Arlene Bates

YOUR MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS ARE GOING TO THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES! #HailState || #OKCDawgs

@BoKnowsWeather From what I've read from other meteorologists, the RRFS is not as good as current systems. Why can't they keep them all?

@arleneb2264 NAM 3km is North American Model at the 3 kilometer resolution grid and RRFS is the new Rapid Refresh Forecast System that will become operational later this year- replacing a few other models including the NAM.

It’s worth noting how horribly the NAM3km handled yesterday‘s storms for Minnesota… RRFS definitely had a better read on things.

In the light of #Easter, let us allow ourselves to be amazed by Christ! Let us allow our hearts to be transformed by his immense love for us! Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!

*YOSHI NOISES* We’re giving away a Yoshi bobblehead signed by @supermariomovie Yoshi actor @donaldglover! Repost & reply for a chance to win!

@MLB @supermariomovie @donaldglover Yoshi!

@Thor_SSB @ShiningZephyr

Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada spoke about the contradictions of human nature: “Some people dream of having a swimming pool at home, while those who have one hardly ever use it. Those who have lost a loved one feel a profound sense of loss, while others often complain about their living relatives. Those without a partner long for one, while those who have one often don't appreciate it. The hungry would give anything for a meal, while the satiated complain about the taste of their food. Those without a car dream of owning one, while those who have a car are always looking for a better one.” The key to happiness is gratitude: truly seeing and appreciating what we already have, and understanding that somewhere, someone would give anything for what we take for granted.

Looney tunes in real life.. 😂

All men and women, especially Christians, are called to fix their gaze on those who suffer, on the pain of the lonely, and on those who are emarginated for various reasons, for without them we cannot build a just society. Only together can we build communities of solidarity capable of caring for everyone, in which wellbeing and peace can flourish for the benefit of all. Caring for the humanity of others helps us to live our own lives to the full.

I generally draw and submit my strips six months ahead of deadline. This is the strip that ran yesterday:

BREAKING: The U.S. Olympic curling team enrages MAGA by tearing into ICE on the world stage and taking a brave stand for the embattled people of Minnesota: "There's no shades of gray" and "We love our country." This is what real Americans sounds like... "I'd like to say I'm proud to be here to represent Team USA and to represent our country. But we'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention what's going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it's been for everybody. This stuff is happening right around where we live," said Rich Ruohonen, the skip for the United States Men’s Curling Team. He is himself from Minnesota. "And I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a Constitution," he continued. "And it allows us to freedom of the press and freedom of speech, protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures and makes it that we have to, you know, have probable cause to be pulled over." "And what's happening in Minnesota is wrong," he said. "There's no shades of gray. It's clear. And I really love what's been happening there now with people coming out, showing the love, the compassion, integrity, and respect for others that they don't know and helping them out and we love Minnesota for that." "I want to make it clear that we are out here. We love our country," he went on. "We're playing for the U.S. We're playing for Team USA. And we're playing for each other, and we're playing for our family and our friends that sacrificed so much to get here today." "And that doesn't change anything because what the Olympics means is excellence, respect, friendship," said Ruohonen. "And we all, I think, exemplify that. And we are playing for the people of Minnesota and the people around the country who share those same values, that compassion, that love, and that respect." Ruohonen's words are especially courageous given the deranged rhetoric coming out of the Republican Party right now. Senator Rick Scott has called for any American Olympians who dare question the idea that U.S. is currently a beacon of "freedom and democracy" be "stripped of their USA Olympic uniform." MAGA is not American. Real Americans believe in the sanctity of free speech. We proudly stand with our Olympic athletes! Please ❤️ and share if you stand with our Olympics heroes!

I do not think we are watching kids fall apart… I think we are watching adults fall apart, and kids are paying the price. You see it in schools, at ballgames, in restaurants, and on the roads. You see it in the way a child looks at an adult like the adult is the problem for saying no. Parents are not parenting these days. Not enough. Not consistently. Not in the way kids need. If we keep pretending everything is fine, we are going to raise a generation that never learned boundaries, never learned respect, and never learned how to handle life when it says no. I see three kinds of parents right now. • Parents who are self focused This is the hardest group for society because nothing gets corrected. Everything becomes an excuse. Everything becomes somebody else’s fault. They are not always bad people. Many are simply repeating what they lived. Their kids grow up without guard rails, without direction, without correction, without discipline, without the steady love that says, I care enough to stop you. • Parents who are surviving These parents love their kids and want to do it right, but they are getting crushed by rent, groceries, car payments, medical bills, overtime, and a world where a livable wage feels out of reach. So they work, and they work, and they work. While they are doing everything for their children, they barely get to see their children. Kids still need what they have always needed: presence, consistency, boundaries, correction, love, and attention. • Parents many of us aspire to be like Attentive, loving, present, willing to say no, and not afraid to lead. What often gets missed is that many of these adults did not grow up with that kind of parenting. Some came from self focused homes… Some came from homes that were just surviving… What changed their path was influence? Somewhere along the way, someone stepped in and noticed them. A neighbor, a grandparent, a teacher, a coach, a mentor, or a friend’s parent. Someone outside the family circle gave them what they were not getting at home. Kids need to hear the word no. Not constantly, but enough to learn boundaries, respect, patience, and self control. No is not mean… No is protection… If we are honest, some kids are BEGGING for a no because they want an adult to be the adult. It shows up in the way you speak to the kid who gets ignored, encourage the teenager who is hanging on by a thread, step in when a child is being raised by the internet, and model respect even when nobody else is. Sometimes the future of a child changes because an adult decided to say no… Be safe, Trooper Ben #HelpMore

A perfect tribute to Minneapolis icon Prince 💜 and the people of Minnesota by Jordan Chiles, who brought back her 2025 routine to the floor in UCLA's win at Minnesota. The perfect 10 was @ChilesJordan's fourth 10 in four weeks! #GoBruins

@CheyCab gocomics.com/shermanslagoon… The cat is in charge

The Winter Solstice occurred at 9:03am this morning. The shortest day of the year will be tomorrow, December 22, coming in at 8hrs 45mins 36secs. All this is to say...SUMMER'S COMING!! #mnwx #wiwx

This has been the longest week of Elmo's life.