Mimosa, Bloody Mary, nice flute of champagne — or maybe a favorite tipple in your coffee. Make yourself one and join me, standing in for our terrific Darleen Click, at our own Algonquin Round Table, the spirit of Dorothy Parker abides.

Happy Sunday, dear friends! Let me pass you the champagne flutes — this time with a splash of pomegranate for a festive color to usher in this second Sunday of December and the countdown to Christmas. Casa Bookout is fully decorated for the season and a couple of elves spent a few days baking up a storm and delivered some fabulous (if I say so myself) Christmas goodies to all our neighbors.

I know Darleen has her own opinions on favorite Christmas movies, as we all do! White Christmas will always be one of my favorites! That said, even as the Die Hard debate continues, we discovered that Rambo: First Blood is definitely a Christmas movie! Check it out and pay particular attention to the decorations throughout the town and in the sheriff’s office. See, I told you so! 

Now, while you dine on eggnog pancakes and pomegranate mimosas, let’s get to it! 

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Fire Alarms And My Cousin Vinny

Jamaal “Fire Alarm” Bowman was censured by the House the other day. Keep in mind, the dude did it on purpose in order to delay the vote. This is how CBS framed the story of his censure:

The House voted Thursday to censure Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York for falsely pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol Hill office building earlier this year, which led to a misdemeanor charge.

The 214-191 vote fell largely along party lines. Three Democrats voted with Republicans to censure Bowman, while four Democrats and one Republican voted “present.” Twenty-four members did not vote.

How do you falsely pull a fire alarm? You either do, or you don’t. Very weird framing there. Oh, but it gets weirder as AOC tries to pull a “My Cousin Vinny” comparison and well, just watch. 

First, New York Republicans supported George Santos. Then they voted to expel him. They’re so embarrassed by their behavior that they’re trying to distract people by censuring @RepBowman — doing their best My Cousin Vinny impersonation to break down an incident with a fire alarm. pic.twitter.com/g4muOWjGBb

— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) December 7, 2023

Well, at least she’s entertaining. 

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Climate Change involves Responsible Yachting! 

I kid you not, that was a breakout session for the woke virtue signalers at the Dubai COP28 conference. 

The United Nations (UN) climate summit, known as COP28, featured a Tuesday discussion on sustainable yachting.

The discussion centered on finding “a variety of technical solutions developed to make the yachting experience more responsible and sustainable,” according to its official COP28 website. The event, titled “Responsible Yachting. Today & Tomorrow,” was moderated by Nico Rosberg, a yacht-owning former race car driver, and organized by Sunreef Yacht, a company that builds custom yachts and luxury vessels.

The elites really do hate us. Those of us who don’t have the bazillion dollars to go yachting around the world will be the ones bearing the financial burden for these “responsible” climate change proposals. And no, I will NOT eat bugs.

How responsible is Jeff Bezos mega yacht? It’s so huge that the 400+ feet long yacht has to slum it with cargo ships and oil tankers in Florida instead of lording it over all the little yachts at the regular docks. 

https://twitter.com/Fun_Facts4Life/status/1680155712578543616

It’s good to be a mid-life crisis billionaire isn’t it?

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About Those Masks

The CDC director is recommending people wear masks again. pic.twitter.com/sybP5CpLBS

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) December 9, 2023

N95 companies are shutting down, multiple studies showed they don’t and didn’t work, yet the CDC is evidently still stuck in 2020. 

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MIT Is Digging A Deeper Hole

It seems MIT’s board doesn’t care about their donors nor alumni. They issued a strongly worded letter in support of MIT President Sally Kornbluth:

“The MIT Corporation chose Sally to be our president for her excellent academic leadership, her judgment, her integrity, her moral compass, and her ability to unite our community around MIT’s core values,” the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation said in their statement after the investigation was announced.

Now that UPenn’s Magill ducked and ran before she got fired, will MIT change their tune in the next few days? It all depends upon the pressure from donors and alumni I guess. 

I was always so proud of my MIT experience and now am so saddened.

Kornbluth is a stain on America's finest institution of higher learning. Until she resigns, MIT has lost its luster in the moral universe. https://t.co/DJHOsBnLvn

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) December 9, 2023

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Sunday Palate Cleanser

Brenda Lee was 13 years old when she recorded “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree.” 65 years later, it’s once again a number one hit! 

Brenda Lee’s 1958 classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is now the number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, pushing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” to the number 2 spot. pic.twitter.com/qSFCe1iMJX

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 5, 2023

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Your Sunday Smile 

Cheryl, who has given 30 years to helping children in the school’s special education program, received a wonderful gift from a Secret Santa. 

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Sunday goes by in a blink doesn’t it? I so enjoy our time together and hope the rest of your Sunday is filled with the pleasures life provides in our families and friends. I do ask a favor, my friends. As the days of Hannukah continue through Thursday December 14, please pray for Israel and for the hostages. May they all come home very soon. 

Now go enjoy some egg nog or hot cocoa and I will see you next week. Cheers!

Feature Photo: Original artwork by Victory Girls Darleen Click