At 10PM CST it was 32°. This is much too early for a freezing temperature,

There’s a tent over the fish pond so the feral cats can get in out of the cold, and I have a lamp on the concrete slab out back for the less friendly cats.

Update: It dropped to 29° and established a new record low for the date.

Update2: Echidne of the Snakes earned the right to use all caps and the exclamation mark for BRRR!

John “the Walrus” Bolton admits he is unloved and goes home to yell at his family instead of the United Nations. The Shrubbery is annoyed that the minions are thwarting his imperial will.

Also Ellroon at Rants from the Rookery discovers a speech by Bill Moyers at West Point. Preach, Brother Moyers, preach!

Pat Lang of Sic Semper Tyrannis writes about Cheney being summoned to Saudi Arabia. Someone needs to explain to the Shrubbery that Sunni Arab governments can not and will not ignore a Shi’ia “ethnic cleansing” of the Sunni in Iraq. If things look bad for the Sunnis in Iraq, the war will widen.

Crooks and Liars has the video of Lieberman’s State of Denial-or-calling all arsonists…:

LIEBERMAN: I believe that America is a mighty enough nation that we should never fear to talk to anyone. But anyone who believes that Iran and Syria really want to help us to succeed in Iraq, I just is missing the reality. Asking Iran and Syria to help us succeed in Iraq is like your local fire department asking a couple of arsonists to help put out the fire. These people are flaming the fire. They are the extremists. They are supporting terrorists in Iraq, in Lebanon and of course in the Palestinian areas.

When I heard this on the radio, it crystallized for me how disconnected from reality Liebermann actually is. These are Likud talking points, not a sober assessment of the situation. Neither Iran nor Syria wants a failed state on their border, and both helped the United States after 9-11.

The worst thing that could happen to the current government in Syria would be for Israel to withdraw from the Golan. The Israeli occupation keeps the Ba’athists in power.

Yes, it’s the time of year when the Sun dies and must be re-born through an elaborate ceremony that involves some form or type of sacrifice, such as finding gifts for people you can’t stand and smiling brightly as you receive yet another gift based on an urban legend that you actually like truly stomach-wrenching color combinations.

Of course there was a time when the Solstice sacrifices were more visceral and the evergreen was covered in things that pleased only ravens and such, but we have put all that behind us by opting for the possibility of electrocuting one another and causing chaos on the power grid.

What a brilliant idea: moving a large supply of pre-kindling soaked with highly flammable resins into your house, loading it down with petrochemical-based ornaments, lacing it with heat-producing electrical devices, and surrounding the base with cardboard boxes and tissue paper. You just can’t have a traditional celebration without a proto-bonfire in your living room.

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