admitted it up front. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another Islamic terror attack on a European Christmas market Since the early 2000s, whenever there was a terrorist attack, a meme circulated showing a South Park newscaster saying some variation of "...and it's Islam." The point, of course, was that no matter how the media tried to hide it, the greater likelihood was that the attacker was Muslim. What's interesting about today's mass terror attack on a German Christmas market is that the German authorities immediately announced that it was an Islamic terrorist attack. Maybe Europeans are finally realizing that the viper they've nursed at their bosom needs to be expelled. A little background is helpful to understand today's attack: [...] https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/12/another_islamic_terror_attack_on_a_european_christmas_market.html

Why Again Do We Still Have a Special Relationship With the Tyrannical UK? [...] Great Britain has always had a fraught relationship with freedom, at least regarding people who aren't British. In its glorious imperialist era, when its colonialism brought the light of civilization to a huge swath of the world, it presumed to tell us Americans what we could and could not do. At Lexington and Concord, 250 years ago this spring, a bunch of redcoats tried to take our guns. We shot them. And we kept shooting them until they went home. But no hard feelings – they even burned down much of Washington, DC, during the War of 1812 as a gesture of friendship to the American people. Still, our special relationship was built upon a shared reverence for the basic tenets of freedom that the British themselves pioneered. From the Magna Carta to the rise of Parliament and the restraining of their inbred royal rulers, the British set the template for freedom, and we Americans took it to the next level. We wrote our Constitution with a Bill of Rights that addressed some of the presumptuous impositions the British had tried to inflict upon us Americans. The First Amendment was one of the key rights. So was the Second. The Brits had been jerks to us until we shot them and they went crying back to their godforsaken moist and frigid island, but they largely treated their own people well. You could speak freely. You could say things that offended the elite. The idea that you might be tossed into the stony lonesome for sounding off was completely alien to them. And that unique reverence for individual rights was why we could have a special relationship with people who have terrible teeth and food and insist on calling a car's trunk a "boot." [...] https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2024/11/21/why-again-do-we-still-have-a-special-relationship-with-the-tyrannical-uk-n2648018

Yes -- utterly and callously bungled.

True. It seems a serious matter that her staff closed the local office, didn't tell anyone, and are presumably still collecting their salaries as if all is normal.

Comments, including from our veterans? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SecDef Pete Hegseth Will Be a Welcome Injection of Vitamin I (Infantry) While the nomination of Pete Hegseth stunned me at first, upon further reflection its genius became clear. Donald Trump isn't bringing Pete Hegseth, a decorated Infantry major and longtime Fox host, into the Pentagon to don the green eye shades and closely manage every element of the military behemoth like a reborn Robert McNamara. Trump hired Hegseth to channel George Patton and apply a jump boot to the buttocks of our deadweight military along with an injection of combat arms leadership and attitude. The combat arms are different than the other branches of the Army. In the combat arms – particularly Infantry, Armor/Cavalry, and Special Forces – extremely aggressive and uncompromising leadership is the standard. After all, these are the folks who close with the enemy and kill them. There's talk about how Pete Hegseth will need to win over the DoD bureaucracy, but that's not what combat arms officers like Hegseth do. He's not going to be about winning over bureaucrats and flag officers. Commanders command. When the Army gives you command of a unit, you sign a memorandum stating that you formally "assume" command. When you put your John Hancock on the paper, you've got the job, but you're not the commander yet. You are not the commander until you take command. [...] https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2024/11/18/secdef-pete-hegseth-will-be-a-welcome-injection-of-vitamin-i-infantry-n2647885

Our National Murder Hornet Nightmare Is Over They always sounded like a campy horror movie trope to me. They came from a faraway place… Now they're coming for you… MURDER HORNETS! The media made a big deal about them when they first made their way to North America. But let's face it: the world's largest hornet that could potentially become an invasive species on our continent is ripe for media hype and paranoia. The original name, Asian giant hornet, sounded perfect for ginning up fear (not the "Asian" part, but we'll get to that in a moment). The hype was there as early as 2002. A National Geographic article from that year talked about "Hornets from Hell" and made these things sound like something from a dystopian horror film. [...] https://pjmedia.com/chris-queen/2024/12/20/murder-hornets-no-longer-scourge-the-us-n4935308

God almighty... ~~~~~~~~~~~~ More Tales From the Swamp - Here's Where a Missing Congresswoman Was Found [...] In Texas, one Congresswoman went missing; the place where she turned up will make you despise the swamp even more. [...] https://redstate.com/beckynoble/2024/12/20/more-tales-from-the-swamp-sitting-tx-congresswoman-found-living-at-assisted-living-home-n2183465

Joe Biden Met With Hunter's Business Associates More Times Than With His Cabinet They say the U.S. presidency is the loneliest job in the world. Maybe the second-loneliest gig is that of Cabinet secretary in President Joe Biden's administration. A piece published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal pulls from dozens of sources who say Biden's inner circle of trusted aides increasingly kept contact with the president at a minimum, including the people he should have depended on most to consult and advise for the good of the nation. The president who has spent a good chunk of his term out of the office apparently was not all that keen on meetings with his Cabinet secretaries. In fact, Biden may have met more often with his criminal son's sketchy clients than he has with his administration's top managers. [...] https://thefederalist.com/2024/12/20/joe-biden-met-with-hunters-business-associates-more-times-than-with-his-cabinet/

George Stephanopoulos Has Always Been A Propagandist It is about time ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos faced consequences for his propaganda; he has always been a Democrat activist masquerading as an "objective journalist." ABC was recently forced to fork over $15 million after Stephanopoulos falsely asserted multiple times that Donald Trump had been found liable for rape, a payout he is reportedly "apoplectic" about. But in light of his career as a far-left media hack, the sum seems like a slap on the wrist. [...] https://thefederalist.com/2024/12/20/george-stephanopoulos-has-always-been-a-propagandist/

Thrilling Friday report, see man: Skooled Mini-B. and embarked on errands, embark we man. Errands accomplished, proficient we man. However, no time thereafter for a siesta, man. Lunch was 2 dying bananas and a half-cup of chocolate milk, ingest we man. De-skooled Mini-B. and visited Mama T-B., we man and wee man visit senior she man man. We dozed during much of this, need zzz we man. Mini-B. animatedly related NBA basketball insights to Mama T-B., animated wee man man. We were in pain from awkward dozing position, ow ow ow OW OW man. At visit's end, Mama T-B. requested a Descendants foto, request senior she man. As we tried to pose, Mama T-B. said, "Do I need more light, huh man?" si man. We apparently immediately blurted, "We need more Tylenol, si man!" si and ow man. The reaction is unfit to print, censorious we man. Din-din was Costco angusburgers with r'br, ingest Two Guys man. Mini-B. is playing computer games, play wee man man. Miu is zzz-ing on our office chair*, zzz miu man. *of ALL places in this casa, miu has to pick OUR chair, man Probable party with the rubias tonight, probably cavort we man. Football game on at noon Saturday, watch Two Guys man. Mini-B. to leave after Saturday din-din, truncated Two Guys week man. And that was/is our thrilling Friday, report we man.

The rubias have probably less than one brain cell between them, answer we man Bro G. man man. Next time, we shall remember to carry a mega-Tylenol to pop before or after, ow ow ow OW OW man. Gracias for shedding white... er, light on this, si Bro G man.

And here goes yet another. Article says that the stores will be closed down on February 28 and employees terminated then. Corporate employees get fired with same-day notice and no severance the week before Christmas. Bungled! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Party City is going out of business Party City is closing down all of its stores, ending nearly 40 years in business, CNN has learned. CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees Friday in a meeting viewed by CNN that Party City is "winding down" operations immediately and that today will be their last day of employment. Staff were told they will not receive severance pay, and they were told their benefits would end as the company goes out of business. "That is without question the most difficult message that I've ever had to deliver," Litwin said at the meeting, which was held on a video conference call. Party City's "very best efforts have not been enough to overcome" its financial challenges, he added, resulting in the company's collapse. Litwin said the company struggled to contend with inflation, which sent the company's costs higher and dragged down consumer spending. "It's really important for you to know that we've done everything possible that we could to try to avoid this outcome," Litwin said. "Unfortunately, it's necessary to commence a winddown process immediately." Also on Friday, [...] https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/20/business/party-city-shut-down/index.html

Surprise, surprise.

And here we (or they all) go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Big Lots plans to close all stores: See full list of locations around the US America is preparing to say goodbye to another big name retail chain. Big Lots is planning shutter all of its locations following months of store closures and a September filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retail chain is launching "going out of business" sales to "protect the value of its estate," a Thursday press release stated. The company did not offer a timeline for how long the sales will last [...] https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/big-lots-plans-close-stores-201333453.html

Good! ~~~~~~~ MSNBC Reportedly Tells Two More Anchors To Take Pay Cuts Amid Ratings Tank MSNBC is negotiating pay cuts with night anchors Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle as the cable channel nosedives in the ratings after the election, according to a report. [...] https://www.yahoo.com/news/msnbc-reportedly-tells-two-more-163309834.html

I'm surprised that the Astros rank as high as 27th. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ MLB farm system rankings for every team after winter meetings [...] Failure to maintain your farm system can lead to years of mediocrity and devastation for an MLB franchise. On the flip side, having a great farm system is one of the best positions to be in. Your fanbase knows better days are ahead, and they merely have to wait for the chickens to roost. Teams with great farms in recent years like the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles have taken massive leaps lately and have vaulted themselves into playoff contention. Here is the post-winter meetings farm system ranking for every team in Major League Baseball. [...] https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mlb-farm-system-rankings-every-121622509.html

Good! ~~~~~~~ CNN Sees One of Its Lowest Ratings Ever as Massive Layoffs Loom CNN's ratings woes reached a new low this year, plunging in in a key age group—all as the Warner Bros. Discovery network is set to lay off hundreds. The network managed to score second place between Fox News and MSNBC in a year-end average of the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic, averaging 92,000 total-day viewers, according to Nielsen data obtained by Mediaite. While that beat MSNBC, which averaged 86,000 total-day viewers in the demo this year, it is still CNN's lowest demo average ever—down 1 percent from last year's previous low of 94,000. [...] https://www.yahoo.com/news/cnn-sees-one-lowest-ratings-173926866.html

The Amish, again?

No longer any need to kiss anyone's Fani. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [UPDATE] Fani Willis Is OUT, Trump Responds to the Ruling [...] In a massive victory for President-elect Donald Trump and lovers of freedom everywhere, a Georgia Appeals Court has removed Fani Willis from her prosecution (and persecution) of the once and future president. [...] https://pjmedia.com/chris-queen/2024/12/19/breaking-georgia-appeals-court-removes-fani-willis-from-trump-case-n4935266

Thursday ES report, see man: We stumbled upon an ES auction ending on Wednesday, participate we man. We won the following, see the take man: -- medium-length gripper; Many (2+1) pairs dress-slacks* = $Many ($2x2x2 -1), steal man *2 of which fit us perfectly now and one that will after more waist-loss, score we man Total = $Many ($2+2+2+1) We don't expect to visit any in-person ESs, none proximal man.

Scintillating Thursday repartee, yawn man. ----- Thrilling Thursday report, see man: See separate "Thursday ES report," score we man. Lunch was the Costco footlong hot dog + Diet Pepsi, ingest we man. Errands ended precisely at time to de-skool Mini-B., half-day man. A highly necessary siesta was taken afterward, zzz we man. Din-din was weenies-&-beans, ingest Two Guys man. Must arise at o'dark-Many for yet another Band gig, it never ends man. A poopload of Friday errands awaits, oh poop and errand we man. Mini-B. has another half-day of skool before vacation, why even bother man. We shall visit Mama T-B. after skool, Mini-B. traveling on Sunday man. And that was/is our thrilling Thursday, report we man.

Hence his "Fidelito" nickname.