Any excuse for a party

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The military's top generals have warned Iraq is on the cusp of a civil war and that U.S. troops must remain in large numbers until at least next spring. But if the winds suddenly blow a different direction, Congress is ready to celebrate with a $20 million victory party.

Lawmakers included language in this year's defense spending bill, approved last week, allowing them to spend the money. The money for "commemoration of success" in Iraq and Afghanistan was originally tucked into last year's defense measure, but went unspent amid an uptick in violence in both countries that forced the Pentagon to extend tours of duty for thousands of troops.

The rest of it's here.

With thanks to kinzel for the link.

Visual Precision

The new glasses have arrived, and they are a marvel of lightness and clarity. After forty years of tortoise shell and/or brown frames (to match the hair) these are half-framed in silver (to match the hair). And did I mention light? I hardly know they're on (except that, y'know, I can actually see my hand in front of my face). My glasses used to be quarter inch thick glass weighing approximately three tons; they put grooves on the side of my head, pulled my ears out of alignment, and left bruises on the bridge of my nose.

They're doing wonderful things with plastics, nowadays.

Mozart has been a cuddlecat today. He's taken to jumping into my lap for a cuddle after I've finished eating dinner. Today, I could hardly get him to decamp when it was time to rise and Do Stuff, and when I came back to the computer, he was immediately in my lap, curling himself into an impossibly small curl, for a seventeen pound cat, and slept there while I typed through his whiskers and ruffled pages in his ears, for more than an hour. My lap was numb by the time he stirred, sttttrrrreeeettttccchhhhed, and hopped down to go spend some quality time with the rocking chair.

SRM orders have been filled. Writing has been accomplished. Laundry has been finished. Haven't quite made it to the dishes, yet. That's next on the agenda, I guess.

Progress on the story formerly known as "There's a Star in the East on Christmas Morn"

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