Tonight my grandchildren will be here to make Christmas cookies and treats. With my first granddaughter, we began to bake together from the time I could stand her in a chair beside me. She is nine years old now, and says she is going to have a worldwide bakery chain when she grows up. She loves to cook, and is very adventurous in her recipe choices.

Sometimes that doesn’t work out well, as with the raspberry meringues she tried to make for our Thanksgiving dinner. At this point, her enthusiasm outpaces her experience and skill, but even her failures will teach her much.

Several years ago when my youngest grandson was two, we started making gingerbread men, and he so loved his “ginger-men” that he always asked to make them when he came over, and eventually his cousins were included, and Christmas cookie night got a little out of control.

Since then I’ve been able to find ideas and recipes for holiday treats the kids can make without a lot of trouble and mess. From witches’ brooms at Halloween to pilgrim hats at Thanksgiving, we’ve been able to have tasty treats, as my littlest grandson calls them, without too much effort.

These are the two treats we will be making tonight. I hope you guys have favorite recipes to share, easy or more challenging. Some of my favorite memories of making Christmas treats with my kids involve our gingerbread houses, which were actually made with graham crackers, canned frosting, and lots of candies.

Cookie cutter brownies here.

Chocolate candy Christmas trees here.

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the JoeBama Administration and Presidency.

“This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.”

“But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.”

~ Mike Vanderboegh

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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The White House fearmongering over the Omicron variant appears to have influenced a judicial review of the federal vaccine mandate. Perhaps, this explains part of the fear-porn motive.  [Court Opinion pdf Here]

More than two dozen legal challenges to the federal vaccine mandate for employers over 100 employees were consolidated into the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio.  That federal appeals court has reinstated Biden vaccine mandate for U.S. workers.

OHIO – A federal appeals court has reinstated the Biden administration’s vaccine and testing requirement for private businesses that covers about 80 million American workers.

The ruling by the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati lifted a November injunction that had blocked the rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which applies to businesses with at least 100 workers.

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This is interesting. On December 14, TechnoFog noted the FDA gave approval to vaccine boosters amid 16 and 17-year-olds without consulting the medical advisory panel on safety and efficacy of the policy shift {SEE HERE}.

As correctly noted at the time, “This is the FDA making a cost/benefit calculation without knowing the costs or benefits. It doesn’t know the real risks, because it didn’t study the potential for adverse reactions in kids aged 16 – 17 years,” yet, the FDA did it anyway.

The issue is actually quite alarming considering there are multiple studies showing that specific age group, especially young males, were negatively impacted by vaccine created heart damage.  Then again, adverse vaccine outcomes may have been the reason why the FDA never wanted to convene a medical advisory board before giving the approval for a vaccine booster to the group most at risk for the adverse outcome.

Regardless of FDA motive, the Washington Post is now following-up on the issue pointed out by Techno Fog and calling out the Biden administration for having the FDA ignore medical community advice:

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The South African government reports today that the Omicron variant is widespread yet not creating any medical issues.  “Only 1.7% of identified Covid-19 cases were admitted to hospital in the second week of infections in the fourth wave, compared with 19% in the same week of the third delta-driven wave, South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said at a press conference.”

At the same time, the White House COVID crisis response team is driving the fearmongering around Omicron at staggering levels of propaganda and fear porn.  During a public broadcast of the White House position, COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients is again claiming that Omicron will kill millions of Americans if rapid action is not taken to shut down human activity.

Zients claims today that a “severe winter of illness and death” awaits anyone who does not adhere to the political propaganda they are pushing. WATCH (01:06):

This is the same coordinated fear messaging Joe Biden was pushing yesterday.   Obviously, the White House has made the decision to double down on the fear porn.

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Among other things annoying about their collective nonsense, the communist Democrats are linguistic agitators. While known for their insufferable victimhood positions in all of their arguments, this latest example highlights just how insane and ridiculous this AOC tribe has become.

Originally, they moved from “silence is violence“, to speech they didn’t like hearing about being called violence.  Indeed, anything the leftists do not like, they find some way to equate it with violence against them.  At a certain point it all becomes silly, and the frustrated audience tells them to shut up, and stop being stupid.

However, not going to be denied the opportunity to spread the moonbat nonsense, a member of the AOC squad, Ms. Ayanna Pressley, now rises to say that if American taxpayers do not forgive the mountain of student debt (created by attending college to learn how to be a better communist), then taxpayers are being violent against her:

Anger is a very visible response from the leftists whenever their policies are rejected.  The modern political left does not view rejection as a rebuke of their ideology, instead they view rejection as a need to push harder.

From the generation of new communists, insanely narcissistic people created by parents who were jaw-droppingly coddling and overindulgent, they need to reeducate their target.  They need you to change your thinking and perspectives from incorrect thoughts they don’t agree with to correct thoughts that align with their selfish worldview.  To achieve this outcome, the only acceptable path is to push their insanity even harder.

They have learned from their emotional experiences as children that eventually every parent will relent.  There is now an entire generation who apply that experience toward their bosses, their colleagues and every interaction in their life.   Yes, if you put anyone from this generation into a position of power or influence, what you get is exactly what Pressley and the AOC tribe are doing.  Their worldview is based on a cognitive and emotional inability to contemplate their ideology is flawed.

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As Reuters reported last month {LINK}, the Italian government “extended mandatory vaccination, already in force for healthcare workers, to all school staff, police and the military, beginning from Dec. 15.”  The enforcement mechanism comes from the Arma dei Carabinieri, the state police agency that falls under the military and carries out all domestic policing duties.

On the exact same day the Carabinieri vaccine mandate was scheduled to begin, this happens:

https://youtu.be/LlGTyIks2SI

(Italy) – Alarm at the Salvo d’Acquisto carabinieri barracks in Tor di Quinto in Rome: at 12.50 a fire broke out in the military citadel.  The very high flames broke out in the building of the Lazio Regiment, started from a room used as a guesthouse but then covered two floors of a single building. (read more)

Italian suspicious cat, remains, well, suspicious… (more…)

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the JoeBama Administration and Presidency.

“This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.”

“But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.”

~ Mike Vanderboegh

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

(more…)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

(more…)