White Christmas is a wonderful movie that I have seen many times. It is not, however, an experience that I have ever had, nor one that I ever really want to have. In fact, the only time I have ever come close was about 10 years ago in Mexico, when it snowed about 4 inches on Christmas Eve. But the ground was too warm for it to stick and by Christmas Day it was sunny and 65 degrees.
Where I currently live, we seldom have snow before January. And while that January snow is often enough to close the schools, even it rarely lingers more than a day or so. Although a cursory glance at the statistics will show there is no record of a snowfall on Christmas Day here, that doesn’t prevent the National Weather Service from putting it in the forecast every year.
So I was somewhat surprised when my husband woke me up this morning with the pronouncement that it was snowing. After a couple of questions, I explained that hard pellets are not really classified as snow. But even the sleet was short-lived, and by 9:00 am all but the sanest of our group (that would be me) were off to the big park to watch our lab puppy celebrate his first Christmas by chasing the ducks.
Fear not for the ducks. They live on a big island in the lake and the icy cold water was more than sufficient to deter my trusty water-loving lab. (This was true, in part, because the Sheltie was having no part of the lake or the ducks, and in part because there were all those squirrels to chase.)
While they were frolicking, I was minding the fort, making lasagna noodles and clearing out the wrapping paper remains when I encountered one of those funny things that happens when a lot of people temporarily share a small space. The phone rang. By the second ring I realized that the phone handset was not on the base, but by then it had quit ringing and the machine had picked up the call.
It was, of course, more family calling from Mexico, but I couldn’t answer because I couldn’t find the handset. After they hung up, but before I could hit the locator button, another call came in from Mexico and I was unable to answer. Another message, then another call – my sister in France – and I couldn’t answer. And so it went for five more messages.
And once I turned on the locator my luck wasn’t much better. In the end it took three of us about 15 minutes to find the handset – in my husband’s sweater pocket, which was neatly folded and tucked into a dresser drawer. That was the first indication that today would be a challenging one for telephones in my house. It was followed by at least three different "call my cell phone so I can find it" requests.
Christmas -- time to stop and reflect on how technology has improved our lives. Given the prevalence of cell phones, I should probably be glad that only three went missing today.
Speaking of cell phones, if you were looking for a bit of news this Christmas evening, Bob Parks reports that in the dysprosium war (what, you didn’t know we were at war with dysprosium?) the U.S. is set to break China’s rare-earth monopoly, but he believes that "this is not good news."
The 15 lanthanide-series metals, plus scandium and yttrium that are designated as "rare-earth metals" are not at all rare in the Earth's crust, but they’re widely dispersed and difficult to extract. Parks explains:
The magnetic properties of dysprosium in particular make it important to the iphone and to hybrid and electric automobiles. China gained its monopoly of rare-earth metals by cutting prices at the cost of environmental degradation. It's a time-honored path for modernization of an economy, but with its new wealth, China now seeks to improve the environment. That's not easy to do in the rare-earth market; the dust from mining operations is mildly radioactive due to thorium and uranium minerals and the separation process uses enormous amounts of toxic acids. The chief US producer was Molycorp which now plans to reopen to its notorious mine in Mountain Pass, CA, closed in part because of environmental degradation. The company promises to employ a cleaner technology, but mining it is an inherently dirty business.
Before you rush off to start prospecting in your back yard, here is a word from our sponsors. . . .
We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
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Tonight’s Top Comments. . . .
From sardonyx:
In a comment in kos's front-page story about what might have happened if Senate Dems had been this productive before lame duck session, Crashing Vor notes that it's amazing what government can do under certain conditions.
From captainlaser:
I'm a data guy. I love facts. So I really liked this comment by AaronInSanDiego that linked to this well-documented article about a Rutgers University study on public versus private employee salaries.
From smileycreek:
I nominate this comment in which highfive relates a December story of honesty among the impoverished.
From me:
It isn't often that a single thread can be both a fountain of innuendo and a masterpiece of bad puns, but Leo in NJ started one that quickly devolved in both directions.
kovie posts one of my favorite magazine covers. I still have the ENTIRE NatLamp collection.
sny has a few uncomforatble (for wingnuts) facts about Hitler's economic policies.
Tonight’s Top Mojo . . . .
Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and Cheers and Jeers:
1) I might suggest adding links to support the by Bob Johnson — 138
2) I want to wish everyone great health and by nyceve — 122
3) I knew you were too ornery to keep down... by VA6thDem — 110
4) Bob... by mka193 — 93
5) We know how they do it by Ed in Montana — 89
6) The loss of a parent is by Granny Doc — 74
7) Follow this thread and you'll see what happened. by Bob Johnson — 73
8) The diarist in question was banned from here by Bob Johnson — 70
9) Well, she's a wonderful writer. by Bob Johnson — 70
10) This means what in relation to my diary? by shpilk — 66
11) Bob, You Did Great Tonight by JekyllnHyde — 65
12) I had this conversation with my GOP partner once by thenekkidtruth — 63
13) I posted a response to MB in the earlier diary. by Bob Johnson — 58
14) Merry Xmas!!! Smokey gave me a wonderful by HylasBrook — 57
15) As a Democratic activist for over 20 years by LeftHandedMan — 55
16) I played it straight, Meteor. by Bob Johnson — 54
17) My father once told me... by VA6thDem — 54
18) Merry Christmas from Stormy and by blue jersey mom — 54
19) A reason to really be cautious about what is by ThisIsMyTime — 53
20) It was, indeed, your efforts that... by Meteor Blades — 52
21) Gaffer investigates the boxes... by trs — 52
22) It's the propaganda. by irate — 51
23) I'm still kind of suprised by mallyroyal — 51
24) For the record, I often recommend... by Meteor Blades — 50
25) My ideas about Obama started 5 years ago, by shpilk — 49
26) "specious accusations and claims"? by NBBooks — 49
27) bless all hospice workers by TrueBlueMajority — 49
28) Love to you, VA6th by Im a frayed knot — 49
29) And health care costs are about half of what they by EquationDoc — 48
30) Their sudden concern for offensive by amk for obama — 46
31) Thank you Bob Johnson! Might I add by Deoliver47 — 46
32) I would say she has some strengths as a writer by seanwright — 46
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Thank You to the many of you by Granny Doc — 395
2) Tip Jar by nyceve — 272
3) Tip Jar by Democrats Ramshield — 209
4) Tip Jar by mka193 — 195
5) Tip Jar by captainlaser — 169
6) Tip Jar by Joshua EldenBrady — 166
7) The "periodic conversation" by shpilk — 163
8) Tip Jar by quaoar — 156
9) Tip Jar by nannyboz — 140
10) I might suggest adding links to support the by Bob Johnson — 138
11) I want to wish everyone great health and by nyceve — 124
12) I knew you were too ornery to keep down... by VA6thDem — 110
13) Tip Jar by juliewolf — 110
14) Scritchie Jar by triciawyse — 104
15) Tip Jar by teacherken — 100
16) icicle tips by claude — 96
17) Bob... by mka193 — 93
18) Tip Jar by ericlewis0 — 89
19) We know how they do it by Ed in Montana — 89
20) The loss of a parent is by Granny Doc — 74
21) Follow this thread and you'll see what happened. by Bob Johnson — 73
22) The diarist in question was banned from here by Bob Johnson — 70
23) Well, she's a wonderful writer. by Bob Johnson — 70
24) This means what in relation to my diary? by shpilk — 66
25) Bob, You Did Great Tonight by JekyllnHyde — 65
26) I had this conversation with my GOP partner once by thenekkidtruth — 63
27) I really love this community. by blue jersey mom — 63
28) I posted a response to MB in the earlier diary. by Bob Johnson — 58
29) Merry Xmas!!! Smokey gave me a wonderful by HylasBrook — 57
30) As a Democratic activist for over 20 years by LeftHandedMan — 55