Margaret, all it takes is ten minutes of channel surfing and you quickly find out that the number of problems facing America seem to correspond with the number of channels offered on cable television. I told Harold to cancel our subscription and get out the old rabbit ears.
If Glenn Beck hasn’t met a half-man-half-monkey yet, he didn’t get out much during his rally. There was more knuckle dragging on the National Mall that day than the National Zoo… about 89,000 more. And I find it odd that Sarah Palin can see November from her house but she couldn’t see a teen pregnancy coming if her life depended on it. Maybe if she spent more time at her house rather than at Tea Party rallies, one of her children might actually graduate from those abstinence only classes with a passing grade.
Folks, from where I sit, we’ve never had it so good. One less war. Most of the TARP money paid back and another Great Depression avoided. Unemployment numbers are shitty – yes – BUT imagine how bad it would be if Republicans had done away with unemployment benefits like they wanted. And as someone who has Medicare, I can assure you that government-run healthcare isn’t Obamacare, it’s common-decency-care.
The Tea Party wants to complain about Obama’s “run-away spending” but the fact is Bush spent billions on wars while Obama has spent billions on an economic stimulus package. Fact. More private sector jobs were created in the last 8 months than in the entire 8 years of the Bush presidency. Fact. The only thing the Republican Party has increased recently is the number of gay teen suicides.
And yes, Whoopi and Joy shouldn’t have walked off. But Bill O’Reilly never should have walked on. He has plenty of air time to get his view out. Barbara didn’t need to give him more.
Did anyone watch the Charlie Rose interview with Nancy Pelosi? What exactly do people not like about her? I think she is lovely. But who am I kidding? Most Americans can list the accomplishments of a Real Housewife of New Jersey but have no idea what Nancy Pelosi has done or not done.
Thank God PBS comes through on the rabbit ears. I mean it really.
Margaret and Helen 
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog posts.
Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently quickly.
LikeLike
By: www.paradocsband.com on October 1, 2014
at 10:46 PM
Niice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed!
Extremely useful info specifically the last part 🙂 I
care for such info a lot. I was seeeking this particular information for a long time.
Thank you and best of luck.
LikeLike
By: cara diet on September 20, 2014
at 12:00 PM
There’s definately a great deal to find out about this topic.
I love all the points you have made.
LikeLike
By: Ophelia on September 18, 2014
at 5:03 PM
I do consider all of the ideas you havbe presented for your post.
They’re very convincing and can certainly work. Still, the
posts arre very short for newbies. May yyou please extend them a little from subsequent time?
Tanks for the post.
LikeLike
By: http://knightmedia.nwpa.net/ on September 15, 2014
at 9:10 PM
This design is wicked! You definitely know how too keep a reader amused.
Between your wwit and our videos, I wwas almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic
job. Ireallly lived what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
LikeLike
By: free vector software on July 28, 2014
at 8:54 PM
This is the right blog for anybody wwho would like to understand this topic.
You knw so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I
actually will neeed to…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a
subject that has been discussewd for a long time. Wonderful stuff,
just excellent!
LikeLike
By: ajutor vreau sa slabesc on July 26, 2014
at 3:18 AM
I for all time emailed this blog postt page too all my contacts, for the reason that if like too read it next my friends will too.
LikeLike
By: ljubavne poruke on July 25, 2014
at 9:55 PM
I every time spent my half an hour to read this blog’s posts all
the time along with a mug of coffee.
LikeLike
By: muddledelite5921.beeplog.com on July 13, 2014
at 3:36 PM
It is without doubt that the value of the Internet is extremely high.
Wallpaper- Desktop wallpapers are designed through
various images like movie posters, drawings of cartoon, flower images, nature pics
etc. Apart from the colour of the strengthened glass exterior, the spec list of
the Apple i – Phone 4 White reads exactly the same
as the black version.
LikeLike
By: Pearl on July 11, 2014
at 1:00 AM
Everyone loves what you guys tend to be up too. Such clever work and coverage!
Keep up the good works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll.
LikeLike
By: Seafight Hack on July 8, 2014
at 1:59 PM
Contact a Baltimore motorcycleaccident lawyer for
your free, no obligation consultation right now! To many, and all witnesses and evidences.
Once the case, many people there are certainly the next best
thing that you know what is at stake. You can ask for the cause, but an attorney
is needed for. It doesn’t matter how minor you think you’re immune to
this rule. That is, I had a BAC of 0.
LikeLike
By: settlement fund on July 3, 2014
at 7:43 PM
All these products are in demand just because they are very easy to use.
The prices are guaranteed to be the lowest on the Internet today and the products are guaranteed to work.
All one needs to do is order a kit and pay the shipping charges only to have the products readily supplied to their home only.
LikeLike
By: crest teeth whitening product reviews on July 3, 2014
at 3:05 AM
Hi would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard
time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and
Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs
and I’m looking for something unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but
I had to ask!
LikeLike
By: seoservicesmart.net on June 25, 2014
at 8:44 AM
Greetings from Florida! I’m bored to death at work so
I decided to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break.
I really like the knowledge you provide here and can’t wait
to take a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, great site!
LikeLike
By: African Mango Mechanism Of Action on June 25, 2014
at 2:50 AM
This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I have joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of
your excellent post. Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks!
LikeLike
By: African Mango Amazon on June 24, 2014
at 10:43 PM
I think the admin of this site is truly working hard for his site,
since here every stuff is quality based data.
LikeLike
By: yeti on June 23, 2014
at 10:41 PM
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This piece of writing posted at this
site is really fastidious.
LikeLike
By: Malabar Tamarind Weight Loss on June 23, 2014
at 9:57 PM
I like reading an article that will make men and women think.
Also, thank you for allowing for me to comment!
LikeLike
By: breaking news on June 18, 2014
at 2:57 PM
Extremes of cold and hot weather, such as winter and summer,
can be prime time for acne flareups. (To mix without the bergamot oil,
simply use 12 drops of lavender oil). Sun exposure can actually
irritate acne even if you are not using an acne
medication.
LikeLike
By: www.ykhoavn.com on June 10, 2014
at 6:59 AM
Whoa I enjoy reading your articles or blog posts, saved to bookmarks!
LikeLike
By: Best Acne Treatment Products on June 9, 2014
at 10:46 AM
Some genuinely good stuff on this web site, I like it.
LikeLike
By: bestacneproducts82.jigsy.com on June 9, 2014
at 10:43 AM
Every weekend i used to pay a visit this site, for
the reason that i wish for enjoyment, since this this web page conations really pleasant funny
data too.
LikeLike
By: Chloe on June 6, 2014
at 7:45 AM
Whoa I enjoy reading your articles, saved to favorites!
LikeLike
By: http://imrane.dessai.free.fr/ on June 5, 2014
at 10:13 AM
I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but good topic.
I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding
more. Thanks for wonderful information I was looking for this
information for my mission.
LikeLike
By: freeze pro shop discount code on June 5, 2014
at 3:28 AM
Hi, after reading this awesome article i am also happy to share
my familiarity here with mates.
LikeLike
By: Samsonite Coupon Code on June 2, 2014
at 11:09 PM
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything
I’ve worked hard on. Any recommendations?
LikeLike
By: Pure Green Coffee Bean Extract on May 30, 2014
at 7:16 PM
I have been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours today,
yet I by no means discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours.
It’s beautiful value sufficient for me. In my view, if all web owners
and bloggers made just right content as you did, the internet
will be much more useful than ever before.
LikeLike
By: google on May 25, 2014
at 11:52 PM
Does your website have a contac page? I’m having problems locating itt but, I’d like to send
you an email. I’ve got some suggestions for your blog
youu might be interested in hearing. Either way, great wbsite
and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.
LikeLike
By: http://worldminecrafthack.blogspot.com/ on May 25, 2014
at 8:39 AM
Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some
help from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog?
I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast.
I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do
you have any tips or suggestions? Many thanks
LikeLike
By: http://bizwrite69.drupalgardens.com/content/master-serp-specific-confirmed-seo-assistance on May 24, 2014
at 3:40 PM
Organizations have been innovating and manufacturing cigarette smoking cessation supplements for a lot of years now.
Most of us also continue to keep delving and researching on our merchandise consistently to maintain supplying
high quality and eminence. It can help you to get the ideal e cigarette if you search for e cigarette reviews which present
the form, kind and price of cartridges.
LikeLike
By: http://example101.com/ on May 23, 2014
at 9:12 AM
Incredible points. Outstanding arguments. Keep
up the great spirit.
LikeLike
By: best supplement to build muscle on May 22, 2014
at 11:21 AM
Either pay up or find some other way for looking up the number.
The efficacy and completeness of your data results largely depend on the Reverse Cell Phone Lookup site you take up.
The uses of such a service includes tracking prank callers
and cheating spouses, tracing secret admirers and important missed calls, running background checks on your new babysitters etc.
LikeLike
By: lookup phone numbers on May 22, 2014
at 12:42 AM
Acne and pimples happen due to internal dis-balance in the body due to
more than normal quantity of some toxins. Such chemicals then foil with the different glands of the body resulting in excessive formation
of certain kinds of hormones which lead to adulteration of the blood.
You must have heard about the impurity thing regarding blood in many health issue.
Have you ever thought what exactly is this. This is the too much presence of chemicals in the blood than common which lead to many type of problems in the body.
Acne and pimples are one such problem.
How to get rid of acne
LikeLike
By: How to get rid of acne on May 17, 2014
at 1:18 AM
Excellent information, better still to find out your blog that
has a fantastic layout. Properly done
LikeLike
By: www.enhancedonlinenews.com on May 15, 2014
at 7:28 AM
So, when hydroquinone is not a good option with acne scars
treatment, what are other choices. Honestly the best choices for
you are natural acne marks medications. See, because they have major benefits on other acne marks medications.
They are not costly compared to others. And they never have negative effects like hydroquinone has.
This is a big advantage as you never would appreciate a solution which
from one side is trying to solve one issue of yours and on the other hand seems to provide another issue.
Also such natural treatments for acne marks are
pretty fast and helpful will provide you outcomes in weeks.
Urine therapy is one such cure. It is very beneficial, all you
need is apply your morning pee with some cotton
on the marks. Well, I see this might be bit difficult for many of you to do it.
Thus, we have got some feasible acne marks treatment choices.
Go to the link given here.
remove acne scars
LikeLike
By: remove acne scars on May 9, 2014
at 12:25 PM
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on
blogs I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be useful
to read content from other writers and use a little something from other sites.
LikeLike
By: lego marvel superheroes dlc code on May 6, 2014
at 10:54 AM
That is not true because natural acne treatment products, such as Green tea extract and Licorice Root
Extract, still get rid of the acne before a week but most of the time within a few days.
Have you ever wondered if there is anything to the claims
that their manufacturers make. Originating from New Zealand, Manuka honey is a very strong natural product and research is showing that its health
benefits are not fully understood yet.
LikeLike
By: how to treat acne on May 2, 2014
at 4:40 PM
Many thanks for sharing. I am fascinated
with your site. I am going to publish this to my facebook wall.
LikeLike
By: Scartreatment87.over-blog.com on May 1, 2014
at 8:19 PM
A Lot of features and functions on these steam showers, I like the multimedia idea and the lighting style
LikeLike
By: steam shower review on May 1, 2014
at 12:23 PM
I Actually just recently setup our steam shower unit, best item we
have bought for some time, kids and family members think
it’s great, can’t see everybody turning back to regular showers again
LikeLike
By: insignia steam shower on May 1, 2014
at 5:14 AM
I am truly thankful to the owner of this website who has shared this great piece of writing at at this
place.
LikeLike
By: Meladerm on April 30, 2014
at 1:50 PM
This looks similar to my shower I got a hold of just recently, extremely pleased about it for
everyone upon the fence on the subject of acquiring one, do it, you will not regret it
LikeLike
By: cheap steam showers on April 30, 2014
at 8:57 AM
gone through the information inside of this website a lot, intending to take the leap soon
and get a steam shower cabin, in all likelihood soon after the
holiday break
LikeLike
By: Andrew on April 30, 2014
at 7:22 AM
Very Good site plenty of awesome steam shower knowledge
here
LikeLike
By: Jo on April 30, 2014
at 6:34 AM
To keep them clean, industrial-strength carpet cleaners
are needed such as truck mount systems. Over time,
these contaminates build up in the fibers of your carpet.
Hiring a cleaning professional is the easiest option for carpet cleaning.
LikeLike
By: kiwi carpet cleaning austin on April 30, 2014
at 4:18 AM
Though charge is an imperative element necessary to be considered, however,
your decision should be quality with inexpensive cost.
And for you to be able to provide this, ensuring first the safety of your carpet
is one of the best things that you could do. Pick out a carpet cleaning
contractor with a very good reputation.
LikeLike
By: chem dry carpet cleaning albuquerque on April 28, 2014
at 12:45 PM
Plenty of people will benefit from your writing.
Regards!
LikeLike
By: Casie on April 27, 2014
at 1:59 AM
Absolutely love these steam showers
LikeLike
By: steam shower generator on April 20, 2014
at 2:10 AM
I just like the helpful info you supply to your
articles. I will bookmark your weblog and take a look at once more here frequently.
I am reasonably sure I’ll learn many new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the following!
LikeLike
By: teeth whitening at dentist on April 9, 2014
at 4:04 AM
I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, yet
I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me.
In my opinion, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the net
will be much more useful than ever before.
LikeLike
By: GPS Watch on April 5, 2014
at 12:27 AM
I’m suggested this website through my personal relation. Now i’m don’t confident whether or not this organize is usually compiled by him since nobody else understand like given approximately the difficulties. You’re outstanding! Many thanks!
LikeLike
By: best price on April 1, 2014
at 8:03 PM
The First Dollar You Save Is The Seed From Which Your Tree
Of Wealth Shall Grow ‘ The Sooner You Plant That Seed ‘ The Sooner Shall
The Tree Grow. Apart from shopping use, groceries, drug stores, fast food chains,
and even services offered locally are also covered by coupons Montreal
thereby giving us more flexibility to stretch our budget.
The company’s promising logo is “A New Game Every Day.
LikeLike
By: Lakeisha on March 19, 2014
at 11:08 PM
Very quickly this web site will be famous among all blogging and site-building users,
due to it’s pleasant posts
LikeLike
By: home improvement industry ratios on March 19, 2014
at 8:13 AM
Spot on with this write-up, I truly believe that this amazing site needs far more attention.
I’ll probably be back again to read more, thanks for the information!
LikeLike
By: Jolie on March 18, 2014
at 3:24 PM
This also enables one to add or remove buttons in
order to customize your design in order to meet your own needs.
Topple: It involves stacking pieces as high as possible. There are numerous
iPhone application developers that supply the applications at
no cost exclusively for the cause of selling.
LikeLike
By: Elizbeth on March 9, 2014
at 10:52 PM
Hi, I jumped over to your website page via Pinterest. Not a thing I ordinarily read through, but I appreciate your ideas nevertheless. Thank you very much for creating something worthy of reading through!
LikeLike
By: supercar racing on December 29, 2013
at 7:56 AM
Aw, this was a honestly nice post. In notion I would like to put in writing like this furthermore – taking time and actual effort to create a extremely superb article?- but what can I say?- I procrastinate alot and by no means appear to get some thing accomplished.
cheap jordans shoes http://jordansoutletjei.26626.n7.nabble.com/Nike-Shoes-A-fantastic-Selection-td2.html
LikeLike
By: qggdqzd@hotmaill.com on December 24, 2013
at 8:24 PM
Thanks so much for giving everyone an extraordinarily breathtaking possiblity to check tips from this website. It is often very pleasing and also stuffed with a lot of fun for me and my office co-workers to search your website really three times a week to find out the new secrets you will have. And definitely, I’m at all times pleased considering the mind-blowing tips and hints you give. Some 4 points in this posting are ultimately the most impressive I have ever had.
LikeLike
By: Télécharger Ask.Fm Tracker Game Gratuit on December 23, 2013
at 11:10 PM
Needed to draft you the bit of remark to be able to give thanks the moment again regarding the pleasant concepts you have shown at this time. It’s certainly extremely generous with people like you giving easily what a number of people might have distributed as an e book to make some profit for themselves, most notably given that you could have done it in the event you considered necessary. The creative ideas additionally served to become a fantastic way to know that other individuals have similar keenness just like mine to learn a little more on the subject of this matter. I am sure there are several more pleasurable opportunities in the future for people who looked at your blog post.
LikeLike
By: ask.fm tracker gratuits on December 22, 2013
at 10:06 AM
Whats way up awesome web site! Dude. Gorgeous. Excellent. Let me search for your web site plus grab the feeds likewise? I will be glad to find many valuable data the following inside the post, we start to use work out more methods of that reverence, thank you for sharing.
LikeLike
By: sneaker 1981 corvette on December 16, 2013
at 9:46 AM
Great post! You had me both laughing and thinking. I really appreciate it. We need more people in the public arena who are willing to be safety speakers. And are willing to protect the rights of people.
LikeLike
By: Steven Rogers on November 9, 2011
at 3:04 PM
Most thinking people do realize that politics has an ebb and flow–that’s the nature of the system. And most people who have anything remotely of value in their lives to occupy them don’t have the need to insult others for entertainment.
The ordinary election cycles which have always characterized this country and will continue to do so are hardly an “ass kicking.” Takes a pretty immature and self-absorbed person to view it as such. Sorry there’s nothing more to your life.
LikeLike
By: Donna on December 18, 2010
at 7:30 AM
You completed a few nice points there. I did a search on the topic and found nearly all folks will go along with with your blog.
LikeLike
By: Rena Pinedo on December 18, 2010
at 6:10 AM
This is so funny and well-said. I’m so glad to have found your blog.
LikeLike
By: Janie B on November 5, 2010
at 7:42 PM
Ever doodle when you’re on the phone? Here is a suggestion, starting next January, play dot-to-dot on Republicans and their Tea Party spawn on pictures of them when they emerge from their caucuses. The bumps, bruises, and welts sure will be evident from day one.
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on November 3, 2010
at 9:24 AM
In all I think it’s pretty good news, considering it was pretty much a given 2 years ago that the progressive enthusiasm was unsustainably high. This isn’t a referendum on the progressive agenda. It’s impatience. The GOP can have their victory lap but then guess what? They have to actually DO something. And they’ll have to do it with the cooperation of people they’ve been obstructing and crapping on for 2 years. Certainly not very forward thinking of them, eh? And now they have to cut unnecessary spending on frivolous things like social security. I wonder how many older folks who can no longer afford the cat food diet will think all that “reign in spending and cut taxes” stuff is so grand?
I’m actually feeling a little excited about the entertainment value of the next 2 years. Too bad it’s at the expense of progress but there are hard lessons to be learned on both sides.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on November 3, 2010
at 7:27 AM
Well I’ll take a split decision, It could have been worse had the Tea party not taken over the GOP! The Tea Party saved us the Senate! I thank them for that! lol
Soooooo we live to fight another day! We win some we lose some.
Congratulations GOP on a job well done. You fought your way back from incredible lows and made some history.
Buttttttttttttttt watch your back cause we don’t ever give up… Progress doesn’t come in a straight line…
namaste all….
LikeLike
By: lori on November 3, 2010
at 4:44 AM
Tex, you win the ugly contest, hand’s down. You’re a couple days late for Halloween, however. NASCAR showing reruns?
Try to remember your manners, that is if you ever were taught any. You good ole boys better show some respect for the seats you and your puppet masters just bought. I’m sure they expect a return on their investments. We’ll be watching them very closely. You’d better polish your act, ’cause it’s starting to look a bit like fascism, or can you differentiate political ideologies?
LikeLike
By: poolman on November 3, 2010
at 1:00 AM
Hey you feckless, propeller headed libs with a frickin’ Marxist as leader (THE ONE) – especially the bozo Donna, who must not have given a big enough donation to the DNC. 😆 Open up that purse a little wider next time shrew.
You zeroes have been running your mouth for two years now. How’s it feel to be kicked in the head with an iron boot? Line up for ass kickings.
Here’s your old pal Tex back to give you a head’s up like I promised.
I feel your pain… 😈
LikeLike
By: Tex Taylor on November 2, 2010
at 11:34 PM
They have a plan – to destroy Obama at any cost. They don’t care about their “constituents” . scary
LikeLike
By: Linda on November 2, 2010
at 11:10 PM
As a new Nevadan, I am very happy that we returned Majority Leader Harry Reid to the Senate! I’m not on an emotional high, that the Republicans took the House of Representatives, but I do have think, the best way to show the American people what the Republicans and Democrats stand for is to give them, the Republicans, a very public area to demonstrate responsibility. Hope they have a plan. Two years should be just long enough.
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on November 2, 2010
at 11:02 PM
Thus far, it seems, all politics is local.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on November 2, 2010
at 7:06 PM
No mobsters in Texas, eh?
“Thinking is not an activity of the American public.”
LikeLike
By: poolman on November 2, 2010
at 5:14 PM
Yep Poolman LBJ taught the teamsters and Chicago how to raise the dead to vote like he did in S. Texas.
LikeLike
By: Gregorio on November 2, 2010
at 5:01 PM
and now he’s off of ABC–and mischaracterizing that!
LikeLike
By: Donna on November 2, 2010
at 4:55 PM
Darkbart had already started his fabrication election night coverage – starting with completely mis-characterizing his role. Once… then after being reprimanded, he did it again.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on November 2, 2010
at 4:47 PM
Yes, Phyllis–well done!
I’m very pleased that ABC has dropped Brietbart from tonight. One thing to have differing points of view. Quite another to have someone with a demonstrated pattern of fabrication.
LikeLike
By: Donna on November 2, 2010
at 4:39 PM
Thanks for doing that, Phyllis in Philly!
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on November 2, 2010
at 4:32 PM
Mageen –
For what it’s worth, my cousin went to medical school in the ‘thirties. They were told then that, with all the advances being made in infectious diseases and other ailments, they were sure they would have a cancer cure within ten years.
Bacteria are easy; they are just plants, so safe herbicides work just fine. Viruses are a lot tougher, but they are at least a foreign protein. The problem is that cancer is YOU – not even protein from someone else.
I have several friends and classmates who are doing cancer research; they say that the problem is not funding so much as it is *time*. It takes time for experiments to work out; time to see if public health measures work. But we ARE moving rapidly as the Internet makes any new therapy immediately available to every researcher on the planet.
I lost a brother year-before-last to lung CA. It is a horrible disease; it takes away your humanity and reduces you to a creature before it takes its final measure from you.
Gregorio –
One thing Rahm can be counted on to do is desert the ship before it passes under the waves. That is one rat that sure can swim!
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on November 2, 2010
at 4:22 PM
I rented a van and drove 38 people to our polling place today….Three trips!!!
YES WE CAN!!!!
LikeLike
By: Phyllis in Philly on November 2, 2010
at 4:21 PM
POEM: To the Tea-Party Patriots: A Berkeley Professor says Hello!
LikeLike
By: poolman on November 2, 2010
at 4:16 PM
Bozly84 –
I am sure you have a lot to say, but I just cannot parse it out of the continuous run-on, the stream-of-consciousness posting, and for the life of me I finally end up surrendering and just end up scrolling by.
It would really help me if you could split individual ideas out into paragraphs, using whole sentences to express individual thoughts.
I would really like to read your posts but it just takes too much time to unwind it all. Thanks.
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on November 2, 2010
at 4:13 PM
Unfortunately your dark side finds its sarcastic self vindictively trying to inflict pain and prophecy out of ignorance and assumption. Everyone knows Rahm agreed to a two-year ride. It was a prenup. Your homegrown good ole boys tee off plenty with mobsters. Remember ole LBJ and the Bushter.
Birds of a feather….
flock too.
😀
LikeLike
By: poolman on November 2, 2010
at 4:04 PM
Helen, Great to read your words today as we wait for the results. Thanks – K in NZ
LikeLike
By: K Sherrod on November 2, 2010
at 3:53 PM
Unfortunately your dark horse was only a one trick pony and his riders got off before the Merry Go Round completed one term. AKA Rahm and the other Chicago mafia.
LikeLike
By: Gregorio on November 2, 2010
at 2:50 PM
Well HERE WE ARE…VOTER DAY….it is semi rather undesttling for IF the polsters/pundits/braggerts and the various and asundried sortee’s that chat and rant and well, etc,etc,etc …ARE “correct” in their presumtives and the GOPs return to take THE REINS…it will be a likely WOEFUL and thensome and prove that lessons ARE indeed difficult at best to digest and LEARN from, that emotionals such as false fears over ride common sense and the phrease ” when WILL we ever learn” will “need” rephrasing to “WILL we ever learn” from hard lessons dished out repeatedly…The retrograding of our nation is repulsive and the real fear to embrace is that we are allowing our OWN destruction from within. Can EASILY imagine “our enemies” rejoicing at /in our current spectacle…Here we ARE, some ten years after the “new” Pearl Harbor sort of cateclysmic experience where we sputter and seem to have stalled GRIPPED in the throes of irrationalties from coast to coast with one of the most BIZARRE political scenes to behold where so many EXTREMISTICALLY INCLINED folks have center staged and SEEMINGLY taken root while throwing out so many babes with the bubbledover water and thensome. Saniety and Common Sense seem to have excaped our grasp and if it DOES happen and the electeds ARE GOPs, we are in fo even bumpier rides and dowgrades and paying prices that NONE “should” have ever needed to be paid. The FACTUAL records SHOULD have been “good” enough to write so many of the extremists OFF but not the case , so we are “told”….never quite sure if ONE of the intents is just to get many to “give up” and NOT bother to show up to cast otes for we are told the presumtive IS that the GOP-tide can NOT be stopped/etc. In turn , from the mouths of the supposed GOP leadership, from their lips we hear NO COMPROMISE on THEIR PRINCIPLES and that THEIR number one “job” is to make sure Obama is but a one termer….Just how rockhardassed stupid is the general population that supposedly is poised to vote against their very OWN best self interests …truly surreal and thensome. IF it goes down the way “predicted'(sold), we WILL bear the consequences , the nation will bear the consequences and the ditch depth will but grow and thensome and we will NOT LIKELY regain a truly prominent position in world standing but be used as an example of how “things”, be they good/bad/indifferent, be they in the PEOPLES actual best interests…just another cycle of some good ideas that proved UNSUSTAINABLE …Rahter scary for the “childen” of today and the future for sure if we truly do blow this.
Most likely NO FIRM decisons , some will take weeks to be determined and Campaign 2012 has already been started and put in motion and it will just intensify. (giving consideration to definitely “tuning out/off/etc….” for the obnoxiousnous of the mid terms, nastier than even the 2008 assault is only but likely to be increased…regrettably and major THENSOME for sure for the saturation level IS oversaturated for SURE !!)
LikeLike
By: Bozly84 on November 2, 2010
at 12:13 PM
4.38 million Face Book members have voted. More young people there than most places.
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on November 2, 2010
at 12:11 PM
3.75+ million Face Book members have vote as of now. Heavier than excepted turn out in urban areas. 😀
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on November 2, 2010
at 11:55 AM
3.75million+ FaceBookusers have voted and the urban areas are voting heavier than expected. 😀
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on November 2, 2010
at 11:45 AM
Welcome to America today.
No profit, no incentive.
LikeLike
By: poolman on November 2, 2010
at 10:59 AM
Vote people! Get out and vote! I have already filled out my ballot, it’s just a matter of getting it to my polling place.
Mageen, I hear you. Unfortunately, fighting cancer, like many other “causes”, is a very profitable and hugely funded endeavor. In today’s corporate world, cures don’t seem to happen like they did in decades past. A cure would eliminate the businesses and revenues fighting cancer provides. Business drives our economy. Profit drives business. Curing cancer, like eliminating the illegal drug trade and making products that last forever, are not in the best interest of industry.
Just like the focus of finding and fighting terrorists nowadays, it will continue to be evoked and stoked as business and bureaucracy profit from it. It is ALL about the money today, I hate to say.
LikeLike
By: poolman on November 2, 2010
at 9:42 AM
Oh, my! It is now time for If I Were Running for Congress. Well, hey, I think it beats fantasy football! Sure, I would back motherhood, the flag and apple pie but my”thing” as just about everyone has one would be cancer. We have lost three members of the family to this disease in the past 20 years, two of them in the past 10. Can’t afford such losses. I would put all the money that goes into the various “wars” into this effort. I know in my soul this disease can be beaten. More and more is discovered about all the different forms from year to year. One form may even be a virus! Heck, we take flu shots to protect us against swine flu virus. Why can’t we get vaccines against this kind of cancer? Yessiree, I would go into all the funded programs that have never touched thier funding and re-appropriate it along with all the other fprogram funding that ended up “level funded”, that is, not funded. That means there would be a chance to appropriate that unfunded money to beat cancer. Yup! You bet I would.
LikeLike
By: Mageen in Old Virginny on November 2, 2010
at 8:40 AM
Hi all –
Interesting article in The Times this morning by David Brooks.
He notes that the Republicans, far from being giddy or arrogant in their anticipation of big victories today, are actually somewhat subdued – chastened by their defeat two years ago – and ever-mindful that, two years from now it could happen to them. He describes their mood as “modest and cautious:”
“We have to be careful not to get carried away, says Lamar Alexander, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate. “I was thinking about putting photos of Nancy Pelosi and Henry Waxman in the Republican cloakroom to remind us not to overreach,” he told me on Monday. ”
Brooks, quite liberal and proud of it, nonetheless describes the double standards applied to Republican and Democratic victories very accurately:
“Today, the atmosphere is different. Republicans may win the House, but everyone is writing about anger, not inspiration. (Memo to young journalists: Democratic victories are always ascribed to hope; Republican ones to rage.)”
A quick scan of this blog reveals exactly the same attitude among many: The Left is high-minded, forward-looking and hopey-changey; the Right is nasty, vicious and exploits the easily-stirred fears of the ignorant that make up their ranks. Gimme a break…they both want the same thing: power.
I spent the weekend in the mountains of West Virginia, riding dirt-bikes and 4-wheelers with my sons and my 71 year-old brother (yep, still quite the athlete), and the evenings watching Fox news of course – always on at his house. Mike Huckabee’s show was surprisingly quite entertaining – I’d never seen it before. A strong Republican of course, he nonetheless observed that he “hoped the Republicans were never able to absorb the Tea Party; it – more than any thing else – was just the ticket to keep both parties honest.”
Maybe a few ReBiblicans are starting to get it. I hope so. Now let’s get to work; we have to undo the damage done by *both* Bush and Obama.
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on November 2, 2010
at 6:20 AM
Helen, I’m scared…hold me.
LikeLike
By: Tanka on November 2, 2010
at 6:05 AM
while driving down the main drag in the town I live in, there were some idiots with large pictures of President Obama with a little mustache and HITLER on top. Underneath the “picture” was the word IMPEACH.
freedom of expression? yes. Racist ignorant morons……………disgusting.
LikeLike
By: Linda on November 1, 2010
at 9:50 PM
Not giving up here either! Manned phone banks for less than an hour, but VOTE!!! and tell your neighbors and family to do the same!
LikeLike
By: Dawn on November 1, 2010
at 9:40 PM
Palin: The Republicans’ Snooki
Δ ~ PEACE
LikeLike
By: Whirled Peas Δ on November 1, 2010
at 9:01 PM
Mageen, thanks for describing so vividly your experience at the rally on Saturday. The coverage in the news was tepid at best. I wonder why that was. Just does not support their agenda of the moment I gather.
I am with NOP. Let us all get what we deserve if results go the way of the polls and the newsmedia’s doomsday scenario. Hopefully, the media will be satisfied at last.
Doversoul right on! I so agree with your post! Good luck to America tomorrow!
LikeLike
By: Easier on November 1, 2010
at 7:37 PM
I just watched the clip, too. I know the official account and the testimonies of Cheney and Bush. With this Col Tillman account, they don’t all agree with each other. I would think that they would be the same, or at least similar. Just another reason why we need a REAL investigation.
“If we had something to hide, we wouldn’t have met with them in the first place.” -W.
LikeLike
By: poolman on November 1, 2010
at 3:55 PM
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t it a matter of record, that President Geo. W. Bush flew to Offutt Air Force Base before returning to D. C. on 9-11?
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on November 1, 2010
at 2:16 PM
That response is for Craig.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on November 1, 2010
at 2:11 PM
Is there some point to all this? It sounded pretty ad hoc to me as we managed to bungle our way through the problem. I hope we are better prepared as a result.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on November 1, 2010
at 2:10 PM
I’m late to this particular party, but as someone who lived most of her life in San Francisco (I still live in the Bay Area) and who has actually met and worked with Speaker Pelosi, I can confirm that she is smart, thoughtful, effective and truly represents the interests of her constituency. When I was living in San Francisco, I made my first visit to D.C. (pre-9/11). Her office got me a special guided tour of the Capital and the White House, not because I was a VIP (she doesn’t work that way), but because I was one of her constituents.
Even before she became Minority Leader and then Speaker, she spent an enormous amount of time working for causes in her District and for other Representatives in their own. Because she hasn’t had to raise money for her own re-elections, she has been able to devote her time, energy and considerable resources for others.
Before she became speaker, she, along with Republican Connie Morella of Maryland, was one of the authors of the Ryan White Care Act. She is tough with a big heart.
I hope that if the Democrats lose control of the House (and that’s IF), she remains as San Francisco’s best representative.
LikeLike
By: K2inSF on November 1, 2010
at 2:00 PM
http://premierespeakers.com/mark_tillman/video/14296
Great motivational speaker for these days ahead.
LikeLike
By: Craig on November 1, 2010
at 12:47 PM
You are my heros! Working here to defeat Angle, there two days left and a lot can happen in two days!
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on November 1, 2010
at 9:53 AM
Attended the rally on the national Mall on Saturday. Best use of my time, ever! In my opinion, got there early but not early enough. Apparently ever since daybreak there had been rivers of attendees marching toward the Mall from every possible Metro station. There were so many of them they took up all the space from the buildings on one side of the street to the other. To stand on a high point and observe was to see a never ending river of people of all description and I do mean never ending. The oncoming throng stopped all traffic as there were too many to stand on the corners and wait until the lights changed. They tried, but there were too many coming from behind. Those behind had no real place to stop as a lot of them were already crossing avenues such as Pennsylvania.
It was shoulder to shoulder on the Mall, every inch of space on the steps of the National Archives completely filled, even people sitting in the trees on the Mall. The topic of the show was excellently produced and totally not only enjoyable but even fulfilling. Regretfully I had to leave early to keep another appointment but once back on home ground turned on the TV and enjoyed the rest of it. Camera shots from the stage aimed at the Lincoln Memorial showed no end of the crowd.
Behavior of the crowd was very Canadian! Like, very polite. As I was leaving the Mall there was no let up in the crowd still pouring in, still abreast building to building. Spotted two floats (!), one of them a copper colored take off on a Viking ship coming along Pennsylvania Avenue.
Metro was run ragged by the challenge.
And I agree, we are in a hard time, but not and End Time!
And yes, I am voting tomorrow morning! Wouldn’t miss it for the world!
LikeLike
By: Mageen in Old Virginny on November 1, 2010
at 7:52 AM
NO way am I giving up NOP!!!
If we send Joe Miller to the Senate from here, it will be because a whole lot of frightened people voted for fear and voted for Murkowski, the quintessential party-of-no gal.
If we send Murkowski back we are cutting off our hands to spite ourselves- she has sold her soul to the party and left us in the dust.
If this country sends it’s other fruitloop candidates like Angle to DC as well, it’s going to take a whole lot of paying attention and hard work to ride the follies out but we can do it.
No getting weak-kneed here…
Casting my vote and going back to work, no matter how it shakes out…
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on November 1, 2010
at 6:36 AM
not giving up here, NOP.
LikeLike
By: Donna on November 1, 2010
at 6:03 AM
Is everyone here giving up? In 48 hours, we’ll know for certain, if it goes badly for America, it won’t be long before reality hits, big time. If that’s what it takes, so be it!
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on October 31, 2010
at 8:09 PM
LikeLike
By: DoverSoul on October 31, 2010
at 7:27 PM
You have to credit the media for the resurrection of the republican party. If this was a level playing field, the republican moniker would have faded into the sunset. There has to be two opposing sides to keep us in flux.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 31, 2010
at 7:16 PM
better to start at the beginning:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/210904?RS_show_page=0
LikeLike
By: DoverSoul on October 31, 2010
at 7:11 PM
I share your concern Auntie Jean.
“Of course, the fact that we’re even sitting here two years after Bush talking about a GOP comeback is a profound testament to two things: One, the American voter’s unmatched ability to forget what happened to him 10 seconds ago, and two, the Republican Party’s incredible recuperative skill and bureaucratic ingenuity.
This is a party that in 2008 was not just beaten but obliterated, with nearly every one of its recognizable leaders reduced to historical-footnote status and pinned with blame for some ghastly political catastrophe.
There were literally no healthy bodies left on the bench, but the Republicans managed to get back in the game anyway by plucking an assortment of nativist freaks, village idiots and Internet Hitlers out of thin air and training them into a giant ball of incoherent resentment just in time for the 2010 midterms.
They returned to prominence by outdoing Barack Obama at his own game: turning out masses of energized and disciplined supporters on the streets and overwhelming the ballot box with sheer enthusiasm.”
In case you missed this article in Rolling Stone by Matt Tiabbi it is well worth the read, all 4 pages.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/210904?RS_show_page=3
LikeLike
By: DoverSoul on October 31, 2010
at 7:08 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
This is of vital importance so listen up folks. I wish I had thought of it sooner, but we can still get the word out just under the wire before the election. It has to do with reapportionment and gerrymandering. They are much more important than who said what about who.
We all know the conservatives are hell bent on taking back the White House in 2012 as well as getting a big majority in the Senate and House. This applies to states too.
In light of the recent census and shifting populations, there could be some huge changes in congressional districts throughout the country, especially in the Deep South where de facto segregation still exists.
You can bet if the conservatives get a hefty control this mid-term, there will be some fancy Texas two-step footwork going to behind the scenes. They would be very, very quite about it. Trust me, the economy, jobs, energy, health care, climate change and even peeking in people’s bedrooms will be secondary to pulling off some wild and crazy gerrymandering. Count on it. It could very well have ramifications for the next ten years.
I fought the reapportionment battles 40+ years ago in the League of Women Voters. If any of you are a little fuzzy on what it is all about, check it out on Google and any number of sources starting with the U. S. Constitution.
Lori, if you have time you could explain it much better than I. Greytdog, poolman, jsri, anybody, please jump in.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Auntie Jean
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 31, 2010
at 6:15 PM
“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!!”
-C. Little
Consider yourself warned. Are our fairy tales reality or is our reality fairy tale? An interesting search for the real truths of our past.
Happy Halloween, everyone. Be kind to black cats and wayward spirits alike.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 31, 2010
at 5:10 PM
Excellent link, DoverSoul. Excellent video. Thanks.
LikeLike
By: elsie09 on October 31, 2010
at 4:57 PM
I Remember…
LikeLike
By: DoverSoul on October 31, 2010
at 2:37 PM
Dear Helen, I do agree with most of what you say and am glad you continue to say it. But I don’t agree that “we’ve never had it so good.” We had it a heck of a lot better in the 90s. There were downturns but they were by no means as long-lived or as scary.
The blame should be placed in a dozen places or more – I’m no economist – but for God’s sake, people who blame Obama are criminally ignorant. I’m stunned at the idiots who castigate him for not cleaning up an eight-years’ mess in two years; those same people conveniently forget who made the mess to begin with. Genuinely shocking.
LikeLike
By: missnell on October 31, 2010
at 2:29 PM
Hi, I’m a Tea-Partier. 😀
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 31, 2010
at 12:46 PM
American Democracy…
Vote for Tweedledum or Tweedledee, your choice!
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 31, 2010
at 11:52 AM
In case you missed Kieth’s Special Comment:
If the Tea Party Wins, America Loses
Δ ~ PEACE
LikeLike
By: Whirled Peas Δ on October 31, 2010
at 11:44 AM
home schooling. Computer types what wants sometimes
LikeLike
By: Grandma Katie on October 31, 2010
at 10:40 AM
For a variety of reasons, a friend of mine is home schoolingher grandaughter.The child was issued a laptop and there is a teacher os the screen. The first day of first grade, the c hild had to cut out words, paste them in a sentence and put proper punctuation marks at the end. I am very impressed withy what she is learning.
My two youngest grandchildren are in day care whh is divded by age groups.The 4 year old is now in pre-K and knows her shapes, clolors,leters, numbers, sings songs and more.3year old not far behind.
No wonder home scholing is growing by leaps and bounds!
LikeLike
By: Grandma Katie on October 31, 2010
at 10:39 AM
The 24-7s have to say something brazen, exciting, scary to keep their audience share and retain the advertisers, because their corporate heads are too bottom line to produce quality news shows (old time CNN). And as long as we watch this crap, they will continue, my husband totally agrees with Jon, but when I asked, if that meant he would quite watching, he said, no. There is the crux of the problem, old habits.
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on October 31, 2010
at 10:02 AM
delurkergurl – I was at the Rally and it was a totally cool experience. 200,000-plus people all acting quite calm and sane and holding up hilarious signs and only a few ugly signs, which I guess is to be expected in such a large crowd.
Helen – Jon’s message addressed the concern you expressed in your blog post about cable t.v. He reminded us that we have control over what we watch (the remote control). I know I have to remember that as what I read and see so often makes me feel ugly about America.
Jon’s point is that the 24-hour cable news cycle is projecting a false image of America. He said that the old media system that once helped us discern what is going on in America is broken. So yes, I sometimes wish we could just bring those old rabbit ears back…but there’s got to be a better solution.
LikeLike
By: margaret on October 31, 2010
at 9:39 AM
Gelin Damat wedding shop, wedding planning , bride, bridal shop, wedding rings
LikeLike
By: Gelin Damat on October 30, 2010
at 9:19 PM
Sorry
Here is the link.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2028057,00.html
LikeLike
By: jsri on October 30, 2010
at 9:10 PM
Time magazine has an excellent article this week about the Muslims in Michigan. It should dispel the scary one dimensional view we have been fed.
LikeLike
By: jsri on October 30, 2010
at 8:49 PM
Today in DC:
http://tinyurl.com/TheRally
3hrs but watch Jon’s speech from 2:42:00.
“We live in hard times…not end times!”
Pure poetry.
Δ ~ PEACE
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 30, 2010
at 5:38 PM
The Rally:
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2010/10/30/HP/R/40153/Rally+to+Restore+Sanity+andor+Fear+Today+in+Washington.aspx
3hrs but watch Jon’s speech from 2:42:00.
“We live in hard times…not end times!”
Pure poetry.
Δ ~ PEACE
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 30, 2010
at 5:35 PM
Who saw the rally today – live, on TV or online? I just read a transcript of part of it and was very impressed.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 30, 2010
at 4:44 PM
I have government run healthcare, and I think it’s great. In fact, TriCare is rated number one in customer satisfaction among all healthcare plans.
LikeLike
By: OtterQueen on October 30, 2010
at 4:33 PM
This is just as relevant today as it was over 43 years ago.
Why do we always kill our prophets?
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 30, 2010
at 2:55 PM
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/10/29/iraq-war-logs-a-call-for-accountability/
“Last year, 239 soldiers killed themselves and 1,713 soldiers survived suicide attempts; 146 soldiers died from high-risk activities, including 74 drug overdoses. A third of returning troops report mental health problems, and 18.5 percent of all returning service members are battling either Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or depression, according to a study by the Rand Corporation.”
Support the troops. Bring them home!
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 30, 2010
at 1:46 PM
alaskapi, I concur, your link is right on. Discernment is what is lacking for sure. When we join the mob in condemning and scapegoating, no matter what side we are on, are we doing it out of fear or out of conviction? Something to think about.
Lori, liked your discourse about how we stack up against other industrialized nations. Think anybody is listening? I hope they are. That why we need people who are concerned about kids’ education in office.
LikeLike
By: Easier on October 30, 2010
at 1:34 PM
How long are we going to fall for this false flag BS? We’re expected to believe the same organization that perpetrated the well coordinated and planned successful events of September 11th are now a part of these half-assed terror attempts. Right. Love the timing, too. Is it election time again? Oh, and the targets of these threats. Yeah. How apropos. Hmmmmm…. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/mail_bombs
Wake up folks. Know your enemy. Restore sanity to America.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 30, 2010
at 1:24 PM
Alaskapi.. I absolutely think it is this! Hit the nail on the head.
Today, the Protestant white middle class perceives it is losing sway. The out-of-power party or parties have paraded a pantheon of scapegoats — gays, Muslims, immigrants, socialism, government and President Obama — to the public, hoping to tap their anger. Old ideological platforms have been dusted off and represented with fresh zeal, but without new ideas or admission of problems those old approaches have fostered. They focus their energy on the projection of fault and not on the new challenges: climate change, overpopulation, unlimited corporate power and religious extremism.
And you know what? LOL They are right they are losing sway.. Perhaps their real worry is they will get exactly what they have given when THEY become the minority?
LikeLike
By: lori on October 30, 2010
at 10:28 AM
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/29/1526241/sacrificing-scapegoat-wont-solve.html
something to think about
————–
Donna – we are still in a total 3 way split here.
Tuesday can’t come soon enough at this point… espcially since the write in thingy is likely to take so long to tally if enough are cast to warrant tallying all of them…
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 30, 2010
at 10:17 AM
Well according to the study I posted up there ^^ that compares us to the G-8 nations. There a couple of things that stand out for urgent attention.
We need to start our kids in school earlier. We need well educated math and science educators in the primary grades. We could focus more on specific areas of study rather than the “liberal arts approach”. (Although that is a cultural difference.)
Our teachers are required to teach more hours than most countries. We are among one of the highest in terms of teacher compensation, except for our starting teachers salary. We would do well to structure our school year such that we have more frequent breaks for less amounts of time so there isn’t precious class room time wasted in reviewing what has already been taught so as to take advantage of the hours teachers/students spend In school.
On the positive side, we rate fairly well in language arts, we have a high “high school” graduation rate, and a high rate of students that go on to university, in comparison.
Our poor students are still at a woeful disadvantage compared to other countries. We need to look into expanding our grant system.
After all a well educated country is a productive society.
We are doing “better” than we were 20 years ago according to the study but still over all “average” when compared to our peer (G_*) nations.
Auntie Jean, I am all for our kids getting more physical activity. I tell ya what I blame more than schools cutting PE. It is the FEAR we have instilled in these children – so much so that they are afraid to ride their bike around the block for fear of kidnapping! The other factor we might want to look at is availability of after school programs. Many grade school children go home to an empty house. They are instructed to go directly home and lock the door behind them until the parents arrive several hours later. Time….. that use to be spent outside playing.. If we had supervised after school programs available that included PE we would do our children and nation a huge service.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 30, 2010
at 9:38 AM
Jsri –
“My issue is that too often the school board is where the trouble begins. And if anyone thinks not I’ve got a ton of stories. Better yet, check out the State BOE in Texas. That one sets the dumbed-down standards for the whole state and is quickly becoming a national laughing stock.”
Absolutely true – all.
When I was in high school we were subjected to the “Roberts English Series,” at the mandate of the State Board of Education. ( Note I was on a local board, and county boards don’t set textbook standards, although we were still very ineffective, since we were purposely kept in the dark by the school system itself, lest we tear their little playhouses down.)
Roberts English was the damnedest thing I ever saw. I remember a little. It was a kind of melding of English and algebra, to wit: “Sentence = subject + determiner + noun.” Each chapter started like that, and went downhill, as they sought to prove it true. No grammar, no writing exercises, no examination of literature – just what you see above.
Our English teacher – incidentally a former beauty queen from North Carolina, whose local dalliances caused a married fellow to hang himself – was a brilliant teacher, and bridled under this burden, but despite multiple trips to the State Board meetings, was never able to make any headway at all – she related that a young female member was bound and determined to “bring us into the twentieth century.” Good plan.
The first day of my very last semester, Mrs. W. came in, greeted everyone and closed the door. “You are the only class to have had the Roberts English for your entire four years. You don’t know anything about the language, grammar, syntax – anything. Here is what I am going to do – some of you will go on to college and you will need these things. I have purchased – used – enough traditional English textbooks at my own cost to give each of you one. I am going to do the best I can for the remaining time you have to teach you traditional English, as fast as I can go. If you ever tell anyone, I will lose my job.”
And so it went. I made it through college, as did several of my classmates, on what was taught in one semester of eight. Nobody ever breathed a word.
So, Jsri – we do agree on some things. Maybe there will be more.
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on October 30, 2010
at 8:38 AM
Hum??? One word and the rest disappears ?
Get out and vote on Tues, even if it is snowing or blowing. Offer to take a friend or neighbor or volunteer to drive those who don’t have transportation.
If every Democrat takes the time to vote and puts away their own personal agendas for the sake of the country, we can beat the dopes !!!!!!
LikeLike
By: COLORADO BLUE on October 30, 2010
at 7:32 AM
BOYCOTT
LikeLike
By: COLORADO BLUE on October 30, 2010
at 7:24 AM
Hi Congenial Gang and jsri,
Sorry, jsri, that you took the rap for opening up a can of worms with your comment on October 29, 2010 at 2:47 PM. I don’t read the trolls anymore so thankfully, have no idea what they are saying.
Yeah, I have heard a few things about the Texas state BOE. Unbelievable!!!
We have a ballot measure here right now on whether the board should be elected or appointed by the governor. Our current republican governor instituted “Furlough Fridays” for the entire state school system and held it hostage because she wanted to appoint the board. In the meantime the kids stayed home on Fridays. Fortunately, the democratic legislature overrode her and found the money in the ‘rainyday fund’.
Playing politics with kids education really gets me going!
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Auntie Jean
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 30, 2010
at 1:39 AM
Jean:
I didn’t raise the issue on H&M’s site. It was done by one of your favorite trolls who claims to have been a school board member. My issue is that too often the school board is where the trouble begins. And if anyone thinks not I’ve got a ton of stories. Better yet, check out the State BOE in Texas. That one sets the dumbed-down standards for the whole state and is quickly becoming a national laughing stock.
LikeLike
By: jsri on October 29, 2010
at 10:02 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
jsri, you opened up a can of worms about education here on the porch as far as I’m concerned. That’s one of my pet peeves especially about cutting out music, art, in short all the humanities. How can we have an educated electorate without the full range of learning beyond just enough to make a fast buck?
And then there is physical EDUCATION, not just learning how to play games. One of our DIL’s has been PE teacher forever. She also teaches a University class in PE practicum. At one time, she was going around to NINE different elementary schools because each only offered PE twice or maybe three times a week for a few hours. I don’t know for sure how many she goes to now.
But…… a few years back she was named ‘PE Teacher of the Year’ in her state two years in a row because of a program she developed. Jump rope.
All the equipment needed was a couple of long ropes and 2-3 kids on a sidewalk or driveway. The program took off and she had teams going around doing fancy footwork in competition with other schools.
It really, really worked well for inner city schools. No need for stadiums or lots of expensive Niki sponsored paraphernalia for kids to get involved. Besides, the kids LOVE it! The American Heart Association got involved to get kids into the habit of vigorous exercise at a young age. A pretty good idea, huh.
Things CAN look up when we put our heads together.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Auntie Jean
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 29, 2010
at 9:09 PM
Helen, you are brilliant! I wish I could vote for you!
LikeLike
By: Mari on October 29, 2010
at 8:40 PM
Here’s where the waste is. Just imagine what education and health could do with all these missing taxes WE paid!
“Total undocumented accounting adjustments for reported periods for the Department of Defense [and HUD for fiscal 1998-2000] amount to a whopping $3.3 trillion, or $11,700 for every American.”
$3,300,000,000,000.00 divided by
138,000,000 US tax payers (2007 statistic)
equals $23,913,043.48!!!
We’re all millionaires!!!! Hey all you taxpayers out there! The Pentagon owes EACH ONE of you and I over 23 MIL each. Let’s forgive them the interest and penalties, what do you say?
Drinks all around! The recession is OVER!!! I’m buying the drinks!
Donna, how do we collect?
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 29, 2010
at 5:39 PM
Speaking of school boards, what about this guy? http://aol.it/91JjvS
LikeLike
By: Greytdog on October 29, 2010
at 3:20 PM
It’s always of interest to me when people start bleating about the state of public education. It’s true that overblown bureaucracies in large systems contribute heavily to the price tag but one of the first shots at a solution is increasing classroom size and dismantling things like music and art, the two most pressing subjects that make life tolerable and keep us from turning into robots. Arguments about how it used to be when teachers had fifty kids in class are irrelevant because the major difference was that school in the “olden days” was for learning and distractions were few and far between, unlike today’s environment where the classroom is a social gathering and is as much entertainment as education.
And one of the most culpable elements in the mixture is the elected school board. They set the policies and determine the direction for their schools. My wife had 35 years and some of the edicts for change coming down from school boards often had no concept of what the new directions meant for the teachers and rarely did they offer any kind of support. For instance, one teacher she worked with, whose gifted program had been dismantled, was suddenly provided with a special needs child courtesy of a board that listened to a member of the board with a special needs child. The only support for the child was an aide who was allowed break time four times a day (negotiated with the board) and, inevitably, it was while the aide was on break that the child would fall out of the wheel chair or soil himself to the disgust of the rest of the class. The teacher was often faulted by the board for her inability to keep classroom order while cleaning up the mess. She left the following year.
It has been my experience that people who run for elected school boards either have a vested (make that financial) interest in what is going on n the schools or are running for higher office and the school board is only a jumping off spot in their intended political careers. They meddle around, fussing and fuming about how poor the schools are without ever understanding their own culpability in the demise of the schools.
LikeLike
By: jsri on October 29, 2010
at 2:47 PM
Brian, you’re right. Keep in mind that even the ones you cited as good have their own biases. It’s important to get your information from various sources and be sensitive to the biases that might exist. Seek evidence! I also like to check non-US sites for news.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 29, 2010
at 2:39 PM
Does anyone trust the corporate media? Whether it’s Faux,the worst of all,Conservative News Network (CNN),CBS,NBC,ABC,etc. Clueless Couric,Brainless Brian,Dumb Diane,Wolf Blitzed,Jerk King USA,and 99% of Faux. There are plenty of good sources;PBS C-Span,MSNBC,and NPR. Keith I wish Keith Olbermann,Rachel Maddow,or Ed Schultz would anchor NBC Nightly News,It’ll be a lot better. You could add Chris Matthews and Lawrence O’Donnell to that list too. Thom Hartmann and Bill Maher are also great sources of info.
LikeLike
By: brian on October 29, 2010
at 2:09 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895…
Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas , USA .. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, and reprinted by the Salina Journal..
8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina , KS – 1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of ‘lie,’ ‘play,’ and ‘run’.
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 – 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet Long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs, what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7percent per annum.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas .
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e.’ Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9.. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco .
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9.. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
HUH??? Are they kidding??? This is hard to believe….
Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying ‘he only had an 8th grade education’ a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?!
Also shows you how poor our education system has become and, NO, I don’t have the answers!
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Auntie Jean
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 29, 2010
at 1:58 PM
The power of the spoken word.
Senator Bulworth interview.
I’d had forgotten about these. Thanks to a couple of commenters at Sibel’s blog. Not for those sensitive to profanity. 😉
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 29, 2010
at 12:51 PM
It is interesting to watch my grandkids do their homework and discuss what they are doing in the classroom. The way they teach a lot of the subjects differs greatly from the way I was taught. With classroom sizes, its hard to provide individual instruction, and the kids get bored easy when not challenged. This gets them in trouble, and discipline is handled a lot differently in schools today.
So much could be done to enhance the classroom experience and give aid to teachers in imparting these important lessons to this upcoming generation. So many good instructors have to contribute much of their own time and resources toward making the experience outstanding. Much of the life skills they will need to survive in our society are still not taught in many schools. Money management and practical economics still seem lacking.
That really is a shame. This investment in youth is critical to our future as a nation, you would hope we would concentrate more effort into providing the very best environment and materials we could to this endeavor. This has been an ongoing debate for as long as I can remember.
I recall statistics regarding our military expenditures somewhere that made the cost per soldier in combat around a million dollars each per year. I think that is depressing, especially in comparison to how much we invest in the education of each student. What is wrong with us? Why can’t we get it right after all this time?
And yet many so called “conservatives” would agree with defunding public education and throwing more money at the military. This happens everytime we have a budget crisis. I think all these people have their priorities backwards. I perceive that they all think they will all become millionaires, send their kids to private schools, and need a strong army to defend their “right” of entitlement. Proud of it! Damn the rest that they perceive as lazy, worthless, and uncivilized. The “give me my country back” types. You know who you are. Lord help us, I pray.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 29, 2010
at 11:10 AM
This link has some interesting data if anyone feels like digging through it.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009039
LikeLike
By: lori on October 29, 2010
at 10:19 AM
I donno it seems to me we are improving as a nation. In spite of video games and computers. .
In 2005, the proportion of the population having finished high school and the percentage of those having earned Bachelor’s degrees remained at an all-time high, while the growth in both categories has slowed down over the past two decades. The vast majority of the population, 85.2%, had finished high school and over a quarter, 27.7%, had earned a Bachelor’s degree. The percentage of both college and high school graduates continued to increase since 2000. Since 1983 the percentage of people graduating from high school has increased from 85% to 88%. The greatest increases in educational attainment were documented in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. In the 1950s and much of the 1960s high school graduates constituted about 50% of those considered adults (25 and above). The young adults aged between 25 and 29, percentage of high school graduates was roughly 50% in 1950 versus 90% today.
(Wiki)
I think where we are seeing a problem is in the area of math and science. Many other countries (cultures) put much more emphasis on those areas of study than we do as nation/culture.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 29, 2010
at 10:13 AM
I think the amount of time children devote to television and computer games is a significant part of the education problem.
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on October 29, 2010
at 9:55 AM
‘Fessr: one item I thought of that could explain a lot regarding educational outcomes. Way back when, testing was different. If possible go back to the 1920’s and see what was available and compare it to testing nowadays. Not that long ago I came across a math test used somewhere in the midwest in the middle of the 1920’s. The subject matter was entirely different from math classes and tests today;i.e, bushels of wheat and such. No graphs. No charts.
LikeLike
By: Mageen in Old Virginny on October 29, 2010
at 8:41 AM
Margaret & Helen, we’ve been graced with new posts on Fridays lately. Sure hope we can celebrate another one today! No pressure, of course. 🙂
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 29, 2010
at 8:09 AM
Dawn –
“Education an easy thing to cut because the only one sticking up for it is the teacher’s union. To be sure, waste and fraud need to be cut, there are certainly places where education needs to change and best practices based on sound research should be implemented when it’s right for that school. Good teachers need to be given the tools to be great teachers, and bad teachers need to go. HOWEVER, class size matters. Parent’s educational background and involvement matters. If kids come to school hungry, IT MATTERS. At my son’s elementary school, 67% of the population is at or below the poverty level. It also has over 28 languages and is an incredible place to be!”
Sorry for the long cut and paste, but I have grave reservations about what you say and here’s why: Let’s go back to China. Most of those people are breathtakingly poor, but their kids do very, very well. Why is that?
My own grade school had between 35 and 40 kids in every class – baby boom and all that – and it doesn’t come any more rural or poor, but we consistently tested 75-95 percentile. Why is that?
My wife’s grandmother began teaching at age eighteen after only two years’ teaching school – in a lumber camp called Mateune, WI. She had FIFTY first-graders, most of whom did not speak English — Polish, German, Norwegian – you name it. They all did very well, and HER daughter became quite wealthy. Why is that?
I served on a school board for several years in the mid-‘eighties. I saw kids who did not take school seriously, incompetent teachers whom we could not fire because of the teachers’ union, parents who were perfectly willing to assault teachers. One threatened to shoot me at a school board meeting. (“I advise you to make your first shot count, because I never miss.”)
No, I disagree with you. We see, worldwide, the same problems or much worse, but they are destroying us educationally. I believe it is a lack of *will* – not a lack of anything else, and no one group can make it go until we are ALL willing to do what it takes.
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on October 29, 2010
at 6:09 AM
Dawn –
re: your principal’s xmas wish. Although I am a lifelong atheist, we have some close friends here who are members of a local pentecostal church. This is a pretty poor section of the South and there are a lot of folks who have very little; my wife and I do charity work through the church, since it has the organization already in place. (Our relationship could be described as detente – I don’t molest them about their religion and they leave me alone about same.) Usually my family will buy xmas presents for a family with kids; last year was prosperous we were able to take two; our teenaged boys participate in the process so they can learn a little about how the world really is.
It makes me heartsick to see some of the conditions, but it’s not the *monetary* poverty – I had that as a kid myself – it’s the poverty of *spirit* that drives me mad. Just this inability to see a path to something better, the feeling that their future is one of welfare, poverty, kids and manual labor. They see no path to a better future; monetary poverty can be overcome by hard work, but they just don’t have any idea where to start or any belief that it will make a difference. We had a black family that burned out last spring; they found an old house trailer to live in but had no beds for the children; my wife and I bought them beds and mattresses. The head of IT at my hospital is a biker and helped raise money to get them some more furniture through his fellows.
Then I see us sending trillions of dollars overseas to support corrupt governments and blow up Stone Age men who are just trying to grow a little poppy to feed *their* kids and it makes me nearly hysterical. I say What’s Wrong With Us so often my wife keeps telling me I should start a blog with that name.
I just may.
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on October 29, 2010
at 5:51 AM
Hi Congenial Gang,
A day or two ago, some anonymous person cited one battle way back when and challenged poolman to check his history regarding Islam and Mohammed. Sheesh! In my opinion, poolman has always stated his belief in a clear and eloquent manner. I admire his sincerity.
I kinda thought we were getting somewhere over the past couple of years, especially here at M&H’s with these religious, racial, sexist, etc., etc.,etc., issues but obviously not. So I decided to jump in with a brief summary taken from several 1000 page volumes by the distinguished historians Will and Ariel Durant. First of all, there is a vast difference between individual spirituality and organized religion. That’s pretty basic.
Further the spellings in ENGLISH of Moslems, Muslims; Mohammed, Muhammad, Qur’an, Koran are generally acceptable. I’m not fluent in Arabic.
During his long lifetime, Mohammed had a number of followers that were called the “Companions”. They were similar to Jesus’ disciples. In the century after Mohammed’s death, any number of questions arose requiring clarification not found in the Koran. Devout Moslems who had personally known the Prophet or heard from the Companions began schools called “Hadith”, orally recounting traditions that had grown up surrounding Mohammed and Islam. Remember, literacy was not common in those days anywhere. In time, these “Hadith” oral accounts were recorded into the “Correct Book”, the “Sahih”. For some Moslems, the Sahih and the Koran go hand in hand, just as the Jewish Talmud and the Torah do.
Mohammed was not literate but had an amanuensis write down his teachings. People who could read and write were often considered to be servants or often, even slaves. There is no indication, one way or another that Jesus was literate. It wasn’t until the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine, with military might behind him, convened the First Ecumenical Council in 325AD and The Nicene Creed spelled out the beliefs of Christianity that in time became Canon Law. The Sharia Law evolved in a similar fashion.
Without a living successor to the highest office of Islam comparable to a pope, Islam has had a bewildering array of sects held together by the one unifying persona, Mohammed just as Christianity has Jesus.
Islam split into major divisions, the Shi’a and the Sunni just as the Reformation divided Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. (And Eastern Orthodox and Russian Orthodox, and any other denomination you can name.) It is the same with present day Islam around the world. The biggest difference is the 1500 some odd years separating these two extant major religions. As we all know, there is and has always been plenty of infighting within any organized religion. Often bloody.
It is quite possible to find just about anything you want to support or refute a point of view of any religion if you are earnest enough to want to.
Now I don’t know about anyone else here on the porch, but I can’t quote myself or anyone else verbatim from what was said or done this morning or last week as authority, let alone cite events of a few millennia ago.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Auntie Jean
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 29, 2010
at 2:34 AM
I make myself at home there, but delurkergurl is the host. She keeps it well-stocked and the cookies are to die for. 😀
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 28, 2010
at 9:16 PM
Thanks poolman! Nice kitchen! is it yours?
LikeLike
By: Greytdog on October 28, 2010
at 8:55 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
It seems to me that the human race is still in its infancy. At best it may have progressed to the toddler stage of the “Terrible Twos”. It has only rudimentary language skills but is very fast on its feet. In the words of a famous pediatrician, “The typical two year old is pot bellied, bow-legged and bent on self destruction!”
The toddler is a perfect example of leadership! Before long, he has his parents’ lives and their home rearranged to revolve around him and suit his needs.
The human race has not yet learned to get along well with its brothers and sisters. It can only occasionally play nice and is terribly selfish about its toys. It can throw frightful temper tantrums when it doesn’t get its way.
That is the human race so far, but it has enormous potential. Whenever it is loved, well fed, dry, secure and warm it is a joy to behold. When it is asleep, it is beatifically angelic. It is curious, eager to learn and can melt your heart with shining eyes and radiant smiles when it has accomplished an amazing feat, which it does on a regular basis.
It is curious that the human species can exhibit infantile behavior well into what should be mature adulthood. We admonish our children to “be nice and share.” Shouldn’t we grown-ups do as well? It couldn’t hurt. How hard can it be?
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Auntie Jean
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 28, 2010
at 8:01 PM
(((((((Greytdog)))))))
Good to “see” you. Come in off the porch and enjoy a warm cup of coffee and some cookies in the kitchen. Be sure to not let any vermin in, delurker is pretty strict about that.
http://chatterclatter.wordpress.com/ 🙂
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 28, 2010
at 6:51 PM
PFesser, hate to say this, but those headlines will be pretty common soon. With the TX BOE leading the way, American education is being reshaped for the lowest common denominator of mediocrity.
LikeLike
By: Greytdog on October 28, 2010
at 6:08 PM
and alaskapi: The dreadful Joe Miller seems to be falling in the polls. What’s your sense? thanks!
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 28, 2010
at 5:54 PM
hi, Hope! Any chance that Nikki Haley won’t be the next governor?
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 28, 2010
at 5:30 PM
Savannah Marsh Mama suggested your site and you made my day!
I hope my best friend Claudette and I are still doing this 60 years from now….we’ve got 30 down so far. 🙂 You are living proof of what my Grandma told me, “Life’s wonderful when you hit 80! No matter what you say, people smile and say, ‘Well, she’s 80 you know.'” Sounds like a good goal to aim for.
As a life long resident of S.C., I’m tired of my I.Q. being questioned daily because our Governor managed to walk all the way to Argentina on his hike. Perhaps after this election, several politicians will join him.
Have a wonderful weekend!
LikeLike
By: hope on October 28, 2010
at 5:13 PM
Geezuz, uh, marry me won’t you Linda?
Just promise you’ll never lose that bug up your ass. That’s all I ask. I want to be around THAT earthly delight for all of my days.
LikeLike
By: Shymkus on October 28, 2010
at 3:11 PM
Great post again Bozl84! People like Noah and the other ones that have no real research skilsl nor have the ability to get their heads out of their butts and actually clear the tunnel vision will always believe their clueless crap. Personally we all are tired of this crap and are embarassed that some of our fellow Americans can be so ignorant, fear and hate mongering and RACIST. YES folks admit it and DEAL WITH IT.
Making an effort to give them the tools to actually do some research and think independently is futile.
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 28, 2010
at 2:46 PM
Here, here! Or hear, hear! Dawn. Good rant. We need hundreds more with your perspective and motivation.
According to the polls, AZ will remain mostly red after the 2nd. Doesn’t matter how stupid the candidate, if there is an “r” after their name, they’re electable in Arizona. I’m hopeful there are more folks politically intelligent in my state.
I don’t like polls and surveys and so I refuse to participate. It seems everyone wants to do a survey or take a poll now days. From cold-calling my residential, business, and cell phone, to places I do business with, everyone is taking surveys or doing a poll. Rate this, rate that, how would you vote on this or that? What a huge waste of time and resources. How accurately do people answer these? How skewed are the questions or the choice of answers? If everyone did the best they could to serve others and completed their own tasks to the best of their abilities, of what use would surveys be? I mean we’re all good at identifying problems, but most lack the ability, knowledge, or motivation to find solutions. We’d rather bitch about the issues all day than lift a finger to correct them. Unless we plan on making voting non-secretive (I’m okay with that, btw), what good are polls other than to try to motivate folks or MANipulate them?
That is America today. We aren’t solution driven, we are merely problem identifiers. And we all want to be on the popular or winning team. We want to start at top without all the effort to get there. Spoiled, entitled, call it what you will.
“Hey! Listen to me! I see a problem. Can everyone see it? See what a problem it is? I found it first. I told you, so what are YOU going to do to about it? Hmmmm… I don’t know about that, are you SURE that will work? Better take a poll or do a survey.”
Done with rant regarding polls/surveys.
My thoughts…
Give Obama his whole team and full support with enough slack to be able to fix things in our government. He hasn’t been able to operate at even close to full capacity given all the road blocks and traps set up for him by republicans, democrats, the military, and commerce. Blaming him for a lack of progress is the easy road, and he does accept the responsibility. But really, how much power does a president have? It isn’t like being king. You want a king? Really? That is how this whole mess began. History lessons would be helpful, especially if we learned to chart new strategies from them. Silly humans.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 28, 2010
at 11:46 AM
Sorry, should be … Instead of a gift she doesn’t need, she’s asked that those who wish to participate buy groceries.
LikeLike
By: Dawn on October 28, 2010
at 10:37 AM
PFessor “what the hell is wrong with us, where are our priorities?
Call it Halliburton, Bechtel, Black Water, Prison Corporations of America, you name it.
In the late 70’s California had THE best educational system in the US, the most per pupil spending of all 50 states and 11 prisons. Now we are between 49 and 50 in per pupil spending our educational system is struggling and we have more that 35 prisons.
Choices and consequences. I have spent about 30-40 hours per month volunteering in my kid’s schools over the past 14 years and it has not only helped them, but has helped every one of their classmates. Lip service is just that.
Education an easy thing to cut because the only one sticking up for it is the teacher’s union. To be sure, waste and fraud need to be cut, there are certainly places where education needs to change and best practices based on sound research should be implemented when it’s right for that school. Good teachers need to be given the tools to be great teachers, and bad teachers need to go. HOWEVER, class size matters. Parent’s educational background and involvement matters. If kids come to school hungry, IT MATTERS. At my son’s elementary school, 67% of the population is at or below the poverty level. It also has over 28 languages and is an incredible place to be!
Our principal has asked the teachers for the same gift for Christmas for the past 4 years. She’s identified about 25 families who are so poverty stricken that the only food those kids get is the breakfast and lunch at school. Instead of a gift she doesn’t need, she’s asked that those who wish to buy groceries. So, the week before CHristmas break, there are 25 boxes set out, and teachers will bring in 25 bags of rice, or 25 jars of peanut butter, or 25 boxes of oatmeal etc and the families pick them up for Christmas.
Sadly, that is what the hell is wrong with our priorities.
LikeLike
By: Dawn on October 28, 2010
at 10:34 AM
mmm’er’s Pfessor rather PRECISELY and THENSOME and MORE….
“What the hell is wrong with us?! Where are our priorities? Now tell me again how things in Washington are just fine and how we need to send the same people back there on Tuesday…??? WTF??? What is that old definition of insanity? “doing the same thing and expecting a different result”
WHY WOULD ANYONE TRULY EANT TO REINSTATE THE OBSTRUCTIONIST’s such as what is representative of the GOPers ?
Can ANYONE truly list just what the GOPs represent or HAVE DONE other than to BLOCK and OBSTRUCT and add that Mitch McC stated the PRIMARY GOP OBJECTIVE is to do ANYTHING to make Obama a ONE TERM CIC , even when they KNOW their OBSTRUCTIONISMATICALS are TRULY NOT IN THE NATIONS BEST INTERESTS …even going against “things” that they themselves have proposed and “championed” just to OBSTRUCT MOVING FORWARD…IT IS REPULSIVE and is reason enough to VOTE DEM(and WILL grant, the Dems are NOT exactly performing stalwartly heroically …They come off willy-nilly/wishwashy but at the very least on various measures that DO SERVE US, THE PEOPLE and our best interests in these wretched climates be it health care(which DID INDEED PROVIDED SOMETHING–NOT EVERYTHING, BUT at least measures of RELIEF to the WEARY and FORELORNED just as the STIMULUS provided SOME, NOT ADEQUATE ENOUGH RELIEF FOR SURE, but it DID help to prevent greater meltdowns .
WHAT fool actually expected a full blossoming walkway in a rose covered garden just because a first step was accomplished in 2008 with the election of Obama…Did folks REALLY think Obama HAD a MAGIC WAND to wave and make things all realign to OUR best interests and general well being ? We did NOT get into this mess in just a mere two year [period and if ANY have ever done a bit of home renovating or restoration, they KNOW restoration and updating are TEDIOUS processes that take time and effort to BE ACCOMPLISHED well.
The absurdity that folks ‘SEEM” to be poised to REINSTATE power reins to the current GOP is truly , TRULY an asinine juvenile mind bog that simple lops ones OWN nose off and serves themselves more misfortune than ever fully considered.
Come from a republican family…many still registered as such but in total dismay over what the GOP lable represents these days…many NOT willing to vote Dem but NOT willing to vote GOP either and will be leaving some of those boxes UNCHECKED as not wanting to support those that are being offered as representative of them or their positions. It is assumed that the Dem party has too many UNENTHUSED in THEIR ranks…there IS a growing number of similars in the GOP as well for in truth, this nation IS far more moderate /centristically inclined who ‘double dip” taking a bit of this/that from various sides/positions determined by wht they perceive as in THEIR own best interests of their family /biz etc…and a good many DO fact check as best possible but too, there are those NOT so inclined and who ARE ’emotionally’ immature in the way vote choice is made and THAT factor is definitely at play , reason why “sound bytes” are everything these days at the expense of “substance”. Rather tragic for we ALL are subject to such “whims” and the consequences that WILL come and WILL effect us,our families,our communities,our biz and the future of all .
(Dawn…very well said, thanks for that share October 27, 2010 at 9:07 PM)
LikeLike
By: Bozly84 on October 28, 2010
at 8:49 AM
I was listening to NPR this morning on my way to work. They had a T-Party “Official” on the show, discussing what their plans for after Nov.2.
I came in to late to hear what his name was, unfortunetly.
Apparently they have scheduled a summit for Nov 3 to call all the newly elected “freshmen” senators to task. They want to speak to them before they meet with their new bosses and senior senators in Washington. They intend to tell them exactly how they will behave, how they will vote and what they will do while they are in DC. If they do not behave the way the T-Party wants them to behave, they are guaranteed to loose the next election.
Not only are the TBer’s planning on winning BIG, they are planning on keeping their fingers on the throats of the “newbies”.
It will be their way or the highway! The bullies have truely taken over.
PLEASE GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!
LikeLike
By: Mikat on October 28, 2010
at 8:16 AM
Did anyone catch Gary Wills on The Colbert Report last night? Wills just wrote another book. Colbert asked him why the people who were unhappy with Bush during his 8 years were never as visible then as now; i.e., the Tea Party.
Wills’ reply: Because there is now a black president.
I figured that out awhile ago and there ain’t no veneer that can cover it up.
LikeLike
By: Mageen in Old Virginny on October 28, 2010
at 8:02 AM
Thank you Margaret and Helen.
Thank you Dawn..(dawn on October 27, 2010
at 9:07 PM) for saying the things you said which remind me of what M & H say all the time.
LikeLike
By: HRH sofia EQ on October 28, 2010
at 6:33 AM
This just in –
“China now displaces the US for title of the world’s fastest supercomputer”
What the hell is wrong with us?! Where are our priorities?
Now tell me again how things in Washington are just fine and how we need to send the same people back there on Tuesday…??? WTF??? What is that old definition of insanity? “doing the same thing and expecting a different result”
Oh, sorry – can’t stay. Have to go blow up fellows who are already in the Stone Age so we can secure more sources for a fuel of the past.
I can see November very, very, VERY clearly from my porch.
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on October 28, 2010
at 4:44 AM
Anonymous, I try not to paint with a big brush. Sometimes I use a sponge, but then only for effect. 😀
I don’t think I ever said all religions were originally antiwar, or anything like that. I didn’t mean to infer that. I certainly don’t believe that. Heck, some are even based on war. However, the Abrahamic faiths’ main tenet IS peace. That doesn’t mean all “followers” of these faiths understand and live that, now or in the past. In reality, few do.
As soon as you label something, as “religion”, you have put God in a human framework. A box. Religion is merely human ritual. Doesn’t work for a Spirit. God’s not in a book. All these books are stories of man and man’s relationships with his fellow man and some women folk and kids and animals thrown in. These are men’s struggles over men and all the emotion and blood and guts that go along with life on the planet. Power plays abound. All the ugly and all the ecstasy. The evil and the good. Wars and attrocities, sex and love, crime and compassion, faith and suffering.
Along the way man has interpreted his relationship with his Creator. He is constantly trying to either find or run from Him. There are many collisions between the supernatural and the natural, all of which man has tried to convey in little marks on stone or clay or bark or paper. These “words” we much later interpret and try to comprehend their full intent. Some describe events. Some describe dreams and visions. There are geneologies and laws, chronologies and songs. Principles of behavior and words of wisdom. These “books” were held in high esteem and were fought over and sometimes burned and stolen and often stashed throughout history.
The classic truths ring clear through all these sources. The historic accounts and dates are significant, even if sometimes questioned for accuracy. I say let’s shine a light on all of it. Written history has been in the hands of man for so long I find it hard to trust, especially today. But throughout history there have been those of pure heart that have preserved the truth for the sake of man and at the desire of obedience toward God. They have been of many different faiths and nations. We all can benefit in America today from their selfless acts. Many of these books are still outlawed in some cultures.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 27, 2010
at 11:56 PM
The point is Poolman, don’t paint everything with a big brush, paraphrasing here, “all religions were orginally antiwar”, you wish they were, I wish they were, but they weren’t. Religion simply isn’t about morality.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 27, 2010
at 10:32 PM
Dawn, I sympathize with your frustration. As of a month ago, 104 federal judicial spots are still unfilled. Only 41 have been filled since Obama took office. This is due to republicans blocking their appointments.
http://www.vpr.net/npr/130075941/
Also as of July this year, over 180 administrative appointments were still pending. I don’t know if the judicial spots are part of those, or if they are in addition to them. But either way, we are not operating at maximum capacity as of yet. If we can ever get to running on all cylinders, we might get some of the change we all hoped for. We got to get a new mechanic or find a new shop. It seems the republicans only know how to operate a monkey wrench. 😀
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 27, 2010
at 9:55 PM
It seems the Tea baggers want to “take the country back” and get governmnent out of our lives.
I didn’t know our country went anywhere. As a woman, I still want to vote, I like the child labor laws, I’m glad it’s no longer ok to hit kids or your wife. Our bi-racial marriage is legal. Roads, police, fire are all ok in my book.
Yet they want to be in the doctor’s office when a woman makes a painful choice about whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Tell you how to worship. Abhor government handouts unless they are the recipients. I think they just don’t like the poor brown people getting handouts.
I am disappointed in Obama’s performance and have finally figured out why. I was so profoundly disheartened with what was going on with our county by the end of the Bush admin, I had unrealistic hopes that Obama would come in, wave his magic wand, and everything would be peaceful, prosperous and there would be love everywhere. My expectations were out of line with what can reasonably be accomplished in 19 months let alone 4 years.
LikeLike
By: dawn on October 27, 2010
at 9:07 PM
“Poolman, There is a connection between Muhammad and the Koran is there not? Is Muhammad, not the last and final prophet of God according to the Koran? Please read about the Battle of Badr in the Koran and Muhammad’s participation.” – Anonymous
The Qur’an is considered the main miracle of Muhammad. It is supposed to be the final revelation of God as given to the prophet Muhammad. In that way he is considered the last prophet. No other inspired writings are said to come after his. This statement does not contradict the Bible as it was written well before the Qur’an, even though it wasn’t assembled in the form we know it today. The Qur’an is not supposed to be translated, or at least the original Arabic is claimed to be the only divinely inspired text, written in the early 600’s.
Though I am less familiar with the Qur’an than the Bible, I do know it speaks of Jesus and the future return of Jesus. There is some discrepency regarding the “last prophet”, and what that really means since it claims Jesus is a prophet and will be returning to Earth in the future.
I read about the battle of Badr as it is described in the Qur’an. Knowing how many battles there are described in the Torah, and also how many of these same stories are repeated in the Qur’an, what’s your point?
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 27, 2010
at 8:19 PM
Really the worst sort of person on so many levels.
……………….
Very polite way of putting it…
Very, very
Somehow deleting years worth of material related to an important case kinda puts him in the sludge-at-the-bottom-of-the-septic-tank zone to me…
Paid by borough taxpayer money to prosecute borough cases, foodling around on taxpayer purchased computers for personal tomfoolery and losing documents related to borough (taxpayer) biggest case…
Sounds super senatorial , eh?
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 27, 2010
at 7:51 PM
ha!
Just watched Rachel Maddow interviewing Harry Reid. I can’t fathom how it must be to be bright, well educated, accomplished–and attacked by someone like his opponent. I do hope the Hispanic vote turns out since it sounds like that’ll be crucial.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 27, 2010
at 7:43 PM
Sooooo in other words just your run of the mill t person Donna? lol lol
LikeLike
By: lori on October 27, 2010
at 7:32 PM
I saw the stuff about the Miller records. It’s not just lying–it’s totally gaming the system, taking FMLA which is precisely the sort of “entitlement” he claims is unconstitutional. Vindictive–erased emails constituting his work, for which he was paid, when he resigned. Bizarre behavior. Let’s see: lawfirm where he started happy to see him leave. Next job had him resign rather than be fired. Left military early. Cheated guy who sold him the property he didn’t declare. Really the worst sort of person on so many levels.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 27, 2010
at 7:17 PM
lori-
I am , I am… going back to it!
Thanks for all the support !
whatzername is due back in state tomorrow to “give a boost ” to Miller…
ack!
For those who are interested Ms Maddow did her show here last night- it was especially good to see Mr V Fisher speak about the constitution.
He was one of the framers of our state constitution here 55 years ago…
We are so young as a state.
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 27, 2010
at 7:09 PM
LOL LOL I’m sorry Alaska I thought yo might be busy entering data..;-)
Anyway GMTA!
LikeLike
By: lori on October 27, 2010
at 6:59 PM
http://alaskadispatch.com/blogs/political-animal/7294-write-in-lists-ruled-a-violation-of-election-law
here’s the court thingy…
Miller’s records were released as well- terrible, terrible rotten employee and lying sack o spuds but his base seems to think it was all ok
sigh…
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 27, 2010
at 6:55 PM
oh shoot- lori had already gotten it !
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 27, 2010
at 6:53 PM
Donna- newest info I have:
“Scott will be close. The numbers in the last week for the two target
areas have decreased on Lisa and increased on Scott. Our target was
Anchorage/women. Anchorage is now 30/28/26 Miller/Murkowski/McAdams.
Last week it was 31/36/23 Miller/Murkowski/McAdams. Undecideds in
Anchorage are now 13%, up from 6$. 53% of remaining of the total
undecided universe is in Anchorage. A week ago women were 65/29
Positive to Negative for Lisa; in the last week this has changed to
51/41”
Some really bad campaign gaffes on Murkowski’s part are starting to bite her and Miller … well, the records release won’t hurt his solid core but it has lost him some support …
Keep your fingers crossed.
Mr McAdams has such a positive effect on folks when they meet and hear him…
it’s going to be close.
Injunction against state election office handing out what amounted to spelling cheat sheets to write in Murkowski to early voters is the big deal now-
This one is wearing us all to a nub…Gonna sleep for a week when it’s over, no matter who wins!
🙂
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 27, 2010
at 6:52 PM
Donna I saw this on Dailykos. 😉
Scott will be close. The numbers in the last week for the two target areas have decreased on Lisa and increased on Scott. Our target was Anchorage/women. Anchorage is now 30/28/26 Miller/Murkowski/McAdams. Last week it was 31/36/23 Miller/Murkowski/McAdams. Undecideds in Anchorage are now 13%, up from 6$. 53% of remaining of the total undecided universe is in Anchorage. A week ago women were 65/29 Positive to Negative for Lisa; in the last week this has changed to 51/41. Clearly our targeting is working. We are pouring everything on at this point.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 27, 2010
at 6:50 PM
Mageen I think you’re right!
delurker, I had not seen that but I am pleased someone has taken the time to make a list. I’m tired of people playing the violence off like “it’s no big deal both sides do it”. Thats booooollll shitzzzzzzz
LikeLike
By: lori on October 27, 2010
at 6:20 PM
alaskapi: any thoughts on how things are shaping up with Miller/Murkowski/McAdams?
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 27, 2010
at 5:41 PM
@lori on October 27, 2010 at 3:41 AM
Have you seen this?
“Let’s List the violent attacks by the Right Wingers”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×9389907
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 27, 2010
at 3:48 PM
Poolman, There is a connection between Muhammad and the Koran is there not? Is Muhammad, not the last and final prophet of God according to the Koran? Please read about the Battle of Badr in the Koran and Muhammad’s participation.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 27, 2010
at 3:32 PM
Philly/Philly
“Great blog Ladies. You know you have a great blog when you attract nut case trolls like James and Craig.
Congratulations!”
Actually, I believe it is YOU who exhibit troll-like behavior, isn’t it? A rare- or non- contributor who runs in, takes a slap at someone, then runs out. Typically done for attention or to stir trouble.
Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, pot.
LikeLike
By: PFesser on October 27, 2010
at 2:35 PM
varied, not varie
LikeLike
By: PFesser on October 27, 2010
at 2:25 PM
Mageen –
I live in Virginia, like you, and I see Tea Party people every day. They are not one monolith; they are very much varie. Some like Palin, most think she’s an idiot. Very few would give Bush the Lesser the time of day and most blame his extravagant spending for our current problems. Most are church-going christians. Almost none that I know think Obama has done much of a job in addressing what they see as the real problems facing this country. I happen to agree with them, although I believe his biggest disabilities lie in not being aggressive and publicly denouncing the ReBiblicans for their obstructionist tactics and not being much of a charismatic leader, which we NEED and I had thought was his strongest point. Most Partiers think the ReBiblicans are interested in nothing but power; I agree with that, too.
They are my neighbors and they vote. (I don’t think they are witches, but you never know…) In five days or so we will see how much influence they have.
LikeLike
By: PFesser on October 27, 2010
at 2:24 PM
Anonymous, history has nothing to do with it. I am talking about the true tenets of the faith. You can point out abuses in the name of all faiths, Muslims included. Misunderstandings abound. Ask any KKK member and they’ll swear god is on their side.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 27, 2010
at 1:48 PM
Islam antiwar? Not so much, check your history Poolman.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 27, 2010
at 1:20 PM
Lori, I am as bumfoozled as anyone is about the real deal of the Tea Party. From all I can tell they want to elect and pay people to do absolutely nothing, that is, once everything else ever promulgated by the current and previous presidents (from day 1) is abolished. I guess this is their idea of the country we once had. (In an alternate, parallel universe!)
LikeLike
By: Mageen in Old Virginny on October 27, 2010
at 11:42 AM
Mageen, the link I provided mentioned Marcellus, but beyond that I don’t know any more. I have determined over the past few years that true Christianity, much like Islam, opposes war and military service. In the gospels, where we learn how we are supposed to live and act, all indicators show an incompatibility between military service and true Christian faith. It appears the early church well realized this. And these people were by no means cowards. They were constantly beaten and even executed for their faith. It wasn’t until Christianity began to corrupt, that the division lines began to fade. Now 2000 years later, much corruption has altered the message and faded the lines of standard.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 27, 2010
at 11:01 AM
Poolman, the refusal of early Christians to join armies and fight was once referred to as the Marceline privilege. The story goes that someone named Marcellus was “approached” by a Roman recruiting sargeant and forcibly hauled away to join the Roman army. Marcellus resisted, claiming that Christains just do not do that sort of thing. He was promptly beheaded as a traitor. Anybody know anything more about this?
LikeLike
By: Mageen in Old Virginny on October 27, 2010
at 9:13 AM
OK Lori we do not have pics of loch ness monster.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 27, 2010
at 8:42 AM
JSRI,
I think that is Jean who should have known…
“I guess it never occurred to him that the temporary cemetery and the one currently there might not be the same.”
So get the story straight when you report.
Not picking fight just telling Jean that she sometimes gets things a little out of kilter.
Who hasn’t visited a war cemetery. Gettysburg,
Omaha Beach,Arlington National?
I also visited the Tuscany wine region and Florence. Rome and the usual must see sights including the Holy sights and participated in a mass at the Spanish steps since wife understood Italian. Herculinium near Naples, Sailed to Sicily after visiting Salerno and the Amalfi coast, the island of Lipari. Palermo, Taormina and Siracusa. And finally Malta which Jean is right. Malta was worth another day stay.
Again not picking fight,but if I say something, get it right. I get accused of enough crap at this sight.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 27, 2010
at 8:39 AM
This just in –
China sets new world speed record for bullet trains – 245 mph.
China says Three Gorges Dam now putting out electricity at peak power levels.
America can’t find its rear end with both hands.
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12999
The Gathering Storm is right. The problem is not one of ability; it is one of will. China keeps its troops home and builds bullet trains. We sail nuclear aircraft carriers around the world, keep military bases to protect countries that hope we fall flat on our faces. Their children learn; ours learn video games; should a rare good teacher demand more, we give them hell. We are on a bus filled with a hundred soreheads, each of whom has a brake pedal and can stop any progress or reform.
What’s wrong with us?
LikeLike
By: PFesser on October 27, 2010
at 8:12 AM
Great post!! It’s so refreshing to see someone NOT beat Obama up for a change! He had several issues that he walked into, which were created during the presidency before him and I personally think he’s doing a great job!
LikeLike
By: Holly Salsman on October 27, 2010
at 7:33 AM
Anddddd today brings another T Party back candidate showing his true colors in a public debate.
I find it interesting that the Republican party has come out against this guy, but the Tea Party, of which he belongs, has not said a word to denounce him or his racist views. (scroll down and see the candidate holding a T bag..that says it all)
yeahhh just a bunch of people who are fed up with government spending … right…..you betcha….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/al-reynolds-tea-party-can_n_774432.html
LikeLike
By: lori on October 27, 2010
at 4:54 AM
really both sides? Craig…. Please show me a video with a 300 pound liberal guy stepping on a woman’s back beacuse he doesn’t like her politics?
No Craig, that type of violence it is NOT on both sides.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 27, 2010
at 3:41 AM
Thank you, Helen, for a breath of sheer common sense and sanity!
LikeLike
By: SagiDreamer on October 27, 2010
at 1:38 AM
Yes you do need faster service James, time to open that wallet, let the bats fly out, I concede that fast rural internet service is expensive, but so worth it.
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on October 26, 2010
at 9:45 PM
Oh and Jean that cemetery at Nettuno Italy.
It’s not “temporary”. It’s still there.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 26, 2010
at 9:34 PM
Lori,
I do not hold with such acts as you have posted and I have seen on TV news.
Please do not think that all on the right hold to such
beliefs or acts. There are idiots on both sides.
Thanks
CR
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 26, 2010
at 9:31 PM
Note to Phyllis in Philly please see comment to
Mary Alice at 2:54pm.
That is all.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 26, 2010
at 9:27 PM
Jean for your education, which is seldom.
I did go to the same cemetery your brother was initially buried at.
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery lies at the north edge of the town of Nettuno Italy, which is the correct spelling Jean. This is immediately east of Anzio.”
That’s about 3 miles from Anzio, but who’s counting.
You say potatoe..I say patato.
My thanks to your brother and the other 7,000 buried there. It’s a site which, like the Punchbowl and other war cemeteries are not soon forgotten.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 26, 2010
at 9:25 PM
An interesting note from history regarding war and Christianity. The early Christians refused to be soldiers. They strongly believed, and as scripture attests, it is against the teachings of Jesus Christ. Many of them were executed for refusing to fight. It wasn’t until the passage of time into the late 2nd Century that, as Christianity began to become corrupted, “christians” would become soldiers.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 26, 2010
at 6:21 PM
Thanks Poolman. It was interesting. Yes it is easy to program traumatised minds, I suppose.
I saw yours too Lori. Disgusting.
I called a newspaper rep about an advertisement and she talked about how far we’ve come since dial up. I need faster service so I can spend hours catching up on the videos. Ha!
LikeLike
By: James on October 26, 2010
at 5:03 PM
Thanks for the link Poolman. I am about ready to head home, but I will check fast. Letting me meet you tube for the first time in my life is dangerous.
Phylliss in Philly, what do you do besides consume oxygen and take up space? Not much if your presence on this site is any indication.
LikeLike
By: James on October 26, 2010
at 4:53 PM
Poolman, thanks for checking. The “Remember Me” video could be a recruiting tool as you wrote, but the significance for me was nothing to do with the evils or the nobility of war.
I discarded all of that and concentrated on the feelings expressed. Its an appreciation of what individuals we send to do our bidding feel on an elemental level.
Many of us don’t even know soldiers at war. This takes them part way out of the realm of abstraction. They are doing a job we sent them to do, and if we consider the troops in isolation, from who profits or what they accomplish we see them as people who are more than numbers. Maybe if our leaders saw soldiers as presented in that video, they would think more times before sending them to fight.
As I wrote, NASCAR is big business and advertising. It is comical when winning drivers pose with five or ten different hats in sequence to advertise their patrons.
Once again I divorced all of that from the simple drama of people who were suffering and how they coped. The other stuff was just window dressing. A small company in our county has Lowes for a client. As a result, the president and some of his employees have met several of the drivers shown on the videos. He said they seem nice and sometimes talk more like mechanical engineers than drivers. They are also rich enough to maintain their own charities.
I am a fan and know their foibles, ups and downs better than a non fan. Maybe that is why I can see their humanity. I liked that one video because of the INXS song.
Again, I’m not trying to convert you, just trying to illustrate a point about trauma.
Thanks again for checking. At the least, we added a little more traffic to the site, and it was interesting that you and I looked at the same thing and had such different reactions. It was also interesting that you actually took the trouble to look when most people with your mind set wouldn’t have. It is a complement to you.
We have a freezer full of sweet corn, and I like words too. We have some pictures taken during the 1890’s, and the young folks looked pretty happy and fun-loving.
Good note to Mary Alice, Craig.
LikeLike
By: James on October 26, 2010
at 4:49 PM
OHHhhhhh now here is n example of a true American T party man. What a gentleman.
Gotta love these T cowards..
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/10/26/913658/-KY-Sen:-Kentucky-cowards
LikeLike
By: lori on October 26, 2010
at 4:45 PM
Great blog Ladies. You know you have a great blog when you attract nut case trolls like James and Craig.
Congratulations!
LikeLike
By: Phyllis in Philly on October 26, 2010
at 4:25 PM
James, talk about the working through trauma. How easy is it to program a traumatized mind? While you have youtube available, check this live BBC report about the 47 storey Salomon Brothers building collapse in NYC on that fateful day. Look over Jane Standley’s left shoulder at the very building that collapses 20 minutes later. Ever help with putting on a performance? Timing is everything.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 26, 2010
at 4:20 PM
James, I found and watched the two videos you suggested. I’m not sure what the significance was for each. The “Remember Me” one could have been as easily produced by military recruiters. Putting a face of humanity and familiarity on our troops. Marketing it to seem as if we are fighting for a noble cause to save humanity and freedom. Or but some means trying to romanticize war. As it states, these people are just doing their job. This job is accomplishing what? Who profits?
The NASCAR one must have meaning to fans primarily, as it did nothing for me. The biggest thing that sticks out to me is all the corporate logos. Like one giant over-the-top and bigger-than-life commercial. Much like America is as a whole. If you look hard enough and long enough, you might see the faces of humanity behind all the advertising and corporate worship.
So I’m not converted to a war fan or race fan. But sweet corn. “Well I just can’t get enough of that sweet stuff…”
LOL Lori, I can only imagine. We’ve been using that one for years before those gradeschool kids were born, I’m sure. Like “whatever roasts your nuts”, these sayings are generational. I’m sure the gay 90’s would confuse today’s youth, too. I love the history and evolution of words. It brings me much entertainment.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 26, 2010
at 2:57 PM
Mary Alice I don’t know you.
Have not said anything to you and don’t care to.
So why not keep your thoughts to yourself.
Regards,
C
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 26, 2010
at 2:54 PM
Lori, I like Katie Perry. Did you know she was so sheltered by her Christian parents she didn’t hear pop music until someone played a Queen record at a sleep over? She’s just making up for lost time.
I still think of sweet corn and popsicles .
Mary Alice, are you Mary Jane’s ugly sister the sneaker? ? There is nothing of you to scroll by even if I wanted to.
LikeLike
By: James on October 26, 2010
at 2:53 PM
Love your blog Margaret and Helen!
(And I have learned to just scroll past this James and Craig nonsense.)
Looking forward to YOUR next post!
LikeLike
By: Mary Alice on October 26, 2010
at 2:15 PM
LOL LOL Poolman be careful my friend when you say that phrase “melts your butter” or “melts my butter”.
There are a couple of songs out right now that have that phrase and a phrase much like it. “Melt your pop cycle” (Katie Perry). Some schools have banned those songs and some parents are having tizzieeee fits..
Believe me when I say they aren’t thinking about corn on the cob or the twin orange pop cycles on a stick that we remember.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 26, 2010
at 1:59 PM
Yes, Poolman, war is hell.
I’m not trying to convert you to NASCAR.
The reason I mentioned the NASCAR videos is because the single tragic event illustrates a reaction to trauma in detail for all to see. Most survivors of trauma tell how it was, and then they are off the news. In this case, the Hendrick team was under a microscope for a week, and the way they pulled together was self evident.
Their emotional breakdown and what they said when the job ended was also there in ways we usually don’t see in news casts. We saw it as it happened. It is a good psychological study of coping skills one can extrapolate to other cases.
You might be surprised to know the Hendrick company had regular Bible studies led by the Hendrick brother killed in the plane crash. After the race there were several references to God and angels.
Yes, those people are in the sport because they love racing. Sometimes, they are rowdy and addicted to fast cars and adrenalin. They feud and hold grudges. Some are workalcholoics. However, they have come a long way from the southern good old boy network which began as a race for competing moonshiners. NASCAR is now a competition of corporations like football or baseball.
Higher levels of the sport have become so strategic and technical, its participants are smarter than most of us posting on this message board. You will see how well- spoken they are if you watch the video. Many of the leading lights like Johnson are from states like California.
I agree, NASCAR people choose to be in the sport, but that has nothing to do with what the video shows. Bad times catch us all. The Hendrick team’s reaction was in a small way similar to how a military unit would react after an operation. It was also similar to what happened after the Little Sioux Scout Ranch tornado and the Von Maurer shootings in Omaha. I had personal contact with both.
Its fine if you don’t want to see the video, but I’m not trying to convert you. As you wrote “whatever melts you butter.” I like that. It reminds me of sweet corn on the cob.
LikeLike
By: James on October 26, 2010
at 1:43 PM
Money and power grabs are what get us into wars. The greatest loss is not monetary, you are right. The greatest loss is what it does to the human race and this planet for generations.
I was not in Vietnam, you are correct. But my father did a tour of duty there. We, the dependents, were all moved to Schilling AFB in Salina, Kansas. Plenty of my classmates there had older siblings and their fathers stationed in Vietnam. Many of my friends that are a little older than I served. The draft ended just before I came of age. I remember the scant reporting we would get and the grand distortion from the MSM. It was a very depressing time for me growing up, as dead and wounded soldiers were coming home, many to people I related to daily.
We were told it was a righteous conflict, started by them, and we were helping to stop the spread of communism, the greatest threat at the time to our freedom. It was a lie. It was a whitewash then, just as it is now. There was NO righteous cause, and true communism is NOT a threat to humanity or freedom. They had Billy Graham railing from the pulpit on how the enemy was communism and the spread of that utter and complete evil. What a tool he was then.
Now the same people are profitting by continuing the war on terror. There is NOTHING RIGHTEOUS in what we are doing, don’t delude yourself. It is all about power and profit, humans be damned. Muslims are the modern communists. The American public has once again been deceived. We do not learn from our mistakes, yet we claim to be civilized. If my civilization exists only because I have to continually exploit and annihilate others, then it shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
I am not a Nascar fan. Loud and obnoxious people and cars are not a turn on for me. Spending time and money on such isn’t my idea of good earthly stewardship, but that is my own opinion and conviction. I understand the need for fantasy. Whatever melts your butter, as they say. I’m sure these celebrities reflect the full scope of humanity, and many are seen as role models.
Trauma is trauma, that is true. However the source of the trauma and the reason for it differ. Nascar is a lifestyle choice, both for the participants and the fans. War is not the people’s choice. Not the aggressor’s nor the victim’s. We have to be tricked to support war. Always have, always will.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 26, 2010
at 10:41 AM
Thank you delurkergurl.
I was scheduled to be in Omaha at this time two months ago. The timing was fine for our legal problems and let me enjoy our nemesis’ having to spend extra money attempting to serve papers on me. I’m going home later today and getting busy. My first stop will be at the sherrif’s office.
Poolman, I’ve written this before, and here it is again . No one threw anything at my brother or spat on him, but protesters cursed him. I don’t remember the book, something like Vietnam, what the War Did to us by ? Caputo. He provided anecdotal stories of veterans being harassed. Thanks to a long conversation with a flight attendant, I got a standing ovation.
Other attacks were more subtle. A writer said the best of our generation was living in Canada. Another said this would be the first war without a soldier-written account because most of the warriors were ignorant and unschooled. Anyone who says Vietnam era veterans weren’t at least figuratively spat upon was not there or is lying.
Poolman, I like you, but if you weren’t there, you have little idea of how it was. You can’t because it passes beyond the limits of normal human experience. You seem to focus on the money.
If you really care about these things, please find “Remember Me” by Lizzie Palmer on you tube. I suggested it to a woman posting on this site, who’s son was about to be sent to Afghanistan, and she wrote back that it made her cry. It expresses in simple terms how a lot of us felt then and do now in modern wars. Some of the pictures will tear your heart out.
If you really feel ambitious, look for 2004 Atlanta Jimmie Johnson’s emotional win. “Always in Our Hearts-A Tribute to Ten” with music from INXS, “Afterglow.” Posted by gadgetfan48, I think.
Trauma is trauma.It follows similar rules no matter where you meet it. First comes the adrenalin rush when you cast aside everything but the job at hand. Jimmie Johnson and the others focused on one thing, to do their best after the tragedy. After he won the race a flood of bottled up emotions poured out. An announcer said “Johnson wants to get out of his car, but he can’t.”
If you watch it, listen to what the crew members said, and use your imagination, you will understand how it felt to be a soldier doing a job, and returning with emotions too heavy to ignore. Our Vietnam era warriors needed the same support the Hendrix team, the survivors of the Little Sioux Scout Ranch tornado, the survivors of Omaha’s Von Maurer shooting, or any daily disaster need. Most didn’t get it.
The real cost of war is not monetary. Aside from deaths and life long injuries, the real price lies in human emotions and how they change a person. You probably won’t bother to check the sites, but that is your loss not mine.
This is the first time I have been able to watch you tube. We need to a faster internet service.
LikeLike
By: James on October 26, 2010
at 9:51 AM
Love your Blog Ladies!
LikeLike
By: Tanner R. on October 26, 2010
at 8:43 AM
Cyrus, please show some class. If your only contribution is sniping, you are worse than the people you snipe at. What is your goal?
Nobody is impressed.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 26, 2010
at 5:36 AM
James is a loser.
LikeLike
By: Cyrus on October 26, 2010
at 5:11 AM
The only thing wrong with this blog is you do not post enough.
LikeLike
By: gene on October 26, 2010
at 12:11 AM
The fake war on terror needs to end, whether we elect dems or reps. We cannot sustain it financially. We are less safe now than before we began it. Time to defund it.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 25, 2010
at 11:45 PM
I remember hearing about anti-war protesters in the Vietnam era spitting in the faces of returning troops. Seems it may be more of a myth than fact. That and the fact that thousands of GIs and veterans were integral to the anti-war movement then, shows that it isn’t just liberals who oppose war.
Probably my biggest objection with Republicans and a lot of Blue Dog Democrats is that they think war is not only necessary, but righteous. They would not consider cutting the defense budget or questioning our imperialist stance. I think it is much braver to oppose these injustices that to go along with and promote them.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 25, 2010
at 10:58 PM
Craig, I like Italy and Italians. However, when I was in the service, we were in a single engined air plane with motor trouble. We asked for permission to make an emergency landing at Rome’s air port.
It was dusk when we landed, and I wondered why so many fighter jets were parked near us. I also wondered why uniformed men with side arms drawn were running toward our plane.
We had mistakenly landed on an Italian air base. Considering political unrest and terrorism, they told us we were lucky they didn’t shoot us down. They were angry and didn’t believe our story at first. As a result, I am one of the few modern Americans to be detained on an Italian air base.
LikeLike
By: James on October 25, 2010
at 10:23 PM
So far, gossip is not treating me as a coward. People know how I am. For example, quite a few heard how I got a crew of FEMA reps locked inside our court house for forty minutes in late July as my way of protesting what they told us they were going to do to our county. I was locked in there with them and got to enjoy the show.
New developments no one’s puppet. We have a thinly populated county with only four traffic lights. Gossip travels fast, and according to a woman who also got papers and who called tonight, there is an undercurrent of talk.
We don’t know why, but the complaint was filed in a neighboring county, so my friend thinks our local news papers won’t publish any notices. Our lawyer has a counter proposal, and I plan to be back home late tomorrow. Our lawyer was slow to act because his partner died last week.
Now, that I have gotten some attention, my friend and I plan to see if we can get an ad signed by us in the paper before election day after clearing it with the lawyers.
With a little gossip, as background, perhaps some people will read it. Then, we will start an impromptu anti -candidate campaign to tell our story. We’ll be knocking on a lot of doors and making phone calls as we normally do before elections, but we will also concentrate on our organizational dispute.
Our plan may fail but it is better than sitting at home and complaining.
Someone wrote an article about elites on both sides. They attend the right schools and know the right people. Both sides take turns running things. The rest of us make them uncomfortable if we get to noisy.
LikeLike
By: James on October 25, 2010
at 10:16 PM
To Whom It May Concern.
I was a Film and Television Producer for 21 years at Bell Helicopter. I worked with clients to develop, script and produce marketing and training films for EMS, Law Enforcement, Oil Production as well as work with military clients to meet their respective needs.
I Also worked in Medical,broadcast,educational and religious media as well.
Jean,
I addressed Italy on October 12 at 2:00pm.
I also wrote about going to the American cemetery at Anzio Jean.
Over 7,000 American dead from Sicily and Italy buried there.
Otherwise enjoyed trip to Italy and Sicily with wife.
Thanks,
CR
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 25, 2010
at 10:04 PM
James, from what I know about the midwest, this would be the headline: “Cowardly Defendant Continues to Avoid be Served,” Of course it won’t come to that, because in reality, your avoidance is a non-story, no one, but the judge will know about it.
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on October 25, 2010
at 9:18 PM
Yep things are better now………
So why is it we are throwing out the left?
So they can go back to Chicago politics.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 25, 2010
at 8:48 PM
Helen, thanks for making me think long and hard about this subject. I think what has been said in the past about some progressives might hold some truth. A lot of of them, especially the ones representing us in Washington might be “elitist” in the sense that they loose sense of the populism they should strive to embrace, they are all cerebral I guess. Well, that is what the opposition does. The opposition puts the news media to good use. A lot of people only get their news from TV and have no time or desire to read. The Washington “elite” thinks people sit down to read long exposes about what is going on with the economy, politics, and what else should be of interest to the electorate. Therefore, people are informed and would know to decide after reading about many points of view. HAH!
WRONG!!! Wake up! People like soundbites. These soundbites do stick and the right is really good at using soundbites, lies mostly, or the real truth so disguised as to be unrecognizable. Honestly, how else could people so easily forget how things were two years ago? Colleagues of mine were betting the Dow would hit 2000 within six months of President Obama taking office. It did not happen. The Dow is over 11,000 and I have not heard a pip out of them lately over that. So, they found something else to latch unto. It is Obamacare, or the deficit spending, or stimulus spending, the negativity never ends, has to always win the day. It does not occur to them that the stimulus spending might have something to do with why their 401k is still viable.
Grandma Katie, I am glad we can go back to the past thanks to TV Land. I am having a hard time following some of the new shows people are raving about. Maybe it is just me.
LikeLike
By: Easier on October 25, 2010
at 8:01 PM
Parker –
Do you live close by Crested Butte?! My wife, kids and I skied there last April. Awesome! We’re going back on spring break again this year.
We flew from Denver into Gunnison. jesus, flying over the Rockies is nothing like flying here in Virginia. We were on a twin turboprop from Denver and I was still uneasy. On approach to landing you have to swing around the old graveyard coming into Gunnison, and you lose sight of the runway. It looked like I could throw a rock out and hit the gravestones. My hat’s off to Rockies pilots.
By the end of the week we were altitude-acclimated and took a four-hour snowmobile ride. Brilliant sun with an occasional snow squall. I had ridden a bit before in high school, helping my cousin repair TV cable during snow outages, so I got reacquainted with sleds pretty quick and had a really good time. Email me if you want: pfesser53@gmail.com. I don’t worry about giving it out publicly; it’s a spam trap address anyway.
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on October 25, 2010
at 7:26 PM
More snow! Skis are waxed, fall break starts the 20th. Crested Butte opens the 24th. If this is global warming, I want more. After the 2d, should have a majority in Congress, and maybe the Senate. Life is good.
LikeLike
By: Parker on October 25, 2010
at 7:08 PM
God bless you ladies, truth succinctly put!
I mean it really.
You’re the best and I bow at your feet.
LikeLike
By: elenalb1 on October 25, 2010
at 5:46 PM
Right on time. Thanks for bringing the sanity!
LikeLike
By: GN on October 25, 2010
at 5:24 PM
bozly84 thanks for spelling it out, as you do so well.
GO JERRY too!
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 25, 2010
at 3:39 PM
and some more on the deficit BS . But the fear and hate mongerers will still not want to read and understand. then you have the hidden racism.
http://www.truth-out.org/keeping-fear-alive-the-deficit-hawks-push-their-agenda64506
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 25, 2010
at 3:36 PM
another bit of info for the folks that are clueless as to what socialism is. be careful; you might actually learn something in the process.
http://www.truth-out.org/socialism-the-rich-are-winning-us-class-war-facts-show-rich-getting-richer-everyone-else-poorer64514
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 25, 2010
at 3:32 PM
A month long survery reveals who or what the T People really are.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/23/AR2010102304000.html
😉
LikeLike
By: lori on October 25, 2010
at 2:50 PM
Yes Bozly84 ..and I should take every word you say for gospel as well.
Thanks for all the votes of confidence.
And Lori thank you personally. I don’t see why you can’t have some levity on this sight..my gosh the
late night comedians do at the expense of the left, right and T-Party.
Otherwise a lot of people have a feather up their ass.
Nov 3rd ought to be interesting!
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 25, 2010
at 2:28 PM
As always, I love it!
LikeLike
By: Julia Walters on October 25, 2010
at 1:46 PM
Helen, I hope you love your over-the-air tv. I cut off cable ages ago and haven’t been sorry!
Thanks again for sharing good common sense.
LikeLike
By: Holly on October 25, 2010
at 12:56 PM
an ‘mmm’er for Craig…Do you KNOW just what PER CENTAGE of NPR funding DOES come from the government ? Do you KNOW where the majority of their funding DOES come from ?
Give ya’ a slight hint..funding FROM ‘government/taxpayer equals approximately 3 % ( THREE PER CENT) of their budget…Private donations support NPR and Yes, their ARE wealthy donors but there are ordinary, everyday folks who donate as well which is the BULK of their funding.
A bit of fact checking IS a good thing–the propensity to fling whatever around and about indicates ….well, will leave it for each to determine how to define.
The outright LIES and omniprescient slings and even outright slander is repulsive. Depressing is that seemingly, the GOP ‘ers seem content to let such fly and hope enough of it sticks and wicks the life/power out of Dems/progressives…May indeed happen, but is nothing to rejoice in or about for the consequences will be costly to all–the nation as a whole and its citizenry. Should at the very least be labled as bordering on crimnality–the high shanighans used to manipulate our votes with the falsities and NON FACTS. It is shameful, it is pitiful and is basically irrational to ones OWN best interests for sure.
Hard to fanthom that folks ARE willing to reinstate the GOP…they’ve managed to obstruct and desinfranchise so many as a MINORITY play group but such an outcome does NOT bode well for the nation OR national /citizen best intersts overall. Perhaps if nothing else, it will serve as a reality check but those lessons from RC’s should have already been learned.
It has been a raucous mid term election season, the 2012 promises to be even WORSE and it too has already begun….WOE IS US for sure !!!
LikeLike
By: Bozly84 on October 25, 2010
at 12:13 PM
And just in case I missed it because I started doing a lot of scrolling. A friend just sent this ~
There are SO many things in here that you should know. Really. Just read it.
(Note: The words that appear in red are links that you can click.)
Eight False Things The Public “Knows” Prior To Election Day
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010104222/false-things-public-knows-they-go-vote
LikeLike
By: palinshutup on October 25, 2010
at 12:11 PM
Thank you M&H for another gem!
“I find it odd that Sarah Palin can see November from her house but she couldn’t see a teen pregnancy coming if her life depended on it.” AMEN!
Donna, when someone preaches to me about ‘socialism’ I always ask them exactly what is so bad about a system that embraces socialist programs? I also ask them if they do not have any friends or relatives who have accepted socialist programs like SSI…of course the subject is usually then changed conveniently.
LikeLike
By: palinshutup on October 25, 2010
at 12:02 PM
Democrats shrank spending & the deficit this year:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/democrats-shrank-spending-deficit-fiscal-year-figures-show/
No time to fact check it at this moment but I plan to.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 25, 2010
at 11:58 AM
What have you done to change your world M. Talley? Hide in your closet or under a chair?
You certainly don’t have much of a presence on this site. Do people in your neighborhood even know who you are?
LikeLike
By: James on October 25, 2010
at 11:53 AM
Right on, girls!!
LikeLike
By: Suzie Stewart on October 25, 2010
at 11:24 AM
James, You are a complete whack job.
Craig too.
LikeLike
By: M. Talley on October 25, 2010
at 11:05 AM
No, I’m not no one’s puppet. I’m tripping over an injustice and fighting it as I have done in the past-by getting people’s attention. You would probably do the same thing.
LikeLike
By: James on October 25, 2010
at 9:33 AM
Thanks Donna. I don’t want to clog the site either. Our organization has what our county attorney says is a good lawyer. He has donated his own money to keep the organization running since its funds were wrongfully frozen.
There is a method to my madness. I regard this as an act of civil disobedience. I want some notoriety and to slow the process for awhile so that when I get home next week, people will be paying attention. I may stroll into the sherrif’s office and ask for the papers or not, but I am considering it.
Without crossing into libel, I plan to sing in a public forum so people get more than gossip for their information. As I wrote, I know things better left unsaid in normal times. With luck, my timing will drive some votes from the county board candidate and maybe affect jury selection.
My plan may or may not work, but it might.
Twenty years ago, I pulled a stunt like this. Our little group got regional news coverage, and public opinion convinced Iowa’s DOT to buy us a new bridge and reopen the road they had closed.
They knew I was ready to stand in front of earth moving equipment, and a lot of people were following the year-long story. I promised them I would die or be hurt, and the publicity would be bad for all concerned.
I’m not trying to incite anyone. I’m just curious so this is about other people, not just me.
What about mass protests like the Tea Parties? Would you copy them? What do you plan to do if the election swamps Democrats and Republicans defund programs or stop legislation you hold dear? What will the Tea Parties do if Democrats retain control of everything and continue spending? What must the government do for you to protest and demonstrate, even if it means risking arrest or injury?
LikeLike
By: James on October 25, 2010
at 9:28 AM
James are you meeting up with Randy and Evi Quaid in Canada traveling via Nebraska?
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on October 25, 2010
at 9:27 AM
James is tripping.
LikeLike
By: M. Talley on October 25, 2010
at 9:10 AM
thanks lori. The naysayers don’t seem to care about getting real facts and statistics. OMG SOCIALISM!!! they are so scared of something they can’t even define and apply.
They are easily baited and come out of the woodwork and post at the mention of a word that scares them.
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 25, 2010
at 7:52 AM
Lori: there’s a big emotional component to litigation, particularly to being sued. I empathized with that. But it doesn’t accomplish anything constructive.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 25, 2010
at 7:48 AM
Donna, I have never understood the “hiding from the paper server” thing? Seems like a huge waste of time and money – kind of cowardly ..
My personal mantra is “okkkk lets go” .. bring it on, give me your best shot cause you will only have one.. 😉
LikeLike
By: lori on October 25, 2010
at 6:56 AM
A good read. A GREAT Speaker.
Craig you might like it too, it has the origins of the funny jokes you enjoy so much.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/24/nancy-pelosi-takes-the-heat-if-i-were-not-effective-they-would/?ncid=webmail
LikeLike
By: lori on October 25, 2010
at 6:16 AM
Auntie Jean: so glad!
James: Not giving you legal advice and don’t want to clog the board. But, on the chance that this is of more general interest, I hope your group has retained a good lawyer. He/she can agree to accept service on your behalf, so you don’t have to continue to be bothered. If the lawsuit is baseless, he/she will show that and you should be able to recover fees under your state’s equivalent of a frivolous claim statute. However, avoiding service won’t help you in that regard or in defending the case on the merits. Again, not giving you legal advice–merely suggesting you retain a good lawyer (which you’ll need anyway).
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 25, 2010
at 6:02 AM
Linda Love that link!
As I said a million timnes I couldn’t care less what people’s political beliefs are. I think diversity is a good thing. I will talk to anyone about politics and their political views.
What makes me a crazy person however, is the people who have NO idea what the political party (or extreme fringe) they back actually stand for or what their party of favor has done past and present!
I just listened to SP give a stump speech. In the first 3 sentences there were 3 lies. Flat out and out lies. The loonies in the audience were clapping widely for these 3 lies.
1. “status quo” {read democrats} raised taxes.
2. “status quo” created the deficits our children will be paying for decades.
3. Democrats and the President are out of touch with “real” Americans”.
In truth the Democrats-Obama gave TAX CUTS!
BUSH created the huge deficit. Obama actually REDUCED the deficit.
Obama has a 54 percent approval rating (News Week) and generic dem vs rep give dems a 3 point advantage!
Soooo frustrating but thanks for trying to keep it real. On we go.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 25, 2010
at 5:40 AM
I could use a flying broom. The process servers are still after me. I am the only one not served, and they are getting angry. It is a baseless law suit filed by criminal usurpers, and I am waiting for the counter suit. A deputy sherrif followed my wife home from school, on Friday, so they know I have crossed state lines. She was here this weekend.
Don’t talk about “conservative politicians.” The leader of the group is a Democrat running for our county board of supervisors. Two of her henchmen are socialists. Not a Republican is among them.
I can out wait them. Let them arrest me if it comes to that. I know things, and I know people in the local news media. Gd, I hate them.
LikeLike
By: James on October 25, 2010
at 12:09 AM
Craig has mental issues… probably legal issues as well. Ignore him and move on. Most of us do…
LikeLike
By: North on October 24, 2010
at 11:51 PM
Hi Congenial Gang,
I had cataract surgery on my left eye Friday morning and the eye patch bandage came off in the Dr.’s office Saturday morning. (The nurse threw it in the trash so I can’t keep it for my Hallowe’en pirate costume.)
My opthamologist is also a pianist, so before the surgery we decided on some music to listen to during the procedure. It was the classical guitar music of Andre Segovia. Very soothing.
The interesting news is in that eye, COLORS everywhere are brighter and more vivid than I can ever remember! Beautiful!!!
Needless to say, I am following their instructions –TO THE LETTER!!! There is an outside chance that they know a little more about this procedure than I do.
I want to say something about the medical personnel I have encountered, not only here, but throughout my life. They are experts!!! When you consider that doctors in specialties devote up to ten years in INTENSIVE study, it is an exercise in dedication and humility for them. Many of them are probably still paying off student loans well into their 50’s to say nothing of the expensive equipment required in setting up a practice. They deserve every penny they make and more! (No thanks to the money grubbing insurance companies, etc. How much education does it take to get an MBA?)
The nurses and technicians I have dealt with lately are equally well trained and knowledgeable. They all work together like clockwork. Besides, they are kind and considerate, imbued with the ‘Aloha! Spirit’, which always embodies a delicious sense of humor.
With very few exceptions, I have rarely run into any who were on ego trips. Those who were, obviously were masking incompetence with arrogance.
Come to think of it, there seems to me to be only one ‘profession’ currently that requires no education, special training or experience – that of politics, namely conservative politicians. Something in our country is way out of whack.
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Auntie Jean
P.S. In the OR, the nurse anestheticist told this story: A man came in all upset. His wife had been taking flying lessons and had had a horrible crash. She was not really hurt, but the ‘vehicle’ was totaled. He showed a picture of the wreckage. It was a beat up old broom.
Remind you of that babe from Delaware?
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 24, 2010
at 9:17 PM
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I want to be Helen when I grow up!
🙂
LikeLike
By: tenmoku7 on October 24, 2010
at 8:44 PM
Wow. Craig really is a nasty piece of work.
LikeLike
By: Greytdog on October 24, 2010
at 8:13 PM
“into your life it will creep
Step out of line
the man he going to take you away.”
“For What its Worth” Buffalo Springfield
I like that song Linda.
LikeLike
By: James on October 24, 2010
at 6:41 PM
great post Vinigarettegirl. but the trolls will blame Obama still for everything.
Then you have the new “guys” playing the “my truck (or whatever) is bigger than your truck”
please take the latter elsewhere. then you have the hateful ones who have no real facts and like to trash people like Speaker Pelosi.
Paranoia strikes deep
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 24, 2010
at 6:08 PM
for the naysayers who keep posting incorrect info check Truthout.
http://www.truth-out.org/eight-false-things-public-knows-prior-election-day64486
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 24, 2010
at 6:01 PM
Easier – enjoyed your coment about watching reruns on TVLand. Says something when the only thing to watch on a Saturday night are “I Love Jeannie” reruns on TVLand!>
LikeLike
By: Grandma Katie on October 24, 2010
at 5:01 PM
I think Joe needs to blow.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 24, 2010
at 4:46 PM
get a life, Craig. Stop watching children’s shows.
I think “Anonymous” might need a friend…at least it seems he is offering to be friendly, I think.
LikeLike
By: Joe on October 24, 2010
at 4:39 PM
“Thank God PBS comes through on the rabbit ears. I mean it really.”HELEN
PBS: Definition
PBS: A Democratically controlled George Soros communications giant money pit, financed by the rest of Americans regardless of political affiliation.
Take Sesame Street character Abby Cadabby for example…
AKA Nancy Pelosi.
Energetic, enthusiastic Abby/Pelosi is learning all sorts of magic skills. She is still perfecting some of her powers, so there are occasional magical mishaps”see her latest on air misspeak” — for example, she sometimes accidentally turns the economy into pumpkins with her training wand. Abby knows a great deal about fairytales or as we know as Broken promises, since they are an important part of her political history. While she loves practicing her magic and rhyming skills, she is especially interested in counting numbers also known as the national deficit and rewording what she meant to say, two concepts she discovered when she moved to Washington.
Abby really enjoys being a girl, and loves wearing pretty dresses and sparkles in her pony-tailed hair. Her close friendship with Zoe and Rosita is a positive
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 24, 2010
at 4:32 PM
Mouth full?
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 24, 2010
at 4:20 PM
No thanks.
LikeLike
By: Joe on October 24, 2010
at 4:15 PM
Blow, Joe.
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 24, 2010
at 4:13 PM
James is a nascar fan….that explains everything.
LikeLike
By: Joe on October 24, 2010
at 1:51 PM
Hey JSRI,
Q: Have you heard about McDonald’s’ new Obama Value Meal?
A: Order anything you like and the guy behind you has to pay for it.
–Conan O’Brien
Ive got more that include Pelosi, just give your e-mail.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 24, 2010
at 1:16 PM
LikeLike
By: DoverSoul on October 24, 2010
at 12:20 PM
JSRI,
Really?
“Why don’t you publish a picture of yourself? Never mind, we wouldn’t be able to tell the acne from the dart holes.”
Pretty petty I must say. You didn’t answer why the POTUS does not know what a shovel ready project was…Stimulus dollars not spent.
And if everything is so rosey in the White House and Congress, then why is there such an uproar about the current administration?
Two weeks JSRI.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 24, 2010
at 11:28 AM
You’re welcome snoringdogstudio. I agree, many folks can’t afford to do what he suggested. There would have to be some way to help them.
LikeLike
By: James on October 24, 2010
at 10:37 AM
Hey James,
Thanks so much for that link to the Atlantic article. I’ve made a pdf of it and am going to read it today. He’s right about health care vs. health insurance. And I agree in part about getting off our dependance for comprehensive coverage – paying for routine stuff out of our pockets — however, many folks can’t even do that. I’ll read the entire article, though.
LikeLike
By: snoringdogstudio on October 24, 2010
at 9:57 AM
No comment about Murkowski, Miller, or McAdams. I don’t live in Alaska, and I don’t know anything about them.
However…
Now that I’m away from home, I get to play with youtube for the first time in my life. I found a video ” Always in Our Hearts, A Tribute to Ten.” Another was “2004 Atlanta Jimmy Johnson’s Emotional Win.” The video has a good song if you find the right one. “We only have today…Heal me from all this sorrow…Now, I’m living in your afterglow.”
All of our venting is fun, but to put it into prospective, remember what happened on October 24, 2004. Hendrick Motor Sport’s world crashed with a plane which took Rick Hendrick’s brother, his twin daughters, and Rick’s son along with company employees and sponsor reps.
They were close -knit competitive adrenalin junkies who attended bible studies with the elder Hendrick. Rick’s brushes with the law and cancer had threatened the company, but they pulled through. Their future looked bright, when the crash made Rick question whether or not he wanted to go on. Drivers and crews didn’t know how long they would still have jobs, or if they should be doing something so dangerous. They prayed a lot.
The crew and drivers were adrift, but they pulled together because another race was schedualed in a week and racing was what they did.
Everyone worked very hard and buried their emotions for the good of the family and the teams. On racing day, it was business as usual, and Jimmy Johnson won the race. Then, emotions fell apart, and even the announcers chocked up.
Johnson’s crew chief said it was the hardest week of his life as he sniffled. Jimmy Johnson was so emotional, it took time for him to pull himself together to get out of his car. Chris Kinoff (sp) said more than the engine got Johnson across the finish line. Johnson said ten angels were riding on his car, and God had a higher purpose for the people who had died.
The crew and drivers wore their caps backward to honor Little Rick.
The tragedy brought them closer, and they treated each other like family members. Some in the company credited the close bond adversity had brought with Jimmy Johnson’s four straight championships and his being the first NASCAR driver to be named athlete of the year.
I’m a NASCAR fan, so maybe no one but a fan can be inspired by this story, but I was.
LikeLike
By: James on October 24, 2010
at 9:49 AM
..Who CAN explain the demand to extend the Bush tax cuts for the upper 3% as neccesary for JOB GROWTH/JOB STABILITY etc in regards to the fact that ‘THOSE” tax cuts are STILL in effect but during the BUSH YEARS , there was a DOWNTREND in creating MORE jobs here in the homeland and shipping the employement venue into outsourcing overseas was considered the wise thingy to do for the profit line (with the mega buck salaries for the various corporates and their bonuses seeming to be THE highest prioity/etc)..The BUSH TAX BREAKS for that segment STILL IN EFFECT and STILL HAS BEEN NOT A JOB PRODUCTION CAUSITIVE so how come they sell it that the tax breaks are absolutely mandatorially neccessary /etc/etc/etc….Does NOT exactly compute..The corporates have HAD these tax breaks for quite some time and yet during the Bushlerized years there was LESS JOB GROWTH here in these United States while investments for jobs/manufacturing and etc went ELSEWHERE (with tax breaks for doing so to boot whicvh is really a stupefyer for we, the people pick up their slack in contributions and are the ones left holding the emptied bags/etc…)There SHOULD BE incentive for job creation HERE IN THE HOMELAND and think the goodly majority would agree LESS INCENTIVE to SHIP OUT/OUTSOURCE ELSEWHERE. Can NOT fully comprehend how it got sold/gets sold..common sense prevents ‘its” logic that keeps getting wailed about.
(As for ‘comparison” shopping FOR healthcare..isn’t it somewhat ‘difficult” to predict instances of various sorts of needs and pesky emergencies where CARE is the first/primary consideration… and CARE SHOULD BE AVAILABLE to any and all despite their income levels/etc not reserved JUST to those that find NO PROBLEM in forking over whatever the cost/etc…IF this was a truly caring/humane world around and about us but obviously not the case for there does remain those amongst us all that figure its OUR TUFF LUCK and lot in life if we are so unfortunate to have NOT positoned ourselves totally financially stable to pay the freight of living…etc.etc.etc…a bit of a ramble for sure but rather disgusted by the flagrant exposure of far too many that are so pompously self riteous basically asserting SOME are just more ‘worthy” than others and well, further digression and frankly BAH HUMBUG..is a wonder for sure how some of them dare to be so blasphemous and declare themselves Christians and/or religously inclined /principled/etc when so obviously a false assumptive on their part and thensome!!)
LikeLike
By: Bozly84 on October 24, 2010
at 9:24 AM
But does it really matter?
Δ ~ 😉
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 24, 2010
at 9:22 AM
Why we vote:
Δ ~ PEACE
LikeLike
By: Anonymous on October 24, 2010
at 9:17 AM
loads of interesting responses about the Miller records. People claiming that this should entitle them to all of Murkowski’s and McAdams’ personnel records, and complaining that you can’t square this with the President’s records (and repeating the same old canard about him spending millions to keep them sealed).
Putting aside that the statements about the President are demonstrably false, not all the records will be released–medical ones, for example, will not. Nor can you correctly equate this to Murkowski’s attempts to pass the bar, etc. This (as I understand it and defer to alaskapi) is simply taking what are by definition public records and applying a balancing test to determine what could and could not properly be released.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 24, 2010
at 8:41 AM
Yes, the stimulus bill cut our taxes, and that part gave us a little more money to spend or save to help shoppers buy more stuff. However, taxes will go up later.
A major problem facing us is union and government pension funds. In Omaha, the fire fighters and police negotiated very good deals for themselves, and politicians abetted them to buy their votes. No one did anything illegal as far as I know, but the the city can no longer afford the pensions, and the mayor faces a recall as the city fights to stave off bankrupcy. This is or will be happening across the country. California is one example. Pensions were one reason we had to bail out the auto companies.
LikeLike
By: James on October 24, 2010
at 8:02 AM
Donna, ;thank you very much. Yes, I try to be polite, and I do tend to say “I told you so”, especially to people who call me names when they either have no record of an opinion, or events have proven them wrong and me right. Its a bad habit I picked up in grad school when in some classes we were graded on discussion, and students tried to tear each other apart to get better grades.
Angela Sparrow, Atlantic Magazine had a good article on health insurance in September, 2009–“How American Health Care Killed my Father.”David Goldhill argues our current system is not worth preserving, and the health care reform will not fix it.
“In 2006, it cost almost $500.00 per person just to administer health insurance.Much of this enormous cost would simply disappear if we paid routine and predictable health care expenditures the way we pay for anything else– by ourselves.”
In other words, we should pay for medical treatment and preventative maintainance as we do our cars.
Late each summer, we spent about $3,000 plus repairs to have our combine inspected before harvest. Sometimes machinery breakdowns cost us $15,000 per season, and that was cheap compared to some of our neighbors. We adjusted our spending to pay for it. We could have as easily paid for routine medical treatment the same way.
Yes, comparison shopping is a lot of work, especially if you live in a city where you have a lot of choices. Our rural area offers two choices, one twenty miles north, and another 25 miles south, so that isn’t much of a problem for us. Even under our current system, one should do a little comparison shopping for major medical events. Some doctors and hospitals have better success records than others.
Bush and Obama collaberated on the bank bail outs. I think they saved us from a disaster.
I agree the war costs should be on the books, and not as appropriations. However, Obama has over spent, and mismanaged. I wish he had broken several of his promises.
LikeLike
By: James on October 24, 2010
at 7:51 AM
Add me to any lists—I don’t want to miss any of your quips!
LikeLike
By: Dorothy on October 24, 2010
at 6:54 AM
So smart you are! I’m in love with your humor
and brilliance—-THANK YOU
LikeLike
By: Dorothy on October 24, 2010
at 6:52 AM
lori-
No, I hadn’t heard about that particular Rovian trick. Holy moley!
The not-so-divine-Ms M has pulled enough shenanigans in the last few days to move into competition with Rove if you add in the flyer with Dem remarks about her taken out of context and purported to be endorsements for her against Mr McAdams.
Her campaign is apologizing all over itself for not changing the flyer’s headline but it’s too late.
Funny thing about the NYT opinion piece is the repetition of the mantra that ALL of Alaska hates the fed.
60% of the state is owned by the fed, the fed is , depending on what source you use, the largest employer here, etc.
Anyone with half a brain here knows Alaska’s future is tied up with the future of the fed…
Working on getting even…
tired of LM’s pandering to far right, which didn’t work, tired of fruitloops like JM crawling out of the woodwork…
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 24, 2010
at 6:11 AM
Amen to that Vinaigrette Girl,
Let us not forget GWB didn’t put the price of the 2 wars on the books.
Bush deemed them appropriations!
Obama demanded they be included so the American people knew exactly what we were spending. Imagine that another promise kept.
But heaven forbid we let facts get in the way!
LikeLike
By: lori on October 24, 2010
at 6:08 AM
Here’s a quiz:
Bush’s last budget allowed for a 1.416 trillion dollar deficit. Obama’s first one allowed for a 1.29 trillion dollar deficit. Which president’s budget had the bigger deficit?
The stimulus bill cut taxes for single people by $400 a year and by $800 a year for married couples, for 95% of the population. Is this a tax rise or a tax cut?
The bailout to the banks was passed and begun before President Obama was elected. Who was the POTUS before Barack Obama?
Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, and is good for at least 25 years. It cannot, legally, borrow money anyway. Are these the characteristics of “a Ponzi scheme” or a bankrupt program?
Who pays for roads, airports, courts, schools, and libraries? You choose between private industry or We the People using government to do these jobs through our tax dollars.
Hint: two out of five answers are “Bush”. That leaves the trolls three more to mull over, assuming they apply “Bush” to the corresponding questions correctly…
LikeLike
By: Vinaigrette Girl on October 24, 2010
at 5:56 AM
*thief
LikeLike
By: lori on October 24, 2010
at 5:08 AM
Alaskpi, seems like the not so divine Ms M has taken a page out of the Rove campagin playbook. THEY play dirty.
Did you ever hear about the time Rove was working on a Senate campaign and he broke into his opponets headquaters and stole his letterhead and uses it to mock up fake invitations advertising a party with “free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing” — at the same time as the Democrat’s campaign headquarters is scheduled to open. Rove distributes the invitations at hippie communes, concerts, and soup kitchens, and twice as many people as expected show up at the opening. He calls then calls the press and makes SURE cameras are rolling when all the “undesirables” show up.. ?
He is a common theif!
That is only ONE story in a long and dirty career.
As Jsri says don’t get mad get even. Let’s beat the snot out of her!
LikeLike
By: lori on October 24, 2010
at 4:44 AM
Donna- think you are probably right…
If what the ex-mayor says is on the mark, it’s pretty bad…
If the guy who wants to be our Senator, used Borough computers, not just his, for politicking from work he’s in trouble.
The irony is that if Miller did this he was going after the same AK Republican chair SP busted for politicking at work, the single thing she did that she blew up into her big reform platform.
The fellow survived both whatzername and Miller.
He’s a canny old fart. Disagree with him on almost everything but holding off those two fruitloops is a feat in itself .
lori- busting our buns here! working hard…
The not-so-divine Ms M’s campaign called me today and prattled on about LM being in a race with Joe Miller…
NO mention of our wonderful Democratic candidate , Mr McAdams…Call a Democratic household and totally act like the candidate doesn’t exist…???!
Soooo…now she’s working on scaring the bejabbers out of we Dems to try to win her write in thingy… sheesh.
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 23, 2010
at 10:59 PM
Don’t get mad, it’s more fun getting even
LikeLike
By: jsri on October 23, 2010
at 9:41 PM
Well stated, Bozly84 at 12:31pm!
Rebuttal, Luciendo?
Hello? Luciendo?
*crickets*
Typical. So typical!
LikeLike
By: Joe on October 23, 2010
at 9:06 PM
Alright Alaskapi! Hope it works out to our benifit! Keep fighting the good fight. 😉
LikeLike
By: lori on October 23, 2010
at 8:24 PM
My bet is that Miller will do a cost/benefit analysis depending on how bad the stuff in the file is. If it’s not ghastly, he’ll probably not appeal and spin this as him having merely defended the rights of all Alaskans to privacy–blah blah. If it’s really awful, he’ll appeal and draw this out until after the election.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 8:13 PM
Missed your 2nd comment Donna-
it will be interesting if he does for reasons noted above.
But I’m keeping my fingers crossed – they let the original Troopergate investigation be published… much to madame whatzername’s displeasure…
I know a couple of them- smart honest people… but we’ll see.
As I said, the affirmed right to privacy in the state Constitution may shift something here…
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 23, 2010
at 6:57 PM
It is pretty wonderful!
He gets until Tuesday so he can appeal to State Supreme Court. The US Bill of Rights is affirmed and explicit in our state Constitution so he does stand a chance there… we have one of the strongest rights-to-privacy histories in the country so it will be interesting if he does…
Now time to go after Murkowski campaign for false mailer they let loose this weeek… she’s so busy trying to garner Democrats’ votes she let loose an ad saying specific Dems endorsed her and would be voting for her.
LIE!
All the remarks were culled from out of context sources from some time ago…
Onward with the battle!
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 23, 2010
at 6:54 PM
Alaskapi: I see that the judge is giving Miller until Tuesday to appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court. I know nothing about who’s on it or what they are like. Any insights?
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 6:47 PM
GET OUT!!! I am so excited–this is wonderful. Thank you, alaskapi!!
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 6:42 PM
Yes!!!!!!! Joe Miller loses suit to keep records private- he’s been playing games with this since June or something
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/23/1515937/judge-orders-miller-documents.html
and has apparently been on the TV lying about doing the bad stuff on his lunch hour… which as a part time employee of the borough he didn’t have…
He’s a piece of work Mr repeal-the-20th-century- Miller…
nasty piece of work
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 23, 2010
at 6:41 PM
Why can’t the Democrats come up with a clear message? Here would be mine:
“The Republicans are going to help the unemployed by making sure the richest of us have more money.”
LikeLike
By: tomgnh on October 23, 2010
at 6:24 PM
Margaret & Helen, I love you ladies posting. Makes me feel there is hope.
A few notes on the comments:
James, consumer-driven care is a terrible idea.
When my 8 falls and cuts her arm open at 6 pm on a Saturday evening (happened), I don’t want to call every emergency room for a better price, better drugs (she’s insensitive to -caine drugs), different flavor of lollipop! I want to take her to the closest one and have them stitch her up before she bleeds out! I don’t want to comparison shop doctors like I do peanut butter. What if the one that’s cheapest is the one who keeps the antique forcep collection on his waiting room wall and despises me for knowing the term “precipitous delivery?” (my OB for 2 births, no choice because of insurance) I’d much rather see the nice one who looks like Groucho Marx and treats me like a person. (current)
The GOP scapegoats the immigrants, but who was trying to make it so American companies could hire Mexican truckers at lower wages than US ones? Wasn’t Obama.
LikeLike
By: Angelia Sparrow on October 23, 2010
at 5:56 PM
Yes, Nancy Pelosi is not only lovely, but much smarter that all the other GOP senators and congresspeople put together.
The reason the GOP don’t like her is because they are selfish and greedy and want all the wealth for themselves. They don’t like sharing at all.
LikeLike
By: Frances on October 23, 2010
at 4:26 PM
Great blog!
Another thing is that the GOP constantly scapegoat illegal immigrants taking American jobs from Americans. They forget that the jobs that immigrants take are usually low paid jobs and jobs that Americans don’t want. However, in the meantime the good jobs are shipped overseas so that Americans are unemployed. What a joke! Why don’t the GOP talk about that instead.
Alive and Well thank you for your well written comment. Exactly how I feel myself. You said it beautifully. Liz, you too.
Most of the comments on this blog are very good. Thank you all.
LikeLike
By: Frances on October 23, 2010
at 4:22 PM
very much so, Lori. Who, unfortunately, has been the subject of all sorts of ridicule by people far less bright and accomplished than she is.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 4:21 PM
Not only lovely but a hell of a Speaker!!!!!
LikeLike
By: lori on October 23, 2010
at 4:04 PM
Craig:
“Pelosi lovely”..???
I’d say that for a lady of her age she still looks good. Sticks in your craw doesn’t it?
Why don’t you publish a picture of yourself? Never mind, we wouldn’t be able to tell the acne from the dart holes.
Time to take a hike Craig.
LikeLike
By: jsri on October 23, 2010
at 3:46 PM
here we go again…..
LikeLike
By: Thomas on October 23, 2010
at 3:40 PM
“Pelosi lovely”..???
Helen please….?
Avoiding a depression and getting us out of a war?
Stimulus dollars not spent.
President even questions what shovel ready means…
I mean Helen, where did you come up with this one?
Granted you have “some” valid points, but some are off course.
LikeLike
By: Craig on October 23, 2010
at 3:22 PM
[…] and Helen is one of the most popular blogs on WordPress. They get in some lovely zingers, like this one: And I find it odd that Sarah Palin can see November from her house but she couldn’t see a teen […]
LikeLike
By: Margaret and Helen on Caribou Barbie « Wickersham's Conscience on October 23, 2010
at 2:41 PM
Helen- You made me laugh out loud yet again.
Laughing helps ease the heartburn…
I don’t know about the TV thingy as I don’t have TV and I still have political indigestion…
Donna-
Mr Miller has a court date today.
http://alaskadispatch.com/blogs/political-animal/7239-miller-wants-court-hearing-delayed
It’s all rather messy now-he’s really slipped in some scat he can’t get wiped off…
Here’s a rundown of most of his messes.
Really hard to tell what is going to happen- statistically it’s a dead heat amongst all 3 but polls are notoriously bad here.
Miller has peaked and seems to be losing some support, Murkowski has unrolled some pretty shady jabs at Scott McAdams in the last week AND is named in a suit Joe Miller has filed against the super PAC which was formed by ANSCA Corporations to spend 600K to support her.
Mr McAdams just keeps criss crossing the state, meeting everyone he can, making a darn fine show with issues and ideas at every candidate forum and gaining support.
Got to hear him again live this past week- he’s inspiring!
Just don’t know what will happen…
just don’t know…
LikeLike
By: alaskapi on October 23, 2010
at 1:01 PM
Thanks to H&M and thanks too to Mikat and ColoradoBlue (worth repeating)(Mikat and Colorado Blue, you both are so right. I am not sure what it is about about the electorate nowadays, but they are acting like sheeps in a herd and like parrots, some of the people have no idea why they are saying some of the things they are saying. How could people not see they are being manipulated against their own best interest? I am baffled by it all.)!!!!
Other good imputs as well and it REMAINS a true bafflement as to why there appears to be many who are willing to vote against THEIR OWN BEST INTERESTS come this November ! WHY would ANYONE had the Repub’s back the keyes to the car when they truly promoted so much that allowed us to be railed off and into the deepest ditch..Short term memorries does NOT explain it…it does come more to being blatant immature stupidty running rampant and stamping their collective feet while they have been having the contemptuous campaigning . Overdue for REAL REALITY checks and woe to us all if the GOPs actually DO pick up the majority…The GRIDLOCK will be STUPENDOUSLY COSTLY TO ALL !!!
LikeLike
By: Bozly84 on October 23, 2010
at 12:48 PM
UH,mmm,Luciendo…Obvious YOU BIG on “self”sufficiency/etc…Do YOU REALLY think YOU have had NO ASSIST ? Simple things like roadways and transportation (construction/safety/etc) that enable goods to be transported into YOUR local reach/etc..an education system that DID give you an advantage to become educated…at least enough to read and write and perhaps do some basic arithmetic’ing’s (but think you need perhaps need far more educating frankly !!) You have had the benfit that UNION/LABOR help to provide in WORK conditions/rules/regulations/pay (yeah, that 40hour work week is a breeze and so taken for granted but at least you have the opportunity to engage in “employment/labor” with saftety issues regulated and enforceable and you do get compensation and oh..those benefits…health care coverage (perhaps YOU have NEVER needed or used or any of YOUR family members either had need or use for/etc…)Will say that many BENEFITS have BEEN eroded..we ALL pay/put in more for OUR share when such offered (the corporates get tax breaks for their portion) We ALL contribute to such as SS which will help/assist many which IS A GOOD THING , especially considering how many of those transitioned TO 401k’s saw such “retirement bankings” go rather LEAN and many just plain wiped out leaving ZIP to exist on in those “golden years” with many ONLY ABLE to be but grateful for such as SS and Medicare for health needs(with the vast majority contributing MONTHLY to the costs..think it averages at least around $95 a month for each recepient with some (NOTE “SOME) exempt from such payment but ALL eligible to RECEIVE needed medical care .
Got to admit, job situation in the nation is in precarious straits..Our manufacturing and OTHER “white collar” positions have been OUTOURCED ELSEWHERE and the AMERICAN corporations and companies who have done such, actually get TAX INXCENTIVES for doing so when IT SHOULD BE THE OTHERWAY AROUND for sure and thensome. Offshore AMERICAN CORPORATIONS ESCAPE paying their FAIR SHARE and the present NONSENSE that there is a NEED to REDUCE the CORPORATE TAC RATE …LIKE MAJOR GBO….How MUCH did YOU pay in taxes last year ? (and are you aware YOU received a TAX DECXREASE ? ) Take a corporation such as GE–THEY PAID ZERO….Remember ENRON? THEY PAID ZERO on their profits for garnering those $$$ by ripping off consumers and investors and btw, THEY GOT A TAX REFUND…Name a major CORPORATION and give us THEIR TAX PAYMENT…amazing that if FACT CHECKED you would find YOU PAID MORE THAN THEM and as to Those corporations with their tax benefits CREATING JOBS…they generally create them ELSEWHERE, not here and as they have and are still getting those tax benefits even thou we are in the greatest throes of JOBLESSNESSINGS…how come THEY have NOT plowed at least SOME of their PROFITS back into AMERICAN JOBS to help OUR AMERICAN ECONOMY ..They have HIGH PROFITS and hand out HIGN BONUSES and ridiculous salaries to their echelons while the American workforce remains stymied and STAGNANT and the DETERIORIZATION of the ALL IMPORTANT MIDDLE CLASS continues . Such a slaughtering of the nations middle class is overdue cause for worry for even self sufficient YOU will find YOUR LIFE EFFECTED /AFFECTED and perhaps have YOU begging for a bit of “socialism” to help you and yours just to survive.
LikeLike
By: Bozly84 on October 23, 2010
at 12:31 PM
When someone burns down your house, you don’t blame the guy cleaning it up for setting the fire. You can blame him for cleaning up too slowly, but you should think twice before firing him and hiring another guy carrying matches and lighter fluid.
A more accurate description of our economic situation is that failed policies and practices stretching back 30 years were exacerbated by George W. Bush’s policies, and the house of cards finally collapsed.
Not only is President Obama accurate in blaming the Bush administration for this mess, but the next two presidents after him will also be justified in laying the blame at Bush’s feet. It will take that long to climb out of the hole his decisions dug us into.
LikeLike
By: DoverSoul on October 23, 2010
at 12:11 PM
Donna:
“So then why begrudge others who are going through the same sort of rough times?”
Exactly. And it’s that point of view that I hear so often from libertarians and many other conservatives that lead me to one conclusion — they are a soul-less bunch. We are all one medical catastrophe away from hardship and homelessness, so to thumb your nose at the disadvantaged and unfortunate is truly heartless. People treat their pets better than they do their fellow humans.
LikeLike
By: snoringdogstudio on October 23, 2010
at 12:06 PM
Thomas–she IS great. And he is not at all an idiot. I don’t agree with alot of what he says. He has (and I think would admit to) a propensity for “I told you so.” But I also think that he’s been trying very hard to be courteous and respectful of people.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 12:00 PM
Helen you are great!
James you are a complete idiot.
LikeLike
By: Thomas on October 23, 2010
at 11:49 AM
Helen, thank you again and again for your words of wisdom and truth.
As for Glenn Beck, my thoughts are that of course he can’t comprehend evolution. He is, after all, living proof that australopithecus isn’t entirely extinct.
LikeLike
By: avotresante on October 23, 2010
at 11:41 AM
Thank you snoringdogstudio. I also wish the Tea Party members hadn’t chosen the words they did, but as I wrote before politics is unfair.
An e friend has what he calls the wolf theory of humanity. He says we can learn about ourselves by watching wolves.
He may be right as we watch this campaign. A documentary on Yellowstone wolves showed members of a foreign pack invaded another’s territory and positioned them selves so mothers could not feed their young. They waited two weeks until the babies starved. Then, they left and never returned. It is something humans would do.
LikeLike
By: James on October 23, 2010
at 11:29 AM
So where do all the M & H minds live and why aren’t there enough of them when it comes to election time?
LikeLike
By: Marvelous on October 23, 2010
at 11:29 AM
Donna:
Your comments are typical of the thoughts of many of us who post here. Thanks for sharing them.
I am a product of the Great Depression and have a vivid memory as a child of the conversation between my parents discussing which orphanages I, and my brothers and sisters would have to go to. In the 1930’s there were no safety nets, social services or government help at all. It was entirely up to individuals and families or religious organizations to provide the means for survival. It was only through the pooling of resources by my parent’s extended families that we were able to stay together. But it also caused a lot of tension, most of it generated by one uncle who refused to go along. He was the family Hooverite who in today’s parlance would be termed a Conservative at best or a Tea Partier at worst.
It is heartening to see that many H&M posters agree with your assessment, fully understand the role of government sponsored social services, the human decency of such offerings, and are not afraid to pay for them. Fortunately, my wife and I have been able to retire to a relatively clam and peaceful life but our thoughts about the possibility of being in a less enviable position are part of our history.
LikeLike
By: jsri on October 23, 2010
at 11:27 AM
Donna, another irrational feeling about you is I assumed you would be helping the poor around you. I also don’t begrudge my property taxes for schools, especially since they educated our children and give my wife a job. As I wrote, the government must help the unfortunate when it is beyond the capacity of private citizens to do so. But not even our government can do everything.
Yes “they” chose their words carefully for maximum effect. As you know, once someone internalizes a concept it is hard to make him/her change his/her mind. Democrats are just as guilty. They all do it to inflame passions and to get money. Democrats are in trouble now because they oversold themselves and failure is hard to hide at election time. It stinks like dead fish. “Socialist” wouldn’t have stuck if jobs had returned. Obama helped create the Tea Party movement just as Bush helped create Obama.
If Joe Miller is a hyprocrite, so what? I can name scores of others in both parties. Its irrelevant unless his opponents can make the voters care or can crush him with embarrassing information, or show his views to be bad for the majority of voters.
I behave the way I do here the same as in real life, and anyone reading my old posts knows why. I am considered a loose cannon. Its one reason organizations like to have me on their boards. My wife jokingly says she worries whenever she lets me out of the house. Sometimes brick walls break. We have a bridge near home to prove it.
LikeLike
By: James on October 23, 2010
at 11:23 AM
What a great post. You made it to my subscription list, lady!
LikeLike
By: kuby2u on October 23, 2010
at 10:48 AM
snoringdog (what a great name!). You are so right. And they chose those words deliberately and maliciously, knowing that they’d be picked up and repeated and that the whole “Socialist agenda” notion would be internalized by a great number of people who don’t have a clue what Socialism is and is not.
Do I believe I (or the government) should help everyone in sight? Of course not–not for a moment. But to say that assistance programs should be better administered is a far cry from claiming that they should be abolished.
The ones who carry on the loudest (e.g., Joe Miller of Alaska) are the ones who seemed happy to accept benefits when they needed them. And the response by him, when confronted with this (before he refused to answer further questions) was that he’d been through rough times. Precisely! So then why begrudge others who are going through the same sort of rough times?
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 9:46 AM
I have to thank James for a comment that was civil and thoughtful. Charity does begin at home. I’m glad that you also realize that government does have a role. I’m pretty certain, though, that most liberals don’t believe we should help everyone in sight. I also wish that the words “socialist” and “communist” had never been chosen by Tea Party members and many Republicans as labels to smear a large portion of U.S. citizens who believe that an impoverished, disadvantaged, and underinsured population weakens the fabric of society. We all benefit when we’re all strong.
LikeLike
By: snoringdogstudio on October 23, 2010
at 9:21 AM
sigh–“any more.” Cat on my lap.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 9:20 AM
I regularly support local charities–food banks, Goodwill, you name it. My synagogue has a very active program and I’m one of the lead volunteers and we do lots of things, including making and serving Christmas dinner at a homeless shelter. But it’s not enough–not close to enough. So I don’t begrudge my tax money going to help others and more than I begrudge my property taxes paying for schools when I don’t have kids.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 9:19 AM
Another on-the-mark post! Well said, well done and very much needed to be sent to the DNC. Best description of GOP I’ve ever heard came from NPR this morning:
“GOP complaining about unemployment is like an arsonist complaining about the fire department’s response time” Patrick Murphy, D-PA (yes, he’s running for re-election & he’s totally awesome)
LikeLike
By: Greytdog on October 23, 2010
at 9:11 AM
Donna, I keep score. It is how I survived as a farmer and amateur weather forecaster. If the future shows one of my assumptions to be wrong, I change it. Sarah Palin, for instance. I thought she might grow into political maturity, but now I believe she has reached her level of incompetance, that of a talk show host and king maker.
I’m not reverting back to “I told you so” mode. I made a list of about ten predictions to Honolulu Sal a long time ago. She disagreed, but the two of us agreed time would tell. Time has told. So far, I have been wrong about inflation.
I assumed the person who called me an idiot had made another set of assumptions which have proven to be wrong. Thus, she had no right to call me an idiot, and I told her why.
I don’t remember writing anything about my brother -in law for a while until the PFessor just asked. He is in physical therapy and will be for another eight to ten weeks. I am in Nebraska buying time, with a computer which belongs to someone else, and I couldn’t get into the private site the last time I tried from here. I don’t plan to mention my brother in law again.
Thanks Parker and PFessor. I agree, the Republicans have not been all that good either. I know about brick walls and lipstick on pigs. I’ve waiting to enjoy the future too, but its not here yet, and a lot can happen.
Tube and Pip, I have hope our country will correct the awful course it has taken. It is why my wife and I have already voted. Don’t you think I’ve realized that some of my posts bring more traffic? Its why I’ve written something on slow days. Differences of opinion are good for the site as long as people play nice and don’t call each other names.
Helping everyone in sight is all well and good as long as we can afford it. Now, we can’t. If we don’t mend our ways, western Europe is in our future. It is why my wife and I give a lot of money to local poor people, some whom are our neighbors. How many of you donate to your food banks or take things to agencies which cater to the poor?
I’m not bragging. We all have a responsibility to help the unfortunate some of you probably do more than we do. Charity begins at home, and the government’s role is to do what we private citizens can’t do.
I agree, humans and wolves are similar. It is why we have dogs.
LikeLike
By: James on October 23, 2010
at 9:10 AM
Liz: couldn’t agree more! Great post (and I wish you’d do more of them).
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 8:30 AM
Dear Margaret and Helen,
You can put me in that group that looked for posts for a while and was so unhappy not to find them. Want to be like you when I grow up! Please keep the common sense flowing!
For the rest, Alive and Well articulated very clearly what rolls around in my head with the dust bunnies on a daily basis. I, too, wonder what everybody hates about Nancy Pelosi, I think she’s wonderful – more cojones than Cantor, Coburn, Barton, Gomert, Wilson, please add your favorite knuckle dragger’s name here. Sarah Palin can have her “mama grizzlys” it’s a pretty apt simile: bears are crafty, and like pigs, they will eat nearly anything including garbage and carrion, but they are mainly out for themselves, and for a time, their offspring. Contrast that with the alpha she in a wolfpack, or the alpha mare in a herd of horses – usually a savvy older animal with a great deal of experience who guides the whole group to better hunting/pastures and keeps the young ones in line, teaching proper herd/pack behavior and maintaining the pecking order-and in the case of wolves they hunt, too. That’s Madame Speaker!
And like Donna, my religious upbringing was all about looking after the people who needed help. You know, “whatsoever you do for the least of your brethren you do for me?” Different tradition, same outlook, but the really scary thing to me is how many of those other loudmouths CLAIM my tradition…they don’t seem to be able to read the Gospel of the One they blab on about even though there aren’t very many big words in it…
Sorry for the ramble, I don’t post much, prefer to read your thoughts, really wanted to thank those two for articulating my position so beautifully.
LikeLike
By: Liz on October 23, 2010
at 7:50 AM
Well said Donna, thanks!
LikeLike
By: Roz on October 23, 2010
at 7:36 AM
alaskapi: what’s the latest on Joe Miller? And your thoughts on the senate race?
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 7:03 AM
What we permit to be done to the least fortunate of us is done to us all. And the response “but it’s not the government’s role” doesn’t work for me. The government IS us–or is supposed to be. I’m not in a position here in the midwest to make sure that, say, an old man in Appalachia can see a doctor or that a child in Los Angeles has enough to eat. But I can happily have my government use my tax money to assist them.
Do I see waste? Of course. Is there room for improvement? Hugely! But I’d rather work on fixing that than to take this “not my problem–they got themselves into this fix and they can get themselves out of it” philosophy.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 6:58 AM
atta girl Donna … pure yellow 😉
LikeLike
By: lori on October 23, 2010
at 6:13 AM
James: It would be really courteous and thoughtful for you to ask Jim to please take advantage of the other forum for you two to speak privately about your brother in law. While I’m sure that everyone hopes all turns out well, it is a matter of private interest and several people have asked that you take it elsewhere.
Obviously, Jim chooses to ignore that–in fact, he seems to take pleasure in being a jerk to others. I am hoping you are a more thoughtful person than he is.
I do hope you’re not going back to the “I told you so” posts. Seriously–what do they accomplish? As for Parker and Jim, it’s the same thing. Why insult people? If you would do it to their face, it says alot about you as people. If not, why does the anonymity of the internet justify that behavior?
Wonderful service last night at the synagogue, with a discussion about the ugly political rhetoric. In my faith, we view ourselves as having an obligation to feed the hungry and house the homeless. Sad that that’s become something to deride, with those in need being characterized as deadbeats and those who want to support them as short-sighted or intellectually lacking. I have a very good life, courtesy of alot of luck and hard work. I’m happy to share those blessings with those who are less fortunate and choose not to dwell on whether they “should have” worked harder. The abuses of a few don’t obscure the genuine needs of many, including the children who live in poverty.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 23, 2010
at 6:09 AM
lori –
sorry – bit tied up today; work piled over my ears. Job security, though.
“LMAO Jim, perhaps because you addressed the post to me????? Lmaooo”
I think we must be talking about two different posts.
By: Parker on October 12, 2010
at 9:32 AM
Parker=Jm
LikeLike
By: lori on October 23, 2010
at 6:07 AM
Jim:
That’s just one of the problems with Tea Party folks and the far right. They all think they need to help the rest of us. And the rest of us just wish you’d all go away.
LikeLike
By: snoringdogstudio on October 23, 2010
at 5:56 AM
My home/business network is still down after two months; lightning plays hell with equipment. It is very much like its effect on humans: it either kills you dead or you’re never the same and screwed up for life. Looks like the last two routers are flaky too; that makes the whole system.
The work firewall is letting me post to WordPress this weekend; most times it won’t.
James, don’t waste your time. You are too smart to bust your head against a wall. As my high school guidance counsellor said, “You can’t help someone who doesn’t want it, no matter how much you want to.”
Face it: this is a liberal blog, with many liberal posters. Just sit back, relax and have some fun. It’s pretty easy pickin’s. You never know how elections will go, but in a couple of weeks, it may be even more fun.
no mas, te
Jim
BTW, how’s your brother-in-law doing?
LikeLike
By: PFesser53 on October 23, 2010
at 5:53 AM
I’m asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about real change in Washington … I’m asking you to believe in yours. Barack Obama
I am still believing…… I’m fired up and ready to go GOTV!
namaste
LikeLike
By: lori on October 23, 2010
at 5:05 AM
Bless you, Helen.
I believe it’s a good thing to live in a civilized society where peace rules the land and law and order are the norm. Disease shouldn’t run rampant, and poverty should be kept in check as well. Religion should be something that some will believe in and practice, while others are allowed to ignore it completely. Everyone should be treated equally regardless of color, gender, ethnicity, wealth, sexual orientation, age and religion. Workers should have the opportunity to earn a decent living wage while earning the chance to climb their way up to the very top. Entrepreneurs should be free to grow and thrive within the framework of all that is decent and good. Graduated tax rates should help to ensure that, while the rich can continue to accumulate wealth, extreme greed and the hoarding of a nation’s wealth are kept in check. Collected taxes should help to pay for the benevolent framework of society which encourages peace and prosperity for one and for all.
This type of system is called Social Democracy and it embraces not only the ideals of Capitalism but also the ideals of common decency and social justice for all. I’m a dreamer, and I long for the day when the USA finally grows up to be the beacon of decency it was meant to be, one which shines out upon the world, beckoning like Lady Liberty to all who would enter.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Meanwhile, we, the people of the United States of America, are tumbling and colliding toward our big day in November. We’re like turds in a bowl swiftly swirling by hook or by crook toward our bottomless cesspool of corruption and rot while Lady Liberty drowns in the digest of all that was once good.
I wish I could change the channel too, Helen. Have you got an extra set of rabbit ears you can send me?
LikeLike
By: Alive and Well on October 23, 2010
at 4:42 AM
Auntiiiiieeeee Jean! Soooo good to see you I didn’t expect that nice surprise today! 😉
Parker=Jim.
Same lyrics different tune.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 23, 2010
at 4:13 AM
James –
I enjoy your posts immensely, but probably not for the reason you might suppose. It’s mostly for the responses you get. You are clearly very thoughtful and weigh both sides before posting, usually with some criticism for each, but some people – I would say most – don’t want to hear that. Like that old Buffalo Springfield song goes, all they want to hear is “hoo-ray for our side.”
And these people vote. Chilling. I surmise that’s how our country got where we are. First Bush, now Curious George – both elected by unthinking knee-jerkers like these. One side is as bad as the other. but at least the republicans know that somebody has to work to support all those who don’t.
You seem like a really thoughtful and compassionate guy. I hate to see you get upset by such trivial people. You should just laugh at them; they aren’t worth the time to get angry or respond. It’s like trying to teach physics to Hottentots or a pig to sing: it wastes your time and annoys…well, you know how the rest of it goes.
LikeLike
By: Parker on October 23, 2010
at 3:04 AM
Yes… I enjoyed this post. I will be watching you!
And…
Thanx for being here!
LikeLike
By: nilky on October 23, 2010
at 12:25 AM
Dear Helen,
As one of your longest and most devoted fans, it is always such a pleasure to find a new post from you. I’m not the only one as indicated by the number of hits approaching four million! Every day so many check in even if they don’t leave comments. They all have family and friends to talk it up. You are a positive and inspirational influence. I applaud you!!!
We can do it in November if we just keep it up. There is still plenty of work to be done and count on it. We are not quitters like some silly babe I could name. The conservative thinkers aren’t going to get the job done. They don’t know how. We do!
Aloha! 🙂 Namaste. Shalom.
Jean
LikeLike
By: JeanΔ ¥ on October 23, 2010
at 12:22 AM
your are one cool old broad..I can only hope to be as bright , aware and active as you are. You are my inspiration.
LikeLike
By: fets on October 22, 2010
at 11:03 PM
Is James for real? What a hoot. I think he might be paid by the site to keep comments coming. Like mine.
LikeLike
By: Tube on October 22, 2010
at 11:00 PM
James. Pretend all you want that your comments represent anything more than a third grade “I told you so”. Imagine how much better your life would be if you actually put hope in your country and it’s elected officials. Hope that things might get better rather than enjoying that the countries problems were so big that they couldn’t all be solved in two years. And for the record I still have hope and I love the changes of the last two years. No regrets here. And I will always be happy knowing my vote has as much power as your vote.
LikeLike
By: Pip on October 22, 2010
at 10:56 PM
Well said Helen. Love you.
Everyone remember: if you don’t vote, you can’t bitch.
Shash
LikeLike
By: Shash on October 22, 2010
at 9:50 PM
Judith, it is unusual for Democratic politicians to take credit or blame for the health insurance and other laws because polls show a majority of people oppose them.
I agree, they should proudly defend their votes, but they are more concerned with getting elected. Like most politicians in their positions, they care more for votes than principal.
LikeLike
By: James on October 22, 2010
at 9:30 PM
Mary Francis, check the archives from a year or so ago and compare what I and some others wrote and predicted with today’s reality. Then, remember what you thought would happen. I’ll bet you were very wrong. Where is the hope and change now?
If I am an idiot, we would have to invent a new category for you. Forget about November. I can see Europe from my front porch.
LikeLike
By: James on October 22, 2010
at 9:24 PM
Thanks for another good post, Helen. I’m tired of our side not taking credit for what we’ve accomplished. A Democratic politician put up a billboard advertising (as a plus!) that he had voted for the health care bill, and it was so unusual that it made the news. What are we doing?
Gee, I thought in conservative land that a contract was a contract. Quid Pro Quo. So we have a bunch of insurance companies merrily issuing contracts whereby they supposedly take our money and, in return, pay our bills when we get sick. Instead, as soon as we get sick, they cancel the contract. They decide the maximum they will pay, they deny coverage based on criteria of their own making (somehow I suspect cost is the only criteria), and they change any or all of these conditions at their own whim with little or no notice. They don’t even have the decency to give you back the premiums they took before they announced that the contract was, in a word, non-existent. All quid – our quid. No quo.
We finally get legislation that is going to make them deliver the quo they promised in the first place, and the cry of socialism is heard in the land. My God, they might have to live up to their part of the arrangement? How strange and unfair! How anti-business! How unAmerican! The tearing of hair and the gnashing of teeth is positively deafening.
Same thing with the credit card companies. They can’t change you from a fixed rate to a variable. They can’t penalize you because they heard you had a problem with a different company. They are, in fact, somewhat limited as to the changes they can make without your permission to the contract you agreed to. As far as the changes they can make, they have to give you adequate notice, and if you don’t like it, you can tell them to freeze the account. You can’t take out any more on it, but you have time (five years, I think) to pay it off under the original terms. OMG! How unreasonable can you get? Whatever happened to good old robber baron one-sided contract law?
These outrages (or fair trade regulations, as I like to call them) were brought to you by President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and a team of hard working and hard pressed progressive politicians. The other side has promised to reverse them ASAP. You’ve been warned.
You bet I’m going to vote.
LikeLike
By: judith on October 22, 2010
at 9:20 PM
Thank you Helen, well said. I 2nd the comment about you posting again before the election, their is plenty of BS out there to write a novel. I only wish my state of MS had early voting, but I will be out early on election day to cast my ballot against the insanity of the “something for nothing” “party of NO” crowd!
LikeLike
By: Lynnda on October 22, 2010
at 8:02 PM
You blow me away every time Helen! Thanks for another great post. I thought I was the only one avoiding TV. Used to watch CNN regularly. Even that channel does not cut it for me anymore. Just discovered TV Land. Can’t go wrong with old shows.
Mikat and Colorado Blue, you both are so right. I am not sure what it is about about the electorate nowadays, but they are acting like sheeps in a herd and like parrots, some of the people have no idea why they are saying some of the things they are saying. How could people not see they are being manipulated against their own best interest? I am baffled by it all.
Thanks Helen, for talking about some of the things our democratic leaders are not talking about loudly enough. Either they are failing us by not calling the opposition on their outright lies, or they are doing so and the newsmedia is failing to report it, really wanting the Republicans to control both houses of Congress. And so, they are doing their utmost best to help them by keeping mum about the truth. Every time I hear people speak about bailouts and TARP they make it seem like these programs doled out free money, which is not true. The newspmedia keeps these misconceptions alive. There is failure somewhere for this nonsense to keep perpetuating itself. Aren’t the newsmedia supposed to keep us informed? Are they informed and if not why not? People, please connect the dot. None of it makes sense if you seriously think about it.
I am voting early. Even though I live in a Red State and I know most of my candidates do not stand a chance, I am still voting. I am just tired of the narrow-mindedness. All you need to do over where I live is to claim you believe in God, you are anti-immigrant, pro-guns, pro-business, anti-Obamacare, and I must be forgetting something, voila! You are the candidate for the people.
LikeLike
By: Easier on October 22, 2010
at 7:41 PM
“And I find it odd that Sarah Palin can see November from her house but she couldn’t see a teen pregnancy coming if her life depended on it. Maybe if she spent more time at her house rather than at Tea Party rallies, one of her children might actually graduate from those abstinence only classes with a passing grade.” – one of the finest statement in all of blogdom! Please ladies, more writing between now & Nov. 3…
LikeLike
By: teacher on October 22, 2010
at 7:22 PM
LOVE IT AND YOU, HELEN!!!!
(James is an idiot)
Sad really…
LikeLike
By: Mary Francis on October 22, 2010
at 6:48 PM
It is all in what you make it, you don’t like something, change the channel. Television has been described as the great American wasteland, on most days, it deserves it.
Here is one more … If you think you have it bad, somewhere there is a Mr. Nancy Pelosi.
BCO
LikeLike
By: ldsrr91 on October 22, 2010
at 6:16 PM
“The only thing the Republican Party has increased recently is the number of gay teen suicides.”
Really.
Have you connected Dharun Ravi to the Republican Party?
Do tell.
LikeLike
By: TKO on October 22, 2010
at 6:10 PM
I’d be willing to sit through all kinds of crap, “Real” Housewives & O’Reilly included, if Margaret & Helen had their own TV show.
OK, maybe not Hannity…
LikeLike
By: SarahT on October 22, 2010
at 5:38 PM
Another great post, Margaret and Helen. It’s always so nice to read something I agree with in every respect.
Why do people post comments that are just a repeat of a portion of the article, like the one above? Have never understood that.
LikeLike
By: laingirl on October 22, 2010
at 5:23 PM
Thank you Helen…You always make me giggle ..
And that’s a good thing…
LikeLike
By: Star on October 22, 2010
at 5:17 PM
Excellent post as always!!!
LikeLike
By: Musings on October 22, 2010
at 5:10 PM
[…] I can see November on my TV… so I turned it off (via Margaret and Helen) October 22, 2010 by mauraea Margaret, all it takes is ten minutes of channel surfing and you quickly find out that the number of problems facing America seem to correspond with the number of channels offered on cable television. I told Harold to cancel our subscription and get out the old rabbit ears. If Glenn Beck hasn't met a half-man-half-monkey yet, he didn't get out much during his rally. There was more knuckle dragging on the National Mall that day than the National … Read More […]
LikeLike
By: I can see November on my TV… so I turned it off (via Margaret and Helen) « It's simple, really. on October 22, 2010
at 4:56 PM
Thanks for all you do.
I meant it. Really.
LikeLike
By: KVC on October 22, 2010
at 4:35 PM
Its still a free country, Franklin. I do what and when I please, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.
LikeLike
By: James on October 22, 2010
at 4:31 PM
Faintly amusing. No, not even that. They are serious, which is one of the reasons this country continues down hill to join Greece and France. Everyone wants their free ride but don’t want to allow those who work a profit.
LikeLike
By: Grinch10 on October 22, 2010
at 3:25 PM
AMEN! Helen. After whatching the Republicans flush this country down the toilet for 8 years, it is mind boggling that people are going to vote for those fools.
I think someone should be teaching common sense in the schools, that way folks could figure out who is screwing them…and that could go along with the abstinence education lol. Has Sarah Palin EVER been a monther? I think not and feel very sorry for her children.
I’m getting older so what happens to this country won’t affect me for very long, but it will affect my daughter and grandchildren.
I have never seen such a large group of ignorant people all in one country. I’m early voting next week and will send your blog to everyone I know.
Well said and thank you…
LikeLike
By: Corie on October 22, 2010
at 2:25 PM
We continue to marvel at your common sense and good judgement . It seems like only you and my Aunt Margaret from Mass. have any senior sense left . Why do the oldsters attact their very protectors ? Why don’t the independent moderates understand that if they are not an upper five percenter, they too are under attact Finally why don’t the tea party poopers believe that they are the most vulnerble of the republican eveil ? Keep up the fight for us .
LikeLike
By: Tim McCormick on October 22, 2010
at 1:58 PM
Way to go Helen!
Hey James…how about congratulating Helen on her latest post BEFORE going on with your usual crap?
LikeLike
By: Franklin on October 22, 2010
at 1:39 PM
I know socialism because I studied it in school, and I lived it in England, the Air Force and as a farmer. Socialism is fine to slightly equalize incomes, and it, combined with my wife’s teaching job saved our farm during the hard times. However, it becomes unaffordable without capitalism to fund it. The Europeans are learning that painful lesson now.
Lori was being factious, and I liked her post. I think we should have a partial pay as you go system. We should be spending more for our health care based on our ability to pay. Under the current system, we don’t really know or care how much a visit to the doctor costs. If one is investing his/her own money, he/she shops around for the best value. With more people comparing prices, eventually Wal Mart will be offering discounted heart surgery during holidays. Ha!
My only medication is for glaucoma in my left eye. It costs $7.00 a drop.
Our major highways and streets could become toll roads. People like Lori who can afford it would get a five or ten mile stretch of freeway named after them. My relative taxes would warrant an off ramp. It is almost happening in Omaha now where near bankruptcy is letting the city charge for the privilege of working and driving within the city limits.
I’m old enough, but I don’t take Social Security, Medicare, or geezer discounts because my wife and I don’t need them. Let someone who needs it take our share. My wife and I both may have the longevity gene based on family history. You all will be paying for our upkeep for many years once we deteriorate. No need to start early.
LikeLike
By: James on October 22, 2010
at 1:34 PM
That I should be as brilliant and funny as you, Helen, in my 80s, well who am I kidding, I can’t come close even now. But I, too, am avoiding television with the exception of PBS and HBO, I can’t take anymore political attack ads!
LikeLike
By: no one's puppet on October 22, 2010
at 1:29 PM
Amen, sistah!
LikeLike
By: LibertyLover on October 22, 2010
at 1:13 PM
[…] I say more than Margaret and Helen? I promise you, you will not regret going over and reading another knee-slapping, rib-splitting […]
LikeLike
By: Christine O’Donnell Declared Hazard to Mental Health! « A Feather Adrift on October 22, 2010
at 12:46 PM
Just google it mike and you will find several trustworthy sources that confirm. It’s not a cum number it’s a stand out
LikeLike
By: Pip on October 22, 2010
at 12:44 PM
i just love you – you say so much, so succinctly, and get right to the heart of it all. thank you so much
LikeLike
By: barbara on October 22, 2010
at 12:43 PM
I LOVE your blog, but apparently the fact you quote has turned out to be false: “More private sector jobs were created in the last 8 months than in the entire 8 years of the Bush presidency”.
If someone can fact check this is some way, I would love for it to turn out to be true, but I’ve seen an infographic that refutes it.
Other than that..great job as usual.
LikeLike
By: mike on October 22, 2010
at 12:05 PM
I thought it was a good illustration, Lori.
Donna, Joe’s view of the “entitlements” is similar to how bigots feel about black people – ALL black people are deadbeats, except for the one they happen to know. That one MUST be an exception.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 22, 2010
at 11:36 AM
‘wonderful life’–sorry. And Laurie–AMEN!
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 22, 2010
at 11:26 AM
great new post!
I wonder how many of the people spouting off about Socialism actually understand what it is.
And I just shake my head over the folks like Joe Miller who rails against unemployment compensation, Medicaid, and social security–while his family members have used all three. His response? He had some tough times. Yes–but how then is it that he begrudges assistance to others who have tough times?
And Lori: thanks. There’s still another canard which is that those of us who support Democratic policies and public programs must be “deadbeats” who won’t get a job. Nope–just like you, many of us have a perfectly wonderful like, created by our efforts, but want to make sure that other people also have good lives.
LikeLike
By: Donna on October 22, 2010
at 11:25 AM
You go, sistah! Preach the Good News out to every corner of the land! Can I get an AMEN here people???
LikeLike
By: Laurie on October 22, 2010
at 11:22 AM
Terry P I was being facetcious…
LikeLike
By: lori on October 22, 2010
at 11:15 AM
30k. From income earned by ME.
So we know how much your HUSBAND paid in taxes last year, how about YOU?
Disagree with Lucedio, and disgusted with Lori and her ilk as well.
LikeLike
By: Terrie P. on October 22, 2010
at 11:09 AM
But sheesh, PBS has no screaming pundits! Isn’t that why we watch the ‘news?”
Another good one.
LikeLike
By: Tara on October 22, 2010
at 10:59 AM
Nailed it again, ladies. This is my favorite one so far!
LikeLike
By: Creamed on October 22, 2010
at 10:40 AM
You know what Lucedio I think you are onto something there.
Why don’t we make it a pay to use system. That way no one will be gettin nuttin they don’t deserve.
Lets see, my husband and I paid about 275 k in taxes last year. I’m thinkin that entitles me to use my roads, sidewalks, hospitals and our public schools for the year, and maybeeeeee fire protection don’t you? Seem fair?
Now, you tell me how much YOU paid in taxes and I will tell you what I think you deserve to use.
Ohhhh and don’t forgot to p in a bottle for me so I can see if you REALLY deserve MY money.
LikeLike
By: lori on October 22, 2010
at 10:23 AM
keep! computer is in a snit this morning.
LikeLike
By: Grandma Katie on October 22, 2010
at 10:22 AM
Should have ben kep. Sory.
Lucedio – what planet did you escape from?
LikeLike
By: Grandma Katie on October 22, 2010
at 10:20 AM
Yay! A new post! Thank you! I agree on the TV viewing. Not much of value there anymore. I can get what I want from the internet, and avoid most of the inane. Stupid and outrageous gets all the attention, just like a circus. Such a shame.
LikeLike
By: poolman on October 22, 2010
at 10:15 AM
Once again you have done it.Why can’t we have bill boards with your wit up for the world to see?
For thre years I didn’t turn my TV on. Now I ignore networks completely and very little on cable. How many of you remember the mess Hoover left us and the horrible things said about Roosevelt (and still do).And how many years to get out of it. And don’t get me started on Reagan.
Helen – kep it up. WE love you!
LikeLike
By: Grandma Katie on October 22, 2010
at 10:14 AM
And I thought I was alone at having a particular loathing for TV lately.
LikeLike
By: sillywhabbit on October 22, 2010
at 10:14 AM
Helen,
The problem is facts don’t seem to matter to TP’ers. Not one bit. They always have some asinine reason to defend their positions, regardless of the facts. Exactly like the Palinbots, no matter what their dysfunctional queen says or does.
Love, love, love your blog!
LikeLike
By: Carli on October 22, 2010
at 10:10 AM
So you all think government is suppose to be here taking care of you? What ever happen to being self-sufficent and making something of yourself rather then wait for a hand out? want to fix the money problems in washington? Do drug testing for people on welfare, i mean you get drug tested for a job, why not for welfare? Quit handing out rebates on people buying new appliances and things like this, it is wasteful spending. Make your own way people dont depend on the socialist ways of waiting for a hand out from my tax dollars. I hope the republics do take back the congress, we really need some level heads in there and not the Palosi/Reeds of the country.
LikeLike
By: Lucedio on October 22, 2010
at 9:59 AM
Once again, Helen, you’ve said exactly what I’ve been thinking. Thanks for putting it so clearly.
LikeLike
By: Pat, Washington state on October 22, 2010
at 9:34 AM
Brilliant! And to the Repugnicans who are so convinced that deficit spending is paving the road to hell, I have two words to say:
Ronald Reagan.
If you want to trace this economic disaster back to its headwaters, you need to go back to Reagan’s Voodoo Economic policies. The big differences between then and now are that Obama is in a deeper hole — in much harder ground — and he’s not as adept at blaming his predecessor as Reagan was.
And the Teas have the undying gall to comment that our elections are for sale? Well on that point I have to agree with them. But let’s look at why that is. Another two words:
Citizens United.
An unconscionable decision by the Roberts court has made us the United States of America, LLC. Or perhaps PLC. Or LLP. Or something. Anyway, after the Citizens United decision our electoral process has begun to look like the BCS Chapmionship. “Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the 2010 Target Minnesota Gubernatorial Election! Target: Expect Less. Get Less.”
But they didn’t buy my vote. As of 9:00 this morning that Mark I/Mod 0 Repugnican Neanderthal Senator Richard M. Burr is one vote closer to being out of a job. And God willing, he’ll be replaced by someone with skin still remaining on her knuckles.
*Whew*. Apparently I needed that. Thanks.
Oh, and Glenn Beck, poor thing, is now apparently the target of a government propaganda smear. Now who’d want to do that? He’s such a nice guy.
LikeLike
By: Mojo on October 22, 2010
at 9:28 AM
This will be a catchy slogan from you guys:
“Sarah Palin can see the November from her house, but can’t see the teen pregnancy (2 times) within the house.” 🙂
LikeLike
By: Chris on October 22, 2010
at 9:27 AM
I didn’t have TV reception for several years. Now I have it again, just in time for election attack ads!
Yes, thank goodness for PBS.
LikeLike
By: ari_1965 on October 22, 2010
at 9:09 AM
I didn’t have TV reception for several years. Now I have it again, just in time for election attack ads!
Yes, thank goodness for PBS.
LikeLike
By: ari_1965 on October 22, 2010
at 9:08 AM
Right on as usual. To the point and positive. Vote! And the repubs better watch out calling the health care changes Obamacare. It may be his best legacy (with a few changes, like public option) and then Obama will get the credit he deserves.
LikeLike
By: Joyce Beaman on October 22, 2010
at 8:59 AM
Awesome post !!!! YOU need to be on The View !!!!
Sadly, we have an entire media, mainstream and cable,that has given no support to the President since day one. MSNBC has 3 shows that are progressive, the rest of the day is conservative bullcrap. It is all about the big business owners. It is about the Koch brothers who bought two supreme court judges, Roberts and Aleito, who overturned a century old law and fixed it so that businesses are human beings and they along with foreign dictatorships can spend all the money they want to buy politicians. This is called Fascism.
This now allows every subversive country as well as every business to have the ultimate say in what should be the politics of WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES not We the people of Communist China, We the people of Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan………..
Vote………..early if you can. It is a pain in the ass to research judges but you can find out if they were appointed by Repubs or Democratic governors. VOTE NO on all Republican appointees. It DOES matter who ends up on the state and district courts because our national supreme court judges come from those courts.
DO NOT SIT OUT THIS ELECTION.
Every Republican administration has handed a Democratic administration tons of debt, the Democrats try to clean up the mess and boost the ecomony and are immediately blamed for the money that was spent by the Repubs………that is how they roll. And, the ignorant and low information Republican teabaggers will vote against their own best interests because they don’t understand that the Teabagging Repubs are using them and then spitting on them.
Bagger Repubs are NOT your friend…….if you are in the top 1/10th of 1% then good for you: you can PAL AROUND with the baggers and the Beck-a-Bach-ma-Limbau-ba-palinistas.
The healthcare plan is not costing taxpayers one cent……….you are right, Helen, it is about compassion. Who would begrudge any American affordable healthcare?? The Bagger Republicans and the Racist American party of George Wallace.
LikeLike
By: COLORADO BLUE on October 22, 2010
at 8:47 AM
“couldn’t see a teen pregnancy coming if her life depended on it”
LOLOL!!! Good, one! Keep ’em coming!
LikeLike
By: kimkiminy on October 22, 2010
at 8:43 AM
Thank you. I mean it.
LikeLike
By: daisydem on October 22, 2010
at 8:40 AM
another great post!
LikeLike
By: Linda on October 22, 2010
at 8:34 AM
Helen,
My question is, Why can’t people see that the republicans are using them, why can’t they see that they are just pawns in the repugs grand scheme to take over the USA and make it their very own KINGDOM. We will all be making minimum wage or less, living in rented slums and working long hours to keep THEM rolling in the $$.
Women will no longer have any rights, men will no longer have any dignity and we will all be “slaves” if we don’t stop them NOW. The media is in the GOP pocket, a virtual lap dog, doing tricks for the master. We expect our Democratic reps to stand up to them, but WE don’t! WE have to find our voices and start speaking loud and clear. You and Margaret are a good start!
please, get out a vote!!!!!
LikeLike
By: Mikat on October 22, 2010
at 8:33 AM
H: Now don’t be rash — I think you still need cable to get Jon Stewart.
LikeLike
By: GordMartin on October 22, 2010
at 8:31 AM
At last, seniors not whining! Great post.
LikeLike
By: Tony Rugare on October 22, 2010
at 8:27 AM
[…] I can see November on my TV… so I turned it off […]
LikeLike
By: Helen turns off the TV | Chatter & Clatter in the Kitchen on October 22, 2010
at 8:20 AM
GASP! George W Bush says his biggest failure was not privatizing social security. Apparently his utter destruction of this country isn’t complete if he somehow left some senior citizens at or above the poverty level.
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 22, 2010
at 8:19 AM
[…] Margaret, all it takes is ten minutes of channel surfing and you quickly find out that the number of problems facing America seem to correspond with the number of channels offered on cable television. I told Harold to cancel our subscription and get out the old rabbit ears. If Glenn Beck hasn't met a half-man-half-monkey yet, he didn't get out much during his rally. There was more knuckle dragging on the National Mall that day than the National … Read More […]
LikeLike
By: (reblog) I can see November on my TV… so I turned it off (per Margaret and Helen’s blog) « trick-or-treat on October 22, 2010
at 8:09 AM
Right on, Helen! I can see November and hear it coming! Especially when Newtie starts expounding. Remember him? He who imploded in the middle of the Clinton Administration when he was for a very short time (whew!) Speaker of the House and bragged that the Repubs were going to pull a mid-term avalanche and wipe out the Dems? And it just didn’t happen. His own party turned on him with volcanic fury. Listened to all the I Hate Newtie stuff from the Repubs for 4 solid days on the radio. You would think it would naturally wane, but no, it got even worse! Talk about eating your own in public! Newtie ended up not only resigning the Speakership but his House seat as well. As my history teacher used to say, what is past is prologue. I just don’t think there will be the bloodbath the Repubs are predicting.
As for O’Reilly on the View, in my experience as a consult with abused women, he has all the classic mannerisms of an abuser. If I had been a host on the view I would have walked off before he even opened his pie hole. Babs had no business bringing him on her show. She’s got plenty of Nielsen share as it is. Classic question: what was she thinking????
LikeLike
By: Mageen in Old Virginny on October 22, 2010
at 8:02 AM
[…] I can see November on my TV… so I turned it off […]
LikeLike
By: Fried day | Lauri's Blog on October 22, 2010
at 7:30 AM
Keep it up, Helen!
LikeLike
By: ian in hamburg on October 22, 2010
at 7:22 AM
You hit another one out of the park, Helen! Keep telling it like it is.
LikeLike
By: Bluefrog on October 22, 2010
at 7:20 AM
I LOVE you two. Please keep up your postings. They have more sanity in them than the entire Repug Party! Really. I mean it.
LikeLike
By: B. W. on October 22, 2010
at 7:07 AM
Great post, Helen! I am going to make a PBS (and NPR) contribution in your name today. 🙂
LikeLike
By: delurkergurl on October 22, 2010
at 6:51 AM
Just posted this on Face Book! Thanks for all your posts!
LikeLike
By: Jeanabella on October 22, 2010
at 6:34 AM
Say it loud Helen!
Fight fight fight and then fight harder!
LikeLike
By: lori on October 22, 2010
at 6:32 AM
Common decency care- wonderful! But “they” have no decency.
Thanks again Helen!
LikeLike
By: Roz on October 22, 2010
at 6:31 AM
You are, as usual, spot on Helen.
LikeLike
By: Daily Reader on October 22, 2010
at 6:21 AM
PS- I am putting this on my facebook. It’s that good. (Though I’ve done that already with quite a few posts from you…)
LikeLike
By: Kyle Aldrich on October 22, 2010
at 6:18 AM
As always Helen, marvelous. I say Pelosi on Countdown with Keith Olberman last night and she was wonderful. I was wondering the same thing!
LikeLike
By: Kyle Aldrich on October 22, 2010
at 6:17 AM
I am forwarding this to every “friend” who tells me he or she is voting republican because Obama has failed.
I mean it. Really.
LikeLike
By: hokgardner on October 22, 2010
at 6:17 AM
Love your blog and am thrilled to have found it.
And don’t forget — we have Christine O’Donnell, Constitutional scholar, expounding on the meaning of the First Amendment. Sometimes I can’t tell the difference between an SNL skit and Tea Party politics.
Christine disputes gravity also: http://snoringdogstudio.wordpress.com
LikeLike
By: snoringdogstudio on October 22, 2010
at 6:07 AM