Merry Christmas To Karzai

Karzai strolls across another Obama red line:

U.S. Softens Deadline for Deal to Keep Troops in Afghanistan

By MATTHEW ROSENBERG

KABUL, Afghanistan — With about a week left in the year, the Obama administration is backing away from a Dec. 31 deadline for securing a deal to keep American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014, though it is standing by its warning that a total military withdrawal is still possible if delays continue, American and Afghan officials said.

The decision is a tacit acknowledgment of what has become obvious in both Kabul and Washington: Neither a hard sell nor soft persuasion has yet induced President Hamid Karzai to go along with the American-imposed timeline for the agreement.

It is also an embarrassing turn after weeks of threats by some senior administration officials, including Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser, that a complete American withdrawal from Afghanistan — the so-called zero option — would be considered if Mr. Karzai did not sign the deal by the year’s end.

Instead of prompting Mr. Karzai to action, however, setting a boundary appears to have only reinforced his sense that American officials will back down if he refuses their demands — a lesson that has been repeated often over the past 12 years.

“I don’t know if I would call it bluffing,” said one American official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “But it looks like that’s what we were doing, and now it looks like Karzai is calling us out.”

Dealing with this after the Afghan election next spring made sense anyway.

Comments

[Captain Hate]

I'm not surprised because we've got quite a bit of snow today and people are driving like they've been chugging rum with a little eggnog flavoring all day.

[Marlene]

LOL,Janet. Jack,did they re-route on Palm Coast Parkway? Yike(s)!
The dialect thing also pinpointed me exactly. The fresh water lobster question had me scratching my head. I only know about Maine lobstah!

[Marlene]

The conditions are why we are waiting until tomorrow to drive to NH. The roads are like skating rinks.

[Jane]

I've only been to one of the cities I talk like, and that was about 40 years ago.

[MaryD]

Oops! Thanks for the correction, centralcal. Janet, apologies.

[JIB]

I am Tallahassee, Orlando and St. Pete. Been living here part-time to full time since 2003 but lived in Florida while an Air Force brat. So, pretty close in my dialect.

Marlene, no but SR-100/Moody Blvd to take them to US1 North. IOW's the Town Center is getting bumper to bumper traffic. But I was wrong on the location. It was actually at mile marker 291, two miles north of the Palm Coast exit. Near where Mantanzas Parkway crosses over the interstate.

Coming back home on the parkway there was another accident on Palm Coast Parkway going west that had it pretty much shutdown around the Palm Harbor Shopping Center. Crazy Florida drivers.

I am staying home from now on. Yesterday it was 80F with a southwesterly flow. Today, its 60 (barely) with a strong nor'easter.

BTW, Santa has just dropped off gifts to the kids of Moscow and is now on his way to Riga. Santa Tracker

[Danube on iPad]

Thanks for the wine bottle vid. Great.

A lady I know has spent time with Steve Martin and says he's a ger freak - won't touch anybody. I recently saw a clip of him with few other people meeting Obama. Obama went down the line shaking hands, but Martin backed away. The newscaster said Martin had explained that he had a cold.

[centralcal]

Ha, DoT. Steve looks like a germ "carrier," if you ask me.

[boricuafudd]

Centralcal-

Bori is perfect

Though I have been out West and down South for over 20 yrs. the test had me pegged. Jersey, New York and Yonkers.

[rse]

marlene-knew it was crawdad as we had a creek in the back yard and that was what I was taught to call them. I couldn't believe it when my dad said people ate them.

Reporting in after it turns out the human eating machine finished off my olive oil. Empty as I started bolognese. Turns out all the people missing from Lenox are in fact at the Brookhaven Costco as of 2:45. Also noticed subs were still working at a house under construction down the street as of 3. Difference between salary and being paid for your time.

I did know about the water bubbler having had a RI roommate in college. She called drinks pop too and the beach was the shore.

[centralcal]

Great - thanks, Bori. Now you may (if you wish) call me cc and save some typing yourself :)

[Man Tran on iPhone]

Regarding the racer game, I was pretty hard core in my yute. Most of it was in AZ and probably had more to do with my inguneering skilz than any class work. On top of that my mom used to babysit the younger Unsers when their dads came to PIR for some roundy round racing. One of my buds built the engine that Mario won Indy with. All great small town stuff.

If the racer gang wants to rendezvous at Monterey as Iggy suggests, I'd be up for that. Way more lies to spread than the occasional posting on JOM. ;)

[boricuafudd]

Thanks CC, much obliged.

[Ignatz]

If you buy your wine in a box or with a screw on top you needn't worry about whether you have a cork screw or even a shoe handy.
Shoes don't go with overalls anyway;

[Extraneus]

Jersey, New York and Yonkers

Patterson?

[James D.]

I violated my resolution not to read or visit the NYT to do the dialect quiz that Beasts linked to, and...

holy carp! It pinned me down EXACTLY. The two cities it decided I talk most like are Patterson, NJ...and Yonkers, NY. Which is precisely where I was born and lived until I went away to college.

[Extraneus]

They must not have it narrowed down as well as these points would indicate. Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island are all noticeably different, especially from Yonkers and Patterson, NJ. Or at least they were when I grew up. Maybe enough people spread out that they're homogenized now.

[AliceH]

My results are like Jane's. I've never been any where near 2 of the 3 cities they ID'd, and was only in the 3rd one for about 4 days visiting some (non-native/newly arrived) relatives - about 30 years ago.

[Donald]

Guess who just left Phipps? :)

I like the Tavern!

Um, I'm going to Palm Beach tomorrow. I'll be there till Sunday.

Anybody know where Get some good surf fishing in?

Also, how bout Peacocks in the canals?

[Extraneus]

It's almost like watching the Yule Log on Channel 11.

ObamaCare botch fuels Dem feud in Maryland

The botched ObamaCare rollout that has given Republicans a hammer going into the 2014 election cycle is now splitting Democrats in deep-blue Maryland, as the problems become political fodder for next year's gubernatorial race.

Despite Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley being among the first to embrace the Affordable Care Act and create an online exchange, the state-run site has had a disastrous start, like the federal exchange. This has left gubernatorial frontrunner and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who helped lead the local ObamaCare launch, taking hits from fellow Democrats.

[Beasts of England]

Oyster Shooters at the Tavern works for me...

[Danube on iPad]

Somebody help me here. Three times I have heard Juan Williams say that, while nearly six million people have lost their coverage, all but 500,000 have obtained new coverage on the exchanges.

5.5 million have enrolled on the exchanges? All of them being people lost their previous coverage? Who knew? What am I missing?

No one has responded to that claim.

[sbwaters]

'Tis the season to contemplate how fortunate we are.

I count among my blessings this comfortable community TM provides for us, and the pleasant company, oh so genial and wise, who visit here.

Merry Christmas Eve to all! May you be happily surrounded by family and friends.

[Beasts of England]

I guess the burden of proof would be on Juan, and that's not a claim I've heard elsewhere. How in the heck would they have that level of detail into the individual enrollees. Seems improbable.

Good point, DoT - why hasn't someone called him out on that statement?

[daddy]

Cold as the dicken's up here today. Brrrrr. Was out doing errands and the thermometer sez it's 2 F, but it sure feels like it's minus 22.

Captain,

If you have a chance, Dennis Miller's Hour 2 today with Nick DePaulo is nothing but a rant fest against Roger Goddell. Wonderful radio; cutting, crisp commentary, beautiful asides and marvelous off the cuff witticisms. What a pleasure to be entertained by Dennis.

And somehow in between all that, in a short DePaulo rant about Hillary accomplishing nothing except for marrying Bill, Dennis shoots back that "Hillary rode Bill's coattails because there wasn't any room on the front of the garment."

LOL!

[narciso,]

Gansler, I remember as the weasel that tried to go after O'Keefe. when he went after the election fraud,

[NKonIPad]

The Moochelle anger. Could she be a bit more supportive of her brother? He got her fat mediocre ass into Princeton by puttin the screws to Pete Carril about transferring if he didn 't get her in. By all accounts craig robinson is a good man, he makes the Obummers look ugly and selfish in the extreme by comparison.

[narciso,]

DePaulo, has a incendiary tweet, about what Pajama boy in him,

[narciso,]

inspired in him,

There's a lot of grumpy cat in her,

[Jeff Dobbs]

We're in Dallas with my family. On Friday we will head to mrs hit and run's family between Austin and San Antonio.

Sis in law posted a pic of a Titos bottle on Facebook with a note that they can't wait for me to get there.

My dad responded with a pic of the . . . larger . . . Titos bottle he got me.

This is almost as good as hot JOMer babes mudwrestling...

[daddy]

My brother was born in Honolulu a few years before JEF, and he has a Virginia SSN.

I was born in Germany (US Military parents stationed abroad) and I have a Kansas SSN.

[narciso,]

Of course, Joe Nocera, got in the Christmas spirit, by going all Gnostic gospel, sarc,

[Thomas Collins]

Whoops! Daddy, you may not be eligible to be POTUS! :-))

[James D.]

he makes the Obummers look ugly and selfish in the extreme by comparison.

Ebenezer Scrooge, pre-ghosts, makes them look ugly and selfish by comparison.

[NKonIPad]

Hit and run-- my wife is certain that Sen Blumenthal walked passed us in the Darien SportShop parking lot this morning. I didn't notice immediately. I take back what I said about him yesterday, he no longer looks good in a suit. He's pretty dumpy now.

[Jeff Dobbs]

I misspoke yesterday. Cousin works for Murphy.

[Captain Hate]

If you have a chance, Dennis Miller's Hour 2 today with Nick DePaulo is nothing but a rant fest against Roger Goddell.

That sounds right in my wheelhouse. Btw, the spot on Rt 90 where JiB reported the 40 car wreck has been under perpetual construction for the last X number of years. I don't know WTF ODOT does as far as planning to get things done in a reasonable amount of time, but they've been a complete failure in that regard. Shovel ready make work for the drones.

[JIB]

I was born in Southampton, NY and also have a Kansas SSN. Why? Because back in the day, you didn't get one at birth but you had to go down to the post office when you were old enough and apply for one.

I was 14 and living in Salina, KS as an AF brat. But I do remember getting it there. daddy, mine starts at 511.

[Jane]

Phew Alice, I was getting worried.

Marlene I didn't know anything about an alternate lobster either, but it pegged me for Salt Lake. I wonder if a couple of JOMer's are altering my speech patterns.

Naw.

[Extraneus]

Word to the wise: No matter how many eggnogs, hot toddies or other libations you may have tonight, don't forget to get the brine going before turning in.

Alton Brown's Classic Brined and Roasted Turkey

[Beasts of England]

I count among my blessings this comfortable community TM provides for us, and the pleasant company, oh so genial and wise, who visit here.

I certainly agree, sbw. Cheers!

[narciso,]

Must have been some strong nog, preferably without the egg:

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/12/24/hey-al-qaeda-is-outdoing-the-u-s-on-truthtelling/

[Extraneus]

US officials, Ivy League universities slam academic group’s Israel ‘boycott’

An American academic group's "boycott" of Israeli institutions is facing mounting opposition from all corners, as prestigious universities as well as U.S. officials say the organization is unfairly singling out Israel while ignoring major human-rights abusers.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was the latest to get involved, firing off a letter to the American Studies Association on Monday.

Engel called it "another example of the unfair double standard Israel is regularly and unfairly subjected to by organizations such as yours."

The 5,000-member academic group announced the boycott of Israeli academic institutions earlier this month, in protest of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

The move immediately drew objections from Jewish advocacy groups. But top American universities, including Harvard and Yale, have also pushed back.

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust called it a "direct threat" to the ideals universities defend.

Great, but Drew Gilpin Faust? WTF? Are there so many other Drew Fausts or even Drew G. Fausts that he needs the full qualifier?

[daddy]

Whoops! Daddy, you may not be eligible to be POTUS!

No problem TC.

The language quiz sez I talk like people from Rockford or Aurora Illinois, so since that's near Chicago I'm obviously qualified to be President, regardless what country I was born in or where my SSN came from:)

[NKonIPad]

Hit-- ah. So your cousin works for the emptiest of suits. Great.

[JIB]

Latest sighting - Vienna, Austria.

He's on his way. No escort yet but once he leaves Ireland the F-16's pick him up to Canada and the US.

BTW, I think this is Frederick's last Christmas with Santa. He knows but doesn't want to give up the idea if he doesn't believe he gets less:)

[narciso,]

'Mr. Gansler, you want to be the governor of this great state, well as chief law enforcement officer, what did you do to prevent this fiasco,

Did you join the 28 attorney general challenging the law, or did you take Steny Hoyer and Nancy Peloai's word about this law.

Some of the major contractors for this program, have offices in this state, did you do any oversight over them?

[daddy]

I'm a 512 JiB, but we didn't move to Kansas until I was 13.

And with the big winter snowfall across America, it strikes me that after 5 years of the Obama Presidency and after 17 straight years of Global Warming, the only shovel ready jobs we've seen are shoveling s#$% and shoveling snow.

[peter]

JIB--love that concept. Lots of believers in my family well into the teen years, if only for the chance of more goodies

[Danube on iPad]

I was born in MD but have a CA SSN. I have flown a Cessna along the north coast of Molokai where Loretta Fuddy's plane went down.

Coincidence?

[peter]

I recall Jack Cashill wrote in AT a few years ago that a lot of fake soc sec numbers were sold in Hawaii, and that is probably where Obama's grandparents or mother bought his.

[JIB]

DoT,

Why? Why do you tempt him?

When did it become SOP to issue SSN's at birth? What year? Anyone know?

[narciso,]

This was the DePaulo tweet. this was an epic fail on the Attack Watch scale,

[NKonIPad]

JiB-- it was SOP in Ct by 1991 when my first was born.

[daddy]

Narciso's link:)

Nick DiPaolo @NickDiPaolo

"This pic makes me want to actually defend bullying"

[daddy]

Off to freeze our tootsies off. Woof!

[jimmyk]

As I've mentioned, my father was born in NYC, never lived a day in CT, but somehow ended up with a CT SSN just like Barry. As he is 92 and his memory is not so sharp, I don't think I'll get to the bottom of the story.

[narciso,]

Recall he was one who was targeted by Sheikh Rahman, many years ago

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/assemblyman-investigate-israel-academic-boycott-violation-of-nys-human-rights-law/#comments

[Danube on iPad]

"...that is probably where Obama's grandparents or mother bought his."

Why not just get one issued?

[narciso,]

An enteresting take on the season;

http://therightscoop.com/zonation-christmas-is-not-christ-less/

[Threadkiller]

The big push for everyone to get a SSN, that I remember, was in the early '70s.

[Threadkiller]

Do you know when your dad was issued his SSN, jimmyk?

[Stephanie looking forward to the bowl games]

Fail. It put me in Amarillo Lubbock Little Rock and I was born in Atlanta and only ever lived somewhere else for 1 year in Montgomery Alabama when I was engaged to an ass.

Oh well.

[JIB]

I love it when Piers Morgan is humiliated

And by his own invited guest who was supposed to provide expert testimony to Morgan's own claims. What an eejit. Sorry to admit he is from my ancestal home town of Brighton, England.

[Account Deleted]

"5.5 million have enrolled on the exchanges?"

No. The current BOzo lie assumes the overwhelming majority of those whose policies were canceled did not qualify as Parasites First Class and therefore justifiably avoided the Roach Motel California Exchanges like the plague, choosing to use ehealth or deal directly with the fascists.

There is no basis for the lie. Data from the fascists has not been reported and is not required to be reported directly to the Feds. The fascist big five have not even hinted at any confirmation of BOzo lies.

[JIB]

Jimmyk,

I wil bet your dad was workiing in CT and his employer said, "Hey, do you know about this new thing Roosevelt has signed into law called SS?"

"You have to go down to the post office and get signed up and get a card. They give you money when you turn 62"

At least, if he is 92, that is a reasonable assumption.

[narciso,]

Ah, 'Musket Morgan' does it again, it's like Daffy in 'Duck Season;

[Ignatz]

I have yet to hear the story of anyone who has an SSN from a state they have no connection to......except for one guy.

Of course I have yet to hear of anyone here who was listed by his parents as an Indonesian citizen and a muslim when they registered him at school and I'm doubtful rse or JamesD's book credits list them as born in Kenya nor have any of the people here called Kenya "home" nor have their wives called Kenya their husband's "home country" nor have there been questions about their selective service records nor have they made false claims about when they did register nor have they made claims they were born in 1961 because their parents were inspired by the Selma demonstrations of 1965 to have a kid and I imagine most wouldn't mind letting people see their student loan records or grades or anything at all for that matter from their college years nor were any of them mentored by an unrepentant communist nor had their careers launched in the living room of just some guy who makes bombs nor attended a church for twenty years where they never heard a word the preacher said even though they named their books after the dude's sermon .....and on and on.

Those and the many more oddities about this guy's background may all be harmless coincidences, but they read more like something one would find in a Venona document about some deeply embedded spy than a president.

[Extraneus]

Guess they'll be watching the Yule Log.

San Francisco bans wood burning on Christmas Eve

Bay Area officials have banned residents from burning wood, indoors and outdoors, on Tuesday -- and might extend the ban into Christmas Day -- as part of an air quality initiative.

[Ignatz]

Beginning in 1990 you had to have an SSN for any dependent over one year old.

[Extraneus]

Banned indoors? Hard to get my mind around that.

[lyle]

Dialect test put me in SLC. Close enough as I've lived in Idaho for four decades plus. Merry Christmas, um...y'all.

[Ignatz]

It's SF; they'll be burning the Yule bong.

[Extraneus]

Would hit please rule on whether that's the longest sentence in JOM history?

[DrJ]

Here's MrsJ's result for her dialect: San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Rosa!

She's been out here a long time, but grew up not far from Chicago. So unlike others, her dialect appears to be more malleable than some.

[Stephanie looking forward to the bowl games]

And riding the Yule log. Ummm ewwww

[Beasts of England]

191 words. Impressive. I'm thinking it's a contender.

[AliceH]

SSN assignments:

http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/geocard.html

Summarized:
Prior to 1972, the first 3 digits were based on the state in which the office generating the number was located.

After 1972, the first 3 digits were based on the zip code of the mailing address of the applicant.
******
At no time has the state where one was born or the state in which one resides been the determining factor (though obviously it has a strong correlation given people tend to apply in states they live in).

I am the same age as POTUS. I didn't have a SSN until I had to apply for one because I got a part time job that required it.

Isn't CT like 10 miles from NYC? Maybe logistically easier from certain starting points to get to a CT office located near a train stn than to get to one within NYC. Or maybe the CT offices had Saturday hours. Or maybe... local NYC offices took the apps but outsourced processing some or all of them to CT. Whatever. It's not like crossing over into East Berlin during the cold war.

[MarkO]

Is there a grassy knoll along the north coast of Molokai?

[narciso,]

Well their self policing policies have been unadequate;

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/12/23/nsa-lawsuit-attorney-ignore-white-house-panel

[James D.]

In case I forget to say it tomorrow morning, Merry Christmas to everyone here!

[Jane]

Alice,

In certain places NY is 1 inch (or less) from CT.

[narciso,]

yes Magnum flew over it, every episode, there's this channel, that shows shows from the 60s-80s,

[AliceH]

LOL, Jane. Yeah, I noticed I left that opening even though I took pains to say NYC (City) vs. State.

[narciso,]

Merry Christmas, all,

[Extraneus]

Administration eases off ObamaCare deadline, offers reprieve to those unable to get coverage

The Christmas Eve deadline to sign up for ObamaCare wasn't really a deadline after all.

The Obama admininstration announced late Tuesday that people unable to obtain coverage by midnight through Healthcare.gov might still be able to get insurance by Jan. 1. The announcement comes after the administration already pushed back the enrollment deadline by a day.

[rich@gmu]

Merry Christmas everyone.

[Ignatz]

Toys Run-ons-r-us.
A little Christmas eve gift from me to everyone.

[matt]

It was the leopards of Molokai that got her.

Here in CA the LAT is touting the success the health exchanges through of CalCare or MediCal or whatever they are now calling it. Pravda by the Pacific again.

San Fran will try to ban every tradition associated with Christmas in the future, I think.Soon it will truly be the Golden Gate Gomorrah as the working families are forced out by the yuppies.

[Danube on iPad]

"I imagine most wouldn't mind letting people see their student loan records or grades "

I imagine a lot would. As for the rest, it's all in tthe capable hands of Dr. Orly Taitz, Esq.

[Ignatz]

The Brightest Star by Chris Isaak.
How many guys would write a song like this these days let alone not be embarrassed to claim it and sing it?

[Danube on iPad]

"I have yet to hear the story of anyone who has an SSN from a state they have no connection to......except for one guy."

Suppose there are, say, three million of them. How would you have heard their stories?

[narciso,]

Yes, the chocolate rations, have been doled out
very efficiently;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/12/deadlines-obamacare-dont-need-no-stinkin-deadlines/#comments

[JIB]

He's in West Africa getting ready to climb up north to Ireland and then to make the trek across the pond.

Merry Christmas all. Enjoy:

A Visit from St. Nicholas
BY CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blixen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

[Patriot4Freedom]

Stephanie - Sorry I missed posting a pick for East Carolina v. Ohio U yesterday (23rd) . . .

Picking Boise State tonight - and hope to have my full list of game picks posted here later tonite.

Thanks again for your generous offer of tracking picks/results.

Merry Christmas to all of the JOM family . . . May everyone enjoy the blessings of God's love and time with their loved ones this Christmas !!!

[Ignatz]

--I imagine a lot would.--

That was in the context of running for public office, Senate and President. I'm not aware of any prior president who has kept those items secret. Has there been?

All of the rest is firmly established fact and in the public domain, some of it said by Obama himself (with the possible exception of whether his selective service records are neat and tidy) and none of it has anything to do with any Esq, Orly or otherwise.

[Eric in Boise]

My three cities were Fresno, Bakersfield, and Glendale CA. Glendale is pretty darn close to Torrance, where I grew up. Fresno and Bakersfield are a couple of hours north.

Speaking of dialect, one sign your talking to someone from So Cal is that they always refer to distance in terms of minutes instead of miles.

Merry Christmas all.

[jimmyk]

TK, JiB,
Do you know when your dad was issued his SSN, jimmyk?

I don't think he ever worked in CT. He graduated from Columbia in '42, and worked in DC for a few months at the OSS before being drafted. Maybe that job would have had pushed him to get an SSN.

Next time I visit him I'll see if he can remember. He does remember that time, because he told me a couple of years ago that the OSS said he could stay there as a corporal instead of going into active duty, but he turned them down.

I am pretty sure he wasn't born in Kenya.

[narciso,]

the LEvick Group, the Wasilla Project, the outfit that spammed Zimmerman, American Bridge, the Journolist, all outfits that whitewash administration foibles, and other malefactors, and make up 'black legends' for their adversaries,

[Jane]

Alice,

And I thought I was being so cute. Sheesh!

Does anyone have any hope for the lawsuit by Congress to challenge Obama's power grab? I understood the issue thus far to be be standing, and this proposal seems to overcome that. ?hat are the other pitfalls - because shit we have to do something?