My son is in NYC on a training session, and in talking to his wife, I just found out he has been over to Occupy Wall Street twice. Can’t wait for him to get home, so he can tell me all about it!
I was thinking rwnj were doing a good job of analyzing this Nation’s worst problems. They are determined to prevent women from exercising their rights to control their reproductive lives. Debt and deficits are sky high. We are in a couple of totally un-necessary wars that are adding to the debt and deficits,people have no jobs,no prospects,no hope for any jobs,they can’t pay their bills or feed their families,education is getting to be a real joke,infrastructure is falling apart and we are basically on the brink of another civil war-so the tontos in rethugland want to redefine rape and outlaw abortion to cure all our ills. And I forgot their first move will be more taxcuts for the wealthy.
And lest we forget just how wealthy those 1% are, the paragraph in this piece about New York Times ads says it all:
“Perhaps more to the point, though, is how the Times apportions is dwindling editorial resources. For instance, in attempting to compete more aggressively with the likes of Conde Nast for the attention of wealthy consumers, the paper has ramped up its coverage of ultra-conspicuous consumption. Consider a not-atypical fashion spread in the most recent edition of the paper’s T magazine showing a waifish model wearing a $6,600 Dior dress, a $7,800 Gucci coat, a $1,850 Hermes belt, a $1,000 Eddie Borgo bracelet, an $11,900 Pomellato ring and a $34,200 Patek Philippe watch, for starters. (The U.S. annual median household income was $50,046 in 2010.)”
No, you didn’t forget. It’s so common to their speech and what passes for their thinking that it’s become unnoticeable, like cosmic background radiation, only not at all cosmic. They all act as if tax cuts for the top 1% or 5% or whichever tiny percentage they choose is what being an American legislator is all about, along with being Uterine Police and exhibiting utter contempt for anyone who is not obscenely wealthy, and even more contempt (bordering on disgust) for anyone who isn’t their brand of Xtian. Grover Norquist, Lee Atwater, Turdblossom, etc. taught them how to speak on every subject. Thus all this crap about “entitlement” reform. Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, et al. are all Earned Benefits, bought and paid for by all of us who work and pay taxes. Framing them as “entitlements” is about making it appear that those who collect are getting something for nothing. When they can’t frame the terms of the debate, they simply lie and talk over whoever else is speaking. Reprehensible.
I kinda wonder why she’s skipping Juneau – you remember, the state capital.
Murkowski to hold economic town halls [from KINY News Online]
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is planning a series of town hall meetings focused on the U.S. economy.
The meetings are scheduled for Monday in Anchorage, Wednesday in Palmer and Thursday in Fairbanks.
They come as a special congressional committee continues work aimed at finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings over the coming decade. The so-called supercommittee has until Nov. 23 to come up with a plan to submit to Congress for an up-or-down vote.
Murkowski spokesman Matthew Felling says one of the reasons for the town halls is to put the issue of debt reduction on the front burner again for Alaskans. He said the issue remains a hot topic in Washington and that Murkowski wants the committee to be as aggressive as possible while still being responsible.
——————-
Now as to that debt reduction propaganda, here’s a great read from Mike Konczal:
“Imagine an alien from Mars who was trained in basic macroeconomics landed on Earth. If they looked at economic indicators – unemployment high, inflation low, borrowing costs low, job openings low, off-trend economic growth, short-term interest rates at zero – they would think that now is the time for the government to run a larger deficit. They – as opposed to a large number of pundits, think tanks and politicians – certainly wouldn’t think that a smaller deficit would be anything other than a disaster.
Ari Berman has a great piece in the Nation, How the Austerity Class Rules Washington, which provides a roadmap of the people and places who have triggered this focus on the deficit instead of unemployment in the Lesser Depression..” [but don’t stop here, you want the full hit on this one].
I was trying to think on a household-economics analogy [not always a good idea, but…] re the constant GOP bleating about “de-e-e-eficits! d-e-e-e-eficits!
What I came up with that it’s like telling you, when you’ve lost your job, to quit making your car payments and default on your mortgage. When what you need is _a job_, or a loan so you can invest in the improvements your biz needs to stay profitable. Make money, spend money, hire people, so others can make money, spend money, hire people…
When you’ve got the income thing settled, _then_ work on paring down the budget to build up that rainy day reserve. Don’t put the cart before the horse.
… not bad, Mo.
The analogy I’ve been using is,,: Your wife goes crazy with the credit card and runs the bill to the limit. You take away the CC , take a temporary 2nd job or arrange to get some overtime to help pay down the bill., as well as look at the household budget to see what can be scaled back, You DON’T ask your boss to cut your salary because you’ve run up the debt !!
yeah! I’ve thoughtof that, but I’m slowly converting some Red Folk to Blue… so I have to chose my words carefully…. still struggling with some of their “Palin is HOT” attitude… I need to find that pic of her in Hawaii with the cottage cheese legs to put up against that Runner’s World nylons one… hehehhe!! Oh MAN, am I glad I’m not Todd …. can you imagine being around her when menapause kicks in ?!?!?!
Juneau’s kinda wondering the same thing.
It’s not like we have cooties or anything and we’re merely a nice bluish purple so we likely wouldn’t skew her “sample” of Alaskan’s thoughts on debt reduction too, too much… like enough to fling her off that R-y carousel she hopped right back on when folks sent her back to DC.
We might slow it down enough to make her listen though.
Maybe that’s it.
Click on your state. Note how Alaska and Hawaii’s bubbles are always bouncing on the top. In light of the plight of villages and fuel costs, however, I wonder if the percentage-of-income figure for Alaska doesn’t take account of this? Geographically, it seems a large part of this state ought to be in the orange/red zone.
It’s a very interesting website, but I also wonder about the accuracy of these charts for states like mine (NY) which include highly concentrated cities with extensive public transportation systems. Since many of the people who live and/or work in the NYC metro area use public transportation, their statistics would most likely skew the statewide results. The vast majority of people I knew who worked in NYC but lived on Long Island took the train instead of driving even though they lived in suburban or even rural areas. The effect of gasoline prices on their income is much less than it would be on mine, although it does eventually trickle down to commuter ticket prices.
Where I now live in western NY, the public transportation systems are just not as extensive and most people have to drive. If I tried to take the bus from my home in the suburbs to my job in the city, it would take me 1 hour and 35 minutes, require one transfer and the earliest bus would get me to work 45 minutes late. Instead, I drive the 14 miles in about 20-25 minutes and (usually) get to work on time.
In Alaska, and many other states like mine, the combination of statistics from urban areas with the more remote, rural areas may dilute the accuracy of these reports.
Wise observation, my neighbor to the north (and west). I work at home, with company meetings at either a loft in SoHo (I can walk there, though sometimes I cab it, and I often take the bus home) or a club in midtown east (bus + subway, 40 minutes at most if everything goes wrong) on those occasions when we need comfort and a midtown venue. I also use a by-the-hour office for my holistic health practice. Weekends (mainly), I take public transit (bus/subway or cab to Grand Central, then Metro North to Yonkers, then about a minute’s walk to the apt. house where bf lives). Even in a busy week, my transportation expense is negligible. I have no need for a car, in fact, owning one would be a burden. Long Islanders take the LIRR in droves, but nearly all of them own cars as well. Same thing in Westchester and a few other counties up here; almost everyone owns a car, but many take public transit to work. Cars are for getting home from the train station, shopping, and transporting those too young to drive themselves. New York’s statistics are most certainly skewed, since we have huge urban population centers (also where many of the businesses are located), suburbs, exurbs, and rural areas (farms, orchards, etc.). For so many New Yorkers, transportation is not measured by the price of gas, but by the price of a MetroCard and train tickets. That makes the mean meaningless. Same thing in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other metropolitan areas. We just don’t drive. When we do, we rent a vehicle.
Since I’m a ways away from city lights and would prefer to eat the candy for myself,the cartoon is missing the real “gobblin’s-you know the wealthy 1%,up on the roof scarfing down everything of value before it has a chance to trickle anywhere. I read yesterday that 92 year-old American Treasure Pete Seger and a few friends joined the OWS. OWS actually sounds like one of the agencies that reared their ugly heads at the conclusion of WW2 in Europe,one of which was commanded by a young intel goon by name of Henry Kissinger. Didn’t mean to cast doubt on OWS,just kinda reminded me of another dark chapter of America’s forgettable past where we, as the beacon of the world, did some pretty forgettable exercises in foreign policy.TCW and Mag and anyone else knowledgeable in Native American history,does anyone know the meaning of the word Tonto? I read in a western decades ago that it meant fool or something similar. I see the Lone Ranger is on telly again and made me wonder about his trusty companion. Have a restful.peaceful Sunday and give ‘er hell tomorrow.
Tonto is actually Spanish, for “fool”. Tonto Basin is a significant geological feature in the state, once home to the Tonto Apaches, who were given their name because of the location where they had their winter camps. They undoubtedly called themselves a variant of “tineh”, which means “our kind of people”. The Tonto Basin later became the center for sheep-ranching in Arizona, and the old Bosco shepherds (what we call Basques out here in the rural west) drove sheep down the Verde River Valley into the Phoenix area for many years. I remember watching a sheep drive back in 1972: thousands of sheep, a couple leathery old men on horseback, and three very hard-working dogs.
Back in Honduras, where I learned my most colorful Spanish, the older ladies with whom I worked would occasionallypurse their lips, shake their heads, and murmer “Ay, que tonto” at the deeds of the local menfolk. Up on the English-speaking Caribbean north coast, foolishness of any sort was called a “puppet show”, pronounced “puppyshow”, as in “I ain’t got no use for dis yere puppyshow”.
I was about to weigh in on tonto = fool, but you beat me to it, Mag. If the Tonto Apache called themselves a variant of “tineh,” they must be near relatives of the Dineh (Dene), or Navajo. I believe they share a language group, which is of the same derivation as one found in eastern Alaska and parts of Canada. Apparently, these relatives can still understand one another, despite centuries of distance.
I didn’t learn my Spanish somewhere fun like Honduras, I learned it on the streets of the lower east side about 40 years ago. I didn’t mind my neighbors talking about me behind my back, but I couldn’t let them get away with doing so while I was present!
Good call, Zyxomma! The Apaches and Navajos are very closely related linguistically, and are all members of that group of nomad vagabonds, the Athabaskans. Navajos call themselves Dineh, which is very similar to what you hear in the name the Athabaskans on Alaska’s Kenai peninsula call themselves, Kenaitze. Apaches are Tineh or Tindeh, which is similar to the people along the Yukion river, the Tanaina. The Navajos and Apaches got the ramblin’ fever early on and ended up far away from the forest and tundra, but they can still communicate with their northern kin.
Thanks for the idea !! I’ll come up with a display item with that as a theme to add to my yard display ! I do a Tunnel of Terror pretty much every year in the garage for the past 20 years.. but have a “safe” path for the wee little angels and devils to go thru to get to the candy…it’s SO much fun to send the tots thru safely with their Dads, and make the Moms go thru the Tunnel !! the shrieks and screams make all the work worthwhile ! the whole street puts up dresses up for it,,, typically 250-300 kids enery year… Halloween is my favorite time !! – just dress up and give out candy, no expectations, no pressure, just pure fun ! I get depressed at xmas..!! Tombstomes went out yesterday,coffin, skulls and moving arms go out today, sprinklers sys off for the week, now, where DID I put that fog machine ???
.
No way!
I’m infected now with the Halloween virus!
YaY!
It’s my favorite HolyDay!
I already have my lights – and bags of candy – and lots of neighbor kids!
Before I clicked the link, I thought you meant one of those (ridiculous and traumatizing) RWNJ Xtian “haunted” houses, where instead of spooks and spirits, they have little abortion dolls. Who did what to them to create this kind of madness?
and the “candy” on the roof is little packets of ketchup, also, too.
“Eat your vegetables…
…and GET OFF MY LAWN!”
or religious tracts warning us we’re going straight to H E double hockey moms, er double hockey sticks, for observin’ that socialist Satanist trick-or-treatin’ in disguises and costumes and makin’ believe and such.
“Get a job…
…and GET OFF MY LAWN!”
Can the War on Xmas be far behind?
Nothing to see here, folks, just keep on shopping.
Oh dear.
I’ve been slimed, slipping into cynicism. (It sticks like teh stoopid, like teh word salad, like those hitch-hiking weed seeds in autumn forests.)
Time to adjust my attitude!
I’m off to bake a batch of snickerdoodles. Grandma Shorty, of blessed memory, taught me well, and her baby boy (my dear daddy) loves them. Since we’re celebrating his 80th birthday this week, I’ll bake a double batch to share at the birthday party. Cinnamon is one of my secret weapons when I need an attitude adjustment. Cinnamon and Grandma Shorty, of blessed memory.
The weather has finally cooled off (low 40s IS cool in Florida, really), so it’s a good day for baking.
I feel better already.
L’Shalom,
thatcrowwoman
My mother-in-law also made great snicker doodles! A truly old-fashioned cookie. Once, when she was getting quite old and not quite as agile in the kitchen, she confused chili powder for cinnamon. Well, we scraped as much off the baked cookies as possible and called them Tex-Mex cookies which we ate until they were all gone.
I often put a little red chile powder in brownies, chocolate cake, or hot chocolate,along with cinnamon. Crow, cinnamon actually works well in bringing down blood pressure and cutting cholesterol. Enjoy those cookies, and I hope they invoke more memories of Grandma Shorty, may she be of blessed memory.
confession is good for the soul,or so I’ve heard. I left kids alone on Halloween,they have tough enough childhoods the way it was. Just ask a bush or rockefeller kid sometime.Since you confessed to splking brownies with chile powder,I will admit to putting a ball of glazing compound in some oyster stew my folks tried to get me to believe was good for me. It wasn’t. Dad finally got to the putty and mikey was sent to Siberia (bed) for the duration. I still don’t like oysters-in any shape or form. As for Siberia,My bed is in my livingroom so being banished has a telly,an easy chair and lots of books and movies.
I happen to love oysters, but can understand people who don’t. They are rather putty-like, aren’t they? You were quite the trickster, then and now, weren’t you Mikey? Thanks for the warning – if I ever show up on your wind-blown doorstep to cook Thanksgiving dinner, I will leave the ysters out of the stuffing.
Snickerdoodles were made by my grandma for my mom, and her for me. Same for my hubby, by his mom.
One of our favorites and now one of my favorite ‘nieces’ makes them all summer for us, when she is with us!!
Families…..a good thing! Birthdays too, be them for 8 y/o or 80 y/o!
{{{{{{{{ thatcrowwoman }}}}}}}}} Hugs and snickerdoodles, love, health, peace, and joy. Enjoy the cool weather, and the joys of eating cookies with family (as well as the heavenly baking aromas).
A few days ago, I went to the community garden across the street from home, to take some photos of the strange mix of flowers — some summer varieties still blooming among the traditionally autumnal — then sent to pick up what I needed from the drugstore (sugar cane bagasse toilet paper, etc.). On the way in to the drugstore, I felt a stick in the ribs, then another. The bottom of my carry bag was positively thick with hitchhiking weed seeds, which I had to remove from my bag and clothes before I could proceed. Clever little plants, grabbing onto my canvas bag!
Up the Hudson in Yonkers this weekend. Planning on making oatmeal and baking apples. The raisins and vanilla bean are soaking now.
When the snickerdoodles got a little dry, I broke them in a bowl and poured warm milk over them for a bedtime snack for my kids. I told them it was a secret recipe to make them have good dreams.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL6GgbafGTY
totally OT… but really, I think you girls just start out Waaayyy too soon looking at cute guys !
ben running again !! 🙂
I don’ like to brag,but,I could put a stop to the cute guy watching in a hurry.Just don’t force me to do it.
Where’s the letters from the Congo thread? It was here this morning!
it’s back
My son is in NYC on a training session, and in talking to his wife, I just found out he has been over to Occupy Wall Street twice. Can’t wait for him to get home, so he can tell me all about it!
Yay!! If we’d known, we’d have gathered the troops for a mini-Mudstock.
I was thinking rwnj were doing a good job of analyzing this Nation’s worst problems. They are determined to prevent women from exercising their rights to control their reproductive lives. Debt and deficits are sky high. We are in a couple of totally un-necessary wars that are adding to the debt and deficits,people have no jobs,no prospects,no hope for any jobs,they can’t pay their bills or feed their families,education is getting to be a real joke,infrastructure is falling apart and we are basically on the brink of another civil war-so the tontos in rethugland want to redefine rape and outlaw abortion to cure all our ills. And I forgot their first move will be more taxcuts for the wealthy.
And lest we forget just how wealthy those 1% are, the paragraph in this piece about New York Times ads says it all:
“Perhaps more to the point, though, is how the Times apportions is dwindling editorial resources. For instance, in attempting to compete more aggressively with the likes of Conde Nast for the attention of wealthy consumers, the paper has ramped up its coverage of ultra-conspicuous consumption. Consider a not-atypical fashion spread in the most recent edition of the paper’s T magazine showing a waifish model wearing a $6,600 Dior dress, a $7,800 Gucci coat, a $1,850 Hermes belt, a $1,000 Eddie Borgo bracelet, an $11,900 Pomellato ring and a $34,200 Patek Philippe watch, for starters. (The U.S. annual median household income was $50,046 in 2010.)”
http://adage.com/article/the-media-guy/nytimes-reproach-percenters-keeping-paper-afloat/230584/
No, you didn’t forget. It’s so common to their speech and what passes for their thinking that it’s become unnoticeable, like cosmic background radiation, only not at all cosmic. They all act as if tax cuts for the top 1% or 5% or whichever tiny percentage they choose is what being an American legislator is all about, along with being Uterine Police and exhibiting utter contempt for anyone who is not obscenely wealthy, and even more contempt (bordering on disgust) for anyone who isn’t their brand of Xtian. Grover Norquist, Lee Atwater, Turdblossom, etc. taught them how to speak on every subject. Thus all this crap about “entitlement” reform. Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, et al. are all Earned Benefits, bought and paid for by all of us who work and pay taxes. Framing them as “entitlements” is about making it appear that those who collect are getting something for nothing. When they can’t frame the terms of the debate, they simply lie and talk over whoever else is speaking. Reprehensible.
Perception is Reality…. Death Panels is a prime example of mislabeling to decieve…
I kinda wonder why she’s skipping Juneau – you remember, the state capital.
Murkowski to hold economic town halls [from KINY News Online]
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is planning a series of town hall meetings focused on the U.S. economy.
The meetings are scheduled for Monday in Anchorage, Wednesday in Palmer and Thursday in Fairbanks.
They come as a special congressional committee continues work aimed at finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings over the coming decade. The so-called supercommittee has until Nov. 23 to come up with a plan to submit to Congress for an up-or-down vote.
Murkowski spokesman Matthew Felling says one of the reasons for the town halls is to put the issue of debt reduction on the front burner again for Alaskans. He said the issue remains a hot topic in Washington and that Murkowski wants the committee to be as aggressive as possible while still being responsible.
——————-
Now as to that debt reduction propaganda, here’s a great read from Mike Konczal:
“Imagine an alien from Mars who was trained in basic macroeconomics landed on Earth. If they looked at economic indicators – unemployment high, inflation low, borrowing costs low, job openings low, off-trend economic growth, short-term interest rates at zero – they would think that now is the time for the government to run a larger deficit. They – as opposed to a large number of pundits, think tanks and politicians – certainly wouldn’t think that a smaller deficit would be anything other than a disaster.
Ari Berman has a great piece in the Nation, How the Austerity Class Rules Washington, which provides a roadmap of the people and places who have triggered this focus on the deficit instead of unemployment in the Lesser Depression..” [but don’t stop here, you want the full hit on this one].
http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/the-austerity-class-and-the-deficit/
I was trying to think on a household-economics analogy [not always a good idea, but…] re the constant GOP bleating about “de-e-e-eficits! d-e-e-e-eficits!
What I came up with that it’s like telling you, when you’ve lost your job, to quit making your car payments and default on your mortgage. When what you need is _a job_, or a loan so you can invest in the improvements your biz needs to stay profitable. Make money, spend money, hire people, so others can make money, spend money, hire people…
When you’ve got the income thing settled, _then_ work on paring down the budget to build up that rainy day reserve. Don’t put the cart before the horse.
Anybody see anything wrong with that analogy?
… not bad, Mo.
The analogy I’ve been using is,,: Your wife goes crazy with the credit card and runs the bill to the limit. You take away the CC , take a temporary 2nd job or arrange to get some overtime to help pay down the bill., as well as look at the household budget to see what can be scaled back, You DON’T ask your boss to cut your salary because you’ve run up the debt !!
Yeah, I like that one, too.
Especially if one substitutes “Bush & Cheney” and “Defense Department” for “wife” and “credit card.”
yeah! I’ve thoughtof that, but I’m slowly converting some Red Folk to Blue… so I have to chose my words carefully…. still struggling with some of their “Palin is HOT” attitude… I need to find that pic of her in Hawaii with the cottage cheese legs to put up against that Runner’s World nylons one… hehehhe!! Oh MAN, am I glad I’m not Todd …. can you imagine being around her when menapause kicks in ?!?!?!
Juneau’s kinda wondering the same thing.
It’s not like we have cooties or anything and we’re merely a nice bluish purple so we likely wouldn’t skew her “sample” of Alaskan’s thoughts on debt reduction too, too much… like enough to fling her off that R-y carousel she hopped right back on when folks sent her back to DC.
We might slow it down enough to make her listen though.
Maybe that’s it.
A truly wonderful interactive graphic, discovered via Jared Bernstein’s blog:
http://stories.energytrap.org/states
Click on your state. Note how Alaska and Hawaii’s bubbles are always bouncing on the top. In light of the plight of villages and fuel costs, however, I wonder if the percentage-of-income figure for Alaska doesn’t take account of this? Geographically, it seems a large part of this state ought to be in the orange/red zone.
It’s a very interesting website, but I also wonder about the accuracy of these charts for states like mine (NY) which include highly concentrated cities with extensive public transportation systems. Since many of the people who live and/or work in the NYC metro area use public transportation, their statistics would most likely skew the statewide results. The vast majority of people I knew who worked in NYC but lived on Long Island took the train instead of driving even though they lived in suburban or even rural areas. The effect of gasoline prices on their income is much less than it would be on mine, although it does eventually trickle down to commuter ticket prices.
Where I now live in western NY, the public transportation systems are just not as extensive and most people have to drive. If I tried to take the bus from my home in the suburbs to my job in the city, it would take me 1 hour and 35 minutes, require one transfer and the earliest bus would get me to work 45 minutes late. Instead, I drive the 14 miles in about 20-25 minutes and (usually) get to work on time.
In Alaska, and many other states like mine, the combination of statistics from urban areas with the more remote, rural areas may dilute the accuracy of these reports.
Wise observation, my neighbor to the north (and west). I work at home, with company meetings at either a loft in SoHo (I can walk there, though sometimes I cab it, and I often take the bus home) or a club in midtown east (bus + subway, 40 minutes at most if everything goes wrong) on those occasions when we need comfort and a midtown venue. I also use a by-the-hour office for my holistic health practice. Weekends (mainly), I take public transit (bus/subway or cab to Grand Central, then Metro North to Yonkers, then about a minute’s walk to the apt. house where bf lives). Even in a busy week, my transportation expense is negligible. I have no need for a car, in fact, owning one would be a burden. Long Islanders take the LIRR in droves, but nearly all of them own cars as well. Same thing in Westchester and a few other counties up here; almost everyone owns a car, but many take public transit to work. Cars are for getting home from the train station, shopping, and transporting those too young to drive themselves. New York’s statistics are most certainly skewed, since we have huge urban population centers (also where many of the businesses are located), suburbs, exurbs, and rural areas (farms, orchards, etc.). For so many New Yorkers, transportation is not measured by the price of gas, but by the price of a MetroCard and train tickets. That makes the mean meaningless. Same thing in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other metropolitan areas. We just don’t drive. When we do, we rent a vehicle.
Since I’m a ways away from city lights and would prefer to eat the candy for myself,the cartoon is missing the real “gobblin’s-you know the wealthy 1%,up on the roof scarfing down everything of value before it has a chance to trickle anywhere. I read yesterday that 92 year-old American Treasure Pete Seger and a few friends joined the OWS. OWS actually sounds like one of the agencies that reared their ugly heads at the conclusion of WW2 in Europe,one of which was commanded by a young intel goon by name of Henry Kissinger. Didn’t mean to cast doubt on OWS,just kinda reminded me of another dark chapter of America’s forgettable past where we, as the beacon of the world, did some pretty forgettable exercises in foreign policy.TCW and Mag and anyone else knowledgeable in Native American history,does anyone know the meaning of the word Tonto? I read in a western decades ago that it meant fool or something similar. I see the Lone Ranger is on telly again and made me wonder about his trusty companion. Have a restful.peaceful Sunday and give ‘er hell tomorrow.
Mike – “tonto” in Spanish means “fool.”
Thank you much. You can have the rest of the day off.
Tonto is actually Spanish, for “fool”. Tonto Basin is a significant geological feature in the state, once home to the Tonto Apaches, who were given their name because of the location where they had their winter camps. They undoubtedly called themselves a variant of “tineh”, which means “our kind of people”. The Tonto Basin later became the center for sheep-ranching in Arizona, and the old Bosco shepherds (what we call Basques out here in the rural west) drove sheep down the Verde River Valley into the Phoenix area for many years. I remember watching a sheep drive back in 1972: thousands of sheep, a couple leathery old men on horseback, and three very hard-working dogs.
Back in Honduras, where I learned my most colorful Spanish, the older ladies with whom I worked would occasionallypurse their lips, shake their heads, and murmer “Ay, que tonto” at the deeds of the local menfolk. Up on the English-speaking Caribbean north coast, foolishness of any sort was called a “puppet show”, pronounced “puppyshow”, as in “I ain’t got no use for dis yere puppyshow”.
I was about to weigh in on tonto = fool, but you beat me to it, Mag. If the Tonto Apache called themselves a variant of “tineh,” they must be near relatives of the Dineh (Dene), or Navajo. I believe they share a language group, which is of the same derivation as one found in eastern Alaska and parts of Canada. Apparently, these relatives can still understand one another, despite centuries of distance.
I didn’t learn my Spanish somewhere fun like Honduras, I learned it on the streets of the lower east side about 40 years ago. I didn’t mind my neighbors talking about me behind my back, but I couldn’t let them get away with doing so while I was present!
Good call, Zyxomma! The Apaches and Navajos are very closely related linguistically, and are all members of that group of nomad vagabonds, the Athabaskans. Navajos call themselves Dineh, which is very similar to what you hear in the name the Athabaskans on Alaska’s Kenai peninsula call themselves, Kenaitze. Apaches are Tineh or Tindeh, which is similar to the people along the Yukion river, the Tanaina. The Navajos and Apaches got the ramblin’ fever early on and ended up far away from the forest and tundra, but they can still communicate with their northern kin.
Geez mike-see what you started now.tonto.
Thanks for the idea !! I’ll come up with a display item with that as a theme to add to my yard display ! I do a Tunnel of Terror pretty much every year in the garage for the past 20 years.. but have a “safe” path for the wee little angels and devils to go thru to get to the candy…it’s SO much fun to send the tots thru safely with their Dads, and make the Moms go thru the Tunnel !! the shrieks and screams make all the work worthwhile ! the whole street puts up dresses up for it,,, typically 250-300 kids enery year… Halloween is my favorite time !! – just dress up and give out candy, no expectations, no pressure, just pure fun ! I get depressed at xmas..!! Tombstomes went out yesterday,coffin, skulls and moving arms go out today, sprinklers sys off for the week, now, where DID I put that fog machine ???
I have GOT to remember to proof read before posting.. more coffe pls!
.
No way!
I’m infected now with the Halloween virus!
YaY!
It’s my favorite HolyDay!
I already have my lights – and bags of candy – and lots of neighbor kids!
that is so candy sweet BenL.
I first read that as “frog machine” … which would be cool and still appropriate. 🙂 Your Halloween efforts sound amazing.
Could be worse. The kids could have tricked or treated at a Jesusween house. http://Www.JesusWeen.com
Before I clicked the link, I thought you meant one of those (ridiculous and traumatizing) RWNJ Xtian “haunted” houses, where instead of spooks and spirits, they have little abortion dolls. Who did what to them to create this kind of madness?
Now that is really scary. Much scarier than the little ghosts, goblins and witches that show up at my house, or the neighbor’s decorations.
and the “candy” on the roof is little packets of ketchup, also, too.
“Eat your vegetables…
…and GET OFF MY LAWN!”
or religious tracts warning us we’re going straight to H E double hockey moms, er double hockey sticks, for observin’ that socialist Satanist trick-or-treatin’ in disguises and costumes and makin’ believe and such.
“Get a job…
…and GET OFF MY LAWN!”
Can the War on Xmas be far behind?
Nothing to see here, folks, just keep on shopping.
Oh dear.
I’ve been slimed, slipping into cynicism. (It sticks like teh stoopid, like teh word salad, like those hitch-hiking weed seeds in autumn forests.)
Time to adjust my attitude!
I’m off to bake a batch of snickerdoodles. Grandma Shorty, of blessed memory, taught me well, and her baby boy (my dear daddy) loves them. Since we’re celebrating his 80th birthday this week, I’ll bake a double batch to share at the birthday party. Cinnamon is one of my secret weapons when I need an attitude adjustment. Cinnamon and Grandma Shorty, of blessed memory.
The weather has finally cooled off (low 40s IS cool in Florida, really), so it’s a good day for baking.
I feel better already.
L’Shalom,
thatcrowwoman
My mother-in-law also made great snicker doodles! A truly old-fashioned cookie. Once, when she was getting quite old and not quite as agile in the kitchen, she confused chili powder for cinnamon. Well, we scraped as much off the baked cookies as possible and called them Tex-Mex cookies which we ate until they were all gone.
.
I bet they were great dipped in chocolate…
Mole!
I often put a little red chile powder in brownies, chocolate cake, or hot chocolate,along with cinnamon. Crow, cinnamon actually works well in bringing down blood pressure and cutting cholesterol. Enjoy those cookies, and I hope they invoke more memories of Grandma Shorty, may she be of blessed memory.
confession is good for the soul,or so I’ve heard. I left kids alone on Halloween,they have tough enough childhoods the way it was. Just ask a bush or rockefeller kid sometime.Since you confessed to splking brownies with chile powder,I will admit to putting a ball of glazing compound in some oyster stew my folks tried to get me to believe was good for me. It wasn’t. Dad finally got to the putty and mikey was sent to Siberia (bed) for the duration. I still don’t like oysters-in any shape or form. As for Siberia,My bed is in my livingroom so being banished has a telly,an easy chair and lots of books and movies.
I happen to love oysters, but can understand people who don’t. They are rather putty-like, aren’t they? You were quite the trickster, then and now, weren’t you Mikey? Thanks for the warning – if I ever show up on your wind-blown doorstep to cook Thanksgiving dinner, I will leave the ysters out of the stuffing.
You all are making me hungry.
🙂
Snickerdoodles were made by my grandma for my mom, and her for me. Same for my hubby, by his mom.
One of our favorites and now one of my favorite ‘nieces’ makes them all summer for us, when she is with us!!
Families…..a good thing! Birthdays too, be them for 8 y/o or 80 y/o!
{{{{{{{{ thatcrowwoman }}}}}}}}} Hugs and snickerdoodles, love, health, peace, and joy. Enjoy the cool weather, and the joys of eating cookies with family (as well as the heavenly baking aromas).
A few days ago, I went to the community garden across the street from home, to take some photos of the strange mix of flowers — some summer varieties still blooming among the traditionally autumnal — then sent to pick up what I needed from the drugstore (sugar cane bagasse toilet paper, etc.). On the way in to the drugstore, I felt a stick in the ribs, then another. The bottom of my carry bag was positively thick with hitchhiking weed seeds, which I had to remove from my bag and clothes before I could proceed. Clever little plants, grabbing onto my canvas bag!
Up the Hudson in Yonkers this weekend. Planning on making oatmeal and baking apples. The raisins and vanilla bean are soaking now.
Mmmm. I have snickerdoodles in the cookie jar right now! Love ’em!
When the snickerdoodles got a little dry, I broke them in a bowl and poured warm milk over them for a bedtime snack for my kids. I told them it was a secret recipe to make them have good dreams.
They went to the the “ghost of Reagan’s house.”