Quote by trojanrabbit:
Good morning.

I finally got my cube back, so I've been rearranging computers and what-not here. That and it being really busy with work piling up due to my recent absences and general "emergencies" means I'm curtailing most internet activity. I know everyone at work says take care of home stuff, but it bothers me that I'm not here when crap is hitting the fan and I could be useful. And it's time for year-end review....

Mrs. Rabbit is slowly getting used to home life again. She gets seen by visiting nurses and therapists. While she knows where everything is, controlling the TiVo/TV and working the laptop (and by extension the Book of Face) is very difficult for her. Sadly, my patience is very thin for that stuff because I really don't want her playing those games and being an easy mark for internet scams. I might have to consider simplifying things with the TV. Same for feeding herself. For the time being, she's been getting subs and putting them in the fridge for lunch while I do breakfast and dinner. We may end up going to something like Meals on Wheels for lunch. My mother made up quite a few "microwavable" meals that she gave to us on Thanksgiving.

I going to have to keep an eye on the cat food levels, she told me she fed them yesterday because they were whining for food. Had to stress that I already fed them and she should NOT feed them again. If she wants to give them something, give them a couple of treats. The cats are fat enough already.

I can't even begin to think about holidays yet, except that it means that I'm using up the rest of my vacation time.

Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

Staff meeting today, eventually. That and I'm bickering with idiots on Rolling Stone's FB about the damage Snowden did in his quest to steal the job that the NSA wouldn't give him.

Quote by Raine:

Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

Staff meeting today, eventually. That and I'm bickering with idiots on Rolling Stone's FB about the damage Snowden did in his quest to steal the job that the NSA wouldn't give him.

Huh? What did I miss?

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by Raine:

Quote by Mondobubba:
Did "A Christmas Story" kill the blog?

The blog was frageelay.

I see what you did there.

Quote by Raine:

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by Raine:

Quote by Mondobubba:
Did "A Christmas Story" kill the blog?

The blog was frageelay.

I see what you did there.

Quote by Mondobubba:
Mala! Rick Grimes dad jokes.

Quote by wickedpam:

Quote by Mondobubba:
Mala! Rick Grimes dad jokes.

oh lord

Quote by Raine:
Now, I'd heard about this but actually hadn't read what he said: Ponder this for a moment:

VARNEY: Right, I thought that the Pope was really very much in favor of the European social model, which is neo-Socialism and which fails its own people. And I was -- I just disagreed with the Pope on that basis. And secondly, to your point, I don't want to mix politics with my spiritual life. When I go to church I don't wish to have my vote touted for by the preacher. I don't want it. I don't want any mention of politics whatsoever, and you know I think you and I agree on this. Astonishing.

NAPOLITANO: Yes we do agree on this. Look, the Pope is competent to teach the Church and the world on matters of faith and morals, and he can talk about social justice, but when the Pope says it is the obligation of the government to take from the rich and give to the poor because that's the only way to alleviate poverty, he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Quote by Raine:
Now, I'd heard about this but actually hadn't read what he said: Ponder this for a moment:

VARNEY: Right, I thought that the Pope was really very much in favor of the European social model, which is neo-Socialism and which fails its own people. And I was -- I just disagreed with the Pope on that basis. And secondly, to your point, I don't want to mix politics with my spiritual life. When I go to church I don't wish to have my vote touted for by the preacher. I don't want it. I don't want any mention of politics whatsoever, and you know I think you and I agree on this. Astonishing.

NAPOLITANO: Yes we do agree on this. Look, the Pope is competent to teach the Church and the world on matters of faith and morals, and he can talk about social justice, but when the Pope says it is the obligation of the government to take from the rich and give to the poor because that's the only way to alleviate poverty, he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Quote by Mondobubba:

Quote by wickedpam:

Quote by Mondobubba:
Mala! Rick Grimes dad jokes.

oh lord

They are all so lame.

Quote by Raine:
Cremation killed the blog.

(that shouldn't make me laugh -- and yet it does.)

Quote by TriSec:
And I'm in! (Trisec has A new toy.)

Now, the premise that we’re all created equal is the opening line in the American story. And while we don’t promise equal outcomes, we’ve strived to deliver equal opportunity -- the idea that success doesn’t depend on being born into wealth or privilege, it depends on effort and merit. And with every chapter we’ve added to that story, we’ve worked hard to put those words into practice.

It was Abraham Lincoln, a self-described poor-man’s son who started a system of land-grant colleges all over this country so that any poor-man’s son could go learn something new. When farms gave way to factories, a rich-man’s son named Teddy Roosevelt fought for an eight-hour work day, protections for workers and busted monopolies that kept prices high and wages low.

When millions lived in poverty, FDR fought for Social Security and insurance for the unemployment and a minimum wage. When millions died without health insurance, LBJ fought for Medicare and Medicaid. Together we forged a new deal, declared a war on poverty and a great society, we built a ladder of opportunity to climb and stretched out a safety net beneath so that if we fell, it wouldn’t be too far and we could bounce back.

And as a result, America built the largest middle class the world has ever known. And for the three decades after World War II, it was the engine of our prosperity. Now, we can’t look at the past through rose-colored glasses. The economy didn’t always work for everyone.

Racial discrimination locked millions out of poverty -- or out of opportunity. Women were too often confined to a handful of often poorly paid professions. And it was only through painstaking struggle that more women and minorities and Americans with disabilities began to win the right to more fairly and fully participate in the economy.

Quote by Raine:

As values of community broke down and competitive pressure increased, businesses lobbied Washington to weaken unions and the value of the minimum wage.

As the trickle-down ideology

became more prominent, taxes were slashes for the wealthiest while investments in things that make us all richer, like schools and infrastructure, were allowed to wither.

And for a certain period of time we could ignore this weakening economic foundation, in part because more families were relying on two earners, as women entered the workforce. We took on more debt financed by juiced-up housing market. But when the music stopped and the crisis hit, millions of families were stripped of whatever cushion they had left.

And the result is an economy that’s become profoundly unequal and families that are more insecure. Just to give you a few statistics: Since 1979, when I graduated from high school, our productivity is up by more than 90 percent, but the income of the typical family has increased by less than 8 percent. Since 1979 our economy has more than doubled in size, but most of the growth has flowed to a fortunate few. The top 10 percent no longer takes in one-third of our income; it now takes half. Whereas in the past, the average CEO made about 20 to 30 times the income of the average worker, today’s CEO now makes 273 times more.

And meanwhile, a family in the top 1 percent has a net worth 288 times higher than the typical family, which is a record for this country.

Yes, he's slamming Reaganism. Slamming it hard.

This one was a powerful speech.

Quote by Raine:
Now, I'd heard about this but actually hadn't read what he said: Ponder this for a moment:

VARNEY: Right, I thought that the Pope was really very much in favor of the European social model, which is neo-Socialism and which fails its own people. And I was -- I just disagreed with the Pope on that basis. And secondly, to your point, I don't want to mix politics with my spiritual life. When I go to church I don't wish to have my vote touted for by the preacher. I don't want it. I don't want any mention of politics whatsoever, and you know I think you and I agree on this. Astonishing.

NAPOLITANO: Yes we do agree on this. Look, the Pope is competent to teach the Church and the world on matters of faith and morals, and he can talk about social justice, but when the Pope says it is the obligation of the government to take from the rich and give to the poor because that's the only way to alleviate poverty, he doesn't know what he's talking about.